Lotus recently held a track day at the famous Australian circuit, Mount Panorama, home to the iconic Bathurst 12 Hour race. At the event, it introduced the Lotus Elise Cup 250 Bathurst Edition to pay homage to the hallowed track, and also to celebrate Australia as its sixth largest market globally in 2019.
It’s basically the same spec as the Elise Cup 250 launched in 2017, but personalised with a set of black forged alloy wheels, a special numbered build-plate and bespoke ‘Bathurst Cup 250’ decals. The map layout printed on the tailgate and front fenders are of the actual track layout, in case you didn’t know.
The Elise Cup 250 is currently the most hardcore version of the car yet, with power coming from a 2ZZ-FE 1.8 litre charge-cooled and supercharged four-cylinder engine, producing 243 hp at 7,200 rpm and 250 Nm of torque at 3,500 to 5,500 rpm. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard, which sends drive to the rear wheels and propelling it from nought to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds. Top speed is 247 km/h.
Other notable hardwares include double wishbone suspension for the front and rear, front anti-roll bar, Eibach coaxial coil springs and Bilstein dampers, as well astwo-piston AP Racing front calipers and single-piston Brembo rear calipers which clamp on 288 mm cross-drilled and ventilated discs. Production of the Elise Cup 250 is limited to just 200 units annually, but only six examples of the Bathurst Edition will ever be made.
According to Lotus, over 45,000 fans attended the Bathurst 12 Hour race weekend, which spanned over three days. More than 150 Lotus owners took their own cars to the track, and they also had the opportunity to ride shotgun with professional Lotus Drivers.
Lotus Cars’ regional director for Asia Pacific and China, David McIntyre said: “It’s great to kick the year off in Australia, a market that was very successful for us in 2019. Lotus and Australia have a long and rich history and we are committed to building on this close relationship moving forward.”
“Through stand-out events such as the Lotus-only track day, we will continue to build the brand across Australia, adding to the success we experienced last year. Globally 2020 is an exciting year for us, with the first of our all-electric Lotus Evija models being delivered to customers.”
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