The new Esprit weighs 3,200 Lbs and is powered by the same forced-induction 5.0-liter V8 that’s in the Lotus Eterne super sedan. That means an 8,500rpm redline, 612 HP and 530 Lb-Ft of Torque.
2015 Lotus Eterne
Going into production in early 2015, the super saloon will allegedly weigh just 3,968 Lbs, which is pretty light for a big, four-seat luxury car by modern standards. The 5.0-liter forced-induction V8 will kick out 612 HP and 531 Lb-Ft of torque meaning it’ll accelerate to 62 MPH in just 4.0 seconds and continue on to that 195 MPH top speed. Amazingly for such a large V8 engine, the redline is pegged at 8,500 RPM.
20xx Lotus Elite
The Lotus Elite is the new Lotus gentleman’s car, offering a trick retractable hardtop with up to 600 hp thanks to a KERS-inspired hybrid boost system and, probably, the new “Lotus” V8.
2015 Lotus Elise
Power comes from a 316-horsepower 2.0-liter inline four propelling the car to 62 mph from a dead stop in just 4.3 seconds. Weight jumps to about 2,400 pounds from the current approximately 2,000 pounds of car.
2013 Lotus Elan
Elan is powered by a 450-horsepower supercharged 4.0-liter V6 engine with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox from Toyota, which offers enough gumption to scoot to 62 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 193 mph.
Lotus is being criticized for moving away from Chapman’s “simplify, then add lightness” mantra. But I think some of these cars are Aston Martin-gorgeous and they will have the perfomance needed to compete upmarket - which is clearly where they are heading.
They also plan on building an lmp2 race car, Indy cars, a Evora gt4, a GT2 car based one of their new cars, and gp2/gp3 racing. Seems very ambitious, I am skeptical how much of this comes to fruition.
The elise/exige only gained 400lbs… that’s 2400lbs is still really light.
The problem is they are moving upmarket with their pricetag. The Elite is going to be priced against the McLaren MP4-12C… who the fuck would buy a Lotus when you could have a McLaren/Porsche/Lambo/Ferrari, etc
