Good news out of Lotus, of the kind that I suspect we should get used to in the short term: a new hiring.
It takes less time to put people in place than it does cars into production, even under the stewardship of a company like Lotus’s Geely parent, which has recently transformed Volvo.
Geely has just appointed Phil Popham (formerly of Jaguar Land Rover and latterly of Sunseeker) as CEO of Lotus Sports Cars and senior vice president for commercial operations of Group Lotus.
If Geely’s plan with Lotus goes anything like it did with Volvo, which it took over in 2010, things will go a bit quiet barring announcements like this one. And then – boom – the model introduction will start. Volvo’s Volvo XC90 only went into production late in 2014 but, when a new V40 arrives next year, it’ll be the oldest car in a nine-model line-up.
Popham’s appointment prompted some discussion among my colleagues: do people, aside from people like us, know what a Lotus actually is these days? It has been so long since it won an F1 world title or James Bond drove an Esprit that you wonder whether in the wider world people know what Lotus, which has been turning out brilliant-handling lightweight sports cars but for not enough money and in not enough quantities, actually stands for?
Earlier this year, Geely’s take on where the firm was going was this: “Geely is fully committed to restoring Lotus into being a leading global luxury brand,” though it makes you wonder when, if ever, it really was one.
I reckon anyone with the mildest of interest in cars has got a sound enough idea of what Lotus is: if you’ve heard of the company, you’ll know it makes sports cars. That’s enough, isn’t it?
So it’s in metal, rather than wondering what the brand stands for, where my interest lies: the brand’s image will mould to reflect whatever type of car it makes. If it makes good cars, people will buy them, and the brand takes care of itself.
I’m more intrigued about what these cars will be powered by. Lotus needs a sports car architecture, likely of its own to underpin its future sports cars and, presumably, another Volvo-based one for SUVs.
But Volvo engines will only get it so far, given it doesn’t make any engines with more than four cylinders or 2.0 litres. And as we all know, Lotus makes sports cars. And some sports cars want more oomph than that.
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big engines are all very well
but i'd like to see a revised elise s1 with the suzuki 660cc tweaked to 100bhp. given that the original had a 1.8L with 118bhp, surely this would be roughly as quick, lighter, and more lotusey?
What is this nonsense above,
What is this nonsense above, autocar keeps getting this crap appearing on the chat forums, other than annoying to scroll past what do the authors hope to achieve? I'm sure no one actually reads it so as advertising it's wasted.
Back to lotus, volvos 5pot that ford used could also be modernised I'm sure, with geely money, they always sounded awesome, much more interesting than a 4pot.
But why settle for ONLY a 2.5 litre engine . .
@si73, why settle for only a 2.5 litre engine, to determine LOTUS's future, when the (ex-)VOLVO 4.4 L V8 engine, would enable/ensure LOTUS to compete on equal terms, with their intended competitors!!
As posted earlier/above . . .
The B8444S is a V8 engine developed by Yamaha for VOLVO.
"Volvo began offering a 4.4 L V8 engine in its large P2 platform automobiles in 2005. It was initially offered only for the Volvo XC90, but later found its way in the second generation Volvo S80, and mated to a six speed Aisin Seiki transmission of Japan also with a Swedish Haldex all wheel drive system AWD. The 4.4 L V8 Volvo engine was built by Yamaha in Japan under Volvo design and specifications.The engine was unique in Ford's wide range of V8 engines in that it is designed for transverse use and has a V6-like 60° bank angle. Officials of all three companies involved insist that the Volvo V8 is not related to the SHO engine; the die-cast open-deck aluminum Volvo block is clearly different from the sand-cast closed-deck aluminum SHO engine block although the two engines share many common dimensions including bore centers, stroke, bearing journal diameters, and deck height.
As revealed in BBC's Top Gear show (Series 14 Episode 5) this basic engine is also used in the Noble M600, albeit longitudinally mounted, developing some 650 horsepower with the addition of 2 turbochargers. The Noble unit is custom built by a 3rd party firm expressly for Noble Cars UK".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B8444S_engine
I never said settle, just
I never said settle, just suggesting that other volvo options exist, a range of 2.0 4pots, 2.5 5 pots & a v8 would be great for a range of different sports cars.
Volvo's V8
Pretty certain Gothenburg could dust-off the plans, production machinery, and give Hethel a head-start in "tuning" that V8 for their own use in more up-market, profitable, vehicles; and as a complement to whatever (other) hybrid power-trains Lotus may wish to "borrow" from Volvo.
The B8444S is a V8 engine developed by Yamaha for VOLVO.
The B8444S is a V8 engine developed by Yamaha for VOLVO.
"Volvo began offering a 4.4 L V8 engine in its large P2 platform automobiles in 2005. It was initially offered only for the Volvo XC90, but later found its way in the second generation Volvo S80, and mated to a six speed Aisin Seiki transmission of Japan also with a Swedish Haldex all wheel drive system AWD. The 4.4 L V8 Volvo engine was built by Yamaha in Japan under Volvo design and specifications.The engine was unique in Ford's wide range of V8 engines in that it is designed for transverse use and has a V6-like 60° bank angle. Officials of all three companies involved insist that the Volvo V8 is not related to the SHO engine; the die-cast open-deck aluminum Volvo block is clearly different from the sand-cast closed-deck aluminum SHO engine block although the two engines share many common dimensions including bore centers, stroke, bearing journal diameters, and deck height.
As revealed in BBC's Top Gear show (Series 14 Episode 5) this basic engine is also used in the Noble M600, albeit longitudinally mounted, developing some 650 horsepower with the addition of 2 turbochargers. The Noble unit is custom built by a 3rd party firm expressly for Noble Cars UK".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_B8444S_engine