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Lotus has unveiled its highly secretive Project Eagle car, now officially christened the Lotus Evora at the 2008 British International Motor Show.
The 2+2 mid-engined sports car weighs just 1,350 kg and is powered by a Toyota 3.5 litre V6 Dual VVT-i engine with a Lotus T6e ECU putting out 280 PS at 6,400rpm and 342Nm of torque at 4,700rpm. It’s 0 to 100km/h time is measured at under 5 seconds. For those who are environmentally conscious, CO2 emissions are measured at just under 225 g/km and the car achieves more than 30 mpg on a combined cycle. This is mated to a 6-speed manual, but the ratios are tuned for a more relaxing GT-like drive. A close ratio gearbox is still under development.
Braking is via AP Racing 4-pot calipers for both front (350mm disc) and rear (332mm disc), hiding behind large 18 inch wheels at the front and 19 inch wheels at the rear wrapped with Yokohama rubber in 225/40ZR18 and 255/35ZR19 sizes respectively.
Its chassis is based on the Lotus Versatile Vehicle Architecture, which was showcased quite some time ago as the base for the Lotus APX Concept MPV. In this incarnation the VVA platform measures 2,575mm long in wheelbase, and the car itself measures 3242mm long and 1223mm tall with a track of 1565mm at the front and 1557mm at the rear. The body has a drag coefficient of 0.33 cD.
The Evora’s composite roof is used as a stressed structural member to help the vehicle achieve a chassis stiffness of 26,000 Nm per degree. The suspension uses Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs with dual path top mounts.
The Evora will be priced between £45k to a little over £50k. For those that think this is the Europa all over again, one key difference between the Evora and the Europe is probably the fact that the Evora is based on a new platform and is larger. But then again, the car is somewhat marketed at a similiar market, so only time will tell how the Evora will do. The car is actually not complete yet – there is still another 6 months of R&D to go but these photos and spec figures are pretty much what the production version will be.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Lotus Evora 2+2 Sports Car
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mmmm. nice
Tell me paul, if lotus (under proton) can get toyota engines (a few times already), why can’t we scrutinize those engine and improve ours at proton?
SWEET!!! another lightweight roadster is produced…
Ha! Now u really learning things. Lotus never really under proton. It seems to be under Proton but in reality, it does not.
If proton really get hold of Lotus, do we still only see the words “lotus tune suspension”
It should be lotus engine, lotus chassis…..blar blar blar
But one thing we can see what proton gets in its new Saga, Nissan gear box!
Hell of a start!
This is a damn nice looking car here.
Nice car, good design, Why proton own this company but did not learn anything from them or utilize their technology or engineers to develop better proton cars
because proton suck!…
my mom own a persona n frankly telling, not even a year, the break pads gone, door rubber always keluar, gearbox sometime smooth sometimes hard..
anyway, evora rocks..xD
lets bash proton again !
Much much better looking than dreadful Europa. Welcome back Lotus!
proton has in fact learnt a lot from them.. chassis and handling is very much influenced by the lotus engineering methods.. to me, there are not many foreign fwd cars that handle as easily and safely as proton cars. the neo for example is one of the best i’ve ever driven. even the design of proton cars, like the neo, gen2, share design features that are the same as that found in lotus cars.
but lets not forget lotus is a niche sports car maker, and proton is a mass manufacturer. lotus technology is expensive, and proton cant take it all and put it in their cars and still maintain a low price.
mokkf82, lotus dont make engines, but in case you didnt know, lotus engineering were actually the people who did the work on campro. chassis work has always been done with lotus, and chassis and handling(suspension) go hand in hand.
the car is more beautiful than the chicks.
“Nice car, good design, Why proton own this company but did not learn anything from them or utilize their technology or engineers to develop better proton cars”
They did, but it doesn’t cut. Using sports cars know how to design bread and butter cars does not help. What good is a superb handling lowsy quality proton. Bread and butter cars rather have good quality lowsy handling.
Farboud lookalike, kudos to Lotus.
mokkf82 said,
July 22, 2008 @ 10:36 pm
Ha! Now u really learning things. Lotus never really under proton. It seems to be under Proton but in reality, it does not.
If proton really get hold of Lotus, do we still only see the words “lotus tune suspension”
It should be lotus engine, lotus chassis…..blar blar blar
But one thing we can see what proton gets in its new Saga, Nissan gear box!
Hell of a start!
————————————————————-
Malaysians make good rojaks sometimes…
Yummy, Lotus Evora looks very decent and sexy. A lot of Proton Gene can be seen like mid exhaust, tiny eyes, cheap plastic steering wheel (like waja) and impractical storage compartments. Lotus should try to collaborate with Proton to produce an in-house, self-developed engine rather than sourcing the Toyota engine. Last time Lotus used the 2L VVTLi and now they grab a bigger one. Engine is the soul of the car and it wouldn’t make sense to use a foreign engine. Maybe I am too conscious with engines because I am a mechanical guy :P Anyway, good try for Lotus.
love that center console and sliding gear knobs.
Lotus must be damn malu being associated with PROTON…..eeeeeeeeuwww
if u guys haven’t aware, the 1st pic u can see the Proton Chairman is launching the car…
Oh yes Dato Azlan Hashim can be spotted in one of the pics.
Evora? Maybe Ezora series have influence to them while in Malaysia. So what is good behind Evora development for Proton? Think about it. Still low technology transfer. Even lotus use Toyota’s heart in it. I like the dashboard. it really well can ‘masuk’ inside any proton model next time. or maybe a facelifted model.
Amir,
i wonder how IS your mom driving the car? My wife have no problems with her Persona, unless your mom is a rally driver, i rest my case.
This car supposed to come with new family of engines that will be shared with few other “big” Proton cars (V6, V8 Supercharged, 2.2cc to 3 litre) but the whole project being scraped and resize, only some of Lotus’s can see the daylight.. The initial design of the engine is completed, and the engine is amazing actually.. but it is a commercial suicide for proton with ultra high investment.. pity isn’t it?
exterior: sleek. i like it :)
interior: sporty&simple dashboard. i like it :)
engine: i don’t care what brand, as long as it serves the purpose, it is ok~
on proton+lotus thing,
i like the handling of gen2, savvy. wish i could drive a neo.
Very chun car, but I see that it will only be a niche model, as compared to the GT-R that would be flying off the shelves…
That is damn nice looking chicks!!!.. uh oh.. were you guys talking about the car?
chicks? you mean baby chicken ar?
Ebola?
Beautifully sculptured body.
Engine by Toyota. Gearbox by…?
Lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama.
Roti Naan said,
July 23, 2008 @ 12:36 am
Lotus must be damn malu being associated with PROTON…..eeeeeeeeuwww
……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Why must they feel malu? They have already Malu long time ago when they can’t survive and Proton bought their share in cash!!
Nice body (the car) but not sure if the white interior is practical for the production version.
what ashame the car is so expensive and proton has given up total on manufacturing the car in Malaysia. Want to buy one also hard.
nice car, too bad we own it and yet we can’t afford to buy 1
Build la something that can compete with Nissan GT-R.. Lotus is so high tech, I believe they could build a GT-R beater even.. and at lower price too. Lower for the Brits iguess, not Malaysians. Malaysians continously kene rip off by G.
there’s a lot of proton basher here.. for my personal opinion.. proton already have the technology know-how of Lotus.. it’s just the question whether its practical or not to implement it into proton car.. the basic evident of lotus tech use in proton car handling and everyone know proton car handle very well. other tech such as aluminum bonded body frame may suitable on normal car, might even make the price higher..
how proton making money out of lotus ? well basically lotus is doing engineering consultancy for any car manufacturer.. hey, even lotus tune the handling for the famous nissan gtr r35..
wow, this car is really rojak….
first of all, the car has a lot of elements from Elise, Europa and F430, that means both Lotus and Ferrari, but the brand is Lotus….
then, they put in a Toyota engine, and get a “decent” name from our local Ah Beng who drives Proton Wira with front half-cut of Evo (Evo + Wira)…..
sorry guys, just kidding, hehez
looks good…better than the boring aging elise which facelifted about 20 times.
is this model replacement for the old esprit?
they should put in the GTR’s engine into this car…that would send this car flying round the circuit.
mitlaveno,
they call that the wiralution.
maybe they will make the super/turbo charger version later.. like the Lotus Elise S .. then maybe Lotus Evora S ?? that should pump-up more horse…
Lotus embarrassed to be inked to Proton?
They don’t seem to be embarrassed when they keep asking Proton to advance them money…
Let’s hope this model will be successful and we don’t have to prop them up anymore.
Will it sell? I think so, the performance is there and people are sick of seeing 911/Caymans/Boxsters.
very2 impressive, a 2+2 seater, mid engined but have a storage at the back. couldn’t imagine anyone could build such a car. futhermore, it’s lotus, who produces small cars.
hmm..i think this car is lack of “wow” factor..doesnt really look appealin to me..
kudos to mike kimberley and d boffins at lotus. they really outdo themselves this time. the car is such a stunner and d interior is just sublime. it’s perfect for those enthusiasts looking to upgrade from elise or exige. :-)
i agree with BanyakMasukWorkshop,
why want to hentam Proton…
the article is about Lotus Evora not PROTON EVORA or what so ever…
anyway good start for lotus on developing mid size suppercar…
maybe it will succeed Lotus Esprit in the future…
p/s : Even the new Nissan GT-R seek consultancy secretly from Lotus…
I just couldn’t figure out why it was developed (initally) as left-hand drive.
Probably for the American market?
.
This will replace the Europa claustrophobic insides. Hopefully it will be fun to drive too.
Oh to win the lottery! What a car – my dream
Well couple of things, Lotus does make engines. The Esprit 2.2l 4L turbo is lotus designed and made, and the 3.5l V8 in later Esprit also. But it cannot be profitable at such a small volume which is why they started using Rover and subsequently Toyota engines.
As for the structure of Lotus Group, there is an engineering division which provides consultancy and mechanical designs to various other manufacturers, and Lotus Car which produces the Lotuses. Now the best that Proton Car can get is consultancy and design from Lotus Eng. Even if they are all under Proton Holdings, they are different companies, and their books are kept separately.
And given that Lotus’ business falls under British jurisdiction, I am very sure that business deals (eg consultancy work, design, prototyping) that Proton Cars commission Lotus Eng to do will be transparent and clean.
So the workflow will probably be something like this : Proton submits specification requirement for job (eg Satria Neo chassis design) to Lotus Eng, Lotus quotes fees, Proton pays Lotus, Lotus deliver design and manufacturing blueprint, Proton makes Neo, Lotus takes money and use to design sports cars that Lotus Cars can build.
Now. Both Proton and Lotus are bugged by the same problem: low quality finishing and materials. Good to drive, sometimes even great, but doesnt make the owner/passenger feel good. Give it some thought and you can see the reason. At the volume that Proton and Lotus are making their cars, they cannot bargain for high quality parts. For the money Proton pays to get 10 pieces of 2star plastic, VW can get 10 pieces of 5star plastic because they buy in 10-100times the amount that Proton would’ve bought.
What Proton really need to save its ass, and start making better cars which will carry on to save its ass, is to start a part-purchasing company with lotus, and another major car manufacturer. One that immediately comes to mind, is TATA. Everything will start to make sense.
well said bummerboy.
there is no point developing an engine when it is very expensive and because of lack of reliability experience, it breaks down. Toyota is one company who is clearly reliable and in recent years have had reasonable power output per litre out of their engines.
cooL ride..smoking!
Thank you bummerboy!
bummerboy, cool. Opened my eyes to a whole new perspective. Now I wish Proton execs read what you wrote as well. U’re strategic planner?
Well said Bummerboy! Most magazine I read the journalist that drive the Lotus will always say it’s a damn good handling car but they all also have the same critics they gave…which is, the lack of space, the lack of quality, lack of this, lack of that…yada yada yada. So what you said Bummerboy is true. Proton and Lotus does have the same problem. Now, with the Evora…seems like Lotus have out done themselves. The car is good and by god, the interior is damn great!! Let’s just hope that Proton will take the same move. After all, we as the end user are the one that might profit if Proton improve on it’s quality, right? Heck! Proton is part of Malaysia and we are a part of it as well. Hope Proton won’t screw things up again…