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Someone on EliseTalk posted the 2006 Exige ordering guide, I’ve copied the images over to the gallery. Click here for the direct link, or use the links at the top to get to the gallery.

Harrods is showcasing the best that Britain has to offer, so not surprisingly a Lotus Exige is being included in that. Not just any Exige though…this particular Exige has been modified by the British Tailor Gieves & Hawkes with a very British look consisting of excessive pinstriping throughout. The full story can be found at Classic Driver, or read the rest of this entry to see it there.
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The 2006 model year brings many new options to the US Elise, such as traction control, a limited slip differential, and a new Track Pack suspension option (available December 2005). See the library article for more details.

The Litchfield County Times has a nice review of the Lotus Exige, with such great quotes as, “The car’s exterior design is stunning and resembles a big cat preparing to pounce upon unwary prey.” Read the whole story at the link above, or just see the rest of this post.
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While a limited slip differential (LSD) is officially available as an option for 2006, what most people don’t know is that it was also an option for 2005 models. Though introduced very late in the model year, each dealer could order up to two models so equipped in the 2005 model year. Most significantly, this means that competitive autocrossers may retrofit the differential to any 2005 Elise, though the ‘two per dealer’ could create some confusion and rules challenges later. Before the rest of you go clamoring off to your dealer to ‘upgrade’ to this, keep in mind that Lotus engineers have reported that the LSD creates weird and unsafe handling beahvior on the track, hence the mandatory traction control that comes with every LSD (via a reprogrammed ECU). The only practical application of LSD in an Elise is on tight, competitive courses like an autocross.

Do you have, or know of, a kid who likes drawing cars? Well, Lotus is judging a contest targeted towards kids age 7-16. It’s to promote some computer software that the kids must use for the contest (a demo version is available); ’starter cars’ are available for download to help ‘em out. Sounds pretty cool…read the rest of this post for the official press release or click here to see the website talking about the contest.
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According to Edmunds, Lotus is looking to open more dealerships in the US. Sales of the Elise have been better than predicted in spite of their meager market penetration. With the new four seat Europa arriving in 2007 (and the new Esprit in 2008), now’s certainly the time to grow the dealer network while sales are still low, to prepare them for having to deal with having several new Lotus models available to a customer at a given time (a pretty rare occurrence for Lotus, in my lifetime at least!).

I had a blast today at the Club111/GGLC autocross in Marina (California). The course was a blast, and by the end of the day I was nailing most sections. The only area that gave me trouble was the very, very narrow box-like slalom section. There was no margin for error there, it was either nail it and get a good time, or get a bad time from either going too slow or hitting a cone. Very little in-between. The long sweeper around corner station 3 was great, it was plenty of time to get the car settled and finesse the balance using subtle throttle inputs. Lotus really did a fantastic job with this car, an average enthusiast like myself is able to get in it and make it glide through the corners, getting one of the best times of the day. Thanks, Lotus, for a job well done! (a few pictures from the day can be found here). EDIT: the results are final, and I managed to get the best Elise time of the day in my base-suspension Elise, beating several Elises equipped with the sport suspension and A048 tires!

Road & Track’s August issue has a section called “Fun Factor - Twelve cars that’ll make you smile.” Not surprisingly, the Elise made the list, with comments like, “This elemental sports car possesses everything you need for going blindingly fast through corners…and nothing you don’t.” Indeed. The car was criticized for the comfort of its seats, though most Elise owners I’ve talked to haven’t had any problems with that. I think those Road & Track editors are just too used to driving luxury SUVs and have gotten soft. Read the rest of this post for the article, or find the original, with other cars as well, at the link above.
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Elises can be fragile cars when it comes to accidents. While they protect their occupants well, they often suffer extensive damage themselves from what would, in other cars, be a minor incident. The most recent example happened in Connecticut. An uninsured driver hit a Krypton Green Elise in a parking lot. He then attempted to drive away, and when confronted by the owner of the Elise, said, “I’m on Social Security. I don’t have any insurance. You look like you’re doing well and can afford to pay for the repairs.” The cops arrive, and inform the driver that in CT, if one is involved in an accident and doesn’t have insurance, the operator is arrested and the vehicle towed. So, they seem to take this stuff pretty seriously in Connecticut, right? Well, the court date rolls around, and the offending driver got a mere $200 fine and was not held financially liable for the $5800 in damage he had caused to the Lotus! Even worse, the judge was quoted as saying, “I’m not going to saddle this simple working man with the expenses of repairing an exotic car.” This man was driving without insurance, caused $6k in damage, and is guilty of an attempted hit and run, and he gets away with nothing more than a $200 fine! Amazing. Read more about it in this newspaper story, or hear what the owner of the Elise has to say over at EliseTalk.