PH Annual Service | HPE SV Elise R500

There may be some who believe that the original Lotus Elise is beyond much meaningful improvement. But there are plenty of others, from DIY Audi turbo and Honda K swaps to the full Analogue Automotive restoration or Get Lost reimagination, who think there’s scope for the Series 1 to be even greater still. Lotus specialist HPE is the latest, using its many years of accrued experience with the Elise to create something called the R500. 

It’s been built as part of HPE’s new Special Vehicles offshoot, which would appear a very apt title. Because that R500 name denotes exactly what you might expect: this is a 500hp-per-tonne S1 Elise, thanks to a combination of 330hp, naturally aspirated Honda K20, and a new carbon body from Innovate Composites (the same folk who did the Honda e widebody). A standard car weighs a little over 700kg; an R500 is just 630kg, says HPE. That’s not far off Caterham kerbweight. 

The engine, it must be said, is pretty special. It’s more than 20kg lighter, for starters, at 83kg fully dressed against 105kg stock, and all that’s carried over from the original Honda lump are the castings for the head and the block. Everything else is new, including forged steel pistons and conrods, a billet steel crank, ported heads, bigger valves and individual throttle bodies. It promises to be an absolutely feral four-cylinder, with power building ‘all the way to the redline’ and maximum torque not until 8,600rpm. HPE is offering up a safe limiter of 9,600rpm, helped by the valvetrain now being so much lighter, but in theory it could go to almost 11…

Doesn’t stop there, either. The intention for this build was for HPE’s MD, Dan Webster – who’s tracked and raced a host of S1s – to create “the best car I could design, develop and build – while retaining the parts I loved about my S1 Elise”. So everything bar the original aluminium tub is new or totally overhauled, adhering to the HPE mantras of improving quality, using the best materials and considering every detail. 

So the dampers are now three-way adjustable items, the roll bars are fully adjustable and the brakes are carbon – it’s a properly extreme build, in other words. If parts didn’t exist off-the-shelf, HPE had them built or made them in-house. ‘Every individual part’, it reckons, ‘has been chosen or created to perform a role in the handling, weight and reliability of the car.’

The interior now boasts carbon seats with harnesses (which seem very appropriate given the performance potential), plus a new digital dash thanks to the introduction of a Power Distribution Module. That means data logging, traction control and adjustable power maps will all be offered in the R500. HPE will offer the package as an Exige, too, if that’s your preference. And there’s scope in future for S2 cars. 

Indeed, this should be just the start for HPE Special Vehicles’ Elises. It plans to create slightly tamer R400 and R300 conversions in addition, as well as boundless scope for buyer personalisation and customisation. Old Lotuses are becoming like the air-cooled Porsches of restomod days gone by; great as standard, cheap and plentiful, much loved and now with the opportunity to create something truly incredible. Prices are going to start from £250k plus tax for the R300 version, with the wild R500 obviously commanding more with the carbon body and super spicy K20. 

Dan Webster added: “The original Elise S1 was something special, but we feel we have taken it to a new level with the modifications and reengineering that we have been able to achieve. We are proud to finally be able to launch the car at the PistonHeads show.” Another must-see at Bicester, then. More details to follow as we have them.