RE: PH Interview: Lotus CEO Dany Bahar
Discussion
ravon said:
cathalm said:
I wonder exactly where this evora myth comes from. Even at maximum projected volumes the car would be as rare as hens teeth on British roads. It is being made in tiny volumes the majority of which go abroad. I also wonder at the nonsense about it being an okay car or not good enough bla bla. Reality check chaps, it is probably the met acclaimed car of the last few years along with the gtr and r8.
Regarding the tvr reference, with the greatest love for tvr, there is no comparison with them and smolensy. For perspective, Lotus have 4-5 times as many engineers as Aston and twice as many as Ferrari, not quite comarable to Peter Wheeler and his Blackpool crew.
I heard from a very good contact that Lotus had effectively "dumped" a whole load of very heavily discounted, road registered 2010 Evora's into the trade recently, and much to my personal amusement not only to Lotus Dealers, but to unofficial Lotus Specialists. Can imagine how upset my local "long established" dealers must have been to find these cars in their new unofficial competitors just up the road !!!! Love it, Dany, your the man !Regarding the tvr reference, with the greatest love for tvr, there is no comparison with them and smolensy. For perspective, Lotus have 4-5 times as many engineers as Aston and twice as many as Ferrari, not quite comarable to Peter Wheeler and his Blackpool crew.
Edited by cathalm on Tuesday 8th March 19:58
This may of course be untrue, but it gave me a thrill.
chickensoup said:
Mr Bahar seems to have mellowed a bit. I wonder whether in an almost Ecclestone like way he occasionally throws a brickbat just to read the response.
Do hope he can ringfence the Proton funding, as I think they may wobble in the medium term.
Let us hope we see the pre-production Esprit next year
Proton do not have money in the kitty for this funding.Do hope he can ringfence the Proton funding, as I think they may wobble in the medium term.
Let us hope we see the pre-production Esprit next year
chickensoup said:
Let us hope we see the pre-production Esprit next year
You're seeing it already. It's called the Evora.They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
Edited by Twincam16 on Friday 11th March 12:28
Twincam16 said:
chickensoup said:
Let us hope we see the pre-production Esprit next year
You're seeing it already. It's called the Evora.They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
Edited by Twincam16 on Friday 11th March 12:28
Twincam16 said:
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
Yet more "quality" "facts" from TC16And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
The cooling system on the Mondial is the same as on the 308's with the exception of a very slightly reprofiled radiator . . . . that wasn’t carried over onto the 328
The 308QV used the same injection and controlling electronics as the Mondial QV, with part number changes happening at the same point for both models. The 3.2 used K-Jetronic with a Marreli Microplex controler . . . . . the same as the 328, which was launched at the same time and also utilised updated parts at the same time on the production lines at Maranello
The 412 was the first Ferrari to use the ABS system later adopted in modified form for the 328 & Mongo, two years before the Mondial got it
The Mondial T and 348 were launched at the same time, with development mules carrying a variety of body shapes.
I could bang on about where the production differences happened and the genesis of the major components and some of the "mistakes" made with the mongo that Ferrari chose to abandon, but I’ve got to finished connecting a Mondial T motor back up
Twincam16 said:
You're seeing it already. It's called the Evora.
They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
I simply don't believe this. The Evora was designed and developed long before Bahar was at the reigns. It's a (pre)Kimberly era car, so a period rather lacking in forward looking vision. The versatility of the Evora architecture has allowed the new 5 car strategy to be grafted onto it at a later date. Lucky for Lotus, provided they can pull it off.They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
Edited by Twincam16 on Friday 11th March 12:28
HeMightBeBanned said:
Twincam16 said:
You're seeing it already. It's called the Evora.
They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
I simply don't believe this. The Evora was designed and developed long before Bahar was at the reigns. It's a (pre)Kimberly era car, so a period rather lacking in forward looking vision. The versatility of the Evora architecture has allowed the new 5 car strategy to be grafted onto it at a later date. Lucky for Lotus, provided they can pull it off.They're playing a very clever strategy. The new Lotus range will basically be the Evora rebodied with a choice of four-cylinder, V6 and V8 engines in the bay. The chassis is brilliant as it is - it'll just be a case of sourcing engines and transmissions and making them fit and the suspension, braking, steering and tyres commensurate with the power.
All the Elan is is a rebodied Evora. All the new Elise is is a stripped-out budget Evora with an ordinary family-car engine tuned-up for fun (wonder if they'll use their new F1 connection to get their hands on some RenaultSport units?). All the Esprit will be is a V8 Evora.
People complained that the Evora was not powerful enough to bother Porsche sufficiently and that the transmission was its Achilles' heel without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
It might sound convoluted, but Ferrari did this with the Mondial in the '80s. While the big sellers like the older-tech 308GTB and Testarossa paid their bills, the unloved Mondial was the first fitted with Bosch Digiplex Injection, ABS, the cooling system later seen in the 328, and most significantly, the change in V8 engine location from transverse to longitudinal, plus the transversely-mounted gearbox later put to good use in the 348.
And funnily enough, the Mondial was a mid-engined 2+2 as well.
Edited by Twincam16 on Friday 11th March 12:28
cathalm said:
Aaaaaarrrggggghhhh!
Price surely. It's a Cayman rival. They have positioned it so far as a 911 rival. But see and Evora and even a basic 911 side by side is to see the embodiment of boy and man. No bugger believes a word they say about it being a 911 rival... and for me the Evora pricing is therefore at odds with perceived value. If anyone disagrees I'll be glad to hear alternatives. Twincam16 said:
........without realising that it's a test-bed car, designed to take the brunt of all Lotus' development before this new, exciting, polished new range starts to emerge in a year or so's time.
That's just not true. It was the first of a new line up but it was long before DB and whilst it would certainly develop new systems etc. it was always meant to be a solid step in a new direction, not something to try stuff out on. They didn't have the luxury of that.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff