cars: Lotus Elise

Showing posts with label Lotus Elise. Show all posts

2015 Lotus Elise Wallpaper

2015 Lotus Elise Wallpaper

The 2011 Lotus Elise that was unveiled in Geneva earlier this year powered by Toyota’s new Valvematic engines will continue to soldier on until 2015 where it will be replaced with the above model – a new Elise that’s said to have ‘grown up’.

It’s certainly grown heavier – at the preliminary 1,095kg quoted curb weight that’s about 200kg heavier than the current Elise which weighs only about 900kg depending on trim level. The new Elise promises to be much more cosseting to its driver though – less awkward to get in and get out – the press release by Lotus specifically says no more acrobatics!

“The Elise you can buy now is still a fantastic car, make no mistake, Lotus remain very proud of it, but this is a natural progression for us moving forward. The Elise 2015 will also be class-leading in terms of performance and efficiency but it will do more than that it will take the Elise model to the forefront of its class across the board,” said Lotus CEO Dany Bahar.

To push around the extra weight, the Elise’s engine has grown to a 2.0 liter force inducted motor making 320 PS and 330Nm of torque. It will remain mid-engined and rear wheel driven like the current Elise, and the spec sheet even lists an optional Dual Clutch Transmission, taking the burden of shifting off the driver to help him focus more on the actual corners.

I think it would make sense if once this new Elise is launched, Lotus continued to offer the Elise in its current form as some kind of “Elise Classic” for those who really still want a machine minimum mobile.

Paris 2010 : 2015 Lotus Elise Concept Wallpaper

2015 Lotus Elise Wallpaper

Paris 2010 : 2015 Lotus Elise Concept Wallpaper

Lotus Presents Akio Toyoda with Special Elise to Celebrate Current and Future Partnership

Clearly, it's good to be the boss. How so? Lotus CEO Danny Bahar recently made a trip to Japan to thank Toyota for their companies' long - and soon to be longer - partnership. For those new to the game, Lotus has been sourcing its power plants from Toyota for a while and currently all Loti use one form of Toyota mill or another.

Bahar handed Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda the keys to a Lotus Elise powered by the very last 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i built, saying, "The presentation of Toyota's last 2ZZ engine in the Elise is a symbolic gesture of our continued respect and deep appreciation for our partner not only acknowledging our past but also looking forward to our future together."

Proton-owned Lotus will soon unveil its Toyota-powered Evora S and Evora IPS models in Paris, while the 414E is apparently still in the pipeline and waiting for an investment from the British government.

As for the oft-discussed Esprit, rumors suggest that Lotus's flagship may be powered by Toyota's 1LR-GUE V10. While the Esprit may still be a ways out, we could be getting some information about it as soon as the Paris show, so stay tuned.

On using his company's engines in Lotus cars, Toyoda said, "A Toyota engine in a Lotus car creates a completely unique drive feeling – a special blend featuring the best of Lotus and Toyota that we hope many car lovers continue to experience and enjoy." That, and they're reliable as hell, so you know your car won't spontaneously combust...

By Phil Alex

2011 Hennessey Venom GT Wallpaper

Hennessey Venom GT Wallpaper

Hennessey has already divulged practically every piece of information we want to know about its 2011 Venom GT supercar. It's built on a heavily molested Lotus Elise chassis and driven by one of three versions of the 6.2-liter LS9 V8 used in the Corvette ZR1. The base model is supercharged and produces 725 horsepower and 741 pound-feet of torque. The other two mills are both twin turbocharged and produce 1,000 hp and 1,200 hp, respectively. All three models use the same six-speed Ricardo transmission as the Ford GT. Weight: 2,548 lbs dry and 2,685 lbs loaded with fuel. Price: Somewhere north of $600,000 for the base supercharged model. Yeah, this is some serious stuff.

The Texas-based tuner (can we really call a company that builds something like this a tuner?) has finished the very first production Venom GT, and it's a duesy. Chassis Number 01 is a top tier twin-turbo model, the same one clocked producing 933 rwhp a few weeks ago on a dyno.

As if the numbers don't paint a pretty enough picture, Hennessey recently hired a photographer to snap some beauty shots of its Venom GT. The high-res image gallery below sports some 56 images, some of which are good, many of which could be better. May we offer up our own ace photog Drew Phillips? We're quite sure he'd be happy to snap a pictorial starring the new Venom GT.