Lotus "Circuit-Car" announced

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It seems as if Lotus is going to try to take out the Radicals of the track-day car world. Excerpts from a PR e-mail that I found. This news is fresh, announced yesterday (Saturday, June 11th).

"

The Lotus "Circuit Car"

The all new lightweight and high performance track day Lotus
The new Lotus "Circuit Car" was announced yesterday (Saturday, 11 June,
2005) by Kim Ogaard-Nielsen, CEO of Group Lotus, to privileged Lotus Club
International members at the annual Lotus Club International Gala Dinner
held at Norwich City Football Club. Based on the Lotus Elise Aluminium
chassis, and weighing in at approximately 600kg, the single-seater car (with
an option of two seats) has been designed and engineered solely for Track
Day and Club Racing.
The lightweight composite bodywork of the visually dramatic open-topped
circuit car combines high downforce from cleverly engineered aerodynamics.
Part of its phenomenal performance is from a supercharged VVTL-i (Variable
Valve Timing with Lift - intelligent) engine, and is estimated to achieve
the 0 - 100 mph (160 km/h) sprint in a staggering 9.0 seconds. This exciting
combination has allowed for a dynamic racing package producing higher
performance to that of existing Elise-based products. An entry-level
naturally-aspirated VVTL-i engine will also be available, powering the car
from 0 - 62 mph in under 4 seconds.

(...)

The introduction of the new Lotus "Circuit Car" will generate additional
exposure of the Lotus brand and provide Lotus with entry to further key
market sectors, as Clive Dopson, Managing Director of Lotus Cars, explains
"The introduction of this new model plays a key role in developing and
enhancing the presence of Lotus Cars on the track, whilst providing the
driver of today with a pure circuit car which thrives on the essential
values of the Lotus brand. In addition, it will be yet another example of a
high quality product to be built at our world class production facilities at
Hethel."
The Lotus "Circuit Car" is due to go into production at the Group Lotus
Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk, in December 2005, with scheduled volume of
approximately 100 units per annum.

Full specifications and price will be announced closer to the production
date.

Predicted Performance figures:
Naturally Aspirated VVTL-i Engine:
0 to 60 mph 4 seconds (approx.)
0 to 100 mph < 11 seconds

Supercharged VVTL-i Engine:
0 to 60 mph 3.5 seconds (approx.)
0 to 100 mph < 9.0 seconds

"

The new Lotus apparently ran qualifying runs at a race yesterday. Here's the impression of Noble racer:

"One of these was at Snetterton yesterday, I think the first public sight of one. It was in our race. Gavin Kershaw was driving it. Admitedly he's a sharo man behind the wheel but he just flew past everything, qualifying either second or first from a field of fully race prepared motorsports Exiges, a couple of Atoms and a Shelsley. It is a serious rival to the M400 and will probably blow away any other M12.
Pricing will be very interesting."


-----


So it seems as if they already bolted everything together and are already throwing around tests and development. I'm presuming this is the follow-up to the 340R. The looks aren't quite as dramatic, but the initial designs are what we're used to seeing from Lotus: simply stunning. For those who don't know, Gavin Kershaw is Lotus's head chassis engineer. The same guy who threw around the Elise 111S in a Fifth Gear episode (Clarkson insulted him most of the time). I'll keep this thread updated as new information becomes available. Check it out:
 

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That is not a marketable car at all. It was a (at this point) one-off for Proton racing in Asia. There were never any plans to produce it. There is discussion and rumors about Lotus making a few more, but that is just speculation. To tell you the truth, I don't think that enough money or development went into the Sport Exige for it to be a huge success. Sure, it will be popular, but I doubt it will create a benchmark in performance like the Elise created. Taking a look at its competition, there are other huge budget teams and cars being used.

This Circuit Car is pretty much a superlightweight step-in racer, what the original Elise was meant to be, back in the mid-90s. They plan to produce only about 100 per year, which is fairly low-volume. Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to larger publicity and exposure for both of these new cars from Lotus. Who knows what we will see from Lotus in the future as well. There has been discussion about many different platforms and new models from Hethel, and to this point, the only official releases have been completely out of what anyone had predicted.
 
Nice. But I'd prefer it if more attention was put into a Esprit replacement.

There's too many low production cars, or atleast rumours of, coming out. They might make teh cash but it won't work longterm.
 
I saw some more concepts again from Lotus. This time they actually looked fairly decent and they were also titled "Esprit". Speaking of which, I saw an Esprit S4 the other day. I haven't seen that many (none in the past several years) and I was really expecting it to look more outdated. It looked stunning, even with the old styling cues.
 
I read about this the other day. I like the styling. Very sleek.
It's a shame they didn't go for a single seat, center driving position.

The Sport Exige is a one-off. Let it go. It will never be sold in any form. The closest you'll get is for aftermarket companies to make body kits that replicate the Sport Exige's panels.
 
Whoa, that thing looks mucho sweet, and I think is just as sexy as the Sport Exige. Lotus seem to have gotten their act together as they have parted making some interesting cars as of late. well done to them i say.
 
Reminds me of the Elfin Streamliner, which is also an awesome looking track car.
 
sting
Lotus seem to have gotten their act together as they have parted making some interesting cars as of late. well done to them i say.
Click to expand...

When has Lotus released a non-interesting car? Let's be honest here. Maybe the S2 Elan? That's it. Even that car had handling to boot...

The Circuit Car is getting mixed opinions around here. They aren't really progressing very much lately, and they still need to return to the good ol' days of a racer, small sports car, mid engined sports car and a 2+2. They are still basing their new cars on a 10 year old chassis. The Circuit Car won't be cheap by any means, and it will most likely be heavier than 600kg. That's what some people have to say about Lotus. Everyone else thinks it's amazing. They released an advanced chassis, 10 years ago, that still hasn't been matched by any company. Huzzah
 
I must admit, that little "Circuit Car" looks like a phenomeonal piece. I'd love to take that into Madness at Mid-Ohio in a group of Tigas and Ralts.

Quite frankly, with Spyker bringing roadsters back to Le Mans in the GT category, maybe it's time Lotus attacked the 24 and maybe this is the machine to do it with.

And, as wrong as I might be, I think the last time Lotus ran a factory effort in a Production GT category at Le Mans was with the Elite.
 
I am not sure where they went with the Lotus Elise GT1, but there's a chance it ran Le Mans. It currently runs ALMS (completely deperate from the facotry, mind you). These days, it takes a massive budget to run Le Mans. I am sure I'd rather see Lotus sticking with their priorities and actually improving PR and product quality. With the release of the 240R, Lotus also described the new chassis that they were developping. I'd rather see more info and insight on that, and which models would use it. That chassis would be more suited for competition that the current Elise.
 
True, a larger car's chassis is probably more suited to going to Le Mans to take on the Panzer brigade of 911's, and you're right that Lotus really doesn't have the budget for a full on assault, even on GT2.

But, the way I see it, the Circuit Racer seems a more "Lotus" approach, and it'd be great fun to see a little Lotus roadster driving the "big cars" mad once again.
 
Here's some REAL pictures. I'm kind of disappointed with the outcome. Lotus hadn't officially released anything new since the M250, so this is a bit of a let down... Anyways...

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I've got more pictures if anyone cares.
 
Nice old news there....

Anywho yeah, good to know lotus is making a Porsche Cayman competitor...but it doesn't look as nice as the cayman.
 
The Lotus track car has been in magazines before, I think it's been known about in the UK for about 2 moths now. But bear in mind this thread was made well over a month ago.
 
At this point I don't care if it's old. Make yourself useful and post all the friggin pic you got! That goes for everyone else damn it! I don't get those mags! :grumpy:
 
The modern Lotus Seven anyone?

Okay, Caterham and Westfield have been doing such things for a while but this is a fresh view and maybe not as extreme as a Radical.
 
Well no, since the Seven is road legal. It is a fresh view though and a different style to the average track day car, which is nice.
 
I have seen pictures/renderings of the car before, as mentioned. I received informationabout the track car a day before Lotus released the press release about the whole ordeal (with those grey/orange renderings). These Lotus pictures only popped up about a week ago.










 
Driftster
unless they can come with the Exige Sport's motor
Click to expand...

They will have the supercharger as an option.

I fail to see where it would fit, considering the unit most likely can't fit the Elise's low engine cover.
 
I saw that car in the flesh at the Shelsley Centenary meeting on the 21st of August - sounded pretty sweet too.
 

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