It would be tempting to call this year's Tokyo Motor Show an entirely domestic affair, but that's not entirely accurate, as a few smaller specialty automakers like Lotus and Alpina took advantage of a surplus of available square footage by nailing down prime floor space for themselves. As a belated addition to the festivities, Caterham, England's merry band of Colin Chapman acolytes marked the occasion with the world debut of its CSR 175.
The new model slots in as a new bottom rung to the CSR franchise, which is paradoxically the marque's premium range. The 175 joins the range's existing trio of variants, the 200 bhp CSR200, the 260bhp CSR260 and the full-house 260 bhp CSR Superlight. If you're paying attention, you can therefore deduce that the new addition possesses 175 bhp. That may not sound like a lot of power, but in a car that weighs as much as an anorexic gnat, we reckon the Ford-sourced 2.3-liter Duratec four-pot will still be plenty entertaining.
Either way, traditional minimalist roadsters like the Se7en have never been about terminal velocity, they've always been predicated on leech-like cornering and giant-kiling acceleration. And given that the 175 shares the CSR family's stiffer spaceframe chassis, updated suspension and refined aerodynamics, Caterham's latest should continue corner like a cat on carpet. And given the vast empty expanses of the stuff here at the show, we'd be tickled if someone handed us the keys for a bit of after-hours fun...
The same things that makes the cars from British boutique automaker Caterham sporty and fun to drive could also potentially make them excellent choices for alternative powertrains. There's plenty of available real estate under the hood, a simple rear-wheel drive chassis and, above all else, a distinct absence of weight.
As such, it's not surprising to hear that Caterham is looking into both hybrid and fully electric drivetrains. According to Autocar, Caterham chief Ansar Ali said at the Tokyo Motor Show that his company would unveil an eco-friendly prototype before the end of the year. Both the hybrid and electric powertrains will be sourced from unnamed manufacturers.
Further, Caterham is planning a one-make race series in 2011 to show off its new green sportscar, which may well be followed up in 2012 with a production model if sufficient demand is found. Performance will reportedly to be just as sprightly in EV form as it is with the firm's normal gasoline-fed engines
Lotus has unveiled the latest special edition of its maximum performance, minimum everything else Exige today at the Tokyo Motor Show. We took a moment to check out the Exige Stealth (known as the Scura in Europe) on the show floor and managed to curry some time with Lotus vehicle development director Roger Becker.
The new model gains a set of comely forged alloy wheels, but the big news with the car is the unique paint. We asked Becker about the Stealth and its special finish, and as it turns out, this is more than just a basic matte paint. Lotus has been experimenting for several years with matte finishes but was never satisfied with the results. The problem – as anyone who has ever done body repairs and worked on primer-finished cars can tell you – is that matte surfaces really show marks and stone chips. Lotus wanted something more durable before putting the car into production.
To create the Exige seen here, the entire car has to be sprayed in the base gloss coat seen on the central stripes. The stripe area was then masked off and the rest of the body abraded in order to get a surface that the matte paint will grip to. Finally, a newly formulated rubberized matte paint is applied. When you touch the car, the surface actually feels soft, and according to Becker, it is four- to five-times more resistant to marking and peeling than other finishes.
Arguably more than any other automaker in the world, Lotus is ripe for a return to racing. Its products are uniquely track focused. Its history is rife with motorsport heritage. And its new chief executive comes to the company after stints at Red Bull and Ferrari, two outfits deeply involved in top-tier racing.
Unfortunately, as Dany Bahar points out, the formative Lotus F1 Racing team set to join the grand prix circus next season has little to do with the sportscar manufacturer and engineering concern which he now heads. Instead, the name is being furnished by parent company Proton to a consortium of investors in its native Malaysia. Bahar wants a slice of the action, and Proton would be wise to give it to him. But the executive who earned his reputation as a branding guru has more plans to get Lotus back into racing beyond the F1 team.
Speaking to a group of Lotus employees, Bahar reportedly disclosed that the company is looking at getting into a variety of racing series, including Indy, Le Mans and GT racing. That's some ambition for a company that hasn't seriously competed in decades, but if any team can pull it off, it's Bahar and Lotus.
Depending on where you live, you might be able to get a new 2010 Lotus Exige Stealth or 2010 Lotus Exige Scura, but not both, and neither unless you get crackin'. In anticipation of its official coming out party at the Tokyo Motor Show, Lotus just dropped the deets on a new special edition blacked out Lotus Exige alternatively known as the Stealth or Scura (Italian for 'dark') depending on market. Whatever they call it, it is one badass car. Only 35 will be built worldwide and none of them appear headed to the States unfortunately.
This newest Exige special looks menacing with its matte black paint, contrasting gloss black stripes and carbon fiber highlights. It's powered by the 260-hp version of the ubiquitous supercharged 4-cylinder and comes standard with launch control, traction control and 2-way adjustable Ohlins dampers. And thanks to the prodigious amount of carbon fiber inside and out, this featherweight flyer drops another 10kg, allowing it to do the 0-60 sprint in 4 seconds flat. It should also reach 100 in less than ten seconds on its way to a top speed of 152 mph. Brits who hustle over to their local Lotus shoppe will have to plunk down £45,000, while EU customers can expect to pay around €61.000.
It's been fifteen years since Lotus last competed in Formula One, but that dry spell is about to come to an end as the British engineering firm and sportscar maker is set to join the grid once again for next season as one of four new teams in the series. Preparations appear to be going full-steam ahead, and Lotus F1 Racing (as the team will officially be known) has released a pair of images depicting a full-scale wind-tunnel model of the car they'll be running next year.
Like the other new entries – and possibly a handful of veteran teams – the Lotus F1 car will be running under Cosworth power, taking advantage of the low-cost engine package commissioned by the FIA. Having worked with nearly every team on the grid, Mike Gascoyne serves as technical director for the new outfit, with Air Asia owner Tony Fernandes temporarily serving as team principal. The team is being fielded by a consortium of Malaysian investors including the aforementioned airline, the government, Lotus owner and local automaker Proton, the Sepang circuit and the national motorsport and automobile associations.
There's been talk as well of Malaysia's former A1GP team folding into Lotus F1 Racing now that it has withdrawn from the series itself, while speculation continues regarding who'll drive for the team. Toyota's Jarno Trulli is tipped to be one leading candidate, while Malaysian driver Fairuz Fauzy – who has won races in A1GP, GP2 and World Series by Renault over the past couple of years – could prove a compelling choice for the team's Malaysian owners and sponsors, which could as well include national oil consortium and former Sauber sponsor Petronas.
When most people think of Lotus, a few different thoughts tend to enter their head. One is of little teeny Toyota-powered EliseExige track toys buzzing around a racetrack. Another is of an underwater submarine piloted by none other than James Bond (albeit Roger Moore). And then -- maybe -- some of you might think of the racing success Lotus used to enjoy, back in the day, a long time ago. Well, according to Autocar, Lotus' new CEO Dany Bahar is seeking to change all that.
"Lotus was mentioned in the same sentence as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati in the 1970s-1990s," said Bahar. "Then, it got closed into a corner. We believe it's the right time to bring Lotus back to where it was." Not only that, but Proton Group (they own Lotus) managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir (must make for one hell of a business card) says that the new Evora, Lotus's first new car since 1995, is "a turning point."
Bahar is making returning Lotus to a place of prestige a top priority for the Malaysian-owned company. The ex-Ferrari exec claims to have have a business plan to return Lotus to the same plane of existence as Ferrari within five years. Of course, to accomplish this, the Camry-powered Evora just ain't going to cut it. Which more or less guarantees the return of the Esprit, which very well might have a Lexus V10 perched out behind the driver. All of which gets our octane lovin' hearts all aflutter. Also, let's not forget about racing – serious racing. We'll keep you posted.
Another show, another pair of special editions from Lotus. This time around it's the Elise Club Racer and the Exige Cup 260, two lightweight specials based on the company's core product range.
We brought you details and photos of both a few weeks ago in the ramp-up to the show, but stopped by to have a closer look at the pair while we were there checking out the race-spec Evora.
Few automakers are as deeply rooted in motorsport as Lotus. So it comes as no surprise that, so soon after its release, the British sportscar-maker and engineering firm has already come out with a racing version of its new Evora.
Tagged with the Type 124 label, the new sportscar is converted from four seats to one, but the stripped-out, competition-spec interior is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg for the GT3-spec racer. The Toyota-sourced V6, which produces 280 horses in road-going spec, has been reworked to the tune of 400 horsepower, driving the rear wheels from its midship placement via a new sequential gearbox. Carbon-composite body panels, 18-inch racing slicks hiding six-pot AP Racing calipers, a track-focused suspension and wings aplenty round out the package, which will make its race debut right here in Germany at the Nurburgring 24 in May 2010.
For the past year, Jaguar, Lotus, Caparo Vehicle technologies and the MIRA proving ground have been working on a UK government-funded project dubbed Limo-Green. The goal of the project was to develop and build a series hybrid luxury sedan. Earlier this week, Jaguar showed off the car for the first time. Most of the powertrain development work was done using a last generation XJ, but recently all the hardware was moved into the just launched 2010 Jaguar XJ.
Like the Chevy Volt and Fisker Karma, the Limo-Green uses an electric motor for propulsion, in this case a 145 kW, 295 lb-ft unit. A lithium battery pack moves the car for 30 miles on a charge and then the Lotus-developed 1.2-liter range extender takes over for the remainder of the 600-mile range. We've contacted Jaguar for more information, but we're still waiting to hear back. In the meantime, AutoCar i reporting that the big Jag gets 47 mpg (US) on the EU combined cycle with CO2 emissions under 120 gkm.
