Lotus going from Light to Luxury

[Tornado]

Does Toyota even have an engine that would make a suitable replacement for the 2ZZ-GE? As I understand it, the ZR series (as seen in the Auris) is pretty far from an ideal replacement, even as a replacement for the 1ZZ.

 

[niky]

Has a Lotus roadcar ever had a brilliant engine? I thought generally the Lotus philosophy is basically just shed weight and the engine is just the thing that pushes/pulls the car. As long as the engine does its job, Lotus do the rest of the performance work.

Ah. Touché.

I imagine the Toyota engines are also cheap which factors in too.

And double.

It's a shame about the 1.8. Cue all the fanboys clamoring for K20s in the next generation Elise. Count me amongst them.

 

[Philly]

There was an Autoblog article saying Lotus may be partnering with Cosworth to make an engine? I think that would be pretty cool.

 

[Seismica]

As long as they keep their flagship model to Colin Chapman's ideals (Which at the moment would be the Elise/Exige), then there is no problem with straying away from the whole Lighter/Simple = Better philosophy. I mean, they've already done that with the Evora; Fitted a bigger, more powerful engine and made it heavier and slower than an Exige (and to some extent the Europa S too).

I wouldn't mind seeing a Lotus supercar, as long as Chapman's philosophy stays as their focus for their more mainstream models.

EDIT:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8808856.stm

A key point here:

Both sides are keen on a deal, which is expected to include road car tie-ins.

It's just a rumour, generated by a supposed 'meeting'. But if it is true, it could mean seeing Renault engines in road-going Lotus' or Lotii... What is the plural of Lotus?

 

[homeforsummer]

As long as they keep their flagship model to Colin Chapman's ideals (Which at the moment would be the Elise/Exige),

Technically the Elise/Exige is their staple, rather than their flagship But I'll let you off

then there is no problem with straying away from the whole Lighter/Simple = Better philosophy. I mean, they've already done that with the Evora; Fitted a bigger, more powerful engine and made it heavier and slower than an Exige (and to some extent the Europa S too).

You've done the Evora a bit of a disservice there, I think. The Exige is abnormally fast, rather than the Evora being slow. And yes it's heavier, but again the Elise and Exige are incredibly light as far as modern cars go.

The Evora's real comparison is to something like the Porsche Cayman S - similar weight, similarly-sized (though less potent) engine, comes in at a similar price, makes 60mph in roughly the same time (5.1 vs 5.2 for the Porsche) and gets within 10mph on top speed.

When it's so close to one of Porsche's best ever cars (and apparently outhandles it too), you can't really say that the Evora is anything other than a very good car.

However, it does raise questions about Lotus' ability to compete at a higher level. Though the car itself is more than up to the task, things like quality still lag behind. The Evora's interior looks great but it's not a patch on the Porsche for quality.

I have to say though, in the unlikely event I was ever in the market for a car like that, I'd find it incredibly hard to choose between Evora and Cayman. They're probably two of the best sports cars in the world right now.

 

[Ardius]

I was just going to come and post about the Renault rumours, damn you Seismica!
That would answer the question of what they are going to do to replace the 1.8 Toyota engines possibly?

 

[Vince_Fiero]

A bit worried about Luxury.

1) I believe a difficult market, where the big boys are playing (recently with SLS AMG, R8, ...)
2) Complex = lot of investment = lot of risk
3) For me a Lotus 7, Elise, Exige, etc... is Lotus.
The Esprit, etc ... are nice, but do not hold the same Lotus spirit. Will the market understand?

 

[homeforsummer]

If the product is good, then the market will understand anything. But it really does have to be a competitive product.

 

[Seismica]

I was just going to come and post about the Renault rumours, damn you Seismica!

That would answer the question of what they are going to do to replace the 1.8 Toyota engines possibly?

I don't think it would be commercially viable for Renault if it was just for the F1 team, but Renault engines in the road cars too, it could be very lucrative for Renault and it makes it quite feasible that they are trying to make a deal.

A bit worried about Luxury.

1) I believe a difficult market, where the big boys are playing (recently with SLS AMG, R8, ...)
2) Complex = lot of investment = lot of risk
3) For me a Lotus 7, Elise, Exige, etc... is Lotus.
The Esprit, etc ... are nice, but do not hold the same Lotus spirit. Will the market understand?

Lotus have the expertise to make fast cars. But luxury cars? I have my doubts. Though it depends what sort of market they are going in to. A one off Lotus hypercar would be cool, and the Lotus name would sell it easily, it wouldn't be a bad move right now (Even with the market conditions as bad as they are - It doesn't seem to have affected high end car sales too much).

 

[exigeracer]

Lotus have the expertise to make fast cars. But luxury cars? I have my doubts. Though it depends what sort of market they are going in to.

Lotus' current president just came from the top position of Global Branding at Ferrari, before which he was at Red Bull. The guy knows how to make a brand. Lotus is also in talks with BMW exec Tom Purves and a few other top-brand names. Lotus just terminated their European dealership network in order to standardized the brand experience when dealers want to re-sign with them.

Lotus will look like a very different company in the next year or two, and so will their cars.

 

[Paulie]

Has a Lotus roadcar ever had a brilliant engine? I thought generally the Lotus philosophy is basically just shed weight and the engine is just the thing that pushes/pulls the car. As long as the engine does its job, Lotus do the rest of the performance work.
I imagine the Toyota engines are also cheap which factors in too.

Was the twin turbo L6 in the Carlton not a brilliant engine, if not maybe too heavy at a guess?

I really hope the new Esprit looks good, too many manufacturers lately are showing concepts/making cars that try too hard to look futuristic and end up looking average.

 

[Vince_Fiero]

Lotus will look like a very different company in the next year or two, and so will their cars.

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt then and embrace the change.

 

[homeforsummer]

Was the twin turbo L6 in the Carlton not a brilliant engine, if not maybe too heavy at a guess?

Was that their engine though or a regular Carlton unit that they fettled?

 

[Ardius]

Was the twin turbo L6 in the Carlton not a brilliant engine, if not maybe too heavy at a guess?

I really hope the new Esprit looks good, too many manufacturers lately are showing concepts/making cars that try too hard to look futuristic and end up looking average.

Not a Lotus engine, just a tuned Vauxhall/Opel engine. The point with that car was simply to improve the car overall, its not like they went and found a new engine, they just improved the one already in the car.
Like I said, Lotus take what they can find for an engine and then do the rest of the work.

I'm not sure it was a brilliant engine, it just had turbos stuck on and a new block on it. But I've never driven one and I've yet to read an opinion on the engine in particular for that car. But in any case, exception can always prove the rule .

 

[Neal]

Like I said, Lotus take what they can find for an engine and then do the rest of the work.

Not always true. They developed the V8 themselves for the Esprit. More recently they have developed an in-line 3 cylinder engine with Fagor Ederlan Group as a range extender in electric vehicles.

They are more than capable of developing their own engines but it is hideously expensive to get them approved for sale worldwide so it's much more profitable to use an existing engine.

 

[niky]

For a small manufacturer, the only profit in making your own engine is if you get to sell it to someone else. Which is why they haven't bothered to make their own high performance engine and have instead made a hybrid-special that they hope to sell to some of the big boys or even some of the middle-sized boys.

 

[analog]

They are more than capable of developing their own engines but it is hideously expensive to get them approved for sale worldwide so it's much more profitable to use an existing engine.

Indeed, don't forget they basically redesigned the engine of the C4 Corvette ZR-1 ( meaning the engine of the ZR-1 was developed by Lotus ) and why design a completely new engine when there are plenty of good ones to futher improve around.
For a small company, with even a history doing exactly that to back it up ( unlike say Ferrari which would be sacrilige ) it seems a very sensible strategy.
They still could if they had the funds ( they have the knowhow to create almost anything and are even asked for their expertise by much larger companies ) but there's no real need for it.

 

[YSSMAN]

Indeed, don't forget they basically redesigned the engine of the C4 Corvette ZR-1 ( meaning the engine of the ZR-1 was developed by Lotus ) and why design a completely new engine when there are plenty of good ones to futher improve around.

Well, Lotus was owned by General Motors at the time, so it was an in-house job. To this day, the only OHC Corvette as well. Chances are, it will remain that way for quite a long time.

 

[Neal]

Roll on September

Lotus has officially confirmed that it will show a concept for an upmarket supercar at the Paris motor show in September.

In the latest of a series of cryptic statements, the Malaysian-owned, Norfolk-based sports car company reveals its new show car will be “perhaps even more” than a replacement for the mid-engined Esprit supercar — which it pointedly reminds us was first unveiled as a Giugiaro-designed concept at the Paris show exactly 35 years ago.

Lotus has been working for at least three years on various iterations of an Esprit replacement, but the company’s latest management, led by ex-Ferrari commercial boss Danny Bahar, has signalled a decisive move upmarket for all future products, apparently into Ferrari-Aston territory.

Lotus spokesmen are hazy about future product, but agree that the new concept is an accurate guide to their future intentions for production models.

When sales ended in 2004, volume of the old Esprit — which lasted 18 years through a dozen different models — amounted to 10,700 cars.

 

[Neal]

Lotus reveals Evora S and Evora IPS ahead of Paris debut

Not long after Lotus accidentally leaked its plans to unveil two new Evoras at this year's Paris Motor Show, we now have the full details weeks before the dynamic duo make their public debut. The Evora S and IPS (which stands for "Intelligent Precision Shift" or "automatic transmission" in layman's terms) will nicely fill out the Evora range, and we're aching to get our hands on the former.

For the Evora S, Lotus has tweaked the Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter V6 to produce 345 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque – gains of 69 hp and 37 lb-ft over the standard car. The run from 0-60 happens in just 4.8 seconds and top speed has been raised to 172 miles per hour. What's more, the Evora S comes standard with a sport button that allows the driver to control the throttle response and activate an exhaust bypass valve. On top of that, pressing the magic switch increases the rev limiter and changes the stability control settings, and we imagine that the end result is more than pulse-quickening.

On the tamer side of things, Lotus is also offering the Evora IPS with its new six-speed automatic transmission, featuring both fully automatic and manual shift modes. The two-pedal Evora uses paddle shifters to control gear selection, and buttons are housed on the center console to switch between the standard PRND drive modes. Power has not been changed for the Evora IPS, and thankfully, Lotus has managed to develop a slushbox that doesn't add any weight to the Evora. After all, lightness is key.

We anticipate a full raft of high-resolution photos to be released closer to the official Paris show debut, but for now, scroll through the small gallery below and follow the jump to read the official release from Lotus.

Press Release

It's an Evora but not as you know it

Ahead of the official unveil at the Paris Motor Show on September 30th, Lotus announce the latest evolution of the award winning Evora – the Evora S and Evora IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) option.

Lotus has taken the award winning* Evora and re-created it with a 350 PS 3.5l V6 engine to create the Evora S. Dany Bahar Lotus' Chief Executive Officer summed it up beautifully when he said: "You don't realise what you were missing from your driving experience until you get behind the wheel of the Evora S."

So apart from the obvious power difference, how is the Evora S different to the standard Evora? It's another question we put to the CEO (given that he's spent a little time behind the wheel, we thought he'd be best placed to answer questions). This is what he said: "It's the next level of Evora experience. It communicates with you better, the suspension setting has been fine tuned for added power and control so it responds even more to direction. It's an instinctual car, the experience is pure."
"We were proud of the Evora but we're even prouder of the Evora S, I feel like it does the true Lotus experience justice. The really great thing is that as we move forward the standard Evora should also benefit from some of these developments."

The Evora S comes with a sport pack as standard featuring a 'sport' button which allows the driver to control throttle response and activate the exhaust by-pass valve. The sport button also raises the instantaneous rev limit and changes the dynamic stability control settings resulting in a total experience change. There are cross-drilled brakes for improved cooling. And here's a heads up for those who buy into the old adage 'you can tell the men from the boys by the size of their toys': the external emotion of the Evora S has been improved with a completely new active exhaust which means that at the push of a button the car sounds just as dramatic as it feels.

Commenting on the Evora S, Lotus Chief Commercial Officer Andreas Prillmann said: "The Evora S is a natural progression for us but more than that, it's a taste of what people can come to expect from the next generation of Lotus cars. It retains core Lotus values such as performance through lightweight but it also gives more than that. It's the perfect combination of top performance, style and comfort. Form doesn't sacrifice function in the case of the Evora S."

So there you have it folks, the next generation of Lotus Evora, the Evora S, set to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

But that's not all. In addition to the Evora S, Lotus also presents the IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) option. This inception of the seven-time-award-winning (who's counting? We are!) Evora sees an automatic 6-speed gearbox with Lotus developed transmission control with a 3.5 l V6 engine delivering 280 PS assuring a superior automatic driving experience.
The IPS version of the Evora allows the driver to switch between manual paddle shift and automatic drive modes. The driver also has the option of selecting 'sport' mode which showcases the Lotus sport driving experience allowing the driver to really feel each gear shift and be in complete control of the transmission.

Commenting on the development Dany Bahar said: "The Evora IPS is set to broaden the appeal of the Evora and reach out to a slightly different market. We hope it will be popular with established automatic locations such as Asia, the Middle East and the US. It's been a long time since Lotus created an automatic and we've spent a great deal of time refining this one to make sure that it perfectly complements the Evora drive experience."

Evora S Technical Specification

Model Evora S
Engine - Mid mounted, transverse 3.5 litre DOHC V6 VVT-I
Emissions see below due to wheel options
Transmission - 6 speed manual
Chassis - Modular lightweight bonded aluminium structure
Steering - Lotus tuned hydraulically-assisted power steering
Suspension - Forged aluminium double wishbone suspension
Bilstein high performance gas dampers
Eibach coaxial coil springs

Performance data

Standard wheel option
Fuel consumption - urban 14.5 l/100km
Fuel consumption – extra urban 7.4 l/100km
Fuel consumption - combined 10.0l/100km
CO2 Emissions 235 g/km

19/20" wheel option
Fuel consumption - urban 14.6 I/100km
Fuel consumption – extra urban 7.6 I/100km
Fuel consumption - combined 10.2 I/100km
CO2 Emissions 239 g/km

Max power - 350 PS / 257.5 kW @ 7000 rpm
Max torque - 400 Nm / 295 lb ft @ 4500 rpm
0-60 mph - 4.6s
0-100 km/h 4.8s
Maximum speed - 172mph
Vehicle mass (unladen) - 1437kg

Evora IPS Option Technical Specification

Engine - Mid mounted, transverse 3.5 litre DOHC V6 VVT-I
Emissions - 208 g/km
Transmission Electronically controlled 6 speed automatic
Chassis Modular lightweight bonded aluminium structure
Steering Lotus tuned hydraulically-assisted power steering
Suspension Forged aluminium double wishbone suspension
Bilstein high performance gas dampers
Eibach coaxial coil springs

Performance data

Fuel consumption - urban 12.6 l/100km
Fuel consumption – extra urban 6.6 l/100km
Fuel consumption - combined 8.8 l/100km
CO2 Emissions 208 g/km

Max power - 280 PS / 206 KW @ 6400rpm
Max torque - 350 Nm / 258 lb ft @ 4700rpm
0-60 mph - 5.3s
0-100 km/h - 5.5s
Maximum speed - 155mph
Vehicle mass (unladen) - 1436 kg

 

[Paulie]

The Evora S looks awesome! It was nice to see them show up all the journos and NOT supercharge it like everyone was expecting. The mid-engined 6cyl sports car hasn't been so alive since the NSX left us. (Thanks also go to the Cayman S on that one).

 

[Dan_]

Styling-wise this car is just brilliant, it's a mid-term between italian sausage and german common-sense, a mid-term of elegance, functionality and sportiness that only British car makers can achieve. The rear diffuser mess the styling a little bit, but doesn't compromise the harmony of the looks. This is the hell of a nice car to look at.

Retuned engine? I was expecting a supercharged plant exactly as said by Jalopnik. But then, a naturally aspirated car is always better in the responsiveness and smoothness, and usually sounds better too. Approved.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

I approve Evora S. But IPS..? Not sure if want..

 

[Neal]

I approve Evora S. But IPS..? Not sure if want..

That's because you're not American

 

[Robin]

The Evora is about the only thing I have found interesting from Lotus in the last 2 decades! (the Vauxhall VX220 was the only exception). The problem is its way over priced compared to its competition.

Robin.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Isn't Evora IPS first lotus with automatic box?

 

[G.T.Ace]

That Evora is absolutely gorgeous, fantastic looking car.
But it could use some more extra HP in my opinion.

 

[Leonidae@MFT]

Did you read the whole article? They just gave it 345bhp.. Which helps it to spank Cayman S pretty nicely.

 

[G.T.Ace]

Yes, I've read the whole article, I still think it is not enough.
I would like to see a Lotus supercar with the looks of the Evora, make it a "cheap" F458 competitor, that would be cool.

 

[Neal]

Isn't Evora IPS first lotus with automatic box?

The Elite, Eclat and Excel all had the option of an automatic gearbox as they were they were aimed at the executive coupé market which is also the case for the Evora.

Yes, I've read the whole article, I still think it is not enough.
I would like to see a Lotus supercar with the looks of the Evora, make it a "cheap" F458 competitor, that would be cool.

Your wish should be granted on 30th September 2010