| Wednesday, August 4, 2010 |
14:15 - Lighter is still better
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2011-lotus-elise-to-achieve-46-7-mpg.html
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Don't suppose this is that whole "green economy" thing everyone's been talking about for so long:
Lotus has finally taken all of the wraps off of its newly upgraded 2011 Elise roadster, with the big change coming in the form of a startlingly high 46.7 U.S. miles per gallon on the European cycle. Lotus says this new Elise also manages to put out the lowest amount of carbon dioxide of any gasoline driven sportscar in the world, with just 149 grams per kilometer.
Between this, the Porsche 918 Spyder, and the various Ferraris with "green" credentials (mostly due to paint), I guess we have to conclude that the busiest people in the automotive industry these days are the ones trying to figure out how to make sports cars eco-friendly while still maintaining acceptable performance—and even increasing it.
It'll inevitably mean more computer control, since it's difficult to imagine a car with minimalist feature sets and manual powertrains at the same time as invasive hybrid systems and fuel-saving and emissions-controlling features (EGR and catalytic converters and direct injection tend to do more harm than good to performance).
Still, this sounds like a whole lot better proposition than a Tesla.
Via Lance.
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Brian Tiemann
