Lotus going from Light to Luxury

  • Thread starter NotThePrez
  • 108 comments
  • 9,622 views

What do you think of this plan?

  • Good plan

    Votes: 29 33.0%

  • Bad plan

    Votes: 49 55.7%

  • Don't care

    Votes: 10 11.4%
  • Total voters
    88
I don't mind the new styling at all or the fact it weighs as much as a luxury car. The only thing that I do mind is the tiny mirrors. I wonder if their excuse is that they installed cameras on the car. I honestly don't think you would be able to see much out of those mirrors.
 
In answering the question of this thread:

Lotus is going where the money is at...


i dont blame them, they are trying to survive the crisis as any company would... it just seem logical that they have to cater to the crowd that is most likely going to spend money on....




eventually, they will come back to light once their bank account is full enough...

that's just my rough analysis of the situation... i say this is a good decision, because none of us would want this company to disappear...



In regard to the latest prototype/concept car, i find it ok...
it looks like those 60's Ferrari GT...


nothing ground breaking it seems...

I could be wrong, and most likely... but just at a glance... i am not entirely attracted to it... but then again, i am unfortunately not in the target of their market.
 
exigeracer
A lot of Lotus DNA has been bent for this model. 500+hp, 3600 lbs, automatic gearbox only, price. The reality is that Lotus hasn't made any money in 15 years. They need something like this in the roster for anyone to try considering them.
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And they did go at this market in a rather Lotus way anyways. While I would love for them to ditch the folding hardtop and save a hundred pounds or so, as it stands now this thing is still quite a bit lighter than any of the other cars in the segment already.
 
Toronado
And they did go at this market in a rather Lotus way anyways. While I would love for them to ditch the folding hardtop and save a hundred pounds or so, as it stands now this thing is still quite a bit lighter than any of the other cars in the segment already.
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Lotus has said that a fixed-top 2+2 will be an option at production, but are showing the retractable version for now. It's still unclear, but if the 3,600lb figure is this open-top prototype's weight, then we can expect a drop of at least a hundred pounds for the standard GT.
 
exigeracer
There is no doubt that a recognizable design language will be a priority for him and for the new direction of Lotus.

A lot of Lotus DNA has been bent for this model. 500+hp, 3600 lbs, automatic gearbox only, price. The reality is that Lotus hasn't made any money in 15 years. They need something like this in the roster for anyone to try considering them.
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Oh, I wouldn't doubt a recognizable design language is important; as it should be, and is, for many well-known brands. This however is so utterly derivative that I could put a few different emblems on the nose and convince people it was a new concept from (insert brand here). As it is it feels very much like another Japanese manufacturer's pie-in-the-sky concept, be it Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or Mazda. Nicking some Aston wheels is probably a good call, though.

Hook a generator up to Chapman's grave, I imagine all the power being made by his spinning might be of some use.
 
That Elite looks great! Oh, and the engine!:drool: 611hp from a 5.0L V8 from Lexus, this thing is awesome.:D
 
homeforsummer
That's what people probably said about the Elise too though, given that it looked like no previous Lotus ;)

Looks good though. Hint of S2000 at the front.

My only concern still is that Lotus manage to get the quality right. I've no worries whatsoever about them getting the engineering right.
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This in general but specifically the quality concern. The Evora is a fantastic car but but the build quality isn't as good as it's Porsche competitor. As the Elite is going up against the Aston Martin DB9 the build quality is going to have to be outstanding and in all seriousness I'm finding it difficult to imagine an Aston buyer choosing a Lotus. I love Lotus and I've grown up with them as my Dad has a 1979 Elite but it would be an easy decision to get this over a DB9 if it was my money.

I'm also wondering where this and the other new models are going to built, I hope it stays in Norfolk.
 
If it's a brief boost of power like the Porsche GT3R Hybrid then yes but the system hasn't been announced, it's fairly likely it'll more like a convetional hybrid to reduce emissions for normal driving but still provide a performance boost.
 
arvin charles
I think the design itself looks nice. BUT it also looks like a Japanese car (S2000 anyone?). I also see a lot of the Ferrari California, as well as the Tiburon.

Where's the Lotus genes?

Oh, and I don't think they should have used the Elite nameplate on this one...
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It definitely has got a look of the S2000 about it although that's no bad thing. There aren't many similarities between the first 2 Elite's below and they aren't like any modern Lotus'. I can see some similarities between the new Elite and the Evora but Lotus are reinventing themselves so they need to make changes.

Why don't you think they should have used the Elite name for this car? It's a 2+2 GT like the previous Elite.

S1 Lotus Elite
1959%20Lotus%20Elite.jpg


S2 Lotus Elite
1974-1982-lotus-elite-inline_cd_gallery.jpg
 
homeforsummer
It's the same attitude that makes people sneer at the Porsche 924 and 914 because they were four-cylinder and designed by Volkswagen. Oddly forgetting that Porsche's first car, the 356, was four-cylinder and designed by Volkswagen...
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You're contradicting yourself. See, if you're trying to say that new cars that differ from the original company owner's ideals, it helps to use an example that actually violates them. Ferrari, for example, would be one. They now create good cars that have to be modified for racing, rather than the other way around as Enzo had claimed to be doing. Colin Chapman was all about low weight; every model, all the time. This car could be good, but it's doubtful it would be anything like the Lotus of old.
 
harrytuttle
You're contradicting yourself. See, if you're trying to say that new cars that differ from the original company owner's ideals, it helps to use an example that actually violates them. Ferrari, for example, would be one. They now create good cars that have to be modified for racing, rather than the other way around as Enzo had claimed to be doing. Colin Chapman was all about low weight; every model, all the time. This car could be good, but it's doubtful it would be anything like the Lotus of old.
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You missed my point.

A heavy Lotus apparently differs from the company's ideals. But light weight was only one of their ideals - they've also always been known for engineering and technology. Light weight was often just a welcome by-product of clever engineering.

People say that the 914, 924 etc "aren't proper Porsches" because they were developed by Volkswagen. They're the sort of people who think that any Porsche other than the 911 isn't a proper Porsche. Yet the car that pre-dates their beloved 911 (and from where the concept of the 911 was developed) was a four-cylinder car that came about as a development of a Volkswagen.

So if the new Lotus is well-engineered and technologically advanced, then it's no less a Lotus than any of their other cars.

And even a heavy Lotus is still light in context. Compared to something like a DB9, it's 100kg lighter. That's not an insubstantial amount.

And as with my Porsche analogy, if the car helps Lotus make money (like the 914, 924, Boxster and all the other Porsches that purists dislike did for Porsche) then it'll be worth it regardless of how far from their original ethos it is.
 
homeforsummer
You missed my point.
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No, it's simply that you have no idea what you're talking about. Let's go through this one step at a time, to keep it simple for you.

The 356 was almost completely mechanically identical to the Beetle that preceeded it. Same basic engine, same platform, same transmission. It was at the inception of the 911 that things rapidly diverged. Basically, as long as it was a sports car, it was acceptable to the Porsche/Piech family. The 914, designed by Ferdinand Piech himself, did indeed use Volkswagen parts, but was hardly considered anything but a sports car. It wasn't until the release of the Cayenne in 2003, 3 years after any Porsche family member had direct control of the company, that there was a Porsche not specifically focused for possible motorsport usage. This is where you see a divergence of company focus, not in 1968, 1976, or even 1963

Lotus had a similar focus on motorsport, with the added tenet for lightness. This belief eschewed anything resembling a GT; the Elan, the Seven, and all iterations of the Esprit all were created with those two ideas in mind at the cost of just about all other conveniences. A GT/touring car is anathema to this (as is a city car, basically), as it is, by definition, not a light car. It can be lighter than, say a 599GTO or DBS, but even the lightest of those is still well over 1,000 lbs heavier than any Lotus available today, and nearly twice as much as the Evora. Further, all Lotus cars on the road have racing equivalents, if not more than one for each model. For the most part, this keeps in line with Colin Chapman's thesis and goals for the company.

Adding large GT's and small city cars, while probably interesting and fun to drive for their segment, are explicitly not part of the original company's intentions.

The Cayenne brought enough cash to release the spectacular (if crowded) varied models of the 911/997 lineup, none of which are actually any less than great. The same may be true of the upcoming Lotus lineup, but to call the Eterne a sports car is like saying the Cayenne was designed as a Paris-Dakar contender.
 
The time for actually accusing Lotus of selling out has long since passed... with the "Lotus" and "engineered by Lotus" badges going onto such disparate (and usually non-lightweight) projects as the Lotus Carlton (arguably sporty) and the Isuzu Trooper. Heck... while the Esprit was light, it wasn't really that much lighter than comparable Ferraris at the time it was released!

Lotus's racing creed has always been about lightness... but you obviously can't build an automotive company selling street cars around just that. Which is why Lotus farms out its engineering and suspension expertise to bigger companies, just to keep the bottom line in the black. As long as they're lighter (as you put it), then they'll still have their identity.

I, for one, would love to see Lotus's take on the typical subcompact hot hatch... possibly with a front-mounted gearbox (a la Toyota iQ), equal length driveshafts, a Quaife and full double-wishbones...

-

The Cayenne... Funnily enough, VW used the Touareg for the Paris Dakar instead... and when they went with the spaceframe buggies, they kept the Touareg name.
 
harrytuttle
Let's go through this one step at a time, to keep it simple for you.
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If you hadn't written this condescending twaddle, then I might have bothered reading the rest of your post. As it is, then I'm happy to assume the rest of it was equally as ignorant.
 

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