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There are some nice wallpaper-sized images of the 2007 Lotus Sport Exige Cup over at seriouswheels.com. 1280×960 or 1920×1440 resolution, worth downloading! (via EliseTalk)

Automobile Magazine recently declared the Lotus Elise one of its 2007 All-Stars, “An undiluted driving machine that deftly combines light weight, electrifying performance, and near-telepathic chassis response.” Well, I certainly can’t disagree with that! However, there is, at the moment, *no* 2007 Lotus Elise in the US. They just don’t exist, people, and Lotus is mum on when we can expect them (or what changes may be in store). Other 2007 All-Stars are what any car enthusiast would expect – Aston Martin V8 Vantage, BMW 3-series, Corvette Z06, Infiniti G35, Mazda 3, Porsche Cayman. (via BusinessWire)
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It’s pretty well known by now that Lotus dealers are not accepting orders for any 2007 model year Elises. The latest explanation for this is quite interesting:

Crossposted from TOP (wasn’t it rubber bumpers that killed off MGs):

MY07 U.S models of both Elise & Exige will have rubber bumper front ends which are mandatory requirement from 01 Jan 2007 because that is the date the 3 year Federal exemption expires.

The exemption ending also applies to the headlights.

The existing front clam will be replaced by one that is identical in looks to the Europa but the front fibreglass section is replaced with a colour coded rubber bumper.

The rubber bumpers also add 45Kg at the front of the car, so new geo settings are required, together with an uprated pair of front dampers and springs.

Lotus tried to get around the problem by spraying foam inside the clam but the Federal Authorities insisted that the entire nose section be replaced by rubber, so Lotus had no option other than to use the Europa clam but replacing the nose section with a rubber moulding. The Europa clam also complies with the U.S. headlamp requirements.

Rear bumperettes are also required to meet Federal regulations but they are just stuck on with sikaflex, so can be removed with a hairdryer and a bit of patience, although it may be necessary to respray the rear clam as the paint may come off with the sikaflex.

All European models will also have the same modifications from 01 Mar 2007.

If this is true, if the front end of the Elise is to be like the Europa, then one would think they’d need to change the sides and the rear as well, if for no reason other than to maintain continuity in the design and make it look half decent. In which case, the Elise is *dead*, to be replaced by a car that will likely be called the Europa in this country.

Keep in mind that this will affect the Exige S as well!

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few months.
(via EliseTalk)

CORRECTED: Original source is Lotus Enthusiasts’ BBS

Lotus unveiled the 2007 model year Sport Exige Cup at the Los Angeles Auto Show today, with specs that seem similar to the 2006 model year. Power is a bit higher, 252hp instead of 243hp, and a little less weight, down to 1800 pounds now (versus about 2000 for a standard Exige). Naturally, the rest of the car is decked out in all the race-ready components you can think of; a diehard track day enthusiast would have a hard time finding anything to add to this car, it really is ready to hop in and race. Of course, ‘race’ is the key word here – this $85k rocket is nowhere near street-legal. You can read the entire press release after the jump. (via EliseTalk)
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Fifth Gear recently reviewed the 265hp Lotus Exige 265E prototype, the ethanol-powered, supercharged Exige Lotus showed off recently (the most powerful bio-fueled car in the world, too!). One interesting thought is that the plants used to produce the ethanol absorb carbon dioxide from the air during the growing process, thus helping to reduce the overall CO2 contribution. Neat video clip, check it out after the link.
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So, how does one of America’s best sports cars stack up against one of England’s most popular? Well, Top Gear compared the Lotus Exige to the Ford Mustang in a recent episode. You can view the video, courtesy of YouTube, in the extended version of this post, so click away!
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Edmunds has a review of the new 2007 Lotus Exige S, that’s the supercharged version for those of you not familiar with this! So what did they think of it? “The Exige S feels as if it could be transformed from an earthbound projectile into an interstellar flying machine.” Very well put. If you have an extra $57k lying around, it’s worth checking out, though the standard Elise is also a great option as it’s lighter than the Exige S, not to mention a lot less expensive. You can read the review here.

The scale model Elises have been out for years now, but now I’ve come across a 1/43 scale Lotus Exige Sport for sale over at EWAcars, price is $39. Makes a great stocking stuffer for the Lotus enthusiast in your life!

Tim Mullen posted a good writeup, with pictures, of how to bleed the brakes on an Elise or Exige; you can find this over at EliseTalk. He mentions it may be possible to bleed the brakes without raising the car and removing the wheels, and it’s that approach that I’ll be trying when I tackle this project this winter.

I know this is totally off topic, but I had to let you know about a new iPod dock from Pressure Drop called the JukeDock. It fits any iPod with a dock connector and has an adjustable back stop to fit the different sizes – mine works great with my iPod Mini and my iPod Nano. It has a USB connection to your computer, and of course audio and video outputs. The lights can be put into a few different modes; there’s a jukebox-like light cycling mode, a steady illumination, the pulse-to-the-music ‘party’ mode, and my favorite, one where it slowly cycles through all of the colors (the speed of the cycling is adjustable). Lastly, you can program it to work with just about any remote control to control all the functions of your iPod. It’s available now from Pressure Drop for $99. (read more at PlayListMag, Gizmodo, or iLounge).