RE: The New Era Of Lotus - Revealed

[Beefmeister]

I've looked at it for ages, and i just can't figure out how the roof on the Elite is going to work. It's supposed to have a folding hardtop? Well...



I can't see how that roof panel and rear screen assy are going to hide away whilst maintaining it as a 2+2.

I'm a design engineer by trade, and i just can't see it. Can anyone else?

[GT03ROB]

EK993 said:

otolith said:

They'll obviously lose the buyers who really wanted a Porsche but couldn't afford one, but hopefully will gain a chunk of those who thought they wanted a Lotus but bought a Porsche instead when they realised that they couldn't live with one.

I could afford a Porsche.. infact I have had a few - I have also owned an Elise SC. So there are people out there that would buy both brands, and enjoy both equally.

You would be surprised how many Porsche owners also have Lotus's

[tomvcarter]

wow!

[FezzaDude]

the whole range is impressive! great designs!

[DonkeyApple]

What a wonderful article to stumble across.

This is all very un British, all this sudden ambition and fire in the belly.

It's superb to see a British firm stepping up to the plate and going head to head with the established global brands.

Fantastic.

[ptopman]

Beefmeister said:

I've looked at it for ages, and i just can't figure out how the roof on the Elite is going to work. It's supposed to have a folding hardtop? Well...



I can't see how that roof panel and rear screen assy are going to hide away whilst maintaining it as a 2+2.

I'm a design engineer by trade, and i just can't see it. Can anyone else?

Perhaps they will offer a 2+2 fixed-top and a 2 seater retractable. Otherwise I can't see where pieces can be stowed.

[Ali_T]

Elan for me please. How much do they want?

[300bhp/ton]

Gizmo! said:

F1GTRUeno said:

And I can't quite believe they've only just brought out the Evora to such fanfare and then they're showing they'll go in a completely different direction only a few years later.

How many Evoras have you seen on the road?

Thought not.

So if that's a valid argument, would you really suggest the answer is to show any current potential buyers not to get it, because soon there will be a similar looking faster more power version, only for more money??

[mgbond]

I for one love this and now have a target to get into an Elan.

With regards to the weight of the Elise, current models are not far from that. If you look at the early Noble it weighed 1075 and was 310bhp (although non made that power). Its was an awsome car so i for one think its the right move as long as the price is no more than 35k.

I've just spent a load of dosh brining my noble upto 400bhp so now i know i will keep this until the elan comes out. Can't wait

Bondy

[LuS1fer]

They're OK but I can't say I would pick any one of them over their obvious rivals. The Astons look better and the Ferrari 458 has far more style. The Elise looks a bit like a Ford with that Focus RS-style nose.

[skwdenyer]

Gabber said:

everyone is forgotten about the sixt car in Paris ! www.paultan.org/photo/index.php?album=paris-2010-l...

Well, the CEO forgot about it in his speech... It isn't there because they really, honestly want it.

[briancorish]

It's strange, despite the fact they are clearly pretty cars, they look too much like a car Honda would produce rather than lotus..

[Dr Evil]

The bigger cars look ok, but hard to tell in white. Kind of generic Japanese/Italian. The pre-facelift S2 elise stood out compared to Porsche/Ferraris - edgy modern, but well resolved, balanced and curvy. The S1 was cheeky. Both Masterpieces of design. These new cars are polished but rather derivative.

The proposed new elise I dont' like at all, looks like it fell from the ugly tree and hit face first every branch on the way down. 300HP, imagine the insurance premiums and CO2 taxes. Should have found a way to make it light, economical and fun.

Still, in 4 years maybe I'll get to like the new designs. But rather disappointed for now.

[bertie]

If that lot happens in the timeframe they are talking about, with an Elise with 320 BHP and cameras for mirrors, I'll eat my own leg!

So how's the range stacking up price wise..

We know the Elite is goung to be £115k, where do the rest sit?

And when they say they don't consider Aston, Bentley or Lamborghini to be competion, the only competition they have are Ferrari because only Ferrari can come close to Louts history....well I nearly spilt my coffee.

Edited by bertie on Thursday 30th September 20:16

[otolith]

GT03ROB said:

EK993 said:

otolith said:

They'll obviously lose the buyers who really wanted a Porsche but couldn't afford one, but hopefully will gain a chunk of those who thought they wanted a Lotus but bought a Porsche instead when they realised that they couldn't live with one.

I could afford a Porsche.. infact I have had a few - I have also owned an Elise SC. So there are people out there that would buy both brands, and enjoy both equally.

You would be surprised how many Porsche owners also have Lotus's

Not really surprising - but there are different groups of people who buy Elises for different reasons - some because they love the way it drives and nobody else makes anything similar, some who will trade it in as soon as they can afford something more "aspirational", some because it looks pretty, etc. And there are people who fancied one until they tried one and realised it wasn't for them - friend of mine has just bought a very nice Cayman on that basis. What I was getting at was that some of these groups will not be impressed with the change in the focus of the Elise, others will prefer it, others won't really care as long as it looks flash.

[McAndy]

<>
Extraordinarily brave/stupid strategy (time will tell)! Chasing such established marques? I fear they could leave their current customer base and not secure enough of the new .

As for the use of names, I'm extremely disappointed that such iconic names have not been held true to their origins. Huge missed opportunity to introduce a true Elan/Elise (or even a Seven for that matter) bloodline replacement with light weight, low emmisions and affordable price. They're leaving a market of people that like to have fun on the public road at sane/legal speeds that will only grow if the nanny-state continues to impose itself.

I cannot help but feel that Lamborghini have stolen Lotus' thunder by showing what the sports/supercar ethos of the future has to be to ensure the breed's survival (although I can't say I like the looks of that one so much ).

Beefmeister: I agree ref. the Elite's roof. Without some kind of angled compartment between the cabin/rear that the glass panels could slide into while the supporting arches do some kind of magical contortion into the boot, I cannot see it either.

Believe it or not, I do hope that they succeed, but at least if this does for them they'll go out fighting!

</>

[anonymous-user]

It would be nice to see Lotus do a new Esprit and do it properly (i.e. selling it as well as building it) before setting off on all these other flights of fancy.

In some ways it sounds like a bloke in Enfield saying he's got some great new ideas for a fast-food restaurant so will launch a new hamburger chain to challenge McDonalds and Burger King on a global scale. Easy to say - harder to deliver.

[MarJay]

Am I the only one who thinks all these cars look like pie in the sky solidworks concepts? I'll believe them when I see them, and then I'll say they look like Audis.

[cathalm]

For all over you shouting about how the Esprit looks like a Gallardo. You make me most angry and sad.

When the Gallardo was released by a small Italian sports car company that had very low production numbers, it was to expand into a new market based on investment from a benevolent parent company (swines). Lotus was at the time lacking in such an investment and was unable to make a new Esprit as had been the intention.

Said Italian company soon released a their new car, the Gallardo, which turned out to be an absolute bloody rip off of the lotus esprit in concept and execution, albeit a couple of decades apart in design fashion.

Lotus straight away contacted all the mags, journos and TV shows (Top gear featured this prominently) with some blueprint pictures asking them to name the car shown. The point was that while everyone said "esprit" it was in fact the Gallardo. Lotus did their best and it was widely argued that the GALLARDO IS AN ESPRIT RIP OFF.

At the time many speculated that unless Lotus were to cede their own design language to Lamborghini and make the new Esprit unrecognisable then dullards would say when they released it "It looks like a lambo". We all put that thought down and said it would never happen, the Esprit is a legend we all moaned.

Here we are 2010 and what do I see? Most of you are British, many are Lotus fans. Stand up and be counted and do your research. The Esprit is the Iconic Giugaro wedge and Lotus has every right to make a new Esprit reflecting that whatever the great unwashed and ignorant may have to say about the produce of an Italian company that once won a race when everybody else broke down.

P.S. Don't start with any apologetic Countach grasping.

[tom77]

Beefmeister said:

I've looked at it for ages, and i just can't figure out how the roof on the Elite is going to work. It's supposed to have a folding hardtop? Well...

I can't see how that roof panel and rear screen assy are going to hide away whilst maintaining it as a 2+2.

I'm a design engineer by trade, and i just can't see it. Can anyone else?

The unveiling is still being shown here - http://live.lotuscars.com/videoplayer/

It shows the retractable roof in operation.