Lotus has finally revealed it’s plans for the much-anticipated supercar, which will be given the legendary Elite designation. We are not sure if this model is the much-talked about Esprit replacement as the Elite name was used before, both in 1958 and 1974. However the supercar signals the company’s foray into Ferrari and Aston Martin territory. In the press release, the Elite has been described as “ultimate refinement”.
The public will be the judge of that, but no doubt design has progressed slightly, which should help in its quest to compete with the big boys. I must admit that the prototype pictured here does point to a pretty good looking production car.
The 2+2 Elite will be offered with a retractable hard top. It will house a force-inducted 5.0 litre V8 engine (which hasn’t been confirmed whether this will be turbocharged or supercharged) that is set to pump out 612hp and 720Nm of torque. Lotus also mentioned that there will be an optional hybrid system which will be made up by a hybrid gearbox integrated with two electric motors and a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).
At the moment it is not certain if the above mentioned power figures take the hybrid system’s output into account, although judging from the high numbers, it is likely that power from the alternative source has been included. Weighing in at about 1,650kg, the car can accelerate to 100km/h in around 3.5 to 3.7 seconds, up to a top speed of 315km/h. This also gives it approximately 215g/km of CO2 emissions output.
“There’s no denying that the Elite is breathtakingly beautiful to look at but it’s so much more than that, it’s a car that over delivers in all other aspects as well. One could say it’s a car of perfect contradictions, it’s compact yet spacious, high performing yet low emitting, lightweight yet still reassuringly solid. It’s a car that we are exceptionally proud of at Lotus and we truly believe that there is nothing else like it out there both in terms of styling and performance,” said Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus.
This front mid -engined, rear wheel drive car will be put into production in early 2014 with a market debut in the second quarter in the same year. Prices are unconfirmed, but is expected to be at around the £115 000 mark. Look for a high-res picture gallery after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1516]
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good job lotus !
and ! now ! you need a better logo :)
the logo is ok already
You have to understand what the meaning of the logo is.
As you can see in the logo, it contains the letter ACBC.
ACBC is stand for the name of the Lotus founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.
Who is this dude anyway?
He was an influential British designer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry.
You can read more about him at Wikipedia.
I really think they should keep the logo because of its proud heritage.
follow F1 logo more nicer….green with yellow strike on middle….ACBC logo outdated and ugly….this car is the most pretty car in Lotus lineup….EVORA is going to drop to no.2 now
Only an idiot would suggest changing the iconic Lotus logo! Colin Chapman will turn in his grave if that happens!
more importantly do you know where the lotus name came about?…only person close enough to the family would know…
A better logo? Why change something that is already iconic? You don’t ask Ferrari to change the prancing horse to something else. That is just weird.
Chun…. the price will be out of range for most malaysian though.. in fact all supercars are out of range for most people in the world
hence the term supercar…else not so super d
By considering the performance, quality, technology, and the reputation of the car, I think the price is excellent. Rustam, Amir & Wan Zaini, beware… I’ll going to make your F430 look ordinary after I get my Elite :D
Did you mean the black F430?
The black F430 not belong to Amir la… It’s Aminuddin’s.
Amir drives the black Porsche.
this car not for my market. they want to go NA.
This car must be for my market!
not really if without that monster tax.
that’s what makes them ‘super’ cars..
That’s why we need affordable hot hatch like Satria Neo etc. That’s the closest thing we can get. Hopefully Proton will have a replacement for the legendary Putra. I’m sure most of us commoners are in high hopes for that.
Proton own Lotus, so why can’t us get an affordable Lotus here??
oh ya…. bcos even when we buy a Proton, the car itself also include Tax too !!
so a Gen2 basically should be price at 20K++ if without tax~~
where can i found info about tax imposed to proton..i mean how many percent..
I have requested the price for a Lotus Elise from Malaysia (Shah Alam), Thailand & Singapore. The best price I get is from Lotus Malaysia.
So last week, I just paid my booking fee & down payment at Shah Alam.
Because if even normal Brits couldn’t afford it why should normal Malaysians? It’ll be less of a supercar if so many people can afford it.
Plus even if it’s owned by Proton, Brits built it.
Yup they can afford the car with the price without taxing but they dont have a cheaper oil price there and olso the labour cost for repairing/servicing the car much higher than here.. so it look the same to me.. without taxes but high oil price and service or higher taxer but much cheaper oil price and labour cost for maintainace. it just my point of view.. :D
Because of gov tax and made in UK…..
even Proton has some shitload of taxes lah. doesn’t matter where it was built, the high govt tax is there.
yeah.. g0 proton.. goo..
where have i saw this before? oh yea. hyundai genesis coupe and honda cr-z
No you don’t. You just repeating what commentors on western auto website are saying. That is lame. I mean, there is other way to sound original and smart.
………renault coupe n the nose top line, mitsu lancer……or rather new waja.
Nonetheless, it is very nice except I thought it looked like a 2 lit turbo.
Not aggressive enough for 5 lit turbo or super chg.
this car will be shown together with Lotus Emas at Paris motorshow… :) I’ve seen some renderings on few blogs, and now waiting to see the real the pics from the show.
good job Lotus, and Proton too.. i’m eagerly waiting for KL motorshow!
Me too! :)
yeah, take lotus to the next level… big boys, watch out..
there’s a Lotus behind that will drive by or pass you!!! =)
hope proton will benefits from what lotus plans to be…hope malaysian especially proton afford to build a good engine beside the campro…hope 2 see 2.0 displacement figure in the next future..
Nice looking but pretty nondescript for a concept. Replace the badge with a ford and none would be any wiser.
Rather sad, given Lotus has always had some rather left field designs. Looks fairly production ready though.
This wont be the new Esprit. Elite has been Lotus’ front engined coupe/GT, which is what this is. Time is probably not ripe yet for a new mid engined Esprit. But knowing Lotus, a possible preview of the Esprit’s new powerplant.
hmm… force fed 5.0 V8…. stroked 3UZ-FE?
Agreed, pretty non descript. It is still a nice and clean design though.
I sort of like their current distinctive subtle smiley face design. But I’m not against any change as long as it remains distinctive.
Nevertheless, I cannot afford one anyway. How I wish Lotus produce kit cars just like the old Seven but with very simple assembly and cheaper price. Or it can be carts rather than road legal. Definitely not to compete with Caterham. It can help Lotus expand their fan-base while living up to their racing heritage.
You do know that the Caterham 7 was Lotus’s first car produced in the 50s…
You technically can buy a Caterham kit……and build it yourself.
In terms of kits, the ultimate ones would be (in order of madness)
Shelby Cobra 427
Hawk HF (Lancia Stratos)
Caterham Super 7
Go figure, the estimated launch date of the new Esprit is also in 2013… 2 new supercars from lotus?
Tiadaid & 4G63t..
I know.. I adore the original Seven and the current Caterham.
My pocket isn’t that deep for those cars.
I was thinking of a modern, simpler and cheaper one.
The one I could afford to own, maintain and race recreationally on weekends.
In a simpler words, I wish for a Lotus cart.
It uses Toyota-sourced 5.0-litre V8 – the engine found in the mighty, and mighty sounding, Lexus IS-F..and this one is supercharged (Source: Top gear website)
P/S : It’s a Aston Martin DB9-sized car with lotus handling…what more could you possibly ask for???
now they got good package?
superb handling + superb sound
:)
exterior is very good looking.
i really like the way of muffler integration with the diffuser(?)
together with integrated spoiler.
any interior photo? i want interior photo!
Although it might out of my reach, I need full picture for me to dream at not only night.
Good job.
I agree…
Anyway, dream is very powerful.
I have dreamed to have an F430, and now I have it :)
lets hope the lotus doesnt kills its own market share with crappy proton quality,
jeremy clarkson did mention about the lotus quality in evora in his reviews,
Lotus does it again… Nicely designed,add 2 more doors and it can actually be compared to the panamera or the quattroporte, proton bile nak buat bende macam ni haha :)
2+2 and a front mid engine, but what we see now seems kinda hard for lotus to fit a V8 into the rear , unless the luggage area is moved to the front…
anyways, looking forward to see this car on the road…
Rebadge it to PROTON….hehehehe…. it’s so easy (like what honda does to acura and toyota does on lexus…)… but depend on PROTON… If they choose to re-badge it, we Malaysian might afford to buy it…. Might be… not really sure bout the price…
My 1st impression, instantaneously – Wowwww!!!!!!
Since DSZ mentioned that the new persona will be very much “European”, will this model serve as reference?
Even if the new Persona headlight modeled after this model, the wow factor still very high.
5.0 litre V8……….Lexus IS F’s engine?
5.0 litre V8, 612hp to move a 1,650kg car… This is GREAT!
a good attempt
but arent lotus known for their lightweight pocket rockets
with toyota engines and affordable prices
Yes they are. But so did Porsche; we known them as rear engine fun machine. That does not mean they cannot build Panamera or Cayenne. Or Lamborghini with their Estoque for that matter. Lotus should build any car they want but all they have to do is keep the fun of Lotus there. Just like they did on Evora.
absolutely fantabulous , can’t wait to hear more bout it!
By the look of it, this car would be a front engine model, right?
Truly breathtaking.
Superb!!!but kinda looks like a Honda S2000 or Mazda RX8 at first glance.but fresher looking!!
No hybrid for this car. TQ. (It’ll make the car heavier.. U know lotus ain’t fatties)
DROOOOOOOOLLLL………………….
*dead*
LFA design was tagged as monster by Honda boss. This one should be yum-yum. Hope production version wont be any softer than this.
wah!
make bigger than its siblings
Look like a smaller version of Aston Martin.
A marriage between Ferrari California and a Lexus LFA perhaps? There’s the resemblance too.
Great design! Can see, but cannot own for most of us, i mean, most of us!
since when MOST of us can own supercars??..supercars aren’t built for most people..
if most of us can own a supercar, they aren’t supercars anymore..
I like your comment.
It really make sense.
luv ur comment dude…haha
It looks a bit tame & conventional compared to Ferraris and Astons.
asian design.. doesn’t look quite well as Lotus..
2014????? It’s way to early to announce it now! What on earth Lotus is thinking?? By the time the actual car comes out, basi already.
I hope it won’t be 2014, should be 2012 the latest.
some car way more than 4yrs
2014 Audi S4 and S5
2014 Porsche 918 Spyder
2014 TF Roadster MG
2014 Nissan GT-R
2014 ESCALADE GM
what a refreshing design…good job
too beautiful :)
Nice. So, can the design team from Lotus please help Proton design their car from now on!!!
Eventhough we know Proton car is nothing much to shout about in term of technology & refinement. At least, make them look sexy & make the it’s driver look smart driving one…..
They haven’t learned after 25yrs, have they?????
Design something to look beautiful is one thing. Design something to be functional is another thing. I do agree Proton need to be more brave in their design language. Kia old design did not look good at all until they hired that design guru from Audi, Peter Schreyer. I believe Proton need somebody on par with Peter to help them design better cars which will appeal to the masses.
Apparently exterior design is not correlated with structural works. ha ha ha.
at last, a true supercar from Lotus stable. simply superb.
……Profits….profits….profits…….Lotus must be very focussed on profitability.
is it just me or what? this car look like Toyota FT-86..
slap on the proton’s badge and the price will drop abotut 20k-30k, together w the quality..
heck, i only want that v8 w proton’s badge so can cucuk those porsche @ ferrari on highway hahaha
The front shot reminds alot of the audi R8
disappointing !! front engine!!! ><!!!
please make it rear mid engine … then only will look nice..
This is Lotus Elite.
Since 1958 Lotus Elite always have front engine.
Get other Lotus is you want a rear mid engine.
ah i see didt know that. .. what about lotus esprit? are they going to revive it? maybe as flagship super car with mid rear engine
keeping my finger crosses heh
All form & no substance is useless! At least it’s a supercar that’s practical, you can take more than ONE bag for long distance trips.
Go Proton; My next generation of Gen2 will be from this… wahahahhaa!!
…affordable supercar???
…why most of us can’t own a supercar???
bcoz..
if everyman can fly..
superman will be nobody larr..
100% agree!
It really make sense.
I like it.
Thank you JACK HAMMER!
sprint less than 4 sec in 0-100kmh!!…i guess lotus has placed themselves amongst the big gunners of supercars and first to offer KERS….cant wait to see new espirit which i predict will be more outstanding in overall.
Then take one part Evora chassis, slap the Elite’s 5.0 forced fed engine on, put a new carbonfiber/reinforced plastic body.
Presto. Your new Esprit.
Esprit design sketches has been floating around since forever…. when I saw the Evora, I thought it was the Esprit….except it didn’t look quite right. Somehow someone at MacLaren must have fancied doing the new Esprit. The MP4-12C had everything that made the McLaren…well a Lotus.
haha.. next neo design should be influenced by Lotus Elite…. Evora and Elite are the best cars from Lotus.. Go go!!
very pretty looking car from Lotus. for once i can say that the Aston Martin DBS no longer hold the title for prettiest looking Brit car.
btw, anyone noticed how small the side mirrors are? i bet those are live video cams…
yup, just camera there. it looks fragile for being too small there.. i think it could be better if they could integrate it into the body of the car…
this model is very down to earth and production ready… previous models are very concept look. but why wait until 2014? by then cars have no wheels!
front like mclaren,side like ferrari,behind like maserati
nice
i really wished there was gonna be a Elan.
can be a competitor to MX5….or a european mx5….
got elise for miata.
unrivalled.
thank god no more smiley face on lotus
hope they keep the front fascia on the next
evora facelifted!
seriously. it’s a bad design effort.
so u think u can design something better than this?
nope. but other carmakers can.
stunning look. lit a bit touch of mazda rx8 there i think.
i see some ferrari and maserati, hmm