New Cars Sport Sport

True to its heritage, Lotus has unwrapped a new lighter version of its entry-level Elise 1.6 called the Club Racer. Even in stock form, the Elise is one of the lightest production sports cars in the market tipping the scales at just 876 kg or 1,931 pounds, but the company's engineers put the open top model on a crash diet and managed to shed a further 24 kg or 53 lbs.

Lotus says the engineers behind the Elise Club Racer took a stripped-to-the-bare-bone approach and while the company did not reveal all the details, it did mention the motorsport derived lightweight battery and the deletion of noise insulation.

In addition to the weight savings, the Club Racer is the first Elise variant to come with a Sport setting for the DPM (Dynamic Performance Management), which according to Lotus, "allows even the less experienced sports car drivers to feel at the top of their game, while the ability to switch it off completely will please the more established track orientated drivers"

The British automaker's Chief Technical Officer, Wolf Zimmermann, commented:

“The traditional Lotus approach of reduction and purity has lead to one of the most zeitgeist and contemporary sports cars around. For over 15 years the Lotus Elise has become an icon in the sports car market, carving out a niche market with a dedicated following of lightweight fans. The new Club Racer will definitely give these people something extra to get their teeth stuck into. This car epitomises everything that’s cool about the Elise – it’s fast, raw, responsive and a huge amount of fun to drive.”

Power for the new Elise Club Racer is provided by the standard model's 1.6-liter four-cylinder unit delivering 134HP at 6,800 rpm and 160 Nm or 118 lb-ft of peak torque at 4,400 rpm.

The Elise Club Racer is offered with a choice of six colors including Sky Blue, Saffron Yellow, Ardent Red, Aspen White, Matt Black and Carbon Grey, and features some bespoke design elements such as the body colored seats.

The new lighter version of the Elise is priced in Europe at £27,500 / €34,450 / CHF48,900, which makes it the most pocket friendly model in Lotus' range.

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Mastering the fine art of tuning is a complicated process and, judging by the sheer number of overkills one can see on the web every day, it’s clear that only a few have what it takes to do a good job. For Lotus that special someone is Swiss tuning firm Mansory, which is responsible for the creation of an Evora concept that will be presented at the Geneva show in the beginning of March.

The automaker released two pictures of the special version 2+2 sports coupe, while also stating this:

“Let’s be clear on this: contrary to media reports, what you’ll see in Geneva is NOT an Evora facelift. It’s a taste of the future of Lotus product customisation. Merely the first toe in the water and a showcase of the potential future.”

From what we can tell, the modified Evora features a new front bumper with bigger air intakes and inserts, which appear to be made out of carbon fiber. The same lightweight composite material seems to have been used for the side vents, mirror housings, side skirts, greenhouse, rear spoiler and oversized diffuser. The 10-spoke alloys with a glossy black finish are also new.

While we can’t say that the Evora is our favorite Lotus, overall the bodykit looks nice and it seems that the Brits are really on to something good here.

By Csaba Daradics

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While competing in the Ronde de Andorra rally in Italy, Polish Formula 1 star Robert Kubica was involved in a horrendous crash on Sunday, as he lost control of his Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car and left the road at high speed. The Lotus-Renault team driver was airlifted from the scene and underwent successful emergency surgery at the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure.

Kubica has suffered multiple fractures to his right arm and hand with initial reports saying that he could lose the functionality of his limb. Fortunately, the operation went well, according to Dr. Mario Igor Rosello, who told reporters that Kubica, awakened form an induced coma, was able to move his fingers, which is “an encouraging sign for the rest of the recovery process”.

The Italian specialist was also optimistic due to the lack of swelling and infection, but added that it will take “several days before it is known if the operation is 100 percent successful”.

Kubica’s injuries were caused by a guardrail that went through the door, while his co-driver, Jakub Gerber, was able to walk away unhurt.

This is another sign of just how dangerous motorsports can be and, unfortunately, Kubica has already had his share of mishaps. Back in 2003, the racing driver had an accident while driving in Formula 3, injuring his left arm and also needing surgery. His bad luck struck again four years later, when he crashed in spectacular style at the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. On both occasions, Kubica managed to return to the driver’s seat after a short convalescence. However, it seems that this time the recovery will take a lot longer, meaning that reserve driver Bruno Senna will replace Kubica for an unspecified number of races.

By Csaba Daradics

Source: CNN

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The nephew of the late three-times Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna, Bruno, has signed up with the new Lotus-Renault GP team, the British automaker announced on Monday. The 27-year old, who comes from a bad season in Formula One with the struggling Hispania team, will be a reserve driver for the 2011 season.

"It’s a really exciting opportunity from both Group Lotus and Lotus Renault GP," said Brunno Senna after the announcement. "To be able to develop my Formula One career within a World Championship winning organisation and to do so in conjunction with some hugely interesting work for such an iconic sports car company as Lotus is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Lotus has placed a great deal of faith in me and I am looking forward to beginning work on the technical side of our relationship," he added.

The British carmaker said that Bruno’s test driving role with Lotus will see him provide valuable input into all Lotus cars, both track and road.

Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro said: “We’re delighted to have Bruno on board. In his young motorsport career he’s built up a great armoury of skills and experience. He’s a fast learner and this talent combined with his ability to shift between different types of race car will make him a great asset to Lotus. Normally people like to talk about the ‘technology transfer’ between F1 and road cars but in Bruno’s case we’re opening this up to an intellectual transfer – we’re certainly going to keep him busy!"

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The Lotus Elan was one of five concept sports cars presented by Lotus at last year's Paris Auto Show while it also made a quick stop at the LA motorshow that followed in November. Now that the concept studies have made it back to the England, the folks over at Paultan visited the British firm's headquarters in Hethel and shot this video showing the Elan's digital instruments in action. The panel consists of a large LCD screen flanked on either side by two smaller components. You can watch the video clip after the jump.

By Csaba Daradics

Via: Paultan

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Lotus decided to stop one of the models, Europa. This step is done because the manufacturer will launch the latest products New Evora, although still in the same segment.

As reported by autoevolution.com (05/30/2010), Lotus dealers in Europe was no longer receive orders Europa, and production slowly into phase stops. Europa was first released into the market right at the auto show in Geneva in 2006 past.

Sports sedan coupe was first launched armed with metal and fiber and aluminum to produce a lightweight. For Europa S type, holding 2.0 L engine powered 200 dk at 5400 rpm and torque of 272 Nm at 5400 rpm with a six-speed manual transmission. The car can accelerate from 0-100 km / h in 5.8 seconds with a maximum speed of 230 km per hour.

Machinery and performance
Technology is proud of this car is the engine Campro CPS (Cam Profile Switching) 1.6 liter DOHC. Latest engine added CPS and VIM (variable intake manifold) that can generate power 125PS@6.500 rpm (previously 110PS@6.000 rpm. 148Nm@4.000 rpm Torque is up from a 150Nm@4.500 rpm.

In the non-CPS Campro engine, the torque drop between 2500 and 3000 rpm. This is complained of some users. The weakness is overcome by using a valve system and open-close time can be arranged, which is generically called VVT-i.

At CPS, do not use the rocker arm valve (trigger) but tapet (bowl). Other technologies are VIM, suction line (intake manifold) whose length can change according to engine speed. At low rpm, channels suction longer. At high rotation, it becomes shorter for faster air flow into the engine.

Proton claims, Neo CPS can now be encouraged, 0-100 km / h in 10.5 seconds (manual), 12.9 seconds (automatic) and a top speed of 190 km / hour. Emissions are also already reached the standard Euro3.

Strengthen chassis
Permanent suspension MacPherson (front) and multi-link in back. To aid stability, there is now an additional stabilizer. Monokok chassis structure is also reinforced in several places, including the use of high tension steel.

It is recognized Chris Atkinson, rally driver from Rally Team Malaysia's Proton R3 Satria Neo S2000 is used. "Neo CPS Chassis sturdy, reliable in the rally," the story of Chris.

To control speed, grafted ventilated disc brakes in front and solid rear discs plus ABS and EBD. For safety, also installed two safety bags (airbag).

Lotus Elite become increasingly attractive, in addition to the aerodynamic design and the typical supercar, also uses a 5.0-liter V8 engine, capable of producing power of 620 PS and 720 Nm of torque. The car is capable of acceleration from 0-100 km / h only takes 3.5 seconds. When the driver stepped on the gas pedal more butter in, then the speedometer needle to touch the number 315 km / hour.Lotus says, Elite will use the hybrid gearbox with an integrated electric motor and an advanced feature Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS).
 
Lotus CEO Dany Bahar also commented that no one denies that the Elite is not only beautiful to see, but more than that, this is a compact car, high performance, low emission, light but still sturdy. "So we are proud and there is no better than the Elite out there, both in terms of style and performance," he said.

For the next generation, Lotus Europa SE launched at the Geneva Motor Show 2008. Striking differences in convenience sector. Tanaga cars also increased to reach 225 dk at 5700 rpm and 301 Nm of torque. As a result, acceleration was carved 5.3 seconds for 0-100 km per hour with a maximum speed of 242 km per hour.