| Show stand overview | 2008 Geneva Motor Show | Lotus |
Lotus was on great form at the
Geneva motorshow with a range of new models, innovations and a hint of its next supercar. The star of its stand was the Exige 270E Tri-Fuel, which is the most powerful version of the Exige yet made. It can cover 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds and hit 158mph, yet it's also one of the cleanest, greenest sports cars ever made.
The Exige Tri-Fuel can run on normal petrol, bioethanol that is already available in some filling stations in the UK, or methanol. It's this latter that Lotus says is a breakthrough, as it can be made form carbon dioxide already present in the atmosphere. This makes the ethanol fuel environmentally friendly and sustainable, though Lotus admits that it's still at least 15 years before this fuel could become a reality.
Much more real was the all-new 2-Eleven entry level model launched at Geneva. With a starting price of £27,995, the new 2-Eleven is £12,000 cheaper than its
sister model. Lotus has achieved this by removing the original 2-Eleven's supercharged engine and replacing it with the Elise's 189bhp non-supercharged engine. It's still good for 0-60mph in 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 140mph thank to its incredibly low mass of 720kg - around half of what a VW Golf weighs.
Lotus said it will offer a performance pack for the entry level Exige that boosts power to 252bhp thanks to the addition of the supercharger from the original model. This drops 0-60mph to 3.8 seconds and ups top speed to 150mph.
Lotus also had a new entry-level Europa SE to show the Geneva crowds. It costs from £27,950 and has revised suspension to offer more comfort and improved handling. The engine has also been retuned for 222bhp, which gives 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds and a top speed of 143mph. The SE also has unique alloy wheels, which are 17-inch at the front and 18-inch at the back.
Rounding off Lotus's Geneva highlights was a glimpse at its new supercar's chassis. Only the front section of the new Eagle supercar's platform was on display, but Lotus says the finished car will be at the British Motor Show in London in July.
The Eagle chassis uses Lotus's new Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA), which allows many different cars to be built using the same basic platform components. It can be stretched or widened to suit a variety of cars and Lotus expects to develop a whole new range of models based on the VVA chassis.
Alisdair Suttie - 6 Mar 2008
