Lotus is planning to power the new Esprit with its own design for a V8 engine, company boss Dany Bahar has revealed to Autocar.
The company is currently doing a feasibility on the possibility of an all-new, Hethel-engineered V8 which would appear in the 2012 Esprit and a V6 for the new Elan and other models he admitted.
“We have done three engines for other manufacturers; why not do it ourselves?” he said. “The engine is the heart of a sports car; we should do our own product.”
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Bahar admitted that despite the high investment costs of developing two new engines it could end up paying dividends with future cost savings brought about through commonality of parts.
Lotus engineering chief Wolf Zimmerman also revealed that the planned three-strong family of mid-engined Lotuses that will start with the Esprit will share a common platform, brakes, suspension and electrical systems.
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Bahar also revealed that customer reaction to the new Esprit being powered by a Toyota V8, as was originally planned, was behind the decision.
“In the mind of sports-car enthusiasts, Toyota power might not be good enough,” he said.
But the final decision on whether Lotus will green light the cash for engine development will be taken at the end of January. “The decision then will be purely financial,” said Bahar.
Chas Hallett
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Re: Lotus 'plans to build V8 engine'
The Toyota 5.0 V8 in question is actually a good engine, with lots of hidden potential. In the IS-F it produces 416 horsepower, but it does it below 7000 rpm. Being an oversquared engine it can easily rev higher, producing more power. And with the addition of turbo or supercharger, it could easily achieve 600-700 horsepower.
Re: Lotus 'plans to build V8 engine'
its good news that someone is taking engine manufacturing seriously. The characteristic heart of any car is its engine especially if its a highend sports car or luxury car. i would like car manufacturer like Jag do its own straight 6 engines too rather than do partnership with BMW or Ford. Its a lot of money to invest but manufacturers have to start somewhere.
Re: Lotus 'plans to build V8 engine'
If I'm not mistaken the engine on the Koenigsegg is based on a Ford V8. Optimising a proven Toyota motor in the same way would at least give customers some confidence that reliability would be less of a problem. A great reassurance when spending 100 grand.