After a decade relying on the respected Elise and its more furious Exige stablemate, historic sportscar marque Lotus is back in the spotlight after unveiling a stunning range of new models.
Launching the Evora back in 2008 has clearly given the company a taste for expanding its sportscar offering, very likely due in large part to the sales boost the Norfolk-based firm has been enjoying this year as result.
Essentially a scaled up, more user-friendly Elise, the Evora is attractively styled and has won praise from road testers for its combination of precise handling yet refined ride. Utilising a variation of the Elise's bonded, lightweight chassis together with a Toyota-derived, 3.5 litre V6 engine is thought to be key to the car's ability to balance comfortable long-distance cruising with sharp performance on the racetrack.
The only serious criticism thrown at the standard Evora has been a lack of straightline power, but Lotus has responded to this most recently by launching the Evora S, its supercharged engine boosting power output by 70bhp. While the Porsche Cayman is probably the Evora's natural rival, in supercharged form the newest Lotus looks to be a genuine pocket supercar, even nipping at the heels of the Porsche 911.
But the company's plans to further expand its model line-up reveal that Lotus now aims to go from niche sportscar maker to supercar class leader in only five years.
To tackle this ambitious goal, Danny Bahar, recently appointed new boss of Lotus, has put together a highly experienced team from a range of performance car specialists that he calls the "Real Madrid" of the car industry. New chief designer, Donato Coco, is a former head of design at Ferrari, Lotus's director of product engineering, Paul Newsome, used to work for BMW and chief operating officer, Stephen Pathenschneider, was head of production at AMG.
Until now, Lotus has been known for its stripped out, economical cars for people looking for a spirited trackday drive and Bahar has promised the marque's concerned followers that Lotus will continue to follow its founder Colin Chapman's core philosophy of performance through light weight.
The first of the fresh Lotus line-up to be revealed on Bahar's watch will be an all-new Esprit and early details show that the company is aiming a great deal further upmarket and preparing to take on the premium supercar big guns like Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.
The firm's new mid-engined, two-seat supercar will continue Lotus's links with Toyota, the range-topper being equipped with a powerful 4.8 litre V10 engine taken from the Lexus LFA that would have the potential at least on paper to rival the Audi R8 and its Lamborghini Gallardo cousin.
But customers will also be offered the option of the 5.0 litre V8 fitted to the Lexus IS-F, offering up to 620bhp, and entry level models will get an uprated 300bhp version of the Evora's 3.5 litre V6 powerplant.
The new Esprit will be available as a coupe and convertible and will also feature as standard an F1 racing style KERS 'power boost' system to deliver a temporary extra 50 bhp on demand.
At this level of performance and specification, the car the Esprit will have to beat is nothing less than the Ferrari 458 Italia. Undoubtedly a tough goal, but if it successfully combines Elise and Evora style handling with those tried and tested Toyota powerplants then the Italian class leader could face a real run for its money.
Launching the Evora back in 2008 has clearly given the company a taste for expanding its sportscar offering, very likely due in large part to the sales boost the Norfolk-based firm has been enjoying this year as result.
Essentially a scaled up, more user-friendly Elise, the Evora is attractively styled and has won praise from road testers for its combination of precise handling yet refined ride. Utilising a variation of the Elise's bonded, lightweight chassis together with a Toyota-derived, 3.5 litre V6 engine is thought to be key to the car's ability to balance comfortable long-distance cruising with sharp performance on the racetrack.
The only serious criticism thrown at the standard Evora has been a lack of straightline power, but Lotus has responded to this most recently by launching the Evora S, its supercharged engine boosting power output by 70bhp. While the Porsche Cayman is probably the Evora's natural rival, in supercharged form the newest Lotus looks to be a genuine pocket supercar, even nipping at the heels of the Porsche 911.
But the company's plans to further expand its model line-up reveal that Lotus now aims to go from niche sportscar maker to supercar class leader in only five years.
To tackle this ambitious goal, Danny Bahar, recently appointed new boss of Lotus, has put together a highly experienced team from a range of performance car specialists that he calls the "Real Madrid" of the car industry. New chief designer, Donato Coco, is a former head of design at Ferrari, Lotus's director of product engineering, Paul Newsome, used to work for BMW and chief operating officer, Stephen Pathenschneider, was head of production at AMG.
Until now, Lotus has been known for its stripped out, economical cars for people looking for a spirited trackday drive and Bahar has promised the marque's concerned followers that Lotus will continue to follow its founder Colin Chapman's core philosophy of performance through light weight.
The first of the fresh Lotus line-up to be revealed on Bahar's watch will be an all-new Esprit and early details show that the company is aiming a great deal further upmarket and preparing to take on the premium supercar big guns like Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.
The firm's new mid-engined, two-seat supercar will continue Lotus's links with Toyota, the range-topper being equipped with a powerful 4.8 litre V10 engine taken from the Lexus LFA that would have the potential at least on paper to rival the Audi R8 and its Lamborghini Gallardo cousin.
But customers will also be offered the option of the 5.0 litre V8 fitted to the Lexus IS-F, offering up to 620bhp, and entry level models will get an uprated 300bhp version of the Evora's 3.5 litre V6 powerplant.
The new Esprit will be available as a coupe and convertible and will also feature as standard an F1 racing style KERS 'power boost' system to deliver a temporary extra 50 bhp on demand.
At this level of performance and specification, the car the Esprit will have to beat is nothing less than the Ferrari 458 Italia. Undoubtedly a tough goal, but if it successfully combines Elise and Evora style handling with those tried and tested Toyota powerplants then the Italian class leader could face a real run for its money.
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