Lotus has announced the new Elise Sport and Elise Sport 220, marking a return of the iconic 'Sport' name, used previously on the famed Lotus Esprit.

Weighing just 866kg, the Elise Sport is lightweight, efficient and offers a completely pure driving experience. Its handling and quickness in road holding makes it a sports car that both enthusiasts and newcomers to the brand will find it easy to fall in love with.

The Elise Sport 220 represents the perfect blend of power and dynamism in a more focused performance package. Weighing just 914kg, with peak power of 217bhp and torque of 250Nm, 0-100km/h is achieved in just 4.2 seconds, and a top speed of 233km/h is possible. The Elise Sport 220 also excels in driving dynamics, offering an even purer driving experience when compared to the previous Elise S model, due largely to the further weight savings, aided in part by a new lightweight sports battery.

Sport mode is standard fitment in the Elise Sport and Sport 220, and sharpens the experience further by increasing throttle response, altering traction slip thresholds and removing understeer recognition, allowing enhanced control before intervention and offering an even closer connection between driver and machine. Bilstein sports dampers further contribute to the sharp steering and provide heightened feedback from the road. Lightweight sports seats are available in leather, Alcantara or classic tartan trim.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc, commented, "We have further refined, distilled and sharpened the driving experience offered by our best selling sports car of the last 20 years, the Lotus Elise. These two new models, the Elise Sport and Sport 220 revive the iconic 'Sport' naming designation and are both worthy of wearing this badge. Over the years, with each improvement to the Elise, we have ensured that the purity of the driving experience has been retained and improved upon and with these two new models, we have taken it on to the next level."

The Lotus Elise Sport and Elise Sport 220 go on sale in Europe in December 2015 and will be available to the rest of the world from January 2016.