Skip advert
Advertisement

New Lotus Esprit revealed

At last - an all new Lotus Esprit supercar. With 600bhp+, it's a proper Ferrari 458 rival

The news that Lotus is planning on creating a proper supercar is cause for celebration. Particularly when you get stuck into the finer points of the technical specification. 

OK, it may weigh 1495kg, so is actually a fraction heavier than the 1485kg Ferrari 458 which is expected to be its closest (and most deadly) rival. Nor will it follow the Ferrari down the natural aspiration route. Instead it uses a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 (this will also underpin the Elite coupe cabrio and Eterne saloon) that will develop 542bhp as standard and 612bhp with the wick turned up for the R version.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Having said that, director of Product Engineeriing Paul Newsome told us that he thinks the biggest challenge of the entire model range will be getting the engine up to 620bhp without losing the drivability characteristics they want. The engine is already familiar - it's the Lexus V8 as seen in the IS-F and can rev to 8000rpm.

Even with 550bhp the two-seater, mid-engined Esprit is expected to hit 60mph from a standing start in 3.5sec (3.2sec for the R) and although top speed will be around 200mph, Lotus is aiming to keep CO2 emissions below 250g/km. As with the Elan, optional KERS and the seven speed double clutch gearbox will help here. 

In the flesh at the Paris motor show it was a very convincing car - more than a hint of Lambo around the nose, but otherwise creative. Let's hope it makes it through to production largely unchanged. Expect it to cost £110,000, undercutting it's most obvious rivals considerably.

All of Lotus's 2010 Paris motor show news is here

See the Lotus Paris show stars on evo video

Join evo's Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

From 2025 your new performance car might cost over £5k to tax
Car tax 2025
News

From 2025 your new performance car might cost over £5k to tax

Audi's RS6, Lamborghini Revuelto, Mercedes-AMG GT... any car producing more than 255g/km of C02 will be hit by a rise in vehicle excise duty from Apri…
11 Dec 2024
The BMW M3 is going electric – here’s our first look
Electric BMW M3 test mules
News

The BMW M3 is going electric – here’s our first look

The next M3 supersaloon is receiving a pure-electric powertrain, and new images offer our very first glimpse…
12 Dec 2024
2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed theme announced
McLaren Solus GT
News

2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed theme announced

The theme for the 2025 Festival of Speed will be ‘The Winning Formula – Champions and Challengers’, celebrating motorsport’s innovators from F1’s 75 y…
11 Dec 2024