Lotus cars

2013 Lotus Exige V6 CupR

A tumultuous 2012 has seen Lotus stumble to the brink of being irrelevant. However, the Malaysian-owned British automaker is determined to make amends in 2013, and to their credit, they’re off to a fast start with the upcoming debut of the Exige V6 CupR — a race-spec sports car that’s ready to ply its craft in numerous racing series this year.

The Exige V6 CupR is set to be unveiled at the 2013 Autosport International Show in Birmingham, England. Lotus is bringing the car to the show in an attempt to attract potential entrants to the newly-announced SRO GT4 European Trophy.

As far as we’re concerned, if we had a racing team and we were looking for new race cars, we’d take a real good look at the Exige V6 CupR and see how it’s going to stack up once you get to know more about it.

Speaking of getting to know more about, you can find out more details about the Exige V6 CupR after the jump.

Video: Hennessey Venom GT Spyder Delivered to Aerosmith Front Man

Hennessey’s Venom GT coupe is a one of the baddest cars around and is limited to only five units and priced from an amazing $725,000. The Spyder, which was announced a few months after the coupe version, will be also limited to only five units and is a little bit more expensive at $1.1 million.

The first unit has been delivered to Steven Tyler — the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, for those that live under a rock — and today Hennessey has unveiled a video from the delivery. We are not too sure if he only received the car, or if the Latvian model, Jula Lescova, was offered as a bonus, but still the video is a great watch! Of course, you’ll have to try pay attention to the car — it is after all the star of this video! The extracurricular scenery isn’t too bad either…

Let us know in the comments section bellow if you will prefer the car or the model!

2013 Lotus Evora Sports Racer

Lotus Evora is now enjoying the success Lotus was hopping for, so the company is looking for solutions to improve its sales. The latest solution found was the addition of a new "Sports Racer" package that was inspired by the Evora GTC that enjoyed a huge success in the MSA British Endurance Championship.

The model is further improving the mid-engined 3.5 liter V6 sports car and will be offered in both naturally-aspirated or supercharged versions. According to the official announcement the new Evora Sports Racer delivers "phenomenal performance, exclusive style, incredible excitement and genuine affordability." The model will be offered with an exclusive exterior color scheme and comes comes fully loaded with all the technologies currently offered by Lotus.

On the British market the new Evora Sports Racer is priced at £57,900 - round $94,300 at the current exchange rates for the naturally aspired version and at £65,900 - $107,300 - for the supercharged one.

Hit the jump to read more about the new Lotus Evora Sports Racer.

2012 Lotus Extrema V8X by Composite Work

Back in 2011 Hennessey Performance has unveiled the Venom GT - a very cool customized Lotus Elise limited to just five units. And now, Italian company Composite Work has announced a very cool Extrema V8X package based on a Lotus Exige.

Composite Work replaced the car’s standard 275 HP 4-cylinder engine with a more powerful one: a LS9 V8 from the Chevrolet Corvette. With an output of 649 HP, this engine will sprint the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds, from 0 to 100 mph in 7 seconds and up to an impressive top speed of 200 mph.

The Lotus Extrema V8X will be featuring a carbon-fiber body work and will weight just 2138 lbs. On the interior it will get special SP-1 carbon fiber twin skin seats. And that huge rear wing on the rear not only improves the car’s aerodynamics but also makes it looking better than ever.

If Produced, Lotus Esprit will Feature F1-Inspired KERS Technology

Last month, we reported that Lotus’ future was safe and that we may see a new Esprit on the roads. Today, British magazine, AutoCar, is offering a few more details on the rumored British supercar, including some insight on its powertrain.

AutoCar is reporting that the Esprit’s production is effectively complete, but there are still some lingering problems. Those problems are that Lotus is camshaft-deep in legal battles and unpaid bills, and lacks consistent management.

Rumor has it that if — and we stress if — the Esprit hits production, it will feature a 5.0-liter gasoline engine that works in unison with an F1-style KERS system. So what’s so great about that? Well, that will be good for a whopping 650 ponies beneath the Esprit’s sexy hood — 20 horsepower more than the initial rumors.

These 650 ponies are all well and good, but if it’s priced like the 918 Spyder, only a select few may actually be able to afford one. Lotus has your back there too, as Autocar is also putting out there that the Esprit will be closer to the price of a top-line 911, which is roughly £100,000 — around $160,000 at the current exchange rates.

Not only are we anxious to hear that Lotus still has some fight left in it, but we are also ecstatic to hear that the Esprit may return in impressive form and at a relative bargain. Stay tuned!

Lotus future is safe; Esprit will make it to production

A few weeks ago, it was rumored that the new generation Lotus Esprit had been axed. Many were upset upon hearing this, but that sadness may be short-lived. During an interview with British magazine AutoExpress, chief operating officer of DRB-HICOM, Aslam Farikullah confirmed that Lotus’ future is safe and that we will indeed see a new Esprit on the roads.

The problem is that the Esprit will be the only model to be produced, while the other four models previewed at the 2010 Paris Auto Show have been axed. He didn’t confirm when the Esprit will be launched because the company is now focusing on getting the quality right on the current Elise, Exige, and Evora models.

"We have to be realistic and get the basic fundamentals of the business right. Then we will look at the next products. We are excited about the future and plan to grow the business."

He also confirmed that all Lotus models will still be produced in the UK, despite the company’s new Malaysian owner.

2013 Lotus Evora S

Lotus may be struggling, but it certainly hasn’t given up on producing high-level sports cars in an attempt to regain the edge it once held in that realm. With much of the dead weight cut from the company, Lotus is ready to move forward and we certainly hope to see big things from it, whether it be under the control of DRB-Hicom and Proton or some other company altogether.

The last new models to successfully reach production phase under the Bahar reign were the Evora and Evora S, which debuted for the 2010 model year. Last year, the models were expanded to include an all-new automatic transmission that could be shifted from auto to manual almost instantaneously. For the 2013 model year, Lotus is expanding the lineup again by including this transmission as an option on the Evora S.

Now that it is four years into its production life, is the Evora S still up to the task of taking on some of the best sports cars the world has to offer?

Click past the jump to read all about the 2013 Evora S and find out if it is on the decline or positioned to spearhead a revival of the Lotus brand.

Lotus Has 30 Million Pounds in Overdue Debt

We all know that Lotus has a lot of issues, but there has never been any confirmation of exactly how much trouble Lotus is really in. After DRB-Hicom requested a delay in tax payments to the Inland Revenue, people started looking a little closer.

According to reports, Lotus has about £30 million (roughly $48 million at the current exchange rates) in overdue debts to various suppliers. £23 million (roughly $36.8 million) of this debt is 90 days overdue and £7 million (roughly $11.2 million) of it is between 30 and 90 days overdue. Here comes the oddest of claims by DRB-Hicom; a source close to the company says that the blame for the overdue payments is related to prior management ::cough::Dany Bahar::cough::.

Okay, Bahar has been gone since late May and that means that DRB-Hicom has had full control of Lotus, and its bills, for over five months now. We will gladly give Bahar a lion’s share of the credit for taking one of the greatest sports car companies and flushing it down the toilet, however, we cannot put the blame on him for bills that are now three months overdue.

This issue falls directly on the plate of DRB-Hicom and the CEO it appointed to run Lotus, not Bahar and not any other previous management. Sure, previous management may have spent money that it didn’t have carelessly, but you have had five months to figure out how to pay the bills, so deal with it.

DRB-Hicom may start rethinking the £1 offer it received several months ago. That’s a small sum of money to hand someone a debt-burdened and troubled company… We’ll keep an eye out for more on this situation.

New Lotus Esprit is officially axed

Lotus hasn’t exactly had the best run in the past few months, so it’s not surprising that the company is canceling its plans for all future models, including the one model that was thought to be the sole survivor of Bahar’s plans: the long-rumored new generation Esprit.

The new Esprit was previewed by its concept version back at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, while the company was still in the hands of the controversial Dany Bahar. Now that Bahar is gone, and DRB-Hicom is running the show, most of Bahar’s concepts have been given the heave-ho. All that is supposedly left now is the Elise, Exige, and Evora. These models were originally on the list of axed models, but have since received a reprieve. At least for now.

The Evora is the only relatively new model in Lotus’ line-up, having just been launched in 2008. The Elise and Exige have been on the market ever since 1995. This means that Lotus’ new plans to drop the Esprit will begin the company’s new era with an old lineup. Hopefully, they have plans in place to change that.

2012 Lotus Nemesis by Ecotricity

The Lotus Nemesis was able to shatter the U.K. land speed record for an electric vehicle in September 2012, but many people didn’t even know this vehicle existed. Did Lotus create an electric model while no one was looking?

No, the Nemesis isn’t an all-new electric vehicle built by Lotus in an attempt to rebuild its damaged image. The Nemesis is actually a one-off Lotus Elise converted to electric power by Ecotricity – a Great Britain-based renewable energy company.

Typically, when you think of the electric vehicle, you imagine the likes of the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-MiEV; you think, a slow and ugly buggy that looks as if the manufacturer built it out of spite rather than to actually sell. Well, first we had Tesla eliminating the ugly and slow stereotypes rather effectively and now you have this Nemesis ripping that stereo type to shreds and stomping it into the ground.

Click past the just to read our full review on the Lotus Nemesis.