The battle lines are drawn. The race to build Britain’s fastest and most
powerful production
car is on. But it’s not McLaren, Bentley or even Aston Martin that aims
to lead the way. It’s Lotus.
During an exclusive gathering at the company’s HQ in Hethel, Norfolk, chief technical officer Wolf Zimmermann told Auto Express of his plans to build a flagship Superleggera version
of the next-generation Esprit – and we can show you what it will look like in our exclusive images.
Bosses held the meeting to face critics of the New Era plan, which in June 2010 revealed five new cars would be launched in five years. As well as confirming the flagship Esprit, Lotus unveiled plans for a city car called Ethos – to rival the Aston Martin Cygnet
– plus the 2+2 Elite, four-door Eterne and the Elise Evolution.
There was also news on the
next Elan, which Lotus says it will put on hold until 2017, when it will replace the Evora. The range-topping Superleggera features an upgraded version of the firm’s 562bhp 4.8-litre V8 engine. This generates maximum power of 612bhp at 9,000rpm. It will also get a special
aluminium body that promises to be even stronger and lighter than the one in standard models.
According to Zimmerman, the car will not simply be a stripped-out racer for the road, but a
carefully designed evolution of the standard Esprit. In fact, the Superleggera will be the fourth model in the range, alongside
the coupé, convertible and a glass-roofed Targa edition.
Based on projected figures for the standard car, the Superleggera could sprint from 0-60mph in under three seconds, and
hit a top speed of 212mph.
A seven-speed dual-clutch semi-automatic gearbox will offer rapid shifts, while an electro-
hydraulic power-steering system will give the driver as much ‘feel’ as possible. “This car will not be like the McLaren MP4-12C,” said Zimmermann. “It will be cooler
– there will be more emotion.”
Disqus - noscript
THIS HAS TO BE MADE ITS TRULY AWESOME LOOKING.IT HAS ECHOES OF A LAMBO WHICH IS NO BAD THING, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEM SHIFTING THEM
This is the new Lotus MD's first serious attempt at starting to re position the Lotus brand as cutting edge again after years in the wilderness. The company needs to re discover it's roots and to re establish high performance through low eight as it's founding principles. This proposed new model starts to do that. I love The Lotus brand and owned 3 Lotus cars in the past but the company lost it's way after the Elise. This bold new design could put the company back on the map if it pulls it off.
Colin Chapman would turn in his grave at the silly me-2 designsnow being announced.
Where is the originality? Where is the simplicity?
Where is the ultra-light two seater?
Just more junk, in a world where I see 1,500 kg sports cats described as 'light-weight' it appears anything goes.
Strange headline about a car that will not be as fast as the Noble M600 which is lighter (
WOW - what next? Maybe Lotus will say their new car will be the best car ever and powered only by hope and fair weather. Maybe it will come in every colour that has ever been committed to canvas and will be delivered personally to your door by an assortment of celebrities.
The fact of the matter is the new "standard" Esprit is at least 2 years away. More than enough time for McLaren to bring out a lightweight version of the MP4-12C or Lamborghini to bring out a special Gallardo.
On top of this Lotus still haven’t stated which lucky 3 dealers will be able to sell this in the UK, but fear not in the time it takes them they're come out with yet another vacuous comment about how the New Esprit will be made from special rubber panels to make parking easier!
I think that Lotus's Chief Technical Officer announced a special lightweight and faster Esprit than the basic model, and then Auto Express turned that into "Britain's Fastest Car".
But I like it anyway. And the fact that Lotus is coming with these bold plans means that they still have faith in it and development is going according to plan
WOW - what next? Maybe Lotus will say their new car will be the best car ever and powered only by hope and fair weather. Maybe it will come in every colour that has ever been committed to canvas and will be delivered personally to your door by an assortment of celebrities.
The fact of the matter is the new "standard" Esprit is at least 2 years away. More than enough time for McLaren to bring out a lightweight version of the MP4-12C or Lamborghini to bring out a special Gallardo.
On top of this Lotus still haven’t stated which lucky 3 dealers will be able to sell this in the UK, but fear not in the time it takes them they're come out with yet another vacuous comment about how the New Esprit will be made from special rubber panels to make parking easier!
Lotus need to build the base model Espirit first so that people can start building some trust in the brand. It's amusing to call a gathering of people who criticize their five year plan when we've seen nothing but mock-ups and press releases.
I'm also astounded that Zimmermann makes a claim for electro-hydraulic power steering versus pure electric power steering. Has he any idea how much additional weight this will add. There isn't much point talking about aluminium bodywork if you're going to fit a hydraulic reservoir and all the assoicated hydraulic lines on the vehicle.
Any company who has the effort can build big very fast sports cars but i always thought Lotus as lightweight small engined go karts capable of taking on the big boys. lets hope these new cars take on the lotus spirit to a new level
They need to release some products to buy rather than more column grabbing headlines.
Agree with the earlier comment. Just get on with the job. Cut out this city car nonsense and concentrate on your core products. Concepts are great but we need to see some 'real' cars out of Lotus. C'mon you've got the crowd all excited... Deliver!
It's strange that 8 years ago MG managed to manufacture a 4.6L, 5 seat estate car weighing over 2 tonnes which broke, and still holds, the speed record for that category of car, i.e. 227mph.
Rather faster than this Lotus, and most so called 'super cars'.
Why can none of the major sports car producers emulate such a feat.
Confusion amongst the buying public as to whether this is Lotus Lotus aka Proton built, or is it a rebadged Renault?
Need to get back to their roots of great engineering, lightweight fun cars, and getting ridiculous amounts of power out of basic saloon cars (cf. Carlton, Cortina, Horizon)
Not sure why they'd want to call it "Superleggera" if it's not Italian.
I love it. Looks awesome. (a little like a Gallardo superleggera)...but stilll evry Lotus. It's a winner.
Given Lotus' aspirational ambitions including building their own V8 etc., I just hope they can achieve it all before going bust. At this stage it's yet another AE Photoshop job and speculative copy...ZZZZ again.
Lotus can and do build cars like that in the UK then who cares who owns the company... Put your foot down Lotus
The new line up all looks the same
2014 seems a bit ambitious to me, but let's give Lotus the benefit of the doubt. If the Esprit is to be released with an all new Lotus built V8 in 2014 then this engine must be beyond the design stage and close to testing by now. Build it, test it, then fit it into a facelifted Evora. That really is all you need to do Lotus.
@ CaptAl1......That MG was modified almost beyond recognition, and was nothing more than an attention grabber farce. Exactly where were the showrooms you could walk into and order one of them off the floor..........nowhere!! Think you need a real legitimate wagon, available from showrooms and its called an RS6.
Someone cracked on about the weight, so where did I miss, in the article, what the projected weight will be. It was conveniently omitted. I do however agree that the Lotus roots and heritage are being diluted in the name of...........who knows. At least Lotus and Noble are still genuine English .cars, and you can split hairs but Bentley is now German, and who is it that owns AM now......some middle eastern consortium???
Like anything that is made for the great unwashed, will this car make the cake bigger or simply steal a bit of some else's cake. Most car makers miss that subtly and are merely followers.
Anyone brave enough to stand up and say ??? are market leaders??
You can always tell a fanboi because they harp on about who owns what. What the heck does it matter, eh? I mean, it's not as if it's a modern day phenomenon now, is it? Who cares who owns a company, as long as the owner cares for the company it has bought, invests in its future and continues to build the product in its country of origin with a native workforce, it shouldn't matter one jot.
Even Lotus aren't immune. It is owned by Malaysians who are doing a damned fine job pumping cash into a fantastic development program. The only criticism one could throw at them is that they are a bit too keen in the promotion stakes, but then I can't blame them, they own the most iconic British sportscar manufacturer of all time.
I want one!