The Lotus Elise S Cup Is A 'Because Racecar' Road-Legal Track Weapon

All road-going Lotus Elises are a little on the hardcore side, but if none satisfy your need for an almost completely uncompromising road and track machine, get a load of this: the new S Cup. To create this slice of crazy on four wheels, Lotus took its S Cup R race car, and added pretty much the bare minimum to make it road legal.

It uses the same supercharged 217bhp 1.8-litre four-pot as other Elises such as the S and S Club Racer, which makes it good for 0-62mph in just 4.6 seconds. The S Club Racer is already a very stripped-back machine, but what the S Cup offers over that car is aerodynamics. A lower front splitter, new bargeboards, a rear wing and diffuser all work together to give 66kg of downforce at 100mph, and 125kg at the car’s 140mph top speed. Unlike other Elises, the S Cup also features a fixed roof.

The downforce makes a huge difference to track performance, with the S Cup lapping Lotus’ own test track three seconds faster than the already jolly quick Elise S.

This does come at a fair cost, though, as the S Cup will cost ‘around £43,500,’ which is almost £8000 more than the S CR. Still, you do get a competition-spec rollover hoop and all the electrical plumbing needed to add a cut-off switch and a fire extinguisher, which will make turning the S Cup into a full-on racecar easy peasy, should you ever feel the need.

The car will be available through the Lotus dealer network soon.