(Thu 16 Apr 09)

Lotus has announced that its 2010 model year Elise and Exige, on sale now, are producing up to 9% less CO2 on the combined cycle than their immediate predecessors.

The 134bhp Elise S shows the greatest improvement, with a new CO2 figure of 179g/km and an improvement in fuel economy from 34.0mpg to 37.2mpg. The 189bhp Elise R manages 196g/km and 34.4mpg, while the Exige S (pictured) and Elise SC, both of which produce 218bhp, record 199g/km and 33.2mpg.

Lotus is also pointing out that the £32,067 Elise SC is both more economical and faster from 0-62mph than the Porsche Boxster S and Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG, both of which are considerably more expensive, and just 0.5s slower in the same acceleration test than the Ferrari F430 Spider, which uses nearly twice as much fuel on the combined cycle and costs around four and a half times as much.

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