2006 Sb Lotus Elise, Sport & Touring Pkg., Traction Control, New Tires, Loaded. on 2040-cars

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Race recap: 2015 Singapore Grand Prix full of odd sideshows

What greeted the Formula One teams in Singapore? Confusion. The haze was so thick that observers wondered if the race would be held at all. Then practices began, and Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg took the first one, but the team fell away after that. Mercedes said it couldn't get the tires turned on, but no one believed the Silver Arrows was in genuine trouble. Then qualifying set the confusion in stone. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel laid down the best time in Q3, taking the team's first pole position since Germany in 2012. Daniel Ricciardo got his Infiniti Red Bull Racing into second, about one tenth behind Vettel. (That may make the team feel better after Ricciardo publicly asked for a better engine than the current Renault unit, and team advisor Helmut Marko said the outfit will quit F1 at the end of this year if it can't get a stronger powerplant for 2016.) Kimi Raikkonen put the second Ferrari in third, Daniil Kvyat put the second Red Bull in fourth. And only then came the Meredes'. Lewis Hamilton's best got him fifth, the Brit saying, "We don't really know what we have got wrong. For some reason the tires are not working on the car. We do the warm-up the same as everyone else and then you see someone one second up the road." For added emphasis on the reversal of fortune, his time was 1.6 seconds behind Vettel's. Teammate Rosberg is next to him in sixth, a further half a second back. Williams is still a hurting a bit on slow tracks, so Valtteri Bottas could only get into seventh ahead of Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso and teammate Felipe Massa in ninth. When the red lights went out, the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix would get both less interesting and more interesting all the way to the final lap. The men up front got good getaways, and the order into Turn 1 was Vettel, Ricciardo, and Raikkonen. The race finished with those three in that order, never having conceded position. Vettel's Ferrari enjoyed the track so much that he laid a second per lap into Ricciardo for the first five, then relaxed. He'd let the gap come down later in the race a couple of times, but any time he wanted to see what his mirrors looked like without anyone in them he'd take off again. Rosberg took fourth position after holding down sixth for the first stint. It looked like he'd have an even worse day - for a Mercedes driver - when he had problems getting his car started and onto the grid before the race.

Why Lotus thinks its luxury EV game plan will succeed globally

  Luxury sports car and EV maker Lotus completed its SPAC merger last week in the U.S. and its stock was publicly traded for the first time on Friday. It’s an interesting turn of events for the Geely-backed automaker now known as Lotus Tech given the uncertain EV market, but one that may prove an exception to the struggles of other pure-play EV makers. Trading under the ticker LOT on the Nasdaq, Lotus Tech will focus on the higher end of the EV market with its Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan, which will not only be offered in the US but also in Europe and, more importantly, China. “What is most important here is that we are definitely going to more markets at the same time through more models and through more stores,” said Lotus Tech CFO Alexious Lee to Yahoo Finance from the Nasdaq market site. By the end of the year Lotus will have four vehicles in production, three of them EVs. “These four models are currently available in Asia Pacific and part of it is also available in UK and EU,” Lee said. “We're having the new [Eletre] SUV model coming into the U.S. in the third quarter of this year, so different markets have different strategies and different product offerings and different conditions." Lotus is able to go to market in a number of territories due to the backing of its majority owner, Chinese auto giant Geely. But it also raised a considerable amount of money through its SPAC merger. Lotus Tech said it raised more than $880 million in pre-closing and PIPE financing commitments, with a targeted valuation on listing day of nearly $7 billion. Lotus Tech also had an interesting partner with its SPAC merging, combining with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA), which is backed by French luxury conglomerate LVMH. Lotus Eletre in Solar Yellow View 11 Photos As Lotus targets the luxury segment with its vehicles — the Eletre and Emeya will be playing in the $80,000 to $150,000 ballpark — having a partner like LVMH, with its deep connections and insights into the luxury consumer, could be hugely beneficial. “Now what is more important here is Anish Melwani, who is the CEO for LVMH North America, will be on the board of Lotus Tech,” Lee said.

Lotus Exige Sport 350 adds even more lightness

Lotus is constantly looking for more weight to cut out of models like the Elise and Exige, as light as they already are. The company somehow found 112 lbs to carve out of the Exige, and the result is the new Sport 350 you see here. Following the reveal of the Elise Sport and Elise Sport 220, the new Exige Sport 350 weighs just 2,480 pounds. That's 112 pounds less than the existing featherlike Exige S, with its aluminum chassis and composite bodywork. To cut weight where there was so little to be cut, the engineers in Hethel fitted a new louvered tailgate, battery, engine mounts, center console, HVAC piping, and insulation materials. All of those new components are lighter than the ones they replace, fulfilling company founder Colin Chapman's ethos of "adding lightness." The 3.5-liter supercharged V6 carries over with the same output of 345 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. But with less weight to move, the Exige Sport 350 will now reach 60 from a standstill in just 3.7 seconds, topping out at 170 miles per hour. With it, Lotus also retuned the suspension and the six-speed manual gearbox, which now features a deliciously exposed linkage. A six-speed automatic is also available, adding 12 lbs to the curb weight and altering performance only negligibly. Deliveries will begin in February across Europe before reaching markets overseas in March (around the same time that the Exige Sport 350 Roadster will follow). Unfortunately North America isn't one of those markets, since both the Elise and Exige were withdrawn from these shores in 2011. Hope springs eternal, however, that the next generation will reach us sometime after 2020. New Lotus Exige Sport 350 – Light is Right · 51 kg lighter than previous Exige S · 345 hp and in excess of 300 hp/tonne · 0-60 mph in 3.7 Seconds and top speed of 170 mph · Heritage Tartan interior and new colour and trim options As the ultimate incarnation of the world famous Exige, Lotus has revealed the Sport 350, the latest version of the class-leading and award winning sports car, that's lighter and faster than ever before. The new Exige Sport 350 is the next model in the range to mark the reintroduction of the renowned 'Sport' naming designation. It joins the recently announced Lotus Elise Sport and Elise Sport 220 – delivering a lighter and even more performance-focused driving experience.