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With less than three months separating us from the official debut of the Lotus Eagle at the 2008 London Motor Show, Car has been able to procure a few more details about Lotus' new 2+2. The latest crop of spy shots shows the Eagle still wearing its form-obscuring camo, but viewed in profile, it's looking more Elise-like than before. The fender terminates into a ducktail spoiler, similar to that on the Elise/Exige, and the doors seem to stretch further back then previously thought to aid ingress and egress into the cramped confines of the rear seats. According to Car, the two back seats are only suitable for children nine years old and younger, or "flexible friends desperate for a lift back from the pub."

Motivation is still expected to come from a Toyota-sourced V6, likely the 3,458 cc found in the U.S.-market Camry, pushing out 262 hp and 248 lb.-ft. of torque to either a six-speed manual or some kind of automatic (!) gearbox complete with paddle shifters.

The Colin Chapman philosophy will be well represented with the Eagle, with extensive use of aluminum in the body structure and an incredibly rigid architecture that will be shored up with a carbon fiber roof. Braking duties will be handled by 350 mm cross-drilled rotors in front, mashed by AP-sourced Lotus four-pot calipers.

Production will begin late in 2008 with sales beginning in the spring of next year. Pricing is expected to start at £45,000 in the UK, slotting in nicely between the Elise and forthcoming Esprit replacement, and sales in the U.S. should begin shortly thereafter.


[Source: Car]

Fresh spy shots have surfaced of the upcoming Lotus project Eagle coupe. Lotus released some teaser shots of the front suspension a couple of months ago and we've seen the prototype wearing the over-sized fender camo before. These new shots, however, give us the clearest view yet of the new 2+2 sports car. The Eagle is expected to be derived from the architecture of the Elise/Exige, although it will be longer accommodate a pair of 911-style pseudo-seats between the front seats and rear firewall. The four-pot engines used in the current models are expected to give way to a more highly tuned variant of Toyota's 3.5L V6 as used in the Camry and assorted other vehicles from the Japanese maker. The Eagle should get a proper name and shed the extra bulk at the corners in time for this summer's London Motor Show. Fans of Hethel products should be able to to get one around the end of the year.

[Source: Auto Express]

Click above to watch the video

Some people just can't be satisfied. As if the Lotus Esprit weren't still one of the hottest-handling cars on the market, back in 1996 the British sportscar firm updated the iconic Bondmobile with an all-new 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 to give it more of a fighting chance of showing up cars like the Ferrari 355 and Porsche 911 Turbo. Not enough for one enthusiast on the Motorgeek.com forum going by the name of "hilly", who apparently just wasn't satisfied with the engine in his '81 Esprit S3. So he yanked it out and painstakingly swapped in the all-aluminum 4.2-liter V8 from the Audi A8. Although the Esprit's engine bay could accommodate the engine, turning it around and squeezing it in there was no mean feat, requiring the project's undertaker to custom fabricate a slew of parts himself. Follow the link to the forum where hilly describes the process with pictures, or follow the jump to watch the Audi-powered Lotus disappear fast into the horizon.

[Source: Motorgeek.com via CarScoop]

Click image to enlarge

No, it's not the official ride of Captain Britain, but it would probably fit the bill nicely. The Lotus Exige S shown was the subject of an episode of Discovery Channel's How Do They Do It? series. The topic was vehicle wraps, and Lotus Design came up with the flag motif to be applied to one of its dynamic sports cars. Four techs took ten hours to complete the job (this was a little more complicated than wrapping a city bus with a pizzeria ad) and the results look pretty stunning. If you're in the UK, you might be able to catch it as it tours Lotus dealers throughout the country. This makes the MINI roof flags look as subtle as lapel pins.

[Source: Lotus via Zer Customs]

Lotus has always done things a little differently, so it should come as no surprise that the sportscar-maker is celebrating its 60th anniversary even though it's only 56 years old. The event that Lotus is commemorating is actually the first racing car which its founder, Colin Chapman, crafted in 1948, four years ahead of his founding Lotus Engineering in 1952. Since then Lotus has changed hands several times, falling under the General Motors umbrella, who in turn sold it to Romano Artioli's Bugatti before Proton took over. Along the way Lotus has emerged as the veritable guru of handling dynamics, developing a successful engineering consultancy in parallel to the car division.

Although details have yet to be announced, Lotus has revealed that it is organizing "a variety of high-profile events" that are anticipated to attract some 15,000 attendees – including Chapman's widow Hazel and son Clive – to the company's headquarters in celebration of the company's anniversary.

[Source: Lotus]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige GT3.

Aussie racing fans are in for a treat during the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend, where the updated Lotus Exige GT3 will make its official debut. The revised racer is still packing the same supercharged 1.8-liter mill from the road-going Exige S, but it's been tweaked to created almost 350 hp and 224 lb.-ft. of torque (we're guessing through the use of a liquid-to-air intercooler and around 16 pounds of boost heaved into the built motor). Additionally, Lotus has revised the aero bits to increase downforce and reduce drag through the use of a lengthened nose (3 cm), a widened track (10 cm) and a rear section stretched by some 8 cm. Angelo Lazaris will be piloting the GT3 this weekend during the third round of the GT Championship.

Lotus' full press release is posted after the jump and you can check out the gallery of the Lotus Exige GT3 concept below.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus 2-Eleven.

Lotus' original 2-Eleven track toy went on sale soon after its official unveiling last year in Geneva, complete with the same 250 hp, supercharged engine found in the Exige S. While it was hard to argue with the 2-Eleven's performance, particularly when you consider that it could be driven to and from the track in the UK when fitted with the right kit, the £39,995 price was out of reach for the average enthusiast. Lotus decided that open-air thrills should be a bit more financially achievable, so it's unveiled a new version of the 2-Eleven packing the Elise R's naturally-aspirated, 189 hp four.

The entry-level 2-Eleven still tips the scales around 1,500 pounds and comes equipped with most of the bits found on its blown big brother, but at a slightly more manageable £27,995. Start ticking the options and that price starts heading north... quickly. Two limited-slip differentials are available, as well as a carbon fiber tonneau cover, four-piston brakes, removable steering wheel and an FIA-approved 70-liter fuel tank. Choose the Aero pack and you get an adjustable carbon fiber spoiler and front splitter, while the Sport pack adds the ever-popular Ohlins two-way dampers.

Sales will begin abroad later this year and there's no word on whether we'll be able to get this new 2-Eleven here in the States, yet.

Hit the jump for Lotus' press release.

Click above for a gallery of the Lotus Europa SE.

As we reported earlier, Lotus has a new range of Europas for 2008, at least in their eponymous market. Still not coming to the States as far as we've heard, but with the "Eagle" already soaring, we think we can wait. Not that the Europa is a bad car, but the new model should be even better. Until the Eagle lands, however, the European market still has the perfectly adequate Europa and a new Europa SE. The Europa SE is here in Geneva and it has some spiffy new wheels, 17-inch in front, 18-inch out back. It's painted in a sort of monochrome fashion that makes us think of the '80s for some reason too. There's also a real (for Lotus at least) interior that is swathed in leather. The idea was to make it a bit more comfortable for the few people who are thinking of purchasing one. The car's 2.0L turbo four remains basically the same, but here it's tuned to 225 hp and 221 lb.-ft. of torque. Expect a 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds and a top end of 143. While the new entry level Europa will start at £27,950 / €37,500, the SE will command £32,995 MSRP / €41,500. Like we said, not a bad car, but even with the touch-up, we'd hold out for the Eagle.

Press release is after the jump.

Gallery: 2008 Lotus Europa SE

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel

We posted about this latest Exige a couple of days ago and just saw it in Geneva. Not a lot different on the outside really besides the paint scheme that helps us remember that this is in fact a Tri-Fuel capable Exige 270E. Even the inside has the green and yellow stripe motif slathered liberally throughout the cockpit. The base Exige was already a great example of how a high performance car could still be environmentally friendly by keeping it light and fun. Now Lotus is showing off their ability to take that concept and turn it up to eleven. Or 270, rather. This Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel concept pumps out 270 hp on methanol, and can also run on gasoline or ethanol. So not only is it the most powerful Exige ever sold by Lotus, but it's also the most ambi-fuelish too. Anyway, look at the pics and remember that it's fast and fun and feel-good all in one, so ignore the colors if they bother you.

If you want to learn more about this technological marvel, the full press release is after the jump. Be warned however, the release is longer than the car.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel

While assorted activists, politicians and random individuals carry on about the spectres of global warming, imported oil, CO₂ emissions and other issues that combine to create timetable-free doomsday scenarios, there are people working on potential solutions that do not involve us driving around four-wheeled Segway scooters. That's right: the "dreaded" internal combustion engine might yet provide the answer -- or at least an answer. And because Lotus is the entity searching for the answer in this particular case, the end result might not only be green -- it looks ridiculously fun, too.

The car you see here is the Geneva-bound Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel concept, the successor to 2006's Exige 265E, which made 265 horses running on E85. The 270E goes a step further. Not only can it run on gasoline or ethanol, it achieves its peak output -- 270 horsepower and 184 lb-ft -- on methanol, hence the Tri-Fuel label. Incidentally, that power figure is the highest yet for an Exige coming out of Hethel. Even more interesting, however, is Lotus' research into producing carbon-neutral synthetic methanol. You can read about it in detail after the jump, but in summary, the process involves using atmospheric CO₂ and reacting it with hydrogen created via renewable electrical power to create methanol. Liquid methanol could be transported and distributed much in the same way gasoline is now, making for a feasible infrastructure if the idea were to take hold somewhere down the line.

Lotus is also hunting for solutions involving EVs, as well as optimizing the traditional gasoline-powered ICE through its Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Group. One must admit, however, that the idea of a sustainable, synthetic, carbon-neutral fuel driving internal combustion engines with the same levels of power we currently enjoy is the equivalent of having your cake and eating it. Press on, Lotus.


[Source: Lotus via AutoblogGreen]