New Lotus Europa

[markxw]

It's been a whole day since the Autocar article and NO ONE anywhere on the internet appears to have mentioned it!

I'm now on the waiting list, delivery April.

Surprised they're talking about the Vauxhall turbo engine, thought maybe itd be the 240. Lets wait and see...

Any views?

[rfoster]

I've ordered two (not being greedy) for two of us in the office. Popping down to B&C on Sat morning to see what else I can uncover...

[bher]

Could you explain more please?
Range, type, place in the Lotus gamme?
Performance?
Thanks

[rfoster]

2 seat fixed head coupe - price around £30k/£32k, slightly extended Elise chassis with higher roofline and lower entry sills, bit more boot space. Vauxhall 2.0 Turbo engine (from VX220 Turbo) with a six speed gearbox. Intended to be a comfier car than the Elise (well it can't get less comfy can it!)

[cfoster]

Any Pictures??

[theweeninjaguy]

any pics available?

ninja

[rfoster]

Can't find one online - but there's a few pages about it in this weeks Autocar. It's also on the front cover, you may recall pics of it a few months ago in silver, possibly being badged as a proton I think.

[Tuna]

The pictures don't mean a lot - they're computer generated by autocar - so all of the important styling is just guesswork. There is no confirmation that the test mules that Autocar guessed from are actually for the Europa - it could equally be the rumoured Proton Coupe.

What you can see of the body shape is quite conservative, more smooth than muscular. Think 350Z curves with VX220 style cues (um, sorta). It's more grown up than the current Elise, but not terribly exciting.

[markxw]

Well from what i can gather, it's actually pretty close to the finished item. The black car inside the magazine is a better picture.

[therossatron]

I've just been reading an article which says the powerplant is likely to be a a lexus sourced V6 pushing out 300bhp. The disguised mule looks like a pumped up VX and an exige style spoiler. I think this magazine was autoexpress.

[cfoster]

More importantly it means Lotus will have another model to choose from other than the Elise/Exige

This can only be good news! Maybe one day they will build that Esprit they keep threatening to do...

And maybe one day I'll have enough money to buy one

[guitarman]

Doesn't look very exotic to me.
Just like any other Jap sportscar.
Surely you can have both comfortable AND wild looking?
Don't see why they have to be mutually exclusive.

[bacchus]

to me it looks like that new Porsche ...


cheers y

I would like to see a picture of that black model mentioned before...

[scotte]

does anyone know any stats on this car ?

0-60
0-100
bhp
weight

etc....

[Tuna]

scotte said:

does anyone know any stats on this car ? 0-60 0-100 bhp weight etc....

As yet, it doesn't exist. So, no stats. Test mules for a number of cars are out there, but no details have yet been confirmed for engine etc. Final weight will depend on trim and interior, engine and other details. Until Lotus make an announcement, everything is just guesswork.

[theweeninjaguy]

got the mag at lunch time - doesn't look too exciting tbh

ninja

[markxw]

Ta da... I like it a lot.

http://webdb1.patent.gov.uk/rs-bin/RightSite/formexec?DMW_INPUTFORM=tpo/biblio&DMW_SEARCH_TEXT=3018262&PREVIOUS_FORM=BROWSE&PREVIOUS_SEARCH_FORM=NULL&BROWSER_TYPE=ie4

[bher]

I am quite disapointed.
The rear of a Chrysler Crossfire . The front mixed between an Elise and a ford puma with a touch of Ferrari 360 down the bumper.
Side view remains the best but not as sexy in the curve as a dream car.

[gooby]

I have had a chat to the local friendly deaLER AND IT DOESNT EXIST.

No new cars till 2007.

[lotusjps]

From the pictures I've seen so far I'm none too impressed. It looks far too sedate for a Lotus (or any car in it's predicted price range). The side view reminds me more of a Honda or Toyota than a Lotus. I love the idea of a car in between the Elise and Esprit (in fact I had a deposit down for the M250), but I sure hope it ends up looking better than the spy shots.

>> Edited by lotusjps on Wednesday 13th July 21:08