Is Lotus still independant?

[peterjford]

If not, who owns them?

(please don't turn this into a "my Civic pwns Lotus!!!!111!!!1!" thread)

 

[Raghavan]

Right now, Lotus Cars is owned by Proton Motors, a Malaysian car automaker.

 

[Pebb]

Also Proton use to race in the BTCC aswell.

 

[niky]

Lotus was under Bugatti, I think, for a time, then under GM, and now under Proton.

But they're sort of like Ferrari... they may be under someone else's corporate umbrella, but the owners keep their hands off of Lotus operations.

They also make a fair bit of money by "tuning" for other companies. It's sort of become fashionable for car companies to have their suspensions "tuned" by Lotus. The GM-Isuzu Trooper comes to mind, with its "Lotus" badging, as well as the current Proton Gen 2.

 

[skip0110]

They also make a fair bit of money by "tuning" for other companies. It's sort of become fashionable for car companies to have their suspensions "tuned" by Lotus. The GM-Isuzu Trooper comes to mind, with its "Lotus" badging, as well as the current Proton Gen 2.

There was a Trooper with "Lotus" badging?! Not in the US at least I think....

 

[peterjford]

But they're sort of like Ferrari... they may be under someone else's corporate umbrella, but the owners keep their hands off of Lotus operations.

That is good to hear. Sometimes I get to thinking that globalization really sucks. Not for the reasons you usually hear, but because some really unique and talented people/companies get swallowed up and we lose what they could have offered us.

 

[niky]

There was a Trooper with "Lotus" badging?! Not in the US at least I think....

I'm not sure how long you guys got the Trooper, but it was still selling here until early this year. I think it was somewhere around 2000 or up that the Trooper got a "Lotus engineered suspension" badge.

 

[Dave A]

How about the Lotus Lada Riviera. Now that a Lotus tuned car.

 

[ExigeEvan]

But they're sort of like Ferrari... they may be under someone else's corporate umbrella, but the owners keep their hands off of Lotus operations.

But Proton haven't just kept their nose out....

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73840

That is a Proton hand me down 👎

 

[Dave A]

But it was built and designed and engineered by Lotus, it would have a been a Lotus handout had it wore a Proton badge, Proton didn't design, engineer or build the car.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Ok, so internally it is Lotus designed but externally it was designed to follow the Proton line.

 

[VIPFREAK]

But it was built and designed and engineered by Lotus, it would have a been a Lotus handout had it wore a Proton badge, Proton didn't design, engineer or build the car.

So, what happened?? They shot themselves in the foot with that design.

 

[Dave A]

Well yes really, thats the only flaw in that car, the purpose behind the design was for it to look like a Proton, but it was still designed, engineered and built by Lotus so it's not a Proton hand down.

 

[eliseracer]

but it was still designed, engineered and built by Lotus so it's not a Proton hand down.

Designed by Lotus for Proton, engineered and developped in Malaysia, by Proton. It was canned and given back to Lotus. I don't think Hethel spent a dime on the development of the car. Unless, of course, you mean engineered by Lotus as in it is based on the Elise, which Lotus developped.

The Proton Elise, in Malaysia with other future Proton models:

GM's Asuna Sunfire also wore a "Suspension by Lotus" badge in the North American market. Also Lotus had a hand in that recent Chevy Cobalt time-attack racecar that took out the Skyline.

But hands down, the best Lotus-tuned car is the Carleton/Omega:

 

[Dave A]

I agree with the Carlton, I was sure that the Europa was Lotus engineered though, oh well I guess it's a bit like a Proton hand me down then.

 

[Milliethemutt]

Lotus engineering division do a lot of set up work for other car companies. Most of it is secret though.

 

[ExigeEvan]

They also helped do the suspension on the Ford GT.

Lotus Carlton.. One day my pretty, one day.

 

[YSSMAN]

Lotus did co-engineer the LT5 DOHC V8 for the ZR1 back in the '90s...

Im still sad that they use Toyota engines in the Elise/Exige... Would have been smarter to go with the VW/Audi 1.8T or wait for the new 2.0T....

 

[Emohawk]

Toyota and Lotus have a scattered history of partnerships. And besides that, I contend that there is nothing wrong with the engine they chose.

 

[TheCracker]

Toyota and Lotus have a scattered history of partnerships. And besides that, I contend that there is nothing wrong with the engine they chose.

I think Lotus have only ever built their own engine once (Esprit's V8)

The Toyota engine in the elise/exige gets a bit of flack for being a bit 'gutless' low down in the rev range.

There's a large community of Elise & Exige owners who've swapped their K-series for Vtec Honda powerplants, they love the engine - Lotus should have used them instead.

 

[niky]

Amen to that... VTEC Elise swaps rock. And if they'd only swap their K-series cars with Honda's own K, they'd get better torque than they're getting from the Toyota 1.8s, as well as more horses and a better gearbox.

 

[barryl85]

If not, who owns them?

(please don't turn this into a "my Civic pwns Lotus!!!!111!!!1!" thread)

Why is it always necessary for a honda civic to get flamed?

Seen a yellow Exige the other day! wow what a little car! 👍

 

[eliseracer]

I have yet to drive a 2ZZ Elise, but I don't think I'll have a problem with it. All of the people who drive the thing and say it doesn't have any low-end are usually American motor journalists, Porsche owners, or other people who like to drive ballsier cars.

It can get to 60 in 4.4 and the quarter in low 13, stock. On trakcdays, I'll see you at the finish line...

Then again, Lotus and their fans have never cared much for those stats. It's still the benchmark for sportscar handling and there isn't a single car in the world I would rather be in on a decent twisty road.

For the rest of you, just keep the revs up there 👍

----

Why is it always necessary for a honda civic to get flamed?

See, this has already been discussed before. Civic "tuners" created the stereotype. Crappily tuned Civics come by the dozens before a decent one comes around. Your tuning culture created this stereotype, now you have to live with it. It's part of owning and liking the car, sorry.

 

[eliseracer]

doublepost

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, I do completely agree that Lotus did do the right thing by using a proven engine in the Elise, but I'm just not a huge fan of Toyota power in general.

I do agree with the "gutless" claims that Americans make, as I am an American... But I can totally see the good side of having such a high rev engine in there to begin with.

To me, it would have seemed more logical to go with the VW powerplant as it is both a bit more heavy-duty, gets similar fuel mileage, makes more power, and has the optional DSG transmission which (IMO) would be a godsend in the track-ready Exige.

 

[TheCracker]

I do agree with the "gutless" claims that Americans make, as I am an American... But I can totally see the good side of having such a high rev engine in there to begin with.

To me, it would have seemed more logical to go with the VW powerplant as it is both a bit more heavy-duty, gets similar fuel mileage, makes more power, and has the optional DSG transmission which (IMO) would be a godsend in the track-ready Exige.

I seem to remember that Lotus did look into using the VAG engine when needing to replace the Rover K-series, but i think they found it to be too heavy, the K-series was incredibly light weight. Weight is the big issue with Lotus, the new 'federalised' Elise weighs almost 200kgs more than the original S1 - thats almost 25% more!

 

[Danny]

To be fair, Proton have done a grand job.

 

[eliseracer]

Except in public relations and customer service. Try to get any info out of Lotus, next to impossible.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, theyve done pretty well geting them to the 'States. I can think of four different Elises here in Grand Rapids, far more than I had ever expected.

I'd love to get one, but at 6ft, I may have a tough time getting in and out... That might become a problem...

 

[eliseracer]

It's a bit of a difficulty when you compare it to other cars, but I've heard of owners who are 6'2 and they can live with it. It looks funny, getting in and out, but it still goes.