New Esprit

[DaKa]

Personally, I'd love to see the new Esprit and more cars made for 3 with a central driving position e.g. Maclaren F1.

If you have 2 kids, or, a wife plus 1 like me, it would be great to afford adult leg room, this can only be achieved with the passengers a bit behind with their leg room either side of the driver - an especially good idea if they have nice pins! 

[auRouge]

JMG said v recently that "he'll need more time" for an Esprit... didn't he?

[NedaSay]

He said that last year, in late 2017 I believe, and that quote was picked up by most media outlets in the following months.

Car Mag used the quote in January 2018 :

Quote

The other new car will use a new carbon-fibre tub and will take on the role of performance flagship in the absence of the 3-11, which finally ends production this year after Lotus added 20 final-edition examples. ‘It might be something in that mold,’ Gales said. ‘It will be something similar, but much more civilized, because 3-11 is pretty raw.’ It’s not a new Esprit. ‘I might need a bit more time for that,’ he said.

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/industry-news/lotus/lotus-ceo-reveals-roadmap-two-new-sports-cars-coming-in-2020-suv-by-2022/

That autocar piece  is a bit of a fluff piece in my opinion. 

What we know so far:

we know two cars are coming, 

we know that one will use the VVA architecture (evolution of the Evora chassis), 

we know that one will use a carbon chassis,  

we know that one of these cars will replace the 3-Eleven as the extreme performance / halo car for Lotus.

 

What new stuff can we learn from that article? Pretty much nothing. What has changed since the initial announcement was made... Geely gave JMG an enveloppe and probably a roadmap, JMG is to focus Hethel workforce on the two sport cars while a new team at Geely-LEVC will expedite the design and engineering for the SUV in Coventry. All mention of the carbon chassis hyper sport car has "vanished". One of the sport cars is now set to become the range topper above Evora, while using an evolved VVA chassis. Keeping dry weight contained below 1300kg - I assume using a carbon fiber body. More powerful than the Evora top of the range, that much was obvious.

So if we consider all the tidbits of info we have, Lotus should present sometime in 2020 a sport car that would essentially be an Esprit successor. It should compete in the class above the 911 GT3, since JMG said that the Evora GT430 already does that. That means the new car is a supercar. JMG also said it will be less raw than the 3-Eleven, I assume he means that this car will have a roof and a modicum of creature comfort. As the car is using the VVA architecture I anticipate the same type of engine layout:  rear mid-engine, but I would not dare say whether the engine will sit longitudinally or transversally.

Will it bear the Esprit name? I don't know, but considering the cost of incorporating a new brand, it is likely. It is also likely because the Esprit brand still has a lot of equity in it. And Geely wants to gain access to the higher stratas of the car market the evocative power of the Lotus Esprit brand should help with that.

Will the car look like anything like the rendering proposed by Autocar? In a way it would be amazing but this thing looks a lot more like a Lotus hot wheels collab than a real car. If the finished product looks anything like that I will take my hat off to the design team and the engineering team that made it happen in the realm of the regulations carmakers have to face today.

 

My guess is we are set for an Esprit successor and a new take on the "Elige" which will take aim at the 718, It will also use VVA, albeit shortened and will use the 3/4cyl with power range between 180bhp and 360bhp. Evora continues in its current form until 2022 or 2024, depending on the success of the new Elige, the elise stays in production a little while longer too.

[tim_marra]

It is worth bearing in mind that Autocar is very much the 'Daily Star' of the motoring press. For comparison, the 'Daily Sport' equivalent is 'Auto Express'.

Both can be an entertaining read when in the mood, especially when digested with a pinch of salt 😀

[Mark030358]

Although brilliant to possibly see a New Esprit, I think it’s rather depressing that the price will be out of the reach of most “Lotus” enthusiasts. I am of the opinion that while lotus cars have never been cheap, they have been “affordable”. Thus supporting the whole Lotus thing in the future may be more difficult unless an  “affordable” performance car is available.

For me, my next Lotus will be an Evora GT(something) as I get a bit older and softer.

Anyway, here’s to the new Esprit 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

cheers

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

27 minutes ago, NedaSay said:

If the finished product looks anything like that I will take my hat off to the design team and the engineering team

And I sir will gladly eat said hat...

[Vanya]

What is it with all mock ups and 60" wheels. Is the future really heading that direction? Do we want hot wheels cars or rims stolen off an Escalade? Do they spin too?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

The Autocar render looks like one of those spotty design student efforts that get lauded by the industry and then never make it past the table-top model stage. Autocar just changes the badge on the front according to whatever marque they're writing about.

[KAS-118]

1 hour ago, Mark030358 said:

Although brilliant to possibly see a New Esprit, I think it’s rather depressing that the price will be out of the reach of most “Lotus” enthusiasts. I am of the opinion that while lotus cars have never been cheap, they have been “affordable”. Thus supporting the whole Lotus thing in the future may be more difficult unless an  “affordable” performance car is available.

For me, my next Lotus will be an Evora GT(something) as I get a bit older and softer.

Anyway, here’s to the new Esprit 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

cheers

Whilst I totally agree with you about 'affordability' - the fact is that McLaren has so far registered 268 cars this year - whereas Lotus, despite being significantly cheaper, has only registered 92.

So maybe a 'Super/Hyper car will help the sales.

But I do hope to see Lotus develop a portfolio along the lines of

• a £30-40k 'basic' sports car;
• a £60-70k 'road focused' sports car/coupe;
• its much talked about SUV; and
• the Esprit replacement 

[Mark030358]

@KAS-118 agreed matr 👍

[Bibs]

7 hours ago, tim_marra said:

It is worth bearing in mind that Autocar is very much the 'Daily Star' of the motoring press. For comparison, the 'Daily Sport' equivalent is 'Auto Express'.

This, by the bucket load! 

[Advantage]

As previously mentioned, the Hotwheels concept from around ten years ago.

 

[Jeanvm]

Had Lotus ten years ago built a New Esprit than had some of us had a second chance to paying for one.

[NedaSay]

It is an autocar rendering... Nothing else. Except for a select few in Hethel and one or two other places nobody will know what the car will look like for a little while. When they are confident that the design is good I expect it to be conveniently leaked to generate a buzz.

[Mark Blanchard]

We've been here so many times before . . .

https://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Development_of_the_New_Lotus_Esprit.htm

https://www.lotusespritturbo.com/New_Lotus_Esprit.htm

[NedaSay]

We've been here a a few times indeed but this time Lotus has the might to get it done I believe.  Geely tend not to mess around when it comes down to investing heavily into their product. They invested a lot of cash in Volvo, a significant amount in LEVC, multiple bucket loads in Lynk & Co. They have been on an impressive shopping spree, including over 9% of Daimler-Benz and 8% of Volvo AB.  And now we are reading that Li Shifu wants to float Volvo Cars on Stockholm and Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which would mean a huge payday  for some shareholders and a serious cash influx for Geely Holding : https://www.ft.com/content/097ea5c2-54db-11e8-b3ee-41e0209208ec

Quote

The bank hires were first reported by Bloomberg, which said the banks were seeking value between $15bn and $30bn for the business.

I'm pretty sure that the coffers of Geely are pretty well garnished right now, but selling some Volvo stock would allow them to move even more aggressively. So if they want that car to happen, I'm pretty certain that it will. 

I'm pretty sur we will recognize it as a Lotus when we see it and trust Russell Carr and his team to design something good.

The chassis is VVA  and it will probably  get some niceties like aluminium castings in addition to extrusions in order to save more weight and with 4 models sharing the same platform eventually : Elise, Exige, Evora and "Esprit" it will be quite cost effective.

The loom will be sourced from Volvo and most of the parts bin will also come from Geely/Volvo chinese factory. 

The question is more what powertrain will it get?  A classic Toyota+Aisin pairing or something else. Gales said  he was interested in a smaller V6 twin turbo https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a32343/expect-an-all-new-lotus-lineup-by-2022/. Should the Esprit get a longitudinal layout it would make sense, but the GR-FE is a transverse application so... 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by NedaSay

[Barrykearley]

I think any new esprit will come as a surprise. I don’t think they will publically announce it until it’s here

[Chillidoggy]

10 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

I think any new esprit will come as a surprise. I don’t think they will publically announce it until it’s here

Same as what you do.

[C8RKH]

I spoke to a dealer in the last 48 hours who said the new Esprit was coming.  Can't wait to see the official pictures. Hopefully they will have an "affordable" version around £130k.............!  Looking to see how many camels I can trade the missus in for right now and also the value of redundant internal organs on the open market.

[qwerty123]

I’m both excited (that a new Esprit is coming) and sad (that I won’t be able to afford it)...

 

[skiing]

For me, it needs to look sensational. So much of the Esprit is it's iconic looks - a concept car which a manufacturer actually went and built. I will be interested to see how it turns out... 

[Nelly]

Personally I would love to see the new Esprit as a modern interpretation of the old car in the same was as the Ford GT40/Fiat 500/Mini have done in recent years.  Retro works (and it sells).

Needs to be low wide and sleek as much as legilation allows.  As much as I like the Evora (and I do, I have one) the Esprit needs to be worlds apart from it IMO in terms of looks and power. 

 

[nello]

Agreed Nelly - and as much as I like the Evora - especially the current GT-430 - in my eyes its not in the same 'Supercar' class I saw the Esprit. That has to be larger lower and Wider. All my 'Top Trumps' Supercars were like that and difficult to drive though even that has been anaesthetised with today's generation. Nonetheless its where I want my new Esprit to be

[Giniw]

Maybe the new Esprit is their SUV project!

...

[Barrykearley]

Oh yes a 4x4 Esprit - now your talking