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Filed under: Aftermarket, Coupe, Performance, Lotus
These days it seems like the dream of a new
Lotus Esprit is getting nothing but further away, while the troubled company responsible for it applies the classic black and gold livery to everything it produces - and many things produced by others. But there was a time when the original
Esprit was a mechanical wonder to behold, and the JPS livery was championed by arguably the greatest driver who ever lived.
That driver, of course, was
Ayrton Senna. And to mark the 18th anniversary of his death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a German outfit called
Cam-Shaft Premium Wrapping has created this special edition in his honor. Instead of starting with the original four-cylinder Esprit, though, Cam Shaft went with the later turbo V8 and laid over its black paint a series of gold decals evocative of the iconic livery which Senna sported on his 1985 Lotus 97T, including a reproduction of his signature on the panel in front of the door.
The German firm didn't stop there, however. They gave the Esprit new turbos, an intercooler and cats to drive output up from 354 horsepower (stock) to 492 hp, drop the 4.9-second 0-62 time down to 4.3 seconds and increase the top speed from 282 km/h to 305. They also fitted it with a new six-speed gearbox to replace the old five-gear unit, upgraded the brakes with AP Racing four-pot calipers on 330mm cross-drilled discs and fitted it with a chassis control switch similar to a
Ferrari manettino.
A fitting tribute to the legendary pilot? We'd say so, and you can see for yourself in the high-res image gallery above and the press release
below.
Continue reading Lotus custom channels the Esprit of Ayrton Senna
Lotus custom channels the Esprit of Ayrton Senna originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 May 2012 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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May 1st, 2012
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Filed under: Government/Legal, Lotus
A deal has been reached to sell the Malaysian government's controlling, 43-percent stake in
Proton Holdings Bhd to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom for $410 million. Rumors surrounding the deal have been in the news for a few months, with Proton's deteriorating profits leading to speculation about if the government would get out and who be the savior. Of course, the other big question was: what happens to
Lotus in the event of a sale.
Analysts had uniformly
suggested that Proton sell Lotus, citing Proton's sales difficulties and lack of synergies as more than enough reason. DRB-Hicom has interests in various industies from automobile and car-part manufacturing to ports and aiports, but doesn't provide any more synergies with Lotus than Proton alone.
However, with founder and head Syed Mokhtar so closely associated with the firm it could be that he decides to keep Lotus as a jewel in the corporation just because he can - Lotus could do its work in a quiet corner of the DRB-Hicom empire. The deal for Proton is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012, so it shouldn't be long before we find out the fate of the so-close-yet-still-so-far-away Esprit.
DRB-Hicom to buy Proton originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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January 17th, 2012
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Lotus, UK, Luxury
Autocar has the skinny on the next-generation
Lotus Exige and
Esprit.
Dany Bahar, Group Lotus chief executive, dropped a few details on both models while speaking to the publication about the renewal of his contract with the sports car maker.
Bahar has signed on with
Lotus for another four years, which means he'll be around to see the launch of the 2013 Esprit. The vehicle is crucial to Bahar's five-year plan for Lotus and should give the company a legitimate halo vehicle when it goes on sale. Motor Authority reports the vehicle will be available as a hybrid that uses an
in-house V8 engine paired with an electric motor.
Meanwhile, additional Esprit models will provide no-compromise performance. Speaking of performance, word has it Lotus will work up its own V6 engine in the near future for use in the company's next-generation Exige. Currently, Lotus relies on
Toyota to supply its powerplants.
Bahar has also made it clear that Lotus will expand its motorsport endeavors in the near future as part of his quest to make Lotus a British version of Porsche. We certainly can't complain about that.
Lotus Exige to get V6 power, Esprit gets optional hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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December 14th, 2011
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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Lotus, UK, Luxury
Autocar has the skinny on the next-generation
Lotus Exige and
Esprit.
Dany Bahar, Group Lotus chief executive, dropped a few details on both models while speaking to the publication about the renewal of his contract with the sports car maker.
Bahar has signed on with
Lotus for another four years, which means he'll be around to see the launch of the 2013 Esprit. The vehicle is crucial to Bahar's five-year plan for Lotus and should give the company a legitimate halo vehicle when it goes on sale. Motor Authority reports the vehicle will be available as a hybrid that uses an
in-house V8 engine paired with an electric motor.
Meanwhile, additional Esprit models will provide no-compromise performance. Speaking of performance, word has it Lotus will work up its own V6 engine in the near future for use in the company's next-generation Exige. Currently, Lotus relies on
Toyota to supply its powerplants.
Bahar has also made it clear that Lotus will expand its motorsport endeavors in the near future as part of his quest to make Lotus a British version of Porsche. We certainly can't complain about that.
Lotus Exige to get V6 power, Esprit gets optional hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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December 14th, 2011
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Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Lotus, UK
Lotus Esprit concept - Click above for high-res image gallery
Fast. Lightweight. Eminently enticing. There are a lot of things you could call a
Lotus, but perhaps "ambitious" would be the most suitable. The company's been snapping up former
Ferrari personnel en masse, unveiled
five new concepts at the same time last year, and plans on returning to
producing its own engines to bring them to market.
Now it seems that Lotus has its eye on a rather boastful prize indeed: that of the fastest supercar built in the UK. That's quite the goal when you consider it'll be up against the likes of the
McLaren MP4-12C and
Aston Martin One-77. To get there, Lotus reportedly plans on turbocharging its new V8 up to 612 horsepower, and stripping out the new
Esprit to pump up the power-to-weight ratio from both ends in Superleggera fashion.
As it stands, the naturally-aspirated V8 is anticipated to produce 562 horsepower from its 4.8 liters of displacement. Lopping off a couple of cylinders or chopping the block in half could also give Lotus six- and four-cylinder versions of the modular engine for use in a variety of cars. But while the engine may be raced initially (for example in a new LMP2 car) and shoehorned into the other products Lotus plans to bring to market, its first road-going application is expected to be in the new Esprit.
Lotus to turbocharge new Esprit into UK's fastest supercar? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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June 30th, 2011
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Lotus
Lotus Esprit Concept - Click above for high-res image gallery
When
Lotus unveiled its
slew of new concepts at the Paris Motor Show, it included a rather enticing new take on the
Esprit. The show car packed the 5.0-liter V8 from the
Lexus IS-F, but the latest reports suggest that the British automaker is planning on developing its own eight-pot engine for the supercar.
Although the original mid-engined exotic used four- and eight-cylinder engines developed and built in-house, the newer generation of Lotus sportscars have used engines borrowed from
Toyota. However, rumors have been circulating that the partnership with the Japanese auto giant could be coming to a close as Lotus weighs returning to building its own engines.
And little wonder, as the Esprit will reportedly be positioned significantly higher than any of the current models. While the current range-topping
Evora S sells for around $76,000, reports indicate that the Esprit will more than double that in the $170-200K range.
That would make it more expensive than the
Porsche 911 Turbo ($137K) or even the
Turbo S ($160K), but undercut the top-of-the-line
GT2 RS ($245K)... not to mention the likes of the
Ferrari 458 Italia,
McLaren MP4-12C and
Lamborghini Gallardo (all of which start above $220K) by a significant margin - and crucially pack their own lunches.
Lotus to go in-house, upmarket with new V8 for upcoming Esprit? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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June 13th, 2011
