This gives me no pleasure at all, for I love Lotuses in general and the Elise and Exige in particular. They subscribe entirely to the vision that Colin Chapman had for his fledgling company half a century ago: They're small, light, eye-wateringly quick and utterly focused on the road ahead. Yeah, they're cramped, there's not much space in the trunk, and you'll go deaf after a few hours at the wheel, but who cares when you're having this much fun? Remove even part of that fun, as Lotus has with this new Europa S, and all the other faults you would so readily tolerate and even perversely enjoy, start to dominate the driving experience.
Whatever it is, I can pretty much guarantee it involves hard-core driving. And so it should, for that is the essence of Lotus. A Lotus that is less than great to drive makes no more sense than a limo without legroom. But that is exactly what the company has just produced in the 2007 Lotus Europa S.
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