Monday 21st June 2010

EU Kills 1.8-litre Lotuses

Exige and Elise 1.8s sign off with a pair of supercharged special editions

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Euro 5 emissions regulations are set to kill 1.8-litre Lotus Elises and Exiges in EU markets by the end of 2010, and Lotus is to mark the occasion with two special editions. The Elise SC and Exige S-based cars will be named RGB, after former director of vehicle engineering, Roger Becker.

The RGB Special Editions will go on sale in September, and are available in four colours: Aspen White, Starlight Black, Solar Yellow and Carbon Grey. Each one is also identifiable by a numbered interior plaque, Roger Becker's signature on the side of the bodywork and a monochrome Lotus nose badge.

The RGB Lotuses get the Sports and Touring equipment packs as standard. The Elise SC RGB gets the 217bhp supercharged version of the Toyota 2ZZ VVTL-I 1.8, getting it to 60mph in 4.3secs, while the Exige RGB uses the full-house supercharged and intercooled 1.8, which gives 257bhp and a 0-60mph time of 4.0secs.

"I am honoured that Lotus has named these two special editions after me, especially as it allows me to offer the customer my favourite specifications," said Roger Becker, who retired from Lotus in January. "The past 44 years have been an incredible journey and I'm looking forward to watching Lotus progress in the future."

Andreas Prillmann, Chief Commercial Officer for Lotus Cars said: "I would like to thank Roger for his dedication to Lotus. It's fitting that an exclusive number of the last of the 1.8-litre Elises and Exiges for Europe are dedicated to Roger, who has been instrumental in the development of so many Lotus cars over the years, in particularly the Evora, the Exige and the recent versions of the Elise."

Although the EU versions of the Elise R and SC, and the Exige S and Cup 260 die at the end of this year, production of the cars continue for all other markets. The latest 1.6-litre Elise will continue in European markets.

Technical specifications:
The Lotus Elise SC RGB Special Edition in more detail

• 217 hp (220 ps) supercharged 1.8 litre engine
• Lotus ultra lightweight forged alloy wheels
• Sport pack
• Touring pack
• Four paint colours – Aspen White, Starlight Black, Solar Yellow & Carbon Grey
• Roger Becker signature on rear of the car
• Roger Becker numbered plaque 
• Monochrome Lotus badges 
• Air conditioning
• Recommended Retail Price:
o UK: £38,550 (including VAT)
o Euro Zone: € 43,655 (excluding regional taxes)
o Switzerland: CHF 71,435 (excluding taxes)
Official European Combined Cycle = 8.5 litres / 100 km (33.2 mpg)
Official European Extra Urban Cycle = 6.4 litres/100 km (44.1 mpg)
Official European Urban Cycle = 11.8 litre/100 km (23.9 mpg)
199 g/km of CO2

The Lotus Exige S RGB Special Edition in more detail

• Standard Features
• 257 hp (260 ps) Supercharged 2ZZ 1.8 engine 
• Lotus ultra lightweight forged alloy wheels
• Performance pack
• Sport pack
• Touring pack
• Four paint colours – Aspen White, Starlight Black, Solar Yellow & Carbon Grey
• Roger Becker signature on rear of car
• Roger Becker numbered plaque
• Monochrome Lotus badges 
• Structural shear panel which gives increases lateral stiffness to the rear subframe by 30%
• Air conditioning
• Recommended Retail Price:
o UK: £41,950 (including VAT)
o Euro Zone: € 50,042 (excluding regional taxes)
o Switzerland: CHF 81,887 (excluding taxes)
Official European Combined Cycle = 8.5 litres / 100 km (33.2 mpg)
Official European Extra Urban Cycle = 6.5 litres/100 km (43.5 mpg)
Official European Urban Cycle = 11.9 litre/100 km (23.7 mpg)
199 g/km of CO2

 

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God damn EU regs

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RobM77 said:

How can emissions regulations kill off an Elise or Exige? Surely even in supercharged spec they use far less fuel than almost all other performance cars, luxury cars and off roaders? I don't understand.

I would assume it's the NOx and NMHC emissions that have done it in

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footsoldier said:

ads_green said:

The problem is that The Toyota engine would probably pass the Euro 5 emmission regs if sombody stumped up the cash to do it.

Toyota have discontinued it from their current line up so they ain't going to pay it.
Lotus couldn't afford to.
Nobody else really uses the engine to warrant the cash to pass it.

This is the correct answer! The engine will not approved for use after end of this year because Toyota is not going to incur the cost of approval for an old engine. It is the same reason that 1.6 was replaced, and all cars with existing engine will have to be registered this year as they cannot be sold in 2010.

Why does the engine need retesting?
They have the figures for it already, so if existing figures meet the Euro standard (which they do), then they can just keep using it surely without a re-approval?

[rypt]

Most of my uni lecturers are also of the opinion that global warming is BS, including a former Cosworth engineer and the emissions/thermo lecturer who does work together with BMW with regards to emission control

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Mr Gear said:

JHS said:

we seriously need to leave the E,U.
COME WHO WANTS TO SIGN THE PETITION !!!

I'm no Europhile, but anyone who thinks emissions regs are a bad thing is an idiot.

Anyone who can remember what London smelled like in the 1960s will know what I am talking about. I went to La Paz in Bolivia a couple of years ago and the air was so thick with smog that you could literally see it in the air. Without someone saying "this is the limit" we'd still be living in that smog in this country right now. As the tech moves forward, why not make the tests tougher and kill off polluting engines? We don't need them any more. It isn't going to kill the Elise. They will just get a more modern engine on the job. What's not to like?!

There is no need to apply the emission regs to low volume things such as the Elise / Exige though

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RobM77 said:

kambites said:

otolith said:

Mr Gear said:

It isn't going to kill the Elise. They will just get a more modern engine on the job. What's not to like?!

While I'm generally in favour of measures that improve those emissions directly injurious to health, what I don't like is that the convergence on small capacity turbocharged three and four cylinder engines is very, very boring.

I think the Elise will be the last thing to suffer significantly from this. The current engines are already utterly lacking in character.

An Elise with a turbo wouldn't be as good a driver's car though. I agree with Gordon Murray's list of things that make a sports car, and a normally aspirated engine is one if those things.

One other thing: what makes am Elise isn't its engine. Take the glorious straight six out of my Z4 Coupe and replace it with a naff engine and it would be a dull car; put a naff engine in an Elise and it'd still be great.

I don't mind a supercharger tbh

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mainaman said:

Any of the latest performance 1.4 or 1.6 engines is objectively better than the NA 1.8 in the Elise;performance,economy,emissions,tunability,etc.-the small engines with character are getting illegal,so let's be happy that the new ''dull'' ones are superior in every other regard!

The only exception is the Clio 200's engine,but most likely the next hot Clio will be packing turboed 1.6...

The Exige 1.8 is better than the the 1.6s though

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kambites said:

rypt said:

The Exige 1.8 is better than the the 1.6s though

The Exige uses the same engine, in the same state of tune, as the Elise.

I ment the 2zz which is SCed in the Exige, as opposed to the Elise which also has the 1zz

[rypt]

2zz is under-utilised in the Elise/Exige, an SC 2zz can put out far more power reliably ... unfortunatelt the Toyota gearbox that goes with the engine is weak and cannot handle the torque