Lotus Expands the Elise Lineup With a Cup 260 Model

Lotus’ recent success has been nothing short of shocking, as it turned from a company hanging on by a thread to one that’s actually turning nice profits. This is all thanks to it scrapping the thoughts of mass model expansion and shifting to a program that involves it building various versions of just a few base models. Recently, Lotus went back to this successful well in producing the new Elise Cup 260.

Essentially a continuation of the Cup 250, the Elise Cup 260 takes all Lotus learned from its predecessor and the wild Evora GT 430 and applies it to the smaller, lighter sports car.

Of course, with all Lotus cars, the first step is lightening. The Lotus Elise Cup 260 shaves 33 pounds when compared to its predecessor thanks to its standard carbon-fiber rear wing, front access cover, engine cover, roll hoop, seat frames and side-sill covers, lightweight two-piece rotors, lithium-ion battery, and more. This drops it down to just 1,900 pounds in its lightest configuration.

Lotus also upped its downforce by 44 percent to 397 pounds at 151 mph. This increase is courtesy of the Cup 260’s louvred front wheel arch vents, oversized motorsport-derived rear wing, redesigned lightweight front clam panel, carbon front splitter, and the rear diffuser.

Under its hood is a supercharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 250 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque. This engine pairs with a six-speed manual transmission to deliver a 3.8-second 0-to-60 time. This new rig lapped the Hethel track in just 1 minute 32 seconds, which is 2.5 seconds faster than the Elise Cup 250.

There is no mention of when the Elise Cup 260 will hit showrooms, nor is there any pricing information. Stay tuned for updates.