Archive for Lotus

Dutch car manufacturer Spyker has made a bid for Lotus, reported Dutch auto magazine AutoWeek. AutoWeek’s unnamed sources claims the Dutch company is already in talks with Proton about the possible porchase. Spyker’s owner however, refused to confirm this but commented it could be a serious option.

Sources say Spyker intends to use Lotus Engineering’s technical know-how to develop it’s upcoming Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris SUV (shown above). The odd name is to commemorate Spyker’s participation in the 1907 cross-country race of the same name. The concept model, first put on show at Geneva 2006 features full-time all-wheel-drive, four doors with rear suicide doors, a 500hp Volkswagen 6 liter W12 engine, carbon-ceramic matrix brakes and an all-aluminium construction.

Spyker follows Porsche’s footsteps – a sports car manufacturer releasing an SUV model that combines practicality with the sporty prestige of a sports car logo on it’s hood. Spyker also owns the Spyker F1 Team, previously known as Midland F1 Racing.

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Lotus Engineering displayed their Integrated Exhaust Manifold technology at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show. Basically, it is an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head. A demonstration of this was shown as a cylinder head design for a small 3-cylinder engine, which I would say would benefit much from this technology. Integrating the exhaust manifold into the cylinder head brings numerous benefits which I will outline below.

An integrated exhaust manifold reduces parts count, which reduces costs throughout the development cycle. Other areas where this will reduce costs include the inventory, assembly and aftermarket parts supply areas. Less parts, less to stock.

Through the use of a cooling jacket design, heat is retained in the engine (which is cooled via the radiator system) rather than letting it radiate into the engine bay. This improves the performance of the air conditioning system, thus reducing it’s power consumption. A cooler engine bay also means cooler air into the air intake, which boosts performance. The engine also warms up more quickly. Coolant can also cool the engine more evenly, reducing engine block stress.

Engine durability improves, as thermal stresses usually occur at points where different materials meet. In an engine with a conventional exhaust system design, an aluminium cylinder head meeting a cast iron exhaust causes thermal stress.

The integrated exhaust manifold also allows the catalytic converter to be positioned very near the exhaust output, thus reducing the amount of exhaust heat lost in travelling from the cylinder to the catalyst. This improves catalyst performance, thus reducing emissions to an ultra-low level without incurring higher costs.

Lotus Engineering will have this on display at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, a Proton GEN2 equipped with Lotus Engineering’s EVE Hybrid technology. EVE, which stands for Efficient, Viable, Environmental, basically pairs Proton’s 1.6 liter Campro engine with a 30 kilowatt (40 horsepower) electric motor. The hybrid petrol-electric drivetrain drives the front wheels using a continuously variable transmission (CVT) gearbox.

The hybrid system also has a start-stop system for the gasoline engine to be shut off when unneeded. The engine restarts automatically when the brake pedal is released. The electric motor is positioned between the engine and the gearbox, and supports regenerative braking to recharge its 144V battery located in the GEN2’s boot.

The Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid Concept has significantly lower emissions than it’s pure petrol sibling, with CO2 output only 134g/km from 172g/km. Average fuel economy rose from 6 liters per 100km to 4.6 liters per 100km. The combined output of the electric motor and the Campro 1.6 liter engine is 141hp, equivalent to a 1.8 to 2.0 liter engine in modern times, giving it a 0-100km/h time of 9 seconds and a top speed of 190km/h. Torque rises from the stock 148Nm at 4,000rpm to 233Nm at 1,500rpm.

Perhaps we can see this Lotus EVE Hybrid technology being implemented in our local Proton cars soon, or perhaps we will be able to use that CVT transmission to replace the current 4-speed auto of which ratio’s do not match the Campro’s torque curve at all. A CVT would be wonderful for keeping the Campro’s revs within it’s powerband, allowing for a more comfortable and stressless drive.

More photos after the jump, as well as Lotus Engineering’s full description of the Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid car.

Related Posts:
Lotus EVE Hybrid at the Proton Technology Week

Click here to read the rest of Proton and Lotus Engineering develop Proton GEN2 EVE Hybrid Concept

Zero Air Pollution, or ZAP, is a US-based company that will be debuting a new vehicle, the ZAP-X, at the North American Dealers Association show next week. ZAP already has electric cars and trucks on sale in the US, so it is not new to the electric vehicle market. The ZAP-X will be using Lotus Engineering’s Versatile Vehicle Architecture. We saw the VVA’s potential sometime last year when Lotus showcased a vehicle called the Lotus APX or Aluminium Performance Crossover, which used the VVA chassis and was powered by a supercharged Lotus “Project NEF” 3.0 V6.

The ZAP-X will seat 7, and will most probably look alot like the APX, however instead of being powered by the V6, it will have in-wheel electric motors – four of them, and this will give about 635hp and a top speed of 250km/h. It looks like the Lotus APX did not go to waste after all. This is also not the first time Lotus has worked with electric vehicles, remember the Tesla Roadster?

Related Posts:
Lotus APX to be unveiled at Geneva 2006
Lotus APX – Aluminium Performance Crossover

The feasibility study between Lotus Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Youngman Automobile Group Co Ltd (Jinhua Youngman) recently concluded with positive results, and Lotus has managed to secure the deal to assist Jinhua Youngman produce passenger cars. Jinhua Youngman started off manufacturing commercial vehicles, but recently secured a license from the Chinese government to produce passenger vehicles. Lotus will start with a 4-door saloon for Jinhua, with work scheduled to begin early 2007. Jinhua plans to have a 4 car model line-up within the next 5 years.

Do you think Jinhua will be using our existing platforms like the ones that have spawned the GEN2 and the Waja, helping Proton achieve better economies of scale? Or perhaps Jinhua will be using the flexible and advanced Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) by Lotus, which use was demonstrated to the public with the rapid development of the Lotus APX Concept. The latter sounds more likely.

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We have more details on Group Lotus’ plan to turnaround the company within the next 5 years. Previous details on the plan revealed plans to produce more of it’s own cars, re-engineer third party cars, as well as expand it’s engineering consultancy business. More details about those details at this post.

Further details reveal that the flagship Lotus Esprit will be postponed to a end 2009, making it a 2010 model. Lotus says it needs more time to “insert more Lotus DNA” to ensure global competitiveness. Rumours previously had it that Lotus was to release the Esprit next year. The new Lotus Esprit is expected to be a mid-engine, rear wheel dirve layout and could use a 4.8 liter V8 DOHC unit from BMW, making more than 400 horsepower, which would be a real rocket combined with the Lotus philosophy of performance through weight reduction.

In the meanwhile, Lotus announced it will introduce a new mid-market level model in May 2008, as well as a new 4-seater high-performance model in collaboration with Proton – are we going to see a Proton car being tuned up in the style of the Lotus Carlton? Bernama reports that this model will be based on the Proton Satria Neo. The Lotus line-up currently includes the Elise, the Exige and the Europa.

As part of it’s efforts to cut costs, Group Lotus also announced 200 job cuts in it’s manufacturing workforce. The Hethel plant workforce suffers because of the US market slowdown, which is the company’s biggest market. Rather than calling it downsizing, officials have said it is more of a “right-sizing.”

There are some rumours of Proton selling off Lotus like what it did to MV Agusta, but Proton’s MD Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir was quick to clarify that there are no such plans, not now and not in the future. He was quoted to say “We will make sure that Lotus will work. We must ensure Lotus is a success; there is no other way.”

Related Posts:
Group Lotus 5-year turnaround plan.

Proton Holdings Bhd is setting up a special unit to fully capitalise on it’s UK subsidiary Group Lotus, part of Group Lotus’ five-year turnaround plan. The unit, to be comprised of people from both Lotus and Proton is in it’s final planning stages.

Part of Group Lotus’ plan to turn around in 5 years include producing it’s own sports cars like the Elise and Exige, producing Lotus-branded versions of third party production cars like what they did with the Lotus Carlton as well as engineering consultancy. It needs all of these revenue streams to turn around. Lotus already has engine and chassis engineering deals with 4 Chinese car markers including Nanjing Automobile Corp which owns MG Rover. Lotus also has a deal to manufacture the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car by American company Tesla Motors.

Lotus’ deal with Nanjing will help modernise MG’s range of cars, with the first fruit of the collaboration to be a new MG TF, with a MG ZT following up later in 2008. Besides that, MG Rover’s K-series motor will be upgraded to meet the latest European Union emission standards.

Photo: Jussi Koskinen

The Lotus Carlton was born during the days where General Motors owned Lotus, before Proton bought them. It was based on the 1986 Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Omega Mark 2 3.0GSi, a family saloon sold in the US as a Vauxhall and in Europe as an Opel. The Carlton earned the European Car Of The Year award in it’s year of launching.

Lotus basically took the Carlton, added a rear boot spoiler, air intakes on the bonnet, Lotus badges, and souped up the engine. It turned the 3.0 inline-6 into a monster twin turbocharged 3.6 liter inline-6 making 377 hp at 5,200 rpm. The car came in only one colour; Imperial Green – a colour which looked like black except under very bright lights.

General Motors originally had a sales target of 1,100 units, but only managed 950 (320 Vauxhalls and 630 Opels). This was due to the early 1990s recession, not many could afford a £48,000 car.

Look after the jump to watch Tiff Needell review the Lotus Carlton.

Click here to read the rest of 1990 Lotus Carlton (Lotus Omega)

Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley reveals some of Lotus Cars’ future plans in an interview with Autocar. Kimberley says Lotus is aiming to increase it’s annual production to 8,000 units in the next five year’s time, which is double the current levels. This increase is to be spearheaded by sales of the Lotus Elise and the Lotus Europa, as well as the new Lotus Esprit powered by a BMW V8 engine coming in late 2007.

Kimberley also hints that Lotus might be producing more tuned cars using donor cars by other manufacturers. Some Lotus-tuned donor cars are the Lotus Cortina based on a Ford Cortina and the recent Lotus Carlton based on the Vauxhall Carlton pictured above. I’m sure many of you remember what Lotus did to an old Lada Riva in an episode of Top Gear. If you’ve missed it, the video is available here.

The Vauxhall Carlton originally had a 3.0 liter inline-6 DOHC engine. Lotus increased the stroke of the engine to 3.6 liters, and bolted on two Garrett T25 turbochargers with a water-to-air intercooler to give the engine 377 horsepower at 5,200 rpm with 557Nm of torque at 4,200rpm. They mated this to a ZF 6-speed stick shift from the Chevrolet Corvette ZF-1. The result was the Lotus Carlton. It did 0-100 in 5.2 seconds and had a 283km/h top speed.

Of course in tandem with the increased power, the suspension and brakes were upgraded. A family sedan which could go really really fast, ala BMW M5 style.

The Project NEF engine aims to produce a high performance prototype engine without the need to resort to exotic materials or manufacturing technology, ensuring the transition from prototype to production with ease and speed. It was designed and developed by Lotus Engineering’s powertrain division.

The first in the engine family is the 3.0 liter supercharged DOHC 75 degree V6 engine found in the new Lotus APX prototype. The supercharged 3.0 liter V6 makes 300hp at 6250rpm and 360Nm of torque at 4500rpm. 80% of that 360Nm of torque (288Nm) is available from as low as 1500rpm. Acceleration should be very good. Pretty impressive stuff.

Other family models include a 2.2 liter and 3.0 liter normally aspirated versions, which compliment this supercharged one. They are all production feasible, but not planned for production, unless of course there is a customer who wants to buy it. Perhaps Proton would be one of the potential customers? Makes sense seriously.

The narrow 75 degree angle makes the engine compact. It also gives the engine better vibration characteristics, removing the need for a balance shaft and the extra cost and weight that comes with it. The engine is controlled by a 32-bit ECU capable of 200 million calculations a second.