Lotus to Replace Evora with Elan in 2017

Lotus’ most recent new sports car, the Evora, will stay into production until at least 2017, when it will be replaced with the new Elan according to the company’s boss Danny Bahar. This changes the initial plan that called for the Evora to be replaced as early as 2012. Read more »

Artist Envisions a New Take on the Lotus Caterham 7

Much in the same way as Morgan’s pre-Supersports models, the Lotus / Caterham 7 has remained relatively unchanged throughout its long life. A lightweight body with no fixed doors or roof, a flat windscreen, exposed front wheels and a four cylinder motor embody the Seven’s design and engineering philosophy.

Diseno-Art has drawn up a nice design study in the form of the “New 7”, a vehicle designed to expand and complement the existing range of 7-badged vehicles.

With larger proportions and more refinement than the archaic (yet still beautiful) lines of the current generation, the New 7 is designed to be uniquely tailored to each customer’s needs and offer a high level of customer service while still holding to the brand’s philosophy of lightweight, simple and fun.

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Geneva 2011: Lotus Keeps its Evora Debuts Simple but Significant with Mansory in the Mix

After Lotus blew its proverbial head gaskets all over the Paris stage with a futuristic lineup consisting of a sedan and no less than four coupes, simplicity was the name of the game for the 2011 Geneva motor show. Lotus brought two special edition Evoras, a relatively low-key showing in stark contrast to its behavior in France last year.

Before you roll your eyes thinking, "Christ, another special edition blah blah blah," one of these two new Evoras is very different than another special edition Mustang or Bugatti.

The Mansory Evora comes from the union of two weight-conscious companies; Lotus prides itself on keeping its vehicles trim, while Mansory "provides valuable insights and an intuitive feeling for [high-end customisation]" while also offering "state-of-the-art carbon components".

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Geneva Preshow: Lotus Joins Forces with Mansory to Tune the Evora

Mastering the fine art of tuning is a complicated process and, judging by the sheer number of overkills one can see on the web every day, it’s clear that only a few have what it takes to do a good job. For Lotus that special someone is Swiss tuning firm Mansory, which is responsible for the creation of an Evora concept that will be presented at the Geneva show in the beginning of March.

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VIDEO: Lotus Elan Concept’s Digital Instrument Panel in Action

The Lotus Elan was one of five concept sports cars presented by Lotus at last year's Paris Auto Show while it also made a quick stop at the LA motorshow that followed in November. Now that the concept studies have made it back to the England, the folks over at Paultan visited the British firm's headquarters in Hethel and shot this video showing the Elan's digital instruments in action. The panel consists of a large LCD screen flanked on either side by two smaller components. You can watch the video clip after the jump.

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New Photo Gallery of Lotus' Future Sports Car Lineup

You may have to ask a second time for their name and you probably need to take more than a couple of looks to tell them apart, but that doesn't mean we're not impressed by the next generation of Lotus sports cars.

Unveiled for the first time as concept studies at the Paris Motor Show in October, with the North American debut taking place at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the new Elise, Esprit, Elite, Elan are a wild bunch. And while we don't have anything new to add about the four sports coupes, Lotus has unleashed a beautiful photo gallery shot in Hollywood, which you can enjoy in high-resolution quality right after the jump.

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Lotus CEO Says Concept City Car will Enter Production in "October 2013"

It appears that Aston Martin won't be the only British sports car maker to have a controversial small city car in its range. Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar told Car magazine that the Concept City Car, which was previewed at the recent Paris Motor Show alongside five sports car studies, has been approved for production. The comapny's CEO said the car will be manufactured in cooperation with Lotus parent company Proton and an undisclosed third party.

"Our city car has been confirmed and will be launched in October 2013," Mr. Bahar told the British magazine. "We are doing this together with Proton and another OEM [original equipment manufacturer, or car maker]. We will build three versions: one for the Asian market, one for Europe and a sportier one."

The Lotus flavored Concept City Car is based on one of the three Giugiaro-penned Proton EMAS design studies, which were first shown in Geneva earlier this year.

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Lotus Metamorphosis: An artistic take on the firm's future models [with Video]

To show that the brand is going through a metamorphosis after the presentation of five new models at the Paris Show, Lotus has joined forces with award winning French artist Gérard Rancinan to create seven artistic images that will be showcased alongside a new book by French writer, Caroline Gaudriault, at a special event in Los Angeles on Friday, November 12.

As you may have guessed, the collection of photos is called "Metamorphosis" and the focus is on the five new Lotus models that made the trip to this year's Paris Motor Show: the Esprit, Elan, Elite, Elise and Eterne, plus two extra large montages.

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Lotus puts Toyota's Venza on a Strict Diet

Lotus just released a concept based on the Toyota Venza where the goal was to trim the fat, ultimately reducing CO2 emissions. Officially, the project was meant to showcase a "viable mass reduction strategy" on two representative models: a 2017 near-term version and a 2020 long-term version.

Comparing the Lotus Venza versus the off-the-lot Toyota Venza, overall mass was reduced by as much as 38% on the 2020 (minus power train) at only a 3% increase in component costs. The 2017 model's mass reduction was 21%. All this was done using processes and tech that should be available and affordable by 2020.

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Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid Debuts at the Geneva Motor Show

[Updated with New Photos] Lotus is officially throwing its hat into the "hybrid sports car" ring. Hot on the heels of Porsche, the British featherweight world champion is going to be debuting its own plug-in racer based on the Evora's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) platform, the Evora 414E. In their own words, they consider it a "high performance technology demonstrator". Sounds cool.

The purpose of this 414-horsepower hybrid is to showcase the latest in Lotus hybrid tech, something the 414E does in spades. First off, those 414 horses come from two electric motors powering each rear wheel (at 207 PS / 204 hp each).

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2010 Geneva Show: Lotus Evora Carbon Concept

At the Geneva Salon Lotus rolled out a demonstrator concept car called the Evora Carbon that may very well be offered as a special edition version in the near future. As implied by its name, the prototype model boasts heaps of carbon fiber inside and out.

The study is finished in a unique water-based white pearlescent paint that contrasts with the carbon fibre found on the roof top, rear-window surround, rear diffuser and front splitter. The diamond cut forged 19-inch alloy wheels shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires size 235/35 up front and 285/30 at the rear round off the exterior package.

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Lotus to Develop "OMNIVORE" Bio-Fuel Research Engine

Lotus has announced plans to develop a bio-fuel research engine dubbed “OMNIVORE” that will achieve a high thermal efficiency when fuelled on any alcohols or gasoline. The British sports carmaker won’t be alone in this project as Queen’s University of Belfast’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will be adding its expertise in engine simulation while Jaguar Cars will act as a consultative partner at all stages of development.

The build of a single cylinder research engine is expected to be completed in January 2009. According to Lotus, the engine design will significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable bio alcohol fuels. The architecture of the engine will feature an innovative variable compression ratio system and use a two-stroke operating cycle with direct fuel injection. -Continued

Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus Plc said: ““Alcohols possess superior combustion characteristics to gasoline which allow greater optimization. Taking full advantage of the benefits of sustainable bio alcohols will ensure a greater percentage of vehicle miles will be travelled using renewable fuels.”

Geraint Castleton-White, Head of Powertrain at Lotus Engineering said: “The requirement to operate on gasoline in today’s flex-fuel engines limits their thermal efficiency when operating on alcohol fuels. However, the physical and chemical properties of alcohols, when compared to gasoline, provide the potential for higher thermal efficiency operation to be achieved. This single-cylinder research engine will investigate a highly thermal efficient combustion system that optimises engine performance to fully exploit the properties of both gasoline and alcohol fuels and maximise efficiency.”

Lotus Eigne Electric Sports Car Study

The Lotus Eigne is a design study on an electric sportscar with a 3+1 seating arrangement that was created by David Fearnley, a graduate from the Transportation Design Course at Northumbria University. The Eigne’s powertrain consists of four in-wheel electric motors that offer the sports car rear biased four-wheel drive. The electric motors are powered by a set of batteries that are sandwiched in the floor pan.

According to Fearnley, this solution not only keeps the batteries cool and lowers center of gravity for better handling, but it also eliminates any obstacles on the floor pan allowing a 3+1 seat layout. In the Eigne, the driver sits in the centre of the cabin having two passenger seats on each side and a baby-seat positioned directly behind him. Due to the central driving position, Fearnley designed the Eigne’s doors to incorporate a section of the roof in order to allow a larger access point to step in the interior. -Continued

Via: Carbodydesign