Lotus work for GM?

[Jackonicko]

The Lotus contribution to the Lotus Carlton and the VX220 are well known, but can any Lotus expert shine a light on what the company did for the smaller, less exciting Vauxhalls, and especially the Tigra?


It's often reported that Vauxhall Tigras had their handling 'tweaked by Lotus', but what did Lotus do?

It's been stated that 'in October 1997' (from what VIN?) Lotus improved the suspension of the Vauxhall Tigra. I'm interested to learn what Lotus did to the Tigra, and whether it was more than a matter of spring rates and shock absorber settings?

Was this a Roger Becker project? Where is the great man now, and how might one bother him with this question?

[Thorburn]

They do consultancy work for loads of companies, for example I think they were rumoured to have done some work on the Nissan GTR chassis.

As for Vauxhall, I'd assume its exactly as that says, likely did some tuning of the suspension to improve ride and/or handling. I think they were also involved in working on the Ecotec engine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Family_II_engine#X...

[Jackonicko]

Indeed!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Family_1_engine#C1...

[Gompo]

It's a shame we never really get to know the details of these type of things. Maybe Lotus wouldnt quite have the reputation they have if we knew some of the work they'd done? A bit like Al Melling and all the engines he's designed

[Monkey boy 1]

Alot of this is down to client confidentiality. If the Client wants to let the world know that Lotus has worked on their vehicles, I'm sure they will. But most of the work Lotus does on client projects goes unknown to the general public.

[vxah]

On the Corsa b and Tigra they moved the position of the front suspension lower swivel. After about "p" reg you can see the joint has a "crank" in it to lower the ball position and the knuckle was modified to suit.

[Shoestringracer]

Its totally down to confidentiality. If you visit the factory they take your camera phone off you at the gate and there are posters up saying "careless talk costs jobs" and stuff like that.

[Abbott]

In the early 90s they developed the 1st driver and passenger Airbag systemes for teh Cavalier, Astra and Calibra.

[andy97]

In the 80s there was an Isuzu coupe which was badged as "handling by Lotus"