Ike

The USDM Elise will have a 190hp 2ZZ-GE, it has been confirmed by many sources. Sun International is the company that currently brings Elises into the country with the B18C5, however when lotus introduces their own version I don't see Sun's Elise business doing so well. Rumor had it that Lotus was considering a Nissan and a Mazda powerplant as well but found the 2ZZ-GE to be the ideal application for the Elise.

Here's a link to a shootout between the CobraR and the Sun Elise.

Early reports claim the USDM Elise to be capable of low 12s in the 1/4 and low 4s 0-60 and it's just about the best handling car on the planet, well, street legal car at least :p

Skyline Maniac

Geez people, we are talking about AUTOMATIC RX-8 vs Celica here, I don't think performance is a big issue. btw: If you want a better comparison, try RX-8 vs MR-S, both RWD. The MR-S is ugly as sin, but it has a huge aftermarket overseas and here. It's definitely not a chicks car because it's so damn ugly, like a dragon fly. Still....

jungsoo

Get what ever you want... and like.

bluesnowmonkey

I used to admire the Celica when I was younger and didn't really know anything about performance. It was elegant and beautiful. Then that horrible body redesign... I just don't understand how anyone, especially a professional designer, could look at this:



and this:



and consider it an improvement. The person at Toyota who made that decision should be found and publically eviscerated.

brothervoodoo

Geez bluesnowmonkey, don't hold back, tell us what you really think... ouch.

Ike

I feel the same way about the person that put chrome wheels on the first celica... Honestly the celica has always been an also ran in my book, at least the new one handles better and accelerates better than previous models.

downshift

I don't know what you guys are talking about. The latest gen Celica looks good to me, especially with the Action Package. I think it carries the large wing more elegantly than the Evo's and STi's.

revhappy

The latest generation of the Celica was lauded by the Auto Magazines when it came out as a much more sporty version of the previous generations march toward obesity. With the exception of the ITR and possibly the Eclipse GST/GSX, it was the top-performing sport compact at the time it came out. The amazing thing is that the GTS is only 2,500 lbs. in a mass-produced car!!

That being said, Toyota screwed up a few key areas: engine powerband (needs another 500-1000 revs in the powerband), strange gearing and the gearbox itself. Still, I think it will give the RX8 a hell of a fight on a road course.

FamilyGuy

The US version of the Lotus Elise gives mad performance with the Toyota Celica engine because the Elise weighs in around 1800 pounds.