Lotus Developing New V-8 Engine To Power Esprit

Lotus stole the Paris Auto Show in 2010 with a whole host of new concepts. While the company has been saying they are all headed to production, launching them all would be a huge feat for a small company such as Lotus. The funding and manpower needed are just beyond the level they are at right now.

What is definitely coming though is a successor to the Esprit super car. It is scheduled to arrive in late 2013. For years Lotus has had an engine sharing relationship with Toyota. The Elise, Exige and Evora are Toyota powered, and many expected that partnership to continue with Lotus in the future.

The Esprit was rumored to have Lexus V-8 power, possibly the 5.0-liter V-8 from the IS-F or even the 4.8-liter from the LFA. But, Lotus has other plans in mind. The company has spoke with Autoblog and made it official: it is developing a new 4.8-liter V-8 power plant of its own. In "base"form it will make 570 horsepower, and it will offer a higher specification engine that will offer 620 horsepower, without the use of turbocharging. Impressive.

Look for the new engine to power the Esprit, Eterne and Elite. Lotus has big plans to be sure, and to underpin all these models a modular platform architecture is being developed. It will be able to provide the basis for front and mid-engined designs. How's that for modular?