The second wonderful compromise is the Elise’s size. It’s small – granted it is larger than the original Elise – but it remains tiny in comparison to most modern vehicles. This size becomes useful when choosing a car parking space. With the roof attached you do need a good amount of space to open the door and clamber out, but as the Elise is so small, the supercar feel it gives you doesn’t extend beyond the footprint of a small hatchback. Getting in and out might be tricky, but parking certainly isn’t.
The benefit of a small footprint is further apparent once you’re on the move. A normal A-road feels wide; you have space to move the Elise around and the bulging front wheel arches let you know exactly where the extents of the car are – a rare quality for a car built in 2020. Also, the rather dramatic-looking rear wing, which dominates your view behind, is a perfect indicator of where the rear-most extent of the car is. A feature that is practical and creates downforce – that’s not a feature that comes standard on many cars…
Unlike the immaculately engineered German alternatives that offer a front and rear boot, the Lotus is limited to a small compartment behind the engine. However, this is large enough to fit a couple of overnight bags and the heat soak from the engine is surprisingly low. I wouldn’t put the weekly shop in there but that is probably fairly obvious, which is why the surprisingly comfortable bucket seats have a dual purpose as they cradle your shopping perfectly.