Naked carbon-fiber Lotus Elise roaming Hong Kong

Naked carbon-fiber Lotus Elise roaming Hong Kong

Filed under: Aftermarket, Sports/GTs, Etc., Lotus

Click above for full gallery of pics of this carbon-fiber Lotus Elise

A couple SEMAs ago, we stumbled across a carbon-fiber Lotus Exige that had our salivary glands working overtime. With Colin Chapman's ethos of "adding lightness" to his designs, it seemed like the perfect application of the super-strong lightweight material on an already featherweight Lotus sportscar. We've been hoping to see something similar on the road and it looks like we'll have to travel across the Pacific to check it out in person. Thanks to a tipster, we know now that there is at least one other CF-cloaked Lotus and it resides in Hong Kong with custodian Jimmy Wong.

TW Auto Limited, a Hong Kong Lotus and turbocharging specialist, built the car in about six months. As you'll see in the pics, carbon fiber coats the entire exterior of this 2002 Elise, along with almost every panel inside. Even if it only shaves about 80 pounds from the curb weight, it looks thoroughly sinister. We're digging the way it highlights the car's curves, particularly around the gas filler. Although the engine remains fairly stock, it does feature an upgraded air filter and intake, plus a Stage 2 Lotus Racing Exhaust. The car was also fitted with a KW Suspension and JP Racing Wheels. For more pictures, check out the gallery cribbed from Flickr.

Gallery: Carbon Fiber Lotus Elise



[Source: Carbon Fiber Gear]Naked carbon-fiber Lotus Elise roaming Hong Kong originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

More...

That thing is tits! :signBling

Wow, nice. That's f'n hawwt!

is the Lotus Elise underpowered or wat? 1.8L I4 189HP car for 46-54k... what a waste of money.

ya, but all carbon fiber, weighs about 3 lbs and an I4 with almost 200 can pull with a lot of cars out there especially at that weight

did you want more power in a sub 2000lb car? :superconf

no i'm just saying if i got that kinda cash to blow i would've bought a M3

Looks pretty good - I like it. Too bad it looks like it is only covered with CF instead of everything made from CF. Don't think you'd save much weight, if any, by stripping off the existing paint and covering every inch with CF. But who knows - looks a heck of a lot meaner that a standard fare Exige. New desktop background for my computer

Power to weight ratio my friend...

Elise vs E46 M3:




But as a daily driver, I'd rather choose the M3 too.

then buy an M3...

im not getting your point :superconf

i think the car is pretty much as light as it is going to be.

after all, lotus' motto is to "add lightness"

Would that be safe to drive on the road?

carbon fiber if made right is stronger than most metals

dont mind owning me one,matter fact i seen one a road couple days ago its really tiny.

i still want to drive the exige. i've driven the elise but only sat inside the passenger seat of the exige and it scared me.