New Esprit supercar gets Lotus developed V8

Lotus is developing its own high revving V8 for its top models says Danny Bahar, the firm’s CEO.  Despite earlier rumours that Lotus would use a version of the Lexus IS-F’s V8, Bahar explains that the reason behind the change of philosophy is the firm’s own market research, saying “people didn’t like the idea of us using another manufacturer’s engine.”

The new engine will be a light-weight naturally aspirated V8 and will slot into the Esprit supercar, Elite front-engined 2+2 (think something in between Ferrari’s FF and Maserati’s Gran Turismo) and the Eterne four-door.

Lotus may develop V6 and inline-four cylinder engines to slot in further down the range at a later date. The V6 will add new life to the Evora, which has been a sales flop and is due to be replaced, while the all important and much revered Elise will receive the four-cylinder unit.

Lotus’ chief technical officer, Wolf Zimmermann explained some of the other benefits. Apparently the Lexus engine, which would require supercharging, would take up even more space than AMG’s naturally aspirated 6208cc V8. This would create all kinds of problems when packaging the relatively petite Lotus.

Zimmermann also pointed out the need for customer’s need for an emotional bond with their supercars. The McLaren MP412C beats the Ferrari 458 subjectively in every department when it comes to the engine. However, “the Ferrari has more emotion, and we must compete with Ferrari.”

Bahar also took some time to explain how the range would evolve. Lotus market research found that customers thought the Elan would sit too close to the range-topping Esprit. So, it will now replace the Evora S and be built more cheaply with less power than originally planned.