Lotus has delayed production of its Elan four-seat sports car, citing that it didn't distinguish itself enough from the smaller new Elise and larger Esprit (pictured). So, instead of just stuffing all that Elan development money under some mattress in Woking somewhere, Lotus is going to use it to create its own modular engine family.
According to the always rumorific Autocar, work began last year and the first new engine to be fired up will be the Esprit's V8, which should produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 550 and 570 horsepower. This would be in lieu of the Toyota V8 originally speculated for the Esprit that would've apparently made 620 hp. Lotus apparently plans to spawn a four-cylinder from the V8's architecture, but if that fails, they can go back to a Toyota mill -- as is done throughout the current Lotus line.
This engine news comes on the heals of three developments. First, an online survey in which 10,000 participants said that Lotus should make their own engines rather than using stuff normally found in a Camry (see your Internet comments CAN make a difference!). Second, Lotus CEO Deny Bahar hearing that call. And third, Lotus has been announced as one of three engine providers for next year's Indycar series, providing a 2.2-liter turbocharged V6 co-developed by Engine Developments (aka Judd). Not that the Indycar engine will have anything to do with the road-going Lotus powerplants, but hey, they've gone from making no engines at all to a bunch (sort of).
( Autocar )
stovt001 says:
10:26 AM, 06/ 8/11
I thought Lotus' partner for the Indycar engine was Cosworth.
Given how Dany wants to make Lotus as un-Lotus like as possible, I imagine these engines will seem right at home in a pick-up truck.
yelnats21 says:
10:46 AM, 06/ 8/11
what an insanely beautiful car
throwback says:
11:30 AM, 06/ 8/11
Has anyone done a study on how often Autocar is correct? They certainly seem to get a lot of "scoops".
stoppre75 says:
12:21 PM, 06/ 8/11
I've been wondering for a while why Lotus didn't pursue the LFA's V10. That cost millions upon millions of dollars to develop, only to be used in 500 cars. (500 very expensive cars, but still not enough to make a return on the investment). Its a win win for both companies if they used it ...unless Toyota is so protective of their gem that they didn't want it in another companies hands.
That engine deserves a true production run, its a marvel of engineering.
agnh says:
02:50 PM, 06/ 8/11
Aren't we overlooking one obvious benefit?
Using Toyota's motors would be a lower cost. The developement has already been done, with the exception of fitting them to Lotus' particular application, and those major developement costs have already been amortized over a few million cars.
I fulling appreciate the arguement against using a Sienna minivan motor in an exotic, however what about the benefit of having the availability of a $70k Lotus versus a $100k one?
brn says:
04:07 PM, 06/ 8/11
agnh, it's quite possible that Lotus and Toyota aren't getting along. Look at Ford vs Navistar International. Navistar International builds diesel engines. That's what they do. Ford (rightly) decided they would be better off designing and building their own diesel motors for their pickup trucks.
Does Navistar International make good diesel motors. Yes. Did they make good ones for Ford's needs? Nope. Toyota makes good motors too, but they're not designed for what Lotus is doing with them.
stoppre75 says:
09:05 AM, 06/ 9/11
Bnr:
You're argument makes sense, but the cost effectiveness of Lotus designing their own engine might be unobtainable.
Ford is a massive company and the diesel they designed went into a truck that has been the #1 selling automobile for 30 something years in a row. Lotus makes two cars and sells a couple thousand of them a year.
Its a lot easier for Ford to absorb and spread out R&D costs than it is for Lotus.
touringtest says:
05:41 PM, 06/10/11
The only way this makes sense is if Proton will be fronting the engineering costs, and de-tuned Lotus engines start popping up in mid-range Protons.
Speculate on the reliability of that combination, if you will, but otherwise the numbers don't make sense.