Lotus Circuit Car prototype at Shelsley Walsh yesterday
Shelsley Walsh, the country's oldest motorsport venue, opened its doors at the weekend for a hillclimb-fest on the occasion of its centenary. Among the runners was a prototype of Lotus' new Circuit Car (not its final name), as well as a number of cars almost as old as the hillclimb. And PistonHeads has some exclusive pictures of it.
 Side view  Yokohama-shod 5-spoke forged wheel  Side air outlet  Rear diffuser  Supercharged Toyota engine (intercooler at bottom of the pic)  Your workspace  At Shelsley Walsh's S bend  Lurking on Stratstone's stand  AM V8 Vantage at the S bend  This BRM V16 made a gorgeous noise! |
Based on the Elise's lightweight aluminium chassis, and weighing around 650Kg, the single-seater car has been designed and engineered for track days and club racing. "It's designed for people who want to try their hand at racing in a safe car", said Tony Shute, Lotus' head of product development, and who drove the car yesterday.
The prototype car was designed and built in just 11 weeks and production versions are scheduled to be built from mid-2006.
The prototype is powered by a supercharged version of the familiar Toyota VVTL-i 1.8-litre engine. The Roots-type Eaton M62 supercharger gives a maximum power output of 243bhp at 8,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 174lb-ft at 7,000 rpm. Lotus reckoned that an entry-level, naturally-aspirated version of the production car, will also be available with 190bhp at 8,000 rpm and 138lb-ft at 7,000 rpm.
The power to weight ratio for the supercharged engine is around 373bhp/tonne with a torque to weight ratio of 267lb-ft per tonne. The car's yet to be figured but the 0-100mph dash is estimated to be completed under nine seconds, with 60mph coming up in under four seconds.
The car looks much like a stripped out Elise. It combines a small frontal area with no windscreen and flat, unsculptured sides with no air-intakes for minimal drag. The deep front splitter and a large carbon-fibre rear wing (single plane as standard and dual element as an option) and a rear diffuser aim to provide maximum downforce.
Head of engineering Nick Adams told PistonHeads that the aero system starts to work at speed as low as 40mph. He also said he expects the weight of production cars to come down considerably -- maybe an extra 50Kg -- through the use of lighter and thinner GRP for the bodywork, among other tweaks. For instance, he will be experimenting with improving airflow which may allow the use of a smaller, lighter intercooler.
Adams said that as many of the corner panels as possible are bolted rather than welded on, which means that the inevitable trips into the scenery should be easy to fix and so less expensive.
The bodywork was designed by the Lotus designers led by design head Russell Carr, who said: "The design captures the essence of the other Lotus based products and combines it with a functionally correct bodywork to give a racecar that is not only beautiful to look at but aerodynamically and structurally as effective as it possibly can be."
Braking is provided by a servo-assisted, track tuned 4-channel Antilock Braking System (ABS) with Lotus/AP-Racing twin-piston fixed aluminium alloy front brake calipers, Brembo single-piston sliding rear calipers and 282 mm diameter, 26 mm thick front and rear, cast-iron ventilated & cross-drilled discs. Suspension and damping is provided by fully independent unequal length wishbones, Eibach coil springs, Ohlins 2-way adjustable dampers and an adjustable front anti-roll bar.
For the Shelsley Walsh Event, the car used Lotus Sport 5 spoke forged wheels shod with very sticky Yokohama A005 Hill Climb specification racing slicks.
The car will be available with a pile of options, many of which have yet to be decided, but Shute said that they will include a sports pack to harden the car's responses, a track pack with a passenger seat and safety equipment, and an SVA pack to make the car road-legal. A race pack will include options to allow the car to adhere to FIA and MSA regulations. Standalone options include a limited slip differential, traction control, a 105dB race exhaust, racing tyres and wheel options, and a protective cover.
"It'll be a much easier car to drive than an out-and-out racer", said Shute. "In a real world situation such as a track day when, in some cars, you can't stay in the narrow power band because of other cars on the track, the fact that our car has lots of torque means you can still have fun."
Shute said: "This new product has allowed Lotus to once again apply its key "performance through lightweight" philosophy. This is in order to achieve an innovative product for the track day and club racing Lotus enthusiast whilst staying true to the key design attributes of the Elise and Exige."
Lotus expects to sell about 100 car a year. Its official name and price will be confirmed closer to production, but Adams said that £25,000 would an entry-point to aim at, while a fully-specced car could cost £40,000 or more.
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