RE: Lotus to build Alpine and Infiniti concepts?

[scarble]

well that's kinda my point.. range extenders aren't fine and good driver's cars

[GTRene]

thats true, they better keep that sorts of things for family cars and cabs and bus etc etc

or they have to come up with a better sort range extender, not a petrol or gas user combustion type...
some EV cars have a little ecotec engine to work as that...
that I don't like!
put a real engine in it to drive the car or come up with a better idea :-)
not an engine to generate power for the batteries.

Edited by GTRene on Tuesday 14th August 22:56

[predding]

A110 is stunning and was on display at the Le mans Classic - I would definitely consider if the price was realistic. Some pics and its heritage:

[stuckmojo]

I like the idea a lot.

[RemarkLima]

fwaggie said:

If they're going to build two cars derived from the same (Lotus) chassis and underpinnings, one assumes they'll sell them for roughly the same price.

I can see people wanting a new Lotus at, what, £45k?

I can't see people wanting a new Renault at approximately the same price?

And if Renault undercuts Lotus' price, Lotus ain't going to do so well out of the deal.

I just can't see how Renault are going to balance their image with a small £45k 2 door sports car.

So how is that different to the S2 Elise and VX220? the VX was always cheaper than the Elise, yet both sold well. Either people wanted the yellow lotus badge, or they preferred the VX and got it a bit cheaper.

Worked well then, so could work again...

[Twincam16]

scarble said:

well that's kinda my point.. range extenders aren't fine and good driver's cars

How do you know? Driven one?

The only range-extender cars currently available are the Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt twins, and the great thing about those cars is that they drive just like a normal saloon. This is fine, because they aren't meant to be anything other than a normal saloon, albeit one fitted with groundbreaking technology that makes an awful lot more sense than the Toyota Pious.

So, if the technology means an ordinary saloon drives like an ordinary saloon, presumably it can also make a sports car drive like a sports car.

The great thing about electric power is that maximum torque arrives instantly as soon as you hit the accelerator, so they can accelerate extremely rapidly. Also, compared to hybrid setups where the petrol motor is also connected to the driven wheels, a range-extender hybrid is comparatively simple - it's an electric car attached to a generator.

In turn, this means it doesn't need quite so many heavy batteries to maintain a decent range, so they can keep the weight lower.

I'd reserve judgement until it's available to drive.

[KDIcarmad]

Twincam16 said:

scarble said:

well that's kinda my point.. range extenders aren't fine and good driver's cars

How do you know? Driven one?

The only range-extender cars currently available are the Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt twins, and the great thing about those cars is that they drive just like a normal saloon. This is fine, because they aren't meant to be anything other than a normal saloon, albeit one fitted with groundbreaking technology that makes an awful lot more sense than the Toyota Pious.

So, if the technology means an ordinary saloon drives like an ordinary saloon, presumably it can also make a sports car drive like a sports car.

The great thing about electric power is that maximum torque arrives instantly as soon as you hit the accelerator, so they can accelerate extremely rapidly. Also, compared to hybrid setups where the petrol motor is also connected to the driven wheels, a range-extender hybrid is comparatively simple - it's an electric car attached to a generator.

In turn, this means it doesn't need quite so many heavy batteries to maintain a decent range, so they can keep the weight lower.

I'd reserve judgement until it's available to drive.

If Lotus do this car it will drive like a Lotus! Handling is what Lotus has always done, all of there car are fun to drive. Take the MK1 MR2 and compare it to the MK2, Lotus did the first one. FWD take the Hyundai Pizza of the 1980, a not very good car, but the handling post Lotus put it among the best at the time. (Are there any still around?) The later Elan with FWD used this as a starting point.

I hope when some does a sportscar like this Lotus does the handling!

[Twincam16]

KDIcarmad said:

Twincam16 said:

scarble said:

well that's kinda my point.. range extenders aren't fine and good driver's cars

How do you know? Driven one?

The only range-extender cars currently available are the Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt twins, and the great thing about those cars is that they drive just like a normal saloon. This is fine, because they aren't meant to be anything other than a normal saloon, albeit one fitted with groundbreaking technology that makes an awful lot more sense than the Toyota Pious.

So, if the technology means an ordinary saloon drives like an ordinary saloon, presumably it can also make a sports car drive like a sports car.

The great thing about electric power is that maximum torque arrives instantly as soon as you hit the accelerator, so they can accelerate extremely rapidly. Also, compared to hybrid setups where the petrol motor is also connected to the driven wheels, a range-extender hybrid is comparatively simple - it's an electric car attached to a generator.

In turn, this means it doesn't need quite so many heavy batteries to maintain a decent range, so they can keep the weight lower.

I'd reserve judgement until it's available to drive.

If Lotus do this car it will drive like a Lotus! Handling is what Lotus has always done, all of there car are fun to drive. Take the MK1 MR2 and compare it to the MK2, Lotus did the first one. FWD take the Hyundai Pizza of the 1980, a not very good car, but the handling post Lotus put it among the best at the time. (Are there any still around?) The later Elan with FWD used this as a starting point.

I hope when some does a sportscar like this Lotus does the handling!

Err - are you thinking of the Isuzu Piazza? That was RWD.

Plus, the Mk2 MR2 only handled badly thanks to the setup of the Rev1 model of 1990-91. The wheels and brakes were too small and the toe-links weren't long enough, so it locked up easily into corners, the rear wheels tucked-in and the tyres' contact patches weren't big enough, so it'd leave the road rather rapidly.

However, the suspension had been carried over from the Mk1, it was still roughly as Lotus had left it, and it just needed Toyota to adjust it in accordance with the increased weight and power. Bigger wheels and brakes and longer rear toe-links were all that was needed.

I've owned both Mk1 and 2 MR2s now. My Mk2 is a Rev2 and its handling is not much different from the Mk1.

Go on YouTube, seek out Tiff Needell's review of the MR2 GT and you'll see that the old 'poor-handling Mk2 thanks to Toyota trying to do things themselves' myth is just that - and one that was solved pretty quickly.

[simonrockman]

I never knew that Lotus worked on the MR2 Mk1. I had one and thought it was a fantastically sweet car to drive. I tried the Mk2 and it was just insipid. It didn't have the pointy steering of the Mk1.

The nearest thing I've driven to a range extender is a CRZ and that was a huge disappointment. I loved the CRX but there was no wallop of torque in the CRZ. It reminded me of the Ford Probe, which when I drove I thought "well if you are going to make a car aimed at Essex boy racers, it's probably best to make it understeer and default to safe and unexciting".

Over time I've decided that the most important thing to me is steering feel. So it's odd that I like the NSX so much.

Simon

[scarble]

simonrockman said:

Over time I've decided that the most important thing to me is steering feel. So it's odd that I like the NSX so much.
Simon

That's just cos the NSX is pointy. Pointypointypointy
It's even faster in pink
Steering feel is really important, just see my earlier post somewhere b***ching about the 118d and saying how glad I was to get back in my 1.6 Escort

[LewisR]

Renault have a far better dealership network than Lotus in Europe and farther afield. Go to Germany and you will see the occasional VX220 but the Elise is a very rare sight indeed.

[ash reynolds]

Maybe Lotus should set themselves a brief of a light weight 2 seater for less than £20k and produce it as a bread and butter model while they focus on the more exotic models. They'd steal Westfield, Caterham and maybe even some MX5 customers. They've learnt enough with the Elise to be able to do it surely?

I also think maybe at present they are punching above their weight in some cases, as brilliant as these cars are.

IMHO of course!