Britain’s Lotus Elise first made waves after traveling across the pond to hit the American shores as a revolutionary, small and lightweight sportscar.  Their reduced weight and tuned suspension made them efficient and agile on both the road and track.  Lotus’ 2008 Elise SC aims to push this envelope even further with the advent of a new non-intercooled supercharged 1.8L engine.  Not to be outdone by its younger brother, the Exige S comes with an available Power Package to boost both power and drivability.

Teamed with Magnuson Products, Inc., Lotus designed the supercharger with safety, performance and weight reduction in mind.  The Elise’s new supercharger-manifold assembly is 17 pounds lighter than the current Exige S unit, more friendly on the street due to its smaller Eaton rotors and does not hinder rearview visibility with the lack of an Exige S-like intercooler.  The new setup will be good for 220-horsepower, 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, 0-100 in 10.7 seconds and a top speed of 150 mph.  The Elise SC will be easily identified by its new rear spoiler and unique new design of alloy wheels.

Fitted with the Power Package, the Lotus Exige S will be boosted to 240-horsepower.  The performance bundle also includes upgrades to the brakes, clutch, traction control, launch control and a new roof scoop.  Borrowed from the 2-Eleven track car, the traction/launch control is good for 0-60 in 4 seconds, 0-100 in 9.7 seconds and a 153 final speed.

Other enhancements to the 2008 models include new instrumentation, standard driver and passenger airbags, a new keyfob with built-in immobilizer and new color options.  Without taking away from an already outstanding platform, Lotus has improved their Elise and Exige by keeping them light and making them faster.