New lotus elan or europa

[Young_Warrior]

 

[Dave A]

I think thats going to be the new Lotus Europa, but a name hasn't been decided yet. The Elan would be a new bottom model, this slots in between the Elise and the new Esprit so it's most likely going to be the Europa or use a new name.

 

[Young_Warrior]

What would HP figures be like? I think they should have the elise at mimuin 200hp and give this new car about 150-160.

 

[Dave A]

No, this is a bigger car than the Elise, it's meant to be more powerful and faster, if this was meant to be a new entry level then yes it would probably be less powerful but it will have maybe 250Bhp.

http://www.pistonheads.com/lotus/default.asp?storyId=11622
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/58782/lotus_revives_europa.html
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=106800

 

[Young_Warrior]

So if you cant afford a level entry TVR get this.

 

[Dave A]

Pretty much.

 

[eliseracer]

Oh god this is older than the hills themselves. Lotus patented the design many months ago (I also think there was a GTP thread).

That design was by Lotus, for Proton, it's their version of the Elise (note the same roofline).

Here it is seen testing in Malaysia, with other future Proton models (get it?)



Alright and the second orange car is clearly a Photoshopped Lotus Exige. We've all seen the original (sorry for the bad quality version)


The PistonHeads article describes everything perfectly.

 

[Dave A]

I wouldn't put my whole trust in that single article, also it's not an open top it's a fixed coupe.

 

[eliseracer]

It's also based directly on the Elise (check the roofline), it also hasn't any room for a larger GT-ranking powerplant, it's also not a 2+2, it's also identical in size to the Elise. Where would be the sense in releasing a GT based on and exactly the same thing as the lower end, lighter Elise? Why would they be driving one with other Proton prototypes, in Malaysia? I'm not basing my entire theory on that article, I found it when I was looking for those blackened Proton pictures. It's been known for a while that we are looking at a Proton "Elise". Wait 'til springtime for the Europa (if that's what they'll call it) from Lotus. Then later a new Esprit (manufactured in Malaysia, which we've heard directly from Lotus). I haven't seen anything that I'd be safe to say will resemble any new Lotus model.

Lastly, from a pure design standpoint, that car at the top of the thread has no Lotus cues whatsoever, except that it has similar shoulders as the current Elise, and guess why...