Lotus - A Cloudy Future?

[afterburn 549]

Like I mentioned..."at least"....At least one from Europe or Ford...they did (maybe still do?) have a relationship.

[porsche4life]

I love their cars.....but they've been on the edge of this cliff for a while.

The design budget for my Elan was roughly $55,000,000......they sold shy of 5,000 cars which works to roughly $12,000 in each car before it even began manufacturing. Original price was only ~$20,000

Add in actual materials and labor cost for construction then transit and various related fees and I suspect the took a decent loss on each car.

55mill and that's all they could come up with? Seriously!?!?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Like I mentioned..."at least"....At least one from Europe or Ford...they did (maybe still do?) have a relationship.

When I was at the Lotus dealership several years ago looking at the Evora the sales guy hinted that a Crosworth could find it's way into the car in a few years.

Cosworth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cosworth is a high-performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport), mainstream automotive and defence industries. Cosworth is based in Northampton, England, with North American facilities in Torrance, CA, Indianapolis and Mooresville, NC........................

Both of the co-founders being former employees of Lotus Engineering Ltd., Cosworth initially maintained a strong relationship with Colin Chapman and the initial revenues of the company came almost exclusively from Lotus......................

From this time on, Cosworth was supported by Ford for many years, and many of the Cosworth designs were owned by Ford, and named as Ford engines under similar contracts...............................

In 1998, Vickers sold Cosworth and Pi Research to Ford.[1] In September, 2004 Ford announced that it was selling Cosworth and Pi Research, along with Cosworth Racing Ltd and its Jaguar Formula One team. On 15 November 2004, the sale of Cosworth was completed, to Champ Car World Series owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven, the current Cosworth Group.[1]...............

The road car engine aspect of the business was split from the racing division following the sale of the engineering division of Cosworth to VW/Audi in September 1998 and renamed Cosworth Technology, before being acquired by Mahle GmbH in 2005. Cosworth Technology was then renamed as MAHLE Powertrain on 1 July 2005.[3]

A Lotus powered by a MAHLE would be interesting, but they should change the name back to Cosworth.

[HHI944]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

55mill and that's all they could come up with? Seriously!?!?

Really sid, more bashing a car you've likely never seen in person, much less driven ...

The engineering that went into it is quite incredible, from the Lotus signature backbone frame to the unique differential they devised to counter torque steer.

[kach22i]

Lotus and Cosworth team up for high performance engines
By Sam AbuelsamidRSS feed
Posted Mar 4th 2010 5:31PM
Lotus and Cosworth team up for high performance engines - Autoblog

Ham and eggs. macaroni and cheese, chocolate and bacon (a new personal favorite!). Some things just naturally go together. Such is the case for Lotus and Cosworth. In 1967 when Keith Duckworth, Mike Costin and Ford got together to create the DFV Formula One engine, Lotus was the first team to install it in a car. Ultimately, the DFV won 12 world drivers championships and 10 F1 constructors titles.

Lotus and Cosworth are now back together again working on high-performance engines. The current-generation Lotus Elise, Exige and Evora are all powered by Toyota-derived engines, and now Cosworth will be uprating these engines for new Lotus road and race machines, starting with the new Evora Cup car. The GT4-class Evora is propelled by a 400-horsepower 4.0-liter version of Toyota's V6 engine with dry-sump lubrication all supplied by the engine specialists. We can't wait to see what Cosworth cooks up for the new Esprit... if and when it ever arrives.

http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/racing/evora-gte

Complete with a V6 Toyota Cosworth engine and weighing just 1245kg, the Evora GTE has been designed for GT2 and international endurance series around the globe.

Now I have to say "Toyota Cosworth", just shoot me now.


Lotus and Cosworth Partner on Race Engines, Possibly More?
March 3, 2010
http://blog.caranddriver.com/lotus-and-cosworth-partner-on-race-engines-possibly-more/

A cautious reading of that statement suggests that Cosworth’s building of the race engines would simply have a minimal trickle-down effect for Lotus’s street cars, but a more optimistic take suggests that Lotus and Cosworth might work directly on future Lotus street models, or at least special Cosworth editions of the road cars.

http://issuu.com/lotuscars/docs/lotus_racing_brochure/22

EVORA GT4
http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/racing/evora-gt4

[PorscheGAL]

As the owner of an Elise and someone who has driven an Evora, here are my thoughts:

For people who don't like the Toyota Engine, in a car so light weight (as the Elise) it is perfect. In fact it is one of the only things that consistently works.

The electronics in these Lotuses are horrible. My Elise has had the electronic odometer that skipped from 50K miles to 200K miles in one year. Lotus is unable to fix the problem unless I want to replace the whole unit. This sets the mileage to 0 and requires a sticker on the car indicating the odometer was tampered with.

The Lotus dealer gave me an Evora to drive as a loaner for the day. The battery had been unhooked. It took 30 minutes after start up for any electronics to work. That included the tach, odometer, speedometer, radio, etc. I never got the paddle shifters to work at all.

The locks on these cars work intermittently.

Now, with these issues, why own a Lotus? Of all our cars, the Elise is my favorite. That little car, with it's Toyota engine, will scoot and taking a corner, wow. I can't stop smiling while in this car.

The Evora's interior is spectacular. Every square inch is leather. It is a blast to drive but not like the Elise. It feels huge comparatively.

I hope Lotus gets things worked out. I think it would be a shame if they were to go under.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

As the owner of an Elise and someone who has driven an Evora, here are my thoughts:

For people who don't like the Toyota Engine, in a car so light weight (as the Elise) it is perfect. In fact it is one of the only things that consistently works.

The electronics in these Lotuses are horrible. My Elise has had the electronic odometer that skipped from 50K miles to 200K miles in one year. Lotus is unable to fix the problem unless I want to replace the whole unit. This sets the mileage to 0 and requires a sticker on the car indicating the odometer was tampered with.

The Lotus dealer gave me an Evora to drive as a loaner for the day. The battery had been unhooked. It took 30 minutes after start up for any electronics to work. That included the tach, odometer, speedometer, radio, etc. I never got the paddle shifters to work at all.

The locks on these cars work intermittently.

Now, with these issues, why own a Lotus? Of all our cars, the Elise is my favorite. That little car, with it's Toyota engine, will scoot and taking a corner, wow. I can't stop smiling while in this car.

The Evora's interior is spectacular. Every square inch is leather. It is a blast to drive but not like the Elise. It feels huge comparatively.

I hope Lotus gets things worked out. I think it would be a shame if they were to go under.

Having had some seat time at a few different tracks as well in an Elise, yes, even with the Toy engine it is fun, but not enough legs for VIR's straights, but still a fun car, but the pedals are pretty close together which can make things interesting if you have big or wide feet.

[PorscheGAL]

I do agree, large feet, beware.

Oh, and for those who don't know: the Evora is not a 2-seater. It does have a back seat, a small 911 style seat but it is there.

[HHI944]

The Elan used GM electrics so they aren't that bad and replacements are available and reasonably priced.

The pedals are quite close together as noted.

Like PG said, with the way it handles you can't help but smile.

The roughly 180hp my elan makes doesn't sound like much, but when you couple it with excellent aerodynamics and superb balance, it feels just right.

[afterburn 549]

Lucas ,Prince of darkness !

[Kraftwerk]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

....
I hope Lotus gets things worked out. I think it would be a shame if they were to go under.

+1 I love idea of the early Elise and hope to own one someday. ( Not ready to sell my 911SC to get one though...)

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

Oh, and for those who don't know: the Evora is not a 2-seater. It does have a back seat, a small 911 style seat but it is there.

Yep.

2009 Lotus Evora - Elise vs Eagle Package Drawing - 1920x1440 - Wallpaper


I think the name Eagle as seen above was used in-house before Ebola, I mean Evora was selected.

[kach22i]

UPDATE: 03/20/2014


2015 Lotus Esprit V8 Not Dead Yet
Gas 2 | Bridging the gap between green heads and gear heads.

“Contrary to popular belief the factory is keeping its options open,” said Alastair Manihera, brand manager for Lotus Australia and New Zealand.............

The main sticking point is the “modular” Lotus V8 engine, which the company seems committed to putting in the car. A move like that would free Lotus from Toyota, as well, since the 9000 (!) RPM V8 engine is reportedly capable being scaled to fit into the Lotus Elan and Elise. “It was supposed to be a modular [engine] platform so you could break it down to six or four cylinders theoretically speaking, but again the factory is evaluating various options, on existing and future lines,” says Manihera.

A quote from a "brand manager" in New Zealand................is that anything like a quote from a cars salesman in New Guinea?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Obvious problem with the Evora picture above - the back seats are only suitable for women with pointy boobs and no legs.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Obvious problem with the Evora picture above - the back seats are only suitable for women with pointy boobs and no legs.

I assume you would sit sideways (legs over) like in the back seat of a 911.

[aschen]

the newish v6 exige is one of the most favorably reviewed cars I have seen in a while. Some european authors said it is better than a gt3 (before 991 though). Its a shame its not available here.


The toyota drivetrain (yamaha motor actually), is one of the cars best attributes for me. I can get parts easily and cheaply. The elise/exige motor is quite spirited actually. 8500rpm redline.

I don't really get the evora. In a vacuum it would be a great car. In the real world it is a direct offset for the cayman S which is one of the best all around sports cars made by the absolute experts of the genre.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by kach22i

I assume you would sit sideways (legs over) like in the back seat of a 911.

Joking, I was joking....