Lotus Cars Australia Managing Director John Startari explains: "The government's import duty reduction at the start of 2010 has offered some assistance, whilst favorable foreign exchange rates have been a further catalyst to these announced price changes."
The facelifted model can be recognized by the new fascia up front that boasts a redesigned hood, new bumper with a wider grille, and reshaped headlights featuring LED daytime running lights for the first time.
Like many other niche automakers, Lotus has a thing for special edition models. The latest one to come out of Hethel is the Elise S-based Club Racer (CR) and it will be displayed for the first time at the Frankfurt motorshow. Although it retains the base model's Toyota-sourced 1.8-liter engine and five-speed gearbox which is good for a 0 to 60mph sprint time of 5.7 sec (0-100km/h: 6.1") while returning 37.2 mpg UK or 7.6 lt/100km on the combined cycle, the CR introduces new color schemes, bespoke interior and lightweight components.The Elise Club Racer will be offered with four classic color schemes used by Lotus in the 1960s - Elite Yellow, Carbon Grey, Sky Blue and Old English White. The lightweight anthracite six-spoke alloy wheels that are shod in bespoke Yokohama AD07 LTS tires round off the special edition model's... unchanged looks.
The exterior body color theme is carried over to the interior and is combined with silver and black paint highlights while the seats get lightweight microfibre comfort pads.
Other treats include the anthracite anodised gear knob and handbrake lever, the Club Racer (CR) logo hand embroidered on the seat headrest and the unique anodized aluminium flooring in the driver's and passenger's footwell.
"Special Editions of the award winning Elise have always proved popular with our customers around the world, and I expect the Elise Club Racer to be no different," said Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars. "We have taken color schemes from our past, used on the Elite and Elan in the 1960s and cleverly brought them up to date with a modern feel to the interior. The whole design package is modern with a classic twist, which of course matches the peerless ride and handling of a Lotus and the convertible experience of the Elise perfectly."
The special edition Club Racer goes on sale in Europe on September 15 with retail prices set at €34,475 in Belgium, €34,175 in France, € 34,770 in Italy, CHF 48,820 in Switzerland, €33,125 in Germany and £25,712 in the UK.
North American owners of naturally aspirated Elise and Exige models can now add a little more oomph to their cars without worrying about voiding the warranty as Lotus USA has announced the availability of a factory engineered, warranted and 50-state legal supercharger kit. Utilizing the same supercharger and integrated intake manifold unit as fitted to a production Elise SC, the kit can be installed on any naturally aspirated Elise or Exige powered by a Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine. 
The package, which includes a compact supercharger and integrated intake manifold along with new high-flow fuel injectors and a re-programmed engine management control unit, increases output from 189 HP to 218 HP while torque jumps from 133 ft.-lbs. up to 155 ft.-lbs. More importantly, the increased maximum torque is available at a lower 5,000 rpm instead of the naturally aspirated 6,800 rpm.
"Lotus Elise and Exige owners are genuine driving enthusiasts and that's what has attracted them to Lotus cars in the first place," said Lotus Cars USA, Inc. Director of Operations Arnie Johnson. "They will fully appreciate the dramatically enhanced driving character these Lotus Supercharger Kits will bring their vehicles and the peace of mind from a fully warranted, factory engineered kit."
While Lotus has not announced pricing yet, the British firm said that the Supercharger Kit is available for purchase and installation at all authorized Lotus dealers in the U.S. and Canada.
