While the accompanying photo is only a rendering of the upcoming 2008 Lotus Esprit provided by Hans G. Lehmann via The Car Connection, it further brings into focus the upcoming halo car from the British builder of lightweight sportscars. TCC goes on to say that the V8 sourced from BMW will be the company's 4.8L and produce 367 horsepower. Due to the expertise Lotus has in building featherweight frames, the Esprit will be able to reach an estimated top speed of 180 mph and no doubt spring to 60 mph in the four-second range. The U.S. is first in line for the Esprit and will get the bulk of between one- and two-thousand units planned for production.
The styling shown in this rendering features a front end that looks like a cross between a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Lotus Elise. The only look at the Elise we've had so far are from spy photos of a mule running the Nurburgring in Germany wearing the sheetmetal of the last generation Esprit.
[Source: The Car Connection]
New KITT Attack Mode revealed at Comic Con
London 2008: Honda OSM concept roadster says, "Cheerio!"
London 2008: Lotus unveils the Evora
2010 Chevy Camaro - Official Details and Images
2010 Chevy Camaro - LIVE from the reveal
In the Autoblog Garage: Aprilia RSV 1000 R
First Drive: Maserati Quattroporte S in Europe
First Drive: 2008 MINI Cooper S JCW
In the Autoblog Garage:2009 Nissan GT-R
North American Exclusive First Drive: Alfa MiTo
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Espresso @ Jul 6th 2006 7:06AM
Is there any news about limiting engine? Will it be electronically limited or it's peak of 180 mph/h?
ik @ Jul 6th 2006 7:09AM
It looks alot like the ascari Kz1
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/193/5ascarikz124056lz.jpg
tim @ Jul 6th 2006 7:16AM
Remember who you are Lotus and please don't let this new Esprit end up weighing 1900kg and needing 600bhp and 4 radiators etc. Reduce complexity and add lightness.
GhostDoggy @ Jul 6th 2006 7:23AM
Yeah, but which will be cheaper and handle better, the new Esprit or the Kz1?
Luis Longo @ Jul 6th 2006 10:12AM
You can see the lines under it...
it seems that the bimmer engine will be its bigger atraction, yes the one thing thats not from Lotus will be the best of this car
DID ANYBODY NOTICED THAT IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE A GALLARDO?
COlin @ Jul 6th 2006 10:29AM
You guys are muppets. The picture is an artist's rendering of what it might look like. Since there hasnt been a new design for like 10 years, the artist has no frikkin clue what it will look like. It's not going to look anything like that (except for having 4 wheels and 2 doors)
Pork Rind @ Jul 6th 2006 10:57AM
Colin? Is that you?
. @ Jul 6th 2006 11:17AM
Why not the new toyota 4.6 V8 (for the LS460) thats supposed to push 380hp??
salguod @ Jul 6th 2006 12:47PM
If you go to the 'read' link and look at the whole car shot, it looks much better than that detail shot would suggest.
The angular lines of the hood & the head light profile don't fit with the more rounded look of the vents, the rest of the car and the Elise for that matter. Of course, this is just a rendering so who knows? I bet the hood is softer once we see the real deal.
BTW - Notice how in that detail shot, the passenger headlight seems to have a bulge to clear the projector lamp, but the driver side is flat? Given the greater detail in the passeger light, I suspect that there's a bulge there.
verdegrrl @ Jul 6th 2006 1:07PM
I agree with Luis, it looks like an Elise and a Gallardo got busy and had a baby. Maybe a kit car version of a Gallardo. Hopefully that isn't a close impression of the real deal.
PJ @ Jul 6th 2006 1:21PM
I can understand peoples' confusion about whether this is a rendering or not, considering that it's labeled a "Spy Shot" on TCC.
Is it just me, or does Lotus' recent styling work look a lot like that of a Korean car company? The new Europa, in particular, reminds me of Hyundai and Kia concept cars--angular and well-proportioned, but somehow simplistic and amateurish at the same time... like a "frame-rate-friendly" visual model.
For those of you who haven't played GT4 obsessively enough to notice this one, check out the similarity to Korea's Proto Motors Spirra:
http://www.autoblog.com/2005/04/29/proto-spirra-korean-sports-coupe/
audi_a4 @ Jul 6th 2006 1:51PM
#5, when i first saw that picture, i thought it was some updated gallardo.
Alex Zhao @ Jul 6th 2006 3:59PM
@PJ
eat your own words. if you read the article, it clearly says that it includes 1 artist's rendering which is the yellow car. the other images of the gray car are actual spy photos.
The "rendering" is just a lamborghini gallardo that has been photoshopped. The lines (side skirts, front bumper) are way too wavy and the reflections on the front right fender and hood are completely unrealistic. You might also notice that the front bumper is too obviously taken from a lotus elise. If you are unable to spot these, then you need to get your eyes checked.
PJ @ Jul 6th 2006 4:18PM
Wow, Alex, that was unnecessarily hostile. Number one, I *was* saying that the yellow car was a rendering, but that the TCC page is confusing because that's the main image, and it says "Spy Shots" all over the page. I can understand how *other* commenters made the mistake.
Number two, that same page says that the photos of the gray car are of a *test mule.* Any next-gen Esprit components are under the skin, which is why the track and wheel wells look out of whack. It's a common industry practice to test next-gen components under an adapted prev-gen skin.
Here's a rule of thumb: type your comment the way you'd say it to someone's face, even when you think you're calling out their mistake.
Father Time @ Jul 6th 2006 5:49PM
Kicking it back up with the high five, represent!
Alex Zhao @ Jul 7th 2006 1:31AM
@PJ
misread your comments ("can", "can't")
guess iwas just surprised that michael karesh didn't chime in
Road Tester @ Jul 8th 2006 4:14AM
If this is it, I've just found my new dreamcar. I've always been a huge fan of Lotus, because I like their philosophy of savin weight whereever possible. I really hope they bring something like this to production (with some improvements in quality). I'm sure, this car would give some competitors (i.e. Porsche and Aston) a headache.
LW Elise @ Sep 9th 2006 12:17AM
This will be what I replace my Elise with if I can afford it, and I vote for the Toyota engine as well. Love mine.