Elise in Road & Track magazine, August 2005
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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Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise defines the Fun Factor category, because its only purpose in life is to have fun. This elemental sports car possesses everything you need for going blindingly fast through corners (stiff suspension, sticky tires, razor-sharp steering and a low center of gravity) and nothing you don’t (it weighs only 1960 lb.). Of course it’s completely useless as an around-towner or highway hauler, and good luck trying to stuff more than a gym bag into the storage compartment aft of the mid-mounted Toyota engine. And the non-adjustable seats are as comfortable as, well, a thin piece of padded leather over a shell.
But the way the Elise corners is nothing short of phenomenal; only pure race cars do it better. Onramps usually taken at 60 mph are done at 80 in the Lotus. The tiny steering wheel (and no power assist) transmits every piece of the road back to you with as pure a sensation as you’ll ever find. The bone-jarring suspension bounces the Elise over bumps, yet the car stays glued to the road. But the Elise isn’t for novices: too abrupt of a throttle lift mid-corner to give bite to those skinny 175-width front tires can mean snap oversteer.
Also part of the Elise’s allure is that it is one of the most unusually styled cars on the planet; people gravitate to it as if they’ve never seen one before (hold it…most of them haven’t!). It’s physically impossible to look at the Elise and not want to immediately drive it, visions of flogging the car up a curvy road dancing through your head. — Mike Monticello