1979 Lotus Esprit S2, 2.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lotus pulled 55 pounds out of the Exige and added power to create this Sport 380

The hard-core Lotus just got harder. Or maybe corier? Anyway, the Lotus Exige Sport 380 is the most extreme iteration of the Elise and Exige yet. It hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, has even more downforce than the Sport 350, and weighs a full 55 pounds less than that car if you opt for the lightweight exhaust. With a curb weight of 2,425 pounds, that weight reduction means something. Mass was pulled out of a variety of places on the car, including the front splitter, front "hood" insert, wing, and diffuser surround, all of which are rendered in carbon fiber and save a cumulative six pounds. Swapping the rear glass to polycarbonate reduces weight by two pounds, a lithium-ion battery in place of the standard one removes 23, the carbon racing shell seats cut 13, and lighter wheels and brake discs lower the total by 22. Lotus even messed with the lights on the back, going from four big ones to two and making do with smaller fog and reverse lights, saving just over half a pound. That optional titanium exhaust saves an additional 22 pounds. And it's not like the Sport 350 was a porker. As the name suggests, there's more power coming from the supercharged and heavily massaged 3.5-liter Toyota V6. The Sport 380 makes 375 horsepower and 302 pound-feet of torque, up from 345 and 295 in the Sport 350. The 380 accelerates to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds (down from 3.7) regardless of which transmission you choose, but we highly recommend the six-speed manual over the auto, if only for its fantastic and beautiful exposed linkage. Tweaks to the aero package keep drag in check while increasing downforce by about 60 percent over the Sport 350, for a total of 309 pounds at top speed. Which, if you're curious, is 178 mph for the manual, 170 for the auto. So another vote for the three-pedal version. We'll have to remain curious, though, because sadly the current Exige is still not available in the US in any form, nor will it be. But Lotus is working on a new one that should arrive in a couple years to join the rejuvenated Evora lineup – the fantastic Evora 400 and upcoming, fantasticker Evora Sport 410. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Lotus Exige Sport 380 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Lotus Lotus Convertible Coupe Lightweight Vehicles Performance

Lotus Eletre configurator welcomes virtual tire kickers

The Lotus Eletre configurator is ready to be toyed with. There aren't that many customization options to play with, but the total experience is quite fun. The exterior palette consists of seven colors. The odd bit is that, try what browser we may, we couldn't get the names of those seven colors to appear anywhere. The menu looks like black, green, red, yellow, and three shades of silver, but clicking the latter three reveals what looks like a metallic silver, a flat gray, and a rose-tinted-something. Same with the interior, which comes in green, black, white, or beige. All but black result in a two-tone cabin. Things are much easier when it comes to wheels. The floral petal rims either come in all black or black with polished accents, the center caps are either Lotus yellow or black, and the calipers are either yellow, red, green, black, or charcoal.  For those of you unsure about the Eletre's looks, the well stocked Animations, Beautyshots, and Environments sections could get you on board with the styling — it did for us; a red Eletre under a cosmopolitan setting spoke to us in a way the yellow debut model did not. A couple of notes, though. Choose your colors in one of the Environments; the ambient lighting in the Beautyshots changes the vehicle lighting like in real life, turning the bright yellow calipers into a dusty gray in one instance, for example. The animations that show off features like the aero shutters in the grille and the active rear spoiler need a couple of clicks to perform. And again, just like in real life, the Eletre only does what you tell it; if you leave the hatch up in the Boot animation then click the Spoiler or Front Left Door, the boot stays up. Click to a city environment with the driver's door and hatch open and you'll be crystal clear as to what the Eletre looks at the end of a shopping run, a feature we've never seen in a configurator before. You have your mission and your cautions, now go play. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2017 Lotus Evora 400 Review | Autoblog

How Lotus plans to expand and electrify as it enters a new age

If you’ve never driven a car made by Lotus, youÂ’re not alone — theyÂ’ve always been a small manufacturer, and even spotting one in public is a rarity — but youÂ’re missing out. Their exotic good looks are far surpassed by their dedication to connecting man to machine to pavement above all else. But like every other automaker these days, big changes are afoot. Yes, Lotus is going electric. But itÂ’s also going big, and in more ways than one. We recently sat down with Lotus Group VP & Managing Director Matt Windle and Chief Brand Officer James Andrew to talk about how the storied brand will pay service to its past as it aims its headlights toward the future. WeÂ’ve already seen the Lotus Evija (formerly referred to by internal codename Type 130), a low-volume, all-electric hypercar that represents the small automakerÂ’s first big step into electrification. With 1,500 kilowatts (about 2,000 horsepower) coming from four electric motors, you can forget 0-60; itÂ’ll do 0-186 miles per hour in 9.1 seconds. It starts at over $2 million, and production will be capped at 130 units. Flashy numbers to make a big splash, before going bigger in both size and production volume. Next will come the Lotus Eletre (formerly Type 132), an electric SUV that represents the (currently) small automakerÂ’s desire to cater to every lifestyle rather than to be pigeonholed by purists and luddites. To reach big volumes, Lotus needs to be a truly global company, and it needs to create cars that more customers can use, and at prices they can afford. Lotus Eletre Electric SUV View 25 Photos And even though an SUV isnÂ’t what weÂ’re used to seeing from Lotus, perhaps we shouldnÂ’t be surprised — and not just because seemingly every other exclusive, top-shelf brand is now offering an SUV or will be soon. James Andrew reminded us that the appreciation has always been there, and that Lotus founder Colin Chapman had two parking spots at the office: one for his Lotus Esprit, and the other for a Range Rover heÂ’d often drive to work. DonÂ’t expect a rock-crawling luxury off-roader to wear the Lotus badge, though. The gents assured us that the brandÂ’s focus remains on performance. And a crucial part of that performance is in driving dynamics that connect the driver to the car.