Car Throttle

You know sometimes movies start off strong with a great start, a fabulous middle part but they disappointingly fizzle out at the end? I sometimes feel shortchanged especially after a good premise, the movie only delivers a tiny little pop as a finale. It seems Lotus, after previewing five concept cars at the recent Paris Motor Show, are only seriously about working on one of them. The people at Hethel had spoken to Autocar recently about the fact that Lotus is only focusing their attention on the new Lotus Esprit for a 2013 launch at the moment and the other concept models are just concepts showing a complete line-up that will hopefully be produced by the manufacturer soon. The question would now be how soon is soon

In case you didn't notice, Lotus has really packed a punch - actually five of them - at the Paris Auto Show. There is no doubt that Lotus stole the show, and that is no small feat for an automaker of Lotus' size. The brand hasn't been a big player on the automotive scene in recent history, catering to a dedicated but limited market with its Elise sportscar. That is about to change in a big way soon with introductions of the Elite, Esprit, Elan, Eterne and new Elise. As can be expected, Lotus is very excited and proud of its new introductions. To explain and show them off better, it has released a whole host of new videos documenting each one of the new vehicles. We

Lotus has been keeping busy this year, it seems.  I can't remember the last time a single manufacturer rolled out so many distinct concept cars, much less a small manufacturer like Lotus.  But so far at the Paris show we've seen a bucket full of new Lotuses that will fit into the whole "chasing Porsche" theme.  The range-topping V8 mid-engine Esprit, supercharged V6 mid-engine Elan, Ferrari California-esque front-engine V8 Elite, and the "I don't quite get it" Eterne hybrid sedan.  This isn't the Lotus we know and love, but a brand has to stay afloat somehow, right? For years, the core of Lotus' business has been the lightweight mid-engine Elise and it's various (and I do mean various) derivatives.  With the current generation having been around since

It's clear Lotus has a thing for names beginning in "E" - new models include Elite, Esprit, Elan, Eterne and existing models include Elise, Exige, Europa and Evora. A bit confusing, but in the past decade Lotus has been primarily known for one car - the Elise. It struck a chord with enthusiasts for being lightweight, mid-engined and offering g0-kart-like handling. It has become a classic, and that is a formula you don't want to mess with too much. As part of its higher ambitions, Lotus has given that formula a bigger update than anyone quite imagined with the new Elise Concept. The look is aggressive, fresh and modern. There are thin headlights and a swept back cabin that is quite a departure

The Lotus Elise is a car that has been firmly entrenched in the minds and hearts of enthusiasts over the past decade. The Lotus brand, originally known for its lightweight sportscars, returned to its roots with the Elise. The result? Spectacular success. Lately, the brand has shown hints of desiring bigger and (depending on your viewpoint) better things. Bigger and better means a return to competition with exotic supercar manufacturers like Ferrari and Lamborghini, and now McLaren. In fact, McLaren's goals to enter the roadcar arena again with the MP4-12C could have spurred Lotus' efforts. Past speculation has pointed to two or three cars being unveiled at Paris, and the Elite is one of those. The unlikeliest of all the speculated-about vehicles turns out to be the one that

The World Cup for the world of football (or soccer for those in America) is currently drawing to a close and I during the main bulk of the tournament, I caught Brazil playing Portugal on the telly. The game ended in a scoreless draw and it had its ups and downs. You could see flashes of skill coming from the Brazilian players but it was slightly boring most of the time. And football has been getting more and more boring due to players following tactics and not dribbling the ball through the defense like in the days of Diego Maradona or even Pele. You see, it's not as if the players aren't giving 150% in the game and relying on tactics; its that if you actually looked

While Lotus may be moving into a new era with vehicles like the Evora, it still remains very much true to its original roots. And that is producing fun and extremely lightweight performance vehicles. The Elise is the vehicle that revived the brand over the past decade. One of the fixtures of the company besides the original founder Colin Chapman has been Roger Becker, who was with Lotus for 44 years. To commemorate that, the company is introducing special editions of the Elise and Exige named after him. For 2010, supercharged Elise and Exige models will no longer be available in the European market. The engine they use, a 1.8-liter Toyota four-cylinder unit, no longer meets stricter new Euro 5 emissions standards. These standards are forcing Lotus to

Hennessey is best known for its performance modifications of existing performance models. Hennessey Corvette ZR1, Dodge Viper, anyone? Well, now the company is being known for a vehicle with its own badge- the new Venom GT - a supercar if there ever was one. The Venom GT has 725- to 1,200-horsepower and is based on the Lotus Elise (!). The Elise is known for being lightweight, and the Venom GT isn't any different, with a curb weight of around 2,400 pounds. Its the super-Elise. Motivated by the LS9 V-8 in the Corvette ZR1, it is good enough for a breathtaking 0-60 mph time of 2.4 seconds, a 0-100 mph sprint in 5.3 seconds and a top-speed of 262 mph! Only 10 are slated to be produced each year. Check out the

John Hennessey is obviously the modern-day Carroll Shelby. And while Shelby may have one foot in the grave (not two), it's obvious that the Texas-based tuner is stepping up to take over where ol' Shel left off.  For one thing, HPE is perhaps the most reputable tuner when it comes to extracting huge, reliable horsepower out of domestic cars (along with a few foreigners, like HPE's Nissan GT-R "Godzilla".)  They'll sell you a Camaro with a 725bhp tweaked LS9 supercharged V8 out of the ZR-1, and it's such a clean conversion that an OBD scanner will have no problem pulling codes.  Oh, and it's got a warranty.  How about a Cadillac CTS-V that will do 186mph in the standing mile?  Or maybe a 1000+bhp twin-turbocharged

Lotus has been best known in recent years for going back to the basics with the Elise. Low, light-weight and with go-kart like handling, it has certainly revitalized the brand. Now though, Lotus has announced its intention to compete with the exotic supercar manufacturers again. It did that with the Esprit in the earlier part of its production life, but rumors are swirling about a potential revival of the car. Enough of that though, last year Lotus introduced the Evora, a new mid-engined car that is far more refined than the Elise. We really like it - it looks fantastic and is a less-expensive exotic. What's not to like? For a one Bruce Rice, nothing. He is the first owner of the new Evora in the United States,