Lotus: Lightweights heavy on steering power

The Lotus Elise Club Racer features classic Lotus colours and a few visual treats. Photo / Supplied

Lightweight sports cars with supernatural handling skills in place of outright power makes sense in a speed-limited world of rising fuel prices.

They make better sense when linked to electric propulsion - hence the Lotus Range Extender engine launching at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week.

Designed for use in hybrids, it features an aluminium monoblock that pours the cylinder block, head and exhaust manifold in one casting to reduce mass - and production costs.

Petrol or ethanol fuels the engine, which attaches to a generator to power the electric motor or the car's battery.

Lotus says the key to hybrid take-up is affordability and range, and its range extender powerplant is cost effective and highly efficient.

Meanwhile, the iconic sports company hasn't forgotten its more traditional cars. It's also releasing a special edition Lotus Elise Club Racer based on the Elise S at Frankfurt.

A racer that takes 6.1 seconds to reach 100km/h from rest, and drinks just 7.6l/100km sounds like a joke, but these cars make up for the power deficit with their cornering ability.

The Club Racer features some classic Lotus colours, and a few visual treats such as the anthracite anodised gear knob, anodised flooring for the footwells, and an on-centre marker for the steering wheel, so the car's rapid driver can quickly identify the angle of the front wheels.