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Lotus Boss Reveals Plans For In-House Designed V-8

 
2 1,480 views Dec 15, 2010
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Right up until August of this year there were reports claiming Lotus would continue to rely on Toyota for its future powertrains, including the use bespoke V-8 and V-10 engines from Toyota’s upmarket Lexus division for a new range of high-end models such as the Esprit supercar and new Elite grand tourer.

That won’t occur, according to Lotus boss Dany Bahar who revealed to Autocar that the automaker’s own engineers in Hethel, England were working on feasibility plans for new V-8 and V-6 powerplants for its future range of cars.

As Bahar pointed out, Lotus has built engines for other automakers in the past, including the more recent three-cylinder electric vehicle range-extender, so there’s no reason Lotus can’t engineer some of its own.


“We have done three engines for other manufacturers; why not do it ourselves?” he explained. “The engine is the heart of a sports car; we should do our own product.”

There’s also the issue of customer requirements. The common response at September’s unveiling of the Esprit supercar concept was that the car should feature its own bespoke engine rather than a Toyota V-8, as was originally been planned.

All is still unconfirmed, however, as a final decision is not expected until the end of January, Bahar said, adding that “the decision then will be purely financial”.

In the meantime, check out our previews of the 2013-2015 Elan, Esprit, Eterne, Elite, and Elise.

[Autocar]





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Comments (2)

  1. cheesefish Posted: 12/16/2010 3:42am PST

    Ungrateful gits in sharp suits currently occupying Hethel.
    This is outrageous, Lotus must be nuts to make such comments about their (current) engine supplier. If I was Toyota or Lexus then I'd pull the rug out from underneath Lotus right now. Without Toyota helping them out to get engines when Rover went pear-shaped, Lotus would be nowhere.
    Or maybe its sour grapes because Lexus refused to supply the LFA V10...... mind you being stuck with the IS F V8 is no bad thing....
    I give the current management a max of 12 months from today. By Christmas 2011, they'll be gone.....
     
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  2. Ken Sheffer Posted: 12/16/2010 9:30am PST

    Anything that disses Toyota can't be all bad!!
     
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