Lotus: What's New for 2010?

2010 Lotus Elise: No changes except the availability of a performance package with $7,400 of equipment, including Yokohama 048 tires and a harness bar behind the seat for five-point harness mounting, value priced at about $4,000.

2010 Lotus Evora: The first new Lotus since the Elise debut in 1995, the Evora is claimed to be the world's only midengine 2+2 sports car. The Evora boasts an advanced extruded and bonded aluminum chassis, which helps to keep vehicle weight to just under 3,000 pounds. Power comes from a Toyota-sourced and Lotus-tuned midmounted, transverse 3.5-liter V6 engine producing 276 horsepower and 252 pound-feet of torque, transmitted through a six-speed manual transmission.

Suspension is forged aluminum upper and lower wishbone wishbone, front and rear. Wheels are cast 8 by 18 inches front, 19 by 9.5 inches rear, with a forged alloy option.

Designed to be more real-world usable than the Lotus four-cylinder models, the Evora has wider, taller door openings and narrower sills to ingress/egress easier that Lotus' smaller sports cars. Lotus claims that the cabin can even accommodate two 6-foot-5-inch people in the front seats.

In addition to being sold in a 2+2 configuration, the Evora will be available as a strict two-seater, with the +2 space reallocated to luggage storage.

Inside, there are leather seats and other premium materials, and a new Alpine multimedia system with a 7-inch touch-panel display which includes audio, satellite navigation, video, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity. The screen also is used for the Evora's optional back-up camera. The navigation part of the system is removable.

The Evora will be hand-built on a dedicated new assembly line within Lotus' manufacturing facility at Hethel, England, with production limited to approximately 2,000 cars per year.

2010 Lotus Exige: Most of what's new for the Exige S240 is appearance and aerodynamic related. There's a restyled front end which includes a larger, more angular air intake for the radiator which improves engine efficiency. Two additional intakes near the front corners supply air to the twin oil coolers. Also new is a larger, low drag composite rear wing which reduces drag. Standard suspension for the Exige includes Bilstein shocks, but the Track package for 2010 has higher-spec Öhlins shocks instead.

For 2010, there are no plans to import to the U.S. the track-only Exige S260 Sport, or the Exige Scura shown at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.