Rock-hard suspension, check. Small and sexy body, two seats, engine in the back, and it handles like a mouse scurrying through a laboratory maze, check.
Yep, all pure Lotus.
But if the Lotus Europa S is a Grand Tourer then I'm an armadillo, and the last time I checked I didn't have any scales.
I say this because Lotus describes the Europa S as a GT, and I couldn't surpress a chuckle given that the term usually denotes a fast but comfortable and refined car that swallows distances in a great hurry and leaves you feeling fresh at the end of your journey. A Bentley Continental or a Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG, for instance.
When you're driving the Europa S along a less than mirror-smooth road and the ride's so jittery it shakes your shoelaces undone, the last thing you're thinking is "Grand Tourer". What you are thinking is "where's the nearest racetrack?"
Where Lotus came up with the GT description is that the Europa S, the newest member of the Lotus family, is a little less hardcore than the Elise and Exige models which are basically road-legal racing cars. It's based on the all-aluminium Elise/Exige but is a little larger and heavier.
Its cabin is fitted with carpets to hide some of the bare metal, and it has a larger boot so you can squeeze an overnight bag or two in the nook behind the engine.
Cabin access is supposedly easier because the chassis sides are lower and the roofline's higher than the Elise, but it's like saying it's more comfortable to stuff your feet into a size eight shoe than a size seven, when your feet are size tens.
Entering the low-slung car with its still-high sides is accomplished with roughly the grace of a bag of mielies being tossed, and exiting is no better.
Paris Hilton, with her well-documented aversion to wearing knickers under her miniskirt, would make the paparazzis' day were she to alight from this car.
Compared to the bare aluminium interior of the Elise the Europa's carpets do offer a bit of warmth but it's not quite business class - another term Lotus uses erroneously - and still comes across as a kit car.
The two seats are leather-wrapped and there are driver and passenger carsh bags, but luxuries in this R660 000 car are limited to aircon, electric windows, and a radio/CD. The side mirrors have to be adjusted manually.
Because it's so small and extremely close to the ground you feel quite vulnerable in this puny little toy car out on the road. Uno drivers look down at you and minibus taxi drivers regard you as little more than a speed bump.
It's all about power-to-weight
At least the Lotus has the ability to accelerate briskly out of any minibus-induced trouble. On paper its 149kW two-litre turbo engine doesn't seem like much firepower for a sportscar, but it's all about power-to-weight with Lotus and the Europa S is a flyweight.
At 995kg it's several hundred kilos lighter than two-seater coupés such as the Audi TT and Porsche Cayman.
Accordingly it flies out of the starting blocks like a greyhound chasing a rabbit and gets to 100km/h in a very respectable 6.2sec at Gauteng altitude.
It's a strong and punchy engine with barely any low-rev turbo lag, and when you give that throttle a good shove you experience a most entertaining blast of momentum.
And it's a real screamer of an engine. Driving it is a truly visceral experience. The engine's loudness makes you really feel the speed, and so does being so close to the road.
Super-firm suspension
It's like driving a kart with bodywork, a feeling that's reinforced by the small competiton steering wheel which is extremely direct and has no power assistance.
And don't forget the super-firm suspension which, on anything resembling a bump, makes the car creak and judder like a wooden barn in a hurricane.
But the payoff is its terrific speed through (smooth) corners; it clings to the tar doggedly, and with a ride so low and stiff it has very little acquaintance with the concept of body roll.
It understeers a little on the limit; I'd have preferred a bit more tail-happiness through tight corners.
Rivals? There's nothing really to compare it to. The Europa S is about the size of a Mazda MX-5 but performance- and price-wise it's much closer to a BMW Z4, Porsche Cayman or Audi TT which are far more luxurious.
Probably its closest rival, even though it's a roadster and not a hardtop, is the Honda S2000 which has a similar hardcore personality.
VERDICT
While the Europa S is intended to be the "softer, more accessible, Grand Touring" Lotus - and perhaps it is within the Lotus stable - it is still very much a raw, high-thrills sports car for enthusiasts who spend their weekends playing on racetracks.
Unlike the many rapid two-seaters out there which straddle the line between comfort and driving kicks, the Europa S has limited real-world practicality.