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Filed under: LA Auto Show , Sports/GTs , Lotus Click above for high-res image gallery of the Lotus Evora live The "mostly" U.S. version of the "midsize" Lotus Evora was shown today at the LA Auto Show and it looks exactly like the one that debuted at the 2008 British Motor Show back in June. It's just missing its side marker lights. The Evora follows the '70s Lamborghini Urraco, Maserati Merak, Ferrari 308GT4 and its follow-up the Ferrari Mondial in being a mid-engine 2+2 sports car. It's arguably the best looking of that quintet, though. Two adult American males fit up front and there's still room in back for a couple of kids, while power comes from a Toyota-sourced 3.5L V6 producing 276 hp. With a curb weight of just 2,976 lbs., that should be plenty to scoot this puppy along. Expect 0-60 in 5 seconds, a top speed of 160+ and 30 mpg. As cool as all of that is, the interior is what will blow you away, especially if you've ever served time in an Elise...
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Filed under: In the Autoblog Garage , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Lotus Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige S240 "What is it?" people will ask. They'll keep going. "It's fast, huh? How fast does it go?" The answer will disappoint them. Yes, it is fast, but when driving the Lotus Exige S240, its 150-mph top speed is not at the forefront of one's mind. Lotuses are more classically described as accurate weapons of destructed mass; light cars that handle as an extension of the driver's body. True to the roots laid down by the Europa, the Exige is a composite monocoque, carrying 1800cc of supercharged Toyota fury admidships. Many have glommed on to the Elise and Exige as track-day toys, but we wanted to see how this most raucous of Lotuses would do as a desert island car. If all you could swing were the payments for a single car, and you got your kicks by surgically trimming apices, could the Lotus hack it? It's certainly one of the most accurate...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Sports/GTs , Euro , Lotus Click above for high-res gallery of 2009 Lotus Exige Cup 260 Lotus released its Exige Cup 260 for the 2008 model year to terrorize much larger and pricier cars on race tracks 'round the world. For 2009, the British automaker has spiced things up by 'adding lightness' in the marque's grand tradition. Weight drops by over 80 pounds this year to just under a ton thanks to copious use of carbon fiber. Coupled with a 257-horsepower 1.8-liter Toyota-sourced mill force fed through an intercooler by an Eaton M62 supercharger, the '09 Exige Cup 260 should hit 60 mph in less than 4 seconds. Electronic goodies such as launch control combined with variable traction control, plus 40 kilograms of downforce at 100 mph, do their best to keep the car planted on the track. Race-ready bits like forged wheels wearing Yokohama A048 LTS tires, Eibach springs over one-way adjustable Bilstein dampers and cross-drilled and ventilated discs...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Japan , Lotus Click above for a high-res gallery of the K.07 Spyder When the K.O7 Spyder broke cover in Geneva we were struck by its bold design (it was penned by the guy who gave us the Enzo and the Quattroporte), but seriously doubted that the track star/supercar would ever see production. Well, a limited run of 99 K.O7s will go on sale on November 1st for the princely sum of 19,500,000 Yen. Yep, that's near-as-makes-no-difference $200,000 -- an awful lot of money for very little car. And when you consider that it's essentially a modern remake of the fenderless Lotus 340R, which itself seemed expensive back in 2000 at $70,000, you've got to wonder how many more orders Okuyama-san will be taking beyond the 24 cars pre-ordered by Tag-Heuer, who've had a hand in the project since its inception just a year ago. You may remember that the Lotus 340R never reached its performance target of 340 bhp/ton, largely because it was powered by Rover's asthmatic...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Euro , Lotus , UK , Special/Limited Editions Click for updated gallery of the Lotus Clark Type-25 Elise SC Lotus has a dedicated following around the world, and many of them were undoubtedly disappointed that the first special edition of the new supercharged Elise was limited to just 25 examples, all of which were sold within the UK and Ireland. Although Lotus enthusiasts in the U.S. will surely remain disappointed, a handful of those in Europe will get another lucky chance at limited edition Elise ownership with Lotus' announcement that it will produce an additional run of 25 examples of the Clark Type-25 Elise SC for sale on the continent. The special edition is named for legendary Scottish racing driver Jim Clark and features an array of special retro touches, including a British racing green paint job with a broad yellow stripe and white circle on the door. It's based on the 218 hp blown Elise SC, which remains mechanically unchanged. An additional...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Time Warp , Sports/GTs , Lotus , Special/Limited Editions Click above for more shots of the LusoMotors LM23 Track cars powered by motorcycle engines are becoming increasingly popular as the superbike mills, usually mounted amidships, provide tons of power for their small displacement and low weight. Further evidence of this truth is seen in the LusoMotors LM23, a Lotus replica powered by a one-liter Honda CBR1000 engine making about 150 horsepower. Weighing just under 900 pounds, the power-to-weight ratio of this machine would be enough to scare just about any other car you are likely to meet at the track while its light weight would surely allow for plenty of grip in the corners. The high performance of the LM23 is fitting, as the Lotus 23B design on which its based was such a giant killer that it was banned at Le Mans in the early sixties for being too fast for its small displacement. A quick glance at the chassis shows such track-ready details as inboard-mounted...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Marketing/Advertising , Lotus Lotus has apparently hired Charlie X as its new director of marketing, and the unlucky sods who were ballsy enough to laugh at his ideas in team meetings have apparently been punished accordingly (as seen at the 40:23 mark here ), handed black suits and Lotus pendants, and sent to wander amongst the general public and freak people out. It's all part of the Lotus Eagle's "Faceless People" campaign. If you visit the website, you get a timer counting down to the car's London unveiling, when "true character will emerge." Until then, however, it's more faceless nightmare fodder for British tots. Gallery: Lotus Eagle - spy shots [Source: Lotus via Jalopnik ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sports/GTs , Lotus , Misc. Auto Shows Reports indicate that the highly-anticipated Lotus Eagle will be making its debut next month at the British Motor Show. The 2+2 sports car will be the first all-new Lotus in about 13 years, and will reportedly be powered by a Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter V6 lifted out of the Camry family sedan but highly modified for the task by Lotus' own engineering gurus. Output is pegged at 268 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque in naturally-aspirated guise, with a turbocharged version also reportedly in the works. Along with the latest reports comes this teaser image reportedly released by Lotus ahead of the vehicle's debut, which joins the image of the front suspension module released way back in February and the spy shots that have been trickling in ever since. The teaser shows an unmistakably Lotus front end draped by a sheet which we hope to see lifted on July 22 from the show in London. [Source: CarScoop ] Read | Permalink | Email this...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Lotus With its 60th anniversary rolling around the corner, Lotus isn't about to coast down the straightaway. After years of relying on Elise derivatives - including the Exige, 2-Eleven and Europa - the world-renowned gurus of handling are preparing two completely new models: the Eagle - a new 2+2 GT - and the return of the Esprit - the hardcore, Ferrari-battling supercar. After seeing numerous spy shots of the former, a test mule for the latter has emerged, giving us a glimpse at how the top-of-the-line Lotus is shaping up. The Esprit's design is tipped to be quite different from other Lotus models. But while the platform will be distinct from that of the compact Elise, Lotus' new Variable Vehicle Architecture will be malleable for future applications as well... although, with such a diverse sportscar range zooming over the horizon, we wonder what else Lotus has got in store. Sources claim power for the new Esprit will come...
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Filed under: Spy Photos , Sports/GTs , Lotus Fresh spy shots have surfaced of the upcoming Lotus project Eagle coupe. Lotus released some teaser shots of the front suspension a couple of months ago and we've seen the prototype wearing the over-sized fender camo before. These new shots, however, give us the clearest view yet of the new 2+2 sports car. The Eagle is expected to be derived from the architecture of the Elise/Exige, although it will be longer accommodate a pair of 911-style pseudo-seats between the front seats and rear firewall. The four-pot engines used in the current models are expected to give way to a more highly tuned variant of Toyota's 3.5L V6 as used in the Camry and assorted other vehicles from the Japanese maker. The Eagle should get a proper name and shed the extra bulk at the corners in time for this summer's London Motor Show . Fans of Hethel products should be able to to get one around the end of the year. [Source: Auto Express ] Read | Permalink | Email...
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Filed under: Aftermarket , Tuners , Sports/GTs , Supercars , Audi , Lotus Click above to watch the video Some people just can't be satisfied. As if the Lotus Esprit weren't still one of the hottest-handling cars on the market, back in 1996 the British sportscar firm updated the iconic Bondmobile with an all-new 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 to give it more of a fighting chance of showing up cars like the Ferrari 355 and Porsche 911 Turbo. Not enough for one enthusiast on the Motorgeek.com forum going by the name of "hilly", who apparently just wasn't satisfied with the engine in his '81 Esprit S3. So he yanked it out and painstakingly swapped in the all-aluminum 4.2-liter V8 from the Audi A8. Although the Esprit's engine bay could accommodate the engine, turning it around and squeezing it in there was no mean feat, requiring the project's undertaker to custom fabricate a slew of parts himself. Follow the link to the forum where hilly describes the process with...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Euro , Lotus , UK Click image to enlarge No, it's not the official ride of Captain Britain , but it would probably fit the bill nicely. The Lotus Exige S shown was the subject of an episode of Discovery Channel's How Do They Do It? series. The topic was vehicle wraps, and Lotus Design came up with the flag motif to be applied to one of its dynamic sports cars. Four techs took ten hours to complete the job (this was a little more complicated than wrapping a city bus with a pizzeria ad) and the results look pretty stunning. If you're in the UK, you might be able to catch it as it tours Lotus dealers throughout the country. This makes the MINI roof flags look as subtle as lapel pins. [Source: Lotus via Zer Customs ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Geneva Motor Show , Lotus Click above for a gallery of the Lotus Europa SE. As we reported earlier, Lotus has a new range of Europas for 2008 , at least in their eponymous market. Still not coming to the States as far as we've heard, but with the "Eagle" already soaring, we think we can wait. Not that the Europa is a bad car, but the new model should be even better. Until the Eagle lands, however, the European market still has the perfectly adequate Europa and a new Europa SE. The Europa SE is here in Geneva and it has some spiffy new wheels, 17-inch in front, 18-inch out back. It's painted in a sort of monochrome fashion that makes us think of the '80s for some reason too. There's also a real (for Lotus at least) interior that is swathed in leather. The idea was to make it a bit more comfortable for the few people who are thinking of purchasing one. The car's 2.0L turbo four remains basically the same, but here it's tuned to 225...
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Geneva Motor Show , Green , Lotus Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel We posted about this latest Exige a couple of days ago and just saw it in Geneva. Not a lot different on the outside really besides the paint scheme that helps us remember that this is in fact a Tri-Fuel capable Exige 270E . Even the inside has the green and yellow stripe motif slathered liberally throughout the cockpit. The base Exige was already a great example of how a high performance car could still be environmentally friendly by keeping it light and fun. Now Lotus is showing off their ability to take that concept and turn it up to eleven. Or 270, rather. This Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel concept pumps out 270 hp on methanol, and can also run on gasoline or ethanol. So not only is it the most powerful Exige ever sold by Lotus, but it's also the most ambi-fuelish too. Anyway, look at the pics and remember that it's fast and fun and feel-good all in one...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Hybrids/Alternative , Sports/GTs , Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Green , Lotus Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel While assorted activists, politicians and random individuals carry on about the spectres of global warming, imported oil, CO 2 emissions and other issues that combine to create timetable-free doomsday scenarios, there are people working on potential solutions that do not involve us driving around four-wheeled Segway scooters. That's right: the "dreaded" internal combustion engine might yet provide the answer -- or at least an answer. And because Lotus is the entity searching for the answer in this particular case, the end result might not only be green -- it looks ridiculously fun, too. The car you see here is the Geneva-bound Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel concept, the successor to 2006's Exige 265E , which made 265 horses running on E85. The 270E goes a step further. Not only can it run on gasoline or ethanol...
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