Lotus News: "NSFW" Lotus Evora Type 124 24h racer, less hardcore Evora viewing by e-r

[exigeracer]

Thanks for sharing that kikie. It hasn't been brought up on any of my Lotus forums, so I'll post it up and see if anyone's got any further info.

In related news, the demo Evora has been touring America for a few months. It's finally coming to my local Lotus dealer next week! I'll be there for sure getting intimate with it. Will post photos and comments most certainly.

 

[exigeracer]

Lotus signs Ferrari's branding VP as Lotus CEO. Considering the Ferrari brand is one of the most desirable and recognizable icons in the world, I think it's safe to say that this man has experience. Let's hope he has the engineering direction to put Lotus in an even better place in the coming years.

Dany Bahar joins Lotus as Chief Executive Officer
Dany T. Bahar has been appointed as the new CEO of Group Lotus effective 1st October 2009, replacing Michael J. Kimberley, who retired in July.


Prior to this appointment, Dany Bahar was Senior Vice President, Commercial & Brand for Ferrari SpA where he was responsible for worldwide road car sales and after sales business, overall road car and F1 marketing activities, licensing, and merchandising business.


Before joining Ferrari SpA, Dany Bahar was the Head of Corporate Projects Business in Red Bull GmbH. He was responsible for the overall corporate project business development, with emphasis on diversifying the business such as setting up their F1 strategy with Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and the US based Nascar Team operations, acquiring football clubs in Salzburg, New York and Ghana for commercial purposes.


On his appointment, Dany Bahar said, “I am looking forward to taking on the challenges as CEO of this legendary and iconic company with a peerless motorsport history. Lotus has a worldwide reputation for innovative engineering and superb sportscars that lead the world in efficiency, design and dynamics. With the recent launch of the award-winning Evora, there is proof that Lotus is better placed than many to capitalise on the rapidly changing automotive market. I can’t wait to get my plans underway in October.”


In welcoming Dany Bahar, Dato’ Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, the Chairman of Lotus Group, stated “With Dany’s track record in motorsports and Ferrari, we strongly believe that we have found the right CEO to enhance the Lotus image, brand and reputation as a world class sportscar and engineering company. With a strong management team already in place, we are confident this objective can be attained.”


Dany Bahar, a Swiss National, holds an MBA and is married with two children.



About Lotus
The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Limited, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany.

Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party 'niche vehicle' engineering and manufacture worldwide.

Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa and the new award winning Lotus Evora. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.

Also, the Malaysian government is interested in pushing Lotus to hold the 13th spot. This is better than the previous rumor of an outfit called Litespeed, which was using nothing but the name as an entry. This is pretty vague, but still this is all making for some interesting coming months for Lotus.

A consortium backed by the Malaysian government is pushing hard for Lotus to beat BMW Sauber to the final slot in next year's Formula 1 world championship, AUTOSPORT has learned.

BMW Sauber chiefs have been looking for a buyer to secure the team's future, and there has been speculation that the outfit's Malaysian backers could support a buyout bid.

However, AUTOSPORT understands that the sponsors are instead close to throwing their support behind the totally new team that will use the Lotus name.

AUTOSPORT understands that the Malaysian government is keen to continue the promotion of its oil company Petronas in F1, but also start delivering a higher profile for the Lotus company name - which is owned by Malaysia's national car maker Proton.

The push for the Lotus name in F1 could also be boosted by the arrival of former Ferrari brand guru Dany Bahar as the company's new CEO, although it is believed his appointment at the current time is coincidental and not linked to the F1 plans.

Lotus's ambitions are being spearheaded by respected technical chief Mike Gascoyne, whose original Lotus team linked with the Litespeed operation were widely talked about earlier this year.

Malaysia's Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek refused to deny talk that the government is looking at its involvement in the team when speaking to local media yesterday.

"Nothing has been finalised and there's nothing to comment," he told the Malay Mail. "I'm not confirming, neither am I saying otherwise."

Shabery also did not rule out that an announcement about the team's plans was scheduled to be made after the Singapore Grand Prix later this month by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said: "Let's wait for the PM to make the announcement. Who knows what will happen after the Singapore GP."

The FIA is currently evaluating the entries for the 13th team in F1, with an announcement expected in the next few weeks.

 

[YSSMAN]

Having Lotus back in F1 would be most-awesome. It would bring a lot of extra attention to the brand, and a much-needed new face to the competition. I'm all for it.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Is it actually Lotus Cars, or is it the group who has the rights to the Team lotus name and submitted an entry (and was not selected) for 2010, earlier this year? Or have Lotus Cars regained the rights to use the Team Lotus name?

 

[Ardius]

Is it actually Lotus Cars, or is it the group who has the rights to the Team lotus name and submitted an entry (and was not selected) for 2010, earlier this year? Or have Lotus Cars regained the rights to use the Team Lotus name?

Litespeed (the team who had the Team Lotus rights) were attempting to work with Lotus Cars when applying for next year.

So I can only assume they have gotten together, found this Malaysian backing and used their reserved entry.

 

[exigeracer]

I just wet myself.

It is amazing to see Lotus returning to factory-run racing, albeit it will only debut next year at Nurburgring. The thing looks downright pornographic. 400bhp, sequential box. These are all things that can't be far from seen in production.

It's only been a week since Lotus delivered the first production Evora to a customer, and now the sports car maker has unveiled the first race-ready version of its newest model. The new Type 124 Evora is built to FIA GT racing specs and will debut next year at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race.

The Evora already has many of the basic elements needed to make a robust race car thanks to its bonded aluminum structure and mid-engine layout. But the racing version receives a revised version of the stock car's Toyota V6 cranking out over 400 horsepower, along with a new paddleshift sequential six-speed gearbox.

Even with a full roll cage and fire extinguisher system installed, the Type 124 gains about 440 lbs of "lightness" dropping the car to about 2,600 pounds. How'd that happen? Lotus has replaced the standard bodywork with lightweight composite and carbon panels that add front splitter and rear diffuser elements, along with a prominent rear wing.

That rear wing will push on a tweaked suspension system (both the four-way adjustable dampers and the anti-roll bars are tunable) and the car will run on wider 18-inch Pirelli slicks. Braking will be provided by a Bosch ABS system optimized for competition and a set of six-piston AP Racing calipers.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/09/11/lotus-announces-first-evora-race-edition-type-124-endurance-car/

(will also update later this evening with more Evora content, as I'm seeing one for myself at the local dealer)

 

[Joey D]

Wow .

I'm not even sure where to begin, but everything about that car is just epic.

 

[paskowitz]

That is quite possibly one of the sexiest race cars I have ever seen

 

[Omnis]

Why put NSFW? Some people take that seriously.

 

[Jim Prower]

Heh...It'll be neat to see just how many manufacturers these new GT1 Rules bring in.

 

[CDailey]

Happy Lotus?

 

[Moglet]

That's exactly what my first thought was too! It looks like something Pixar would create.

 

[exigeracer]

Just came back from viewing the Evora. This thing is an absolute stunner. I overall liked the car originally, however some things (front overhang, roofline) didn't quite work. Sorry about the lack of detail shots, I didn't want to be a yuppy tourist taking all sorts of photos. Also, no interior commentary, as I didn't even bother asking. Hell, I showed up on my bicycle.

After seeing it in person, the wider viewing really helped, as well as seeing it alongside familiar fare. It is quite a bit bigger than its Elise and Exige counterparts, however still isn't a large vehicle. It's shape is still bounded and doesn't come off bigger than it is, how a 911 sometimes seems. Just taking a look at the inside of the Evora then going over to the Elise makes you realize just how tiny the 111 has been all of these years.

One of favorite elements not seen too much in the press pictures is the treatment of the headlight area. The headlight unit itself has a black surround that lids the two bulbs when you move around and above it, and effect I've always loved and which draws up memories of cars past. Also in this vicinity of interest is the crease that comes over the headlight, and how it fades below it. Again, something you just can't see unless you do a walkaround. The way light reflects on a car as it goes by is one of the subtleties that most people don't consciously recognize, and when it is actually done right it just works.

The sharp waist, as I predicted, really splits the horizon nicely. It takes some of the flab off. I would have to play around with some images in Photoshop, but without that crease I think the design would just be too wavy, between that clever sill cut below and everything that's going on up top.

A small detail complaint of mine is the variety of meshing used. I think there are 3, if not 4, different style/scale meshings used for various inlets and vents. Perhaps it is because of air restriction purposes or the fact that this is a pre-production car, but it would have been nice to see a little consistency. Some fender gaps could have been a little sharper and tighter, particularly on the decklid spoiler, it really cut up its line. Light and reflections hang out along these edges a little too much. Again, could be a pre-production issue. The wheels, which carry the same general shape as the base Elise package, have big FORGED lettering on them, which seems a bit tacky.

But as I said, I was always a fan, but it really came together in person. The front overhang is far less substantial than I feared, the somewhat bulbous roof isn't that chunky and helmet-looking as the Elise hardtop seems, and the rear seat is a joke, as expected. There'es just something about all of the interweaving lines from the middle to tail just keep you looking at them. It speaks to some art metalwork that is intentionally brushed really rough and random so that your eye spends more time moving across it. The whole package does that. There is movement, but it just isn't the kind of car that flies past while standing still. It is very enjoyable.

 

[YSSMAN]

I had no idea they were showing up in North America. I'll have to check out my local Lotus dealer and see if they have one.

 

[McLaren]

I had no idea they were showing up in North America. I'll have to check out my local Lotus dealer and see if they have one.

Where have you been Brad? Surely you've seen the 2 prototypes making rounds in the US for months by now.

 

[YSSMAN]

*shrug*

I honestly didn't know. Worse yet, I had no idea there was a Lotus dealer within two blocks of where I work until two or so months ago. When I went back there the other day, they only had two Elises on the lot, and just the lone Exige S.

 

[exigeracer]

There are at least 3 pre-production demo cars touring North America (one silver, mine and apparently a black one?). No word on deliveries yet, but the first few European customers have gotten theirs in the UK last week.

 

[Jim Prower]

The black one needs some gold detailing...X3