RE: Lotus Elise (USA)
Discussion
ninjaboy said:
How do american emission regs work cause i always thought the K series engine was very clean and good on fuel so why can't it pass american emission tests.or am i totally wrong and they are changing the engine just for performance reasons.
Edited to remove content
>> Edited by Captain Muppet on Tuesday 30th December 19:41
Hey, be nice to US...
Here in the us our last TVR (i had one) was the tasmin with the V6 and 4 speed, after much modification i loved it and would get a tuscan if i could! so the Elise makes very nice consolation. The us is an expensive market for a manufacturer to certify for, the engine/tranny must be certified and its not cheap to do (thats why our Tasmins were all 4 speeds, that german/ford engine was never us certified with a 5-speed by anyone) anyway - no one likes knowing that the lawyers and politicians that are getting fat wallets at the expense of consumer choices - truth be known, most americans are so ignorant they don't even know they are not getting some choices. you wouldn't believe how many "nice ferrari" compliments i got in my TVR.. it was brg and had "86 TVR" on the plates after all!!! - so as a side note, i doubt TVR will spend the money to certify its 6's and build the dealer network just spend more money to sell at best a thousand units a year?
So you bet i got a deposit on an Elise and if you Brit's are jealouse that our Elise will be better than than yours just be glad you have, and allways have had the choice to but a TVR, a Lotus, an Alfa (had some of the those too), the list goes on and on... will the Elise make a go of it here?? hard to tell when most people here think a boxster is too spartan?!?!?! thats a darn plush car in my book. but i hope the us Elise brings Lotus cash, and they develop new cars that you an i can enjoy on both sides of the pond...
No doubt, the stupid SUV buying population drove out a good portion of the market, but just like opinions on Bush... we all didn't vote for him!
Here in the us our last TVR (i had one) was the tasmin with the V6 and 4 speed, after much modification i loved it and would get a tuscan if i could! so the Elise makes very nice consolation. The us is an expensive market for a manufacturer to certify for, the engine/tranny must be certified and its not cheap to do (thats why our Tasmins were all 4 speeds, that german/ford engine was never us certified with a 5-speed by anyone) anyway - no one likes knowing that the lawyers and politicians that are getting fat wallets at the expense of consumer choices - truth be known, most americans are so ignorant they don't even know they are not getting some choices. you wouldn't believe how many "nice ferrari" compliments i got in my TVR.. it was brg and had "86 TVR" on the plates after all!!! - so as a side note, i doubt TVR will spend the money to certify its 6's and build the dealer network just spend more money to sell at best a thousand units a year?
So you bet i got a deposit on an Elise and if you Brit's are jealouse that our Elise will be better than than yours just be glad you have, and allways have had the choice to but a TVR, a Lotus, an Alfa (had some of the those too), the list goes on and on... will the Elise make a go of it here?? hard to tell when most people here think a boxster is too spartan?!?!?! thats a darn plush car in my book. but i hope the us Elise brings Lotus cash, and they develop new cars that you an i can enjoy on both sides of the pond...
No doubt, the stupid SUV buying population drove out a good portion of the market, but just like opinions on Bush... we all didn't vote for him!
levensnevel said:
Very nice article
<a href="http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=coverstory&loc_code=index&content_code=05420546">www.autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=coverstory&loc_code=index&content_code=05420546</a>
levensnevel
a smile every mile
I particularly like this line: "Lotus engineers insist the new engine is safely capable of 300 hp".
As great as the Elise already is, I'm sure we all agree it could use a little more grunt.
>> Edited by Jon Gwynne on Monday 29th December 21:38
I think we have to bear in mind the exceptional exchange rate at the moment. If and when it comes down the price will reflect more of the UK numbers.
If Lotus can continually sell strongly in the States it will undoubtedly help provide funds for the new Esprit, a good thing too but it never ceases to amaze me how TVR can produce new cars and derivitives in such a short space of time. Lotus always seem to complain about lack of funds and stuff. If they took a leaf out of Peter Wheelers book they could have had the M250 a long time ago...
If Lotus can continually sell strongly in the States it will undoubtedly help provide funds for the new Esprit, a good thing too but it never ceases to amaze me how TVR can produce new cars and derivitives in such a short space of time. Lotus always seem to complain about lack of funds and stuff. If they took a leaf out of Peter Wheelers book they could have had the M250 a long time ago...
FITFAN said:
Hey, be nice to US...
Here in the us our last TVR (i had one) was the tasmin with the V6 and 4 speed, after much modification i loved it and would get a tuscan if i could! so the Elise makes very nice consolation. The us is an expensive market for a manufacturer to certify for, the engine/tranny must be certified and its not cheap to do (thats why our Tasmins were all 4 speeds, that german/ford engine was never us certified with a 5-speed by anyone) anyway - no one likes knowing that the lawyers and politicians that are getting fat wallets at the expense of consumer choices - truth be known, most americans are so ignorant they don't even know they are not getting some choices. you wouldn't believe how many "nice ferrari" compliments i got in my TVR.. it was brg and had "86 TVR" on the plates after all!!! - so as a side note, i doubt TVR will spend the money to certify its 6's and build the dealer network just spend more money to sell at best a thousand units a year?
So you bet i got a deposit on an Elise and if you Brit's are jealouse that our Elise will be better than than yours just be glad you have, and allways have had the choice to but a TVR, a Lotus, an Alfa (had some of the those too), the list goes on and on... will the Elise make a go of it here?? hard to tell when most people here think a boxster is too spartan?!?!?! thats a darn plush car in my book. but i hope the us Elise brings Lotus cash, and they develop new cars that you an i can enjoy on both sides of the pond...
No doubt, the stupid SUV buying population drove out a good portion of the market, but just like opinions on Bush... we all didn't vote for him!
Well said!
ninjaboy said:
How do american emission regs work cause i always thought the K series engine was very clean and good on fuel so why can't it pass american emission tests.or am i totally wrong and they are changing the engine just for performance reasons.
My understanding is that it is very expensive to submit a new engine design for North American emissions certification - even if you're sure it will pass you still have to pay for the test.
If this is true, I suspect it was cheaper for Lotus to redesign the Elise slightly to accept the (already certified) Toyota engine rather than get the K approved.
From what I've read, the K already passes EU-3 regs even with Lotus' uprated fuel system in the 111.
looks like I'm reviving a dead thread, but since Toyota announced the Celica's and MR2's last year of production is 2005, I think I will set my eyes on an Elise.
I think that it will sell very well here in the states, especially now since 2 cars that it would be competing with have dropped out of the sales race.
I think that it will sell very well here in the states, especially now since 2 cars that it would be competing with have dropped out of the sales race.
ninjaboy said:
How do american emission regs work cause i always thought the K series engine was very clean and good on fuel so why can't it pass american emission tests.or am i totally wrong and they are changing the engine just for performance reasons.
I believe the issue with the Rover K isn't the actual tailpipe emissions but the federal On-Board Diagnostics - II requirement. OBD-II systems monitor and log many engine performance characteristics related to emissions and will post codes when components are sensed to be going out of spec and causing higher emissions. The Rover K does not have an OBD-II compliant engine controller, and it was deemed to expensive to retrofit one.
Mike Griese
1983 Esprit Turbo (The Fabulous Trashwagon)
2005 Elise (Finally!)
[quote=Mike.Griese]Snip... The Rover K does not have an OBD-II compliant engine controller, and it was deemed to expensive to retrofit one. [quote]
Also, the Rover engine has never been certified in the US. It could be the cleanest engine on the planet and absolutely compliant with all US regulations, but if it hasn't been certified in the US it can't be sold in the US. Certification is much more than a rubber stamp. It's time consuming and expensive.
Rover doesn't market it's cars in the US so it has never certified it's engines there. Given the high cost of certification, Rover had no motivation to certify their engine just so Lotus could sell a few cars in the US. And Lotus had no interest in paying to certify another company's engine... they were looking for an engine that's already US legal.
Regards,
Tim Engel
Also, the Rover engine has never been certified in the US. It could be the cleanest engine on the planet and absolutely compliant with all US regulations, but if it hasn't been certified in the US it can't be sold in the US. Certification is much more than a rubber stamp. It's time consuming and expensive.
Rover doesn't market it's cars in the US so it has never certified it's engines there. Given the high cost of certification, Rover had no motivation to certify their engine just so Lotus could sell a few cars in the US. And Lotus had no interest in paying to certify another company's engine... they were looking for an engine that's already US legal.
Regards,
Tim Engel
I had the opportunity to really have fun with one and I was'nt impressed. perhaps with a 32inch waist and narrow feet I could have some fun. The peddles were so close my shoes rubbed together. lots of great power in a light package (kind of like a go-kart) but I'm not sqeezing back into one for more fun. been there done it!
I had the opportunity to really have fun with one and I was'nt impressed. perhaps with a 32inch waist and narrow feet I could have some fun. The peddles were so close my shoes rubbed together. lots of great power in a light package (kind of like a go-kart) but I'm not sqeezing back into one for more fun. been there done it!
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