While lucky Brits are already capable of walking into a Lotus dealership and driving off with a new midsize Evora of their very own, Americans still have to wait a bit longer. We've already shown you the 2010 Lotus Evora that was at the L.A. Auto Show, and we've given you info on the specs and options. We've even confirmed U.S. details for the most important numbers.

Although an official release date hasn't been confirmed yet, we have heard that the magic moment will arrive early next year. Whether the Evora gets labeled as a 2010 or 2011 model remains up in the air, but we do know a lot of other info about this all-new model crafted by the magicians in Hethel. What we haven't had until now are some real-world photos. That all changed over the weekend when a couple of test engineers stopped by for a spell at our favorite weekly Southern California car meet, Cars and Coffee. Read the rest of our first impression after the jump, and don't forget to check out the gallery as well.



Photos copyright ©2009 Frank Filipponio / Weblogs, Inc.

After attending the second event of the 2008 Lotus Challenge Series last May, we were convinced the up-start had potential. Lotus Cars USA seems to agree and has become the title sponsor for the 2009 season.

In its inaugural year, the series stuck to California for six of its events, along with two races at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada. For 2009, the campaign is expanding to ten events in the western US, including stints at Laguna Seca and Infineon, with four more events planned in Texas.

The series – part track day and part time-attack – brings together Lotus enthusiasts of all stripes, divides the field according to experience level and vehicle model/modifications, and sets them loose for a weekend of down-and-dirty track action. You can get all the details, along with the 2009 schedule, in the press release after the break, and check out the Lotus Challenge website to sign up for any of the 2009 events.

With there having been so much continued hubbub over the forthcoming Esprit replacement, you would think that enthusiasts have already forgotten that we have a new Lotus in our midst, the 2010 Evora. That's a shame, because judging by the U.S. specs provided by our friends at Lotusenthusiast.net, it looks to be a corker.

According to their specs, the Evora will weigh just over 3,000 pounds (3,046.8 – but who's counting?), and its Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter engine will marshal its 276 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque to get its mid-engined self to 60 mph in a tidy 4.9 seconds. Keep rowing through those six gears and pushing the right-most pedal, and the Evora will apparently top out at 162 mph. Every bit as important is news that the lithe little Lotus will grind to a halt from 60 mph in just 110.2 feet, a distance firmly in the ballpark of a Porsche 911.

No word yet on pricing, but we hope to get our crack at a U.S.-spec Evora soon. In the meantime, head on over to LE for the full monty.




[Source LotusEnthusiast]

With over a dozen teams all bidding to join a new cost-capped F1 next season, it would take a big name to stand out above the competition. Lotus ought to do the trick.

Teaming up with veteran F1 team leader Mike Gascoyne, the Litespeed Formula 3 team has secured the rights to use the Lotus name for its potential entry. Rights to use the name in motorsport reportedly belong to David Hunt, younger brother of renowned F1 driver/all-around lady's man James Hunt, who took over the former Lotus F1 team in 1994. Founded by the legendary Colin Chapman, the Lotus team went on to win seven world championship titles with such drivers as Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti.

The new outfit plans on basing itself at the Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility that previously housed various F1 efforts as well as Bentley's Le Mans team, and has enlisted the services of several former Lotus engineers as well as former Lotus F1 driver Johnny Herbert. While it remains unclear what association would exist with the eponymous automaker, the Lotus name promises to give the Litespeed/Gascoyne entry an edge against other bids using such throwback grand prix names as March and Brabham.

[Source: Autosport | Image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons]

Tesla Motors has announced its first-ever recall, affecting all 345 Roadsters the Silicon Valley automaker produced in 2008. According to the official recall notice from the NHTSA, the rear hub flange bolts on some vehicles may not be torqued to proper specifications, which could lead to "degredation in vehicle handling and a rubbing noise from the rear of the vehicle." That, as you would imagine, would be bad, and if left unresolved could result in a crash.

The problem can be traced back to the Lotus factory in Hethel, England where the Roadster's main chassis is constructed before being shipped to the States to have its electric drivetrain installed. This being the case, Lotus has issued its own matching recall on the 27 Elises and Exiges that have shipped so far in 2009. As always, you are advised to contact the manufacturer as soon as possible if you've yet to be notified of the recall.



[Source: NHTSA - Tesla | Lotus]

Lotus' relationship with Toyota could extend beyond supplying drivetrains for the Elise, Exige and Evora, with three new engines sourced from Lexus rumored to be fitted to the 2012 Lotus Esprit. According to EVO, a choice of three Esprits will be available for any (thick) wallet, including a 300 hp version packing Toyota's direct injected V6, a 417 hp model that would make use of the Lexus IS F's 5.0-liter V8 and, at the top of the range, a V10-powered Esprit packing the yet-to-be-released Lexus LF-A's 500+ hp engine.

Additionally, the alliance with Toyota could make good on Lotus' recent push for eco-friendly motoring. The Hethel-based automaker has repeated said that lightweight platforms and fuel-efficient drivetrains are a top priority, going so far as renaming its powertrain engineering arm the "propulsion systems" division. As such, an "Eco Esprit" could be available with a reworked version of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive.

The recently launched Evora will be the basis for the next Esprit, and considering the quick turnaround – a mere 27 months – for the Evora to go from concept to production, Lotus has the ability to bring the new Esprit to market quicker than ever. If the Evora's a hit, then we should be seeing the Esprit on roads in Europe, the UK and the US by 2012, with a price somewhere north of £100,000 for the V10-powered variant.

[Source: EVO]

Could the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel enter production? According to a post on Lotus Enthusiast, that's an entirely real possibility due to interest from Youngman Auto, which is the British automaker's Chinese partner. It seems that the Tri-Fuel was a big hit at the recent Shanghai Motor Show, leading Youngman to submit a formal application to Lotus requesting that the car be built for the Chinese market with the hope that sales could begin sometime before the end of the year.

First unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2008, The Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel is capable of running on gasoline, ethanol or methanol. In 2007, China became both the world's largest producer and consumer of methanol fuel. Last year, nearly one billion gallons of methanol were blended with gasoline in China, and many retail pumps offer various blends of methanol to consumers. Thanks for the tip, Taylor!



[Source: Lotus Enthusiast]

Rumors have been circulating for almost a week that Lotus was planning to release a stripped-down, low-cost version of the Elise in the States. Today, we finally received confirmation from Lotus' U.S. PR-man, Kevin Smith, that indeed, the Elise "Purist" edition is on the way, and unlike the dozens of other limited-edition Elises coming out of Hethel, this is one we can actually get behind.

According to Smith, the "Purist" edition is an attempt to get the Elise closer to the MSRP it carried when introduced to the U.S. market in 2005. So Lotus has set the price at a slightly more achievable $43,995, or around $3,500 less than a base Elise.

However, the "Purist" is hardly a stripper model. Only available in Ardent Red, Monaco White and Saffron Yellow, the entry-level Lotus is still packing the 190-hp, Toyota-source 2ZZ 1.8-liter four and six-speed manual transmission, along with Bilstein dampers, Eibach springs, AP-developed calipers with ventilated and cross-drilled discs, silver wheels sized 16x5.5 in front and 17x7.5 in the rear, each shod in Yokohama Neova high-performance rubber (175/55 front, 225/45 rear). Black leather seats join a Momo steering wheel, power doors locks, air-conditioning, a four-speaker stereo with in-dash CD player, tire-pressure monitoring system and an alarm with engine immobilizer. The only option available is the Starshield coating for $995. Neither the Sport or Touring pack will be offered and we're okay with that – it's near perfection already.



[Source: Lotus, LotusEnthusiast]

Lotus Engineering and Harman International have announced a partnership to develop Active Noise Control (ANC) technology for cars. Lotus will continue to develop their existing range of ANC technologies, and Harmon Becker will be the exclusive manufacturer of the systems, which could be customized and sold to OEMs as upscale infotainment sytems. ANC technologies currently being developed by Lotus include Road Noise Cancellation, Engine Order Cancellation, and Electronic Sound Synthesis.

There's a full press release after the jump, but basically Road Noise Cancellation and Engine Order Cancellation help reduce cabin noise without adding performance-sapping weight in the form of sound deadening material. Using microphones and speakers in the cabin, they monitor engine and road noise and produce soundwaves that counteract those unwanted waves, effectively eliminating the sounds and making the cabin quieter.

The external Electronic Sound Synthesis (ESS) technology produces artificial vehicle noise for quiet-running electric and hybrid vehicles to help with pedestrian safety. An internal ESS can make those same vehicles mimic the traditional driving experience by producing artificial engine speed and throttle sounds. We've reported on this tech before, as the soundtrack could be customizable to simulate everything from a sci-fi spaceship to a classic petrol-burning internal combustion engine.

The new Lotus Evora that's debuting this spring is the first product built on the British automaker's new Versatile Vehicle Architecture. The VVA builds on what Lotus learned from developing the Elise and its derivatives, including working with aluminum extrusions and industrial bonding. The modular system allows Lotus to create a wide variety of low volume vehicles from similar componentry at comparatively low cost.

As a result of this work, Lotus has been awarded the 2008 Dewar Trophy for technical excellence. The trophy is awarded annually by the Royal Automobile Club in the UK for outstanding efforts in automotive engineering. Official press release after the jump.



[Source: Lotus]