Will Lotus use the FR-S motor?

[WingsofWar]

Originally Posted by Capt Canuck

Unfortunately Lotus have more need for 6 and 8 cylinder engines these days than 4. Just look what has become of the Exige. With the recent goings on at Proton, it could be anyone's guess where Lotus is heading the next 18-24 months.

yes, for those who have been following Lotus as of recent. They have officially changed their design language and philosophy. In the near future, all of their cars will be bigger and heavier and hoping to enter the sedan market. Leaving behind the lightweight chassis designs behind. So a 4U-GSE or similar design will be not likely used by even the smallest future Lotus.

[Ryephile]

Wow is spot on.

If Lotus can keep funding flowing [story of their corporate life] they're going to give an upmarket push a go by making the cars slightly more luxurious and powerful while still being lighter than everyone else.

These days, being lighter than everyone else means the cars will be pigs compared to the S2 Elise's in the USA right now. However, it's not all drab and philosophy-escapism. Crash standards have gotten tougher, the list of mandated safety equipment is getting longer, and customers willing to put up with a cold exposed aluminum tub in their expensive toy car is getting marginal to the point of eccentric. So it's not all Lotus' fault for making the next Elise a targeted 2,500 pounds, it's legal mandates and customer expectations.

At this time, only the V8 engine going in the Esprit is being developed in-house. Sourcing for the boosted L4 in the 2015 Elise is still unknown to us.

All that said, the FA20 isn't likely to be on Lotus' short-list of desired engines. The awkward packaging doesn't bode well for the relatively small Elise, where a typical transverse L4 would be both light, compact, and plenty to choose from. I would be thrilled if Lotus built an L4 based off their V8 [kind of a half-V8]. That would certainly add some exclusivity and excitement, and not having to explain that your Lotus isn't just "a Toyota with a kit-car body", like some ignorant cynics hope you believe.

[Allch Chcar]

Originally Posted by carbonBLUE

i was giving trolling atry, its not my thing....

successful troll... unsuccessful... going back to my day job.... lol...

That was terrible trolling. Want to try clowning instead?

[MiguelAE86]

Yes they are. And it will be glorious. Haters gonna hate.

[carbonBLUE]

Originally Posted by Allch Chcar

That was terrible trolling. Want to try clowning instead?

naw, ill stick to my day job making 90k a year, picking up phones, bullshitting, laughing with people, surfing this forum, and watching you tube all day for a living... i really dont do anything at my job...

the only thing i spend my money on is rent and eating out... and rents a wallet leeching 825 a month, sometimes i go kart racing when its raining... only time i ever like going...

edit so i stay on topic:, if they do going the v8, 2500 lb route... itll make for an amazing car but it wont be as nimble as the exige... my friends carbon paneled 400 whp turbo exige is just.... damn... i dont mind paying for 2-3 sets of rear tires driving that thing for a day at texas motor speedway...

[serialk11r]

They mentioned 2L turbo before, I'm going to guess a 3ZR-FAE with turbo strapped on. People would probably hope that they change internals to increase the pathetic <<7k rev limit but I bet that's not going to happen as they would rather crank up the boost and save some money by going to off the shelf Toyota engines.

Not that it would be a bad engine though, it'd be like an N55 with 2 cylinders chopped off. We need more turbo+continuously variable duration engines, those 2 are a good pair.

[quik1987]

why would they put a Subaru engine in their cars?

[Capt Canuck]

Originally Posted by carbonBLUE

naw, ill stick to my day job making 90k a year, picking up phones, bullshitting, laughing with people, surfing this forum, and watching you tube all day for a living... i really dont do anything at my job...

the only thing i spend my money on is rent and eating out... and rents a wallet leeching 825 a month, sometimes i go kart racing when its raining... only time i ever like going...

edit so i stay on topic:, if they do going the v8, 2500 lb route... itll make for an amazing car but it wont be as nimble as the exige... my friends carbon paneled 400 whp turbo exige is just.... damn... i dont mind paying for 2-3 sets of rear tires driving that thing for a day at texas motor speedway...

And the paint-by-numbers cliche is completed... awesome!

Anyways, back on topic: check the curb weights for Lotus's current models and then look at their proposed product road map. They need bigger engines because their cars are bigger and getting bigger still. They'd never drop a big engine in something weighing 2500lbs.

[carbonBLUE]

Originally Posted by Capt Canuck

And the paint-by-numbers cliche is completed... awesome!

Anyways, back on topic: check the curb weights for Lotus's current models and then look at their proposed product road map. They need bigger engines because their cars are bigger and getting bigger still. They'd never drop a big engine in something weighing 2500lbs.

lightweight , low displacement v8's are a good solution, theres a company that combines 2 hyabusa engines together, spins to 10,500 rpms with good power outputs, low torque though but thats fine in a 2500lb car, gearing a 10k rpm engine also makes up for low torque by gearing the transmission appropriately...

[Dimman]

Interesting thing that Lotus did is buy Caterham. The company that bought the license to the Lotus 7 back in the day. Circle of life.

So now even if they go bigger/upscale they can still be hardcore lightweight through Caterham which has/is legitimate old-school Lotus heritage.

[Capt Canuck]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Interesting thing that Lotus did is buy Caterham. The company that bought the license to the Lotus 7 back in the day. Circle of life.

So now even if they go bigger/upscale they can still be hardcore lightweight through Caterham which has/is legitimate old-school Lotus heritage.

Not quite, the F1 drama behind the naming of teams might have confused you some. Tony Fernandes the team principal of Team Lotus purchased Caterham and that F1 team is being rebranded Team Caterham F1 IIRC.

That is completely separate from Lotus motor cars and engineering. Fernandes purchased naming rights from Proton last year to use the name in his F1 venture. This caused quite a kerfuffle amongst Lotus/F1 fans as they were not a 'true' Lotus team. The rebrand for 2012 sees that issue sorted.

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by Capt Canuck

Not quite, the F1 drama behind the naming of teams might have confused you some. Tony Fernandes the team principal of Team Lotus purchased Caterham and that F1 team is being rebranded Team Caterham F1 IIRC.

That is completely separate from Lotus motor cars and engineering. Fernandes purchased naming rights from Proton last year to use the name in his F1 venture. This caused quite a kerfuffle amongst Lotus/F1 fans as they were not a 'true' Lotus team. The rebrand for 2012 sees that issue sorted.

D'oh! This will not help me...

So which is the real Lotus related to the road cars? The Renault one? And if so, is that going to play a role in future road cars being Renault powered if they ditch Toyota? I do recall some olden-days Lotus were Renault powered.

[Capt Canuck]

^Reno got out of the team owning business in 2009/2010 and the company that bought them subsequently sold part of the company to Lotus or somehow brought them in as minority partners or something... which after a couple seasons has indeed got us to 'Lotus F1' which was the old Team Renault and last year Lotus/Renault.

Renault is just an engine supplier now and AFAIK, their relationship to Lotus F1 is no different than to Red Bull Racing or anyone else who buys there engines.

The 2010/2011 seasons really were clusterfucky with the naming conventions and handbags between all the different groups.