Supercharged version under development...

[MickOpalak]

PistonHeads Headlines

[richw350]

[Bavarian Motorist]

That's somewhat refreshing

[ivan1]

so let me get this straight - the 350 hp evora is going to do the sub 5 second 0-60 that the standard evora was expected to do?

London 2008: Lotus unveils the Evora - Autoblog

[Bavarian Motorist]

Originally Posted by ivan1

so let me get this straight - the 350 hp evora is going to do the sub 5 second 0-60 that the standard evora was expected to do?

London 2008: Lotus unveils the Evora - Autoblog

I was wondering the same thing, but didn't want to pick nits

[ivan1]

if the evora is really a 5.5 sec 0-60 car, that will be a big disappointment to a lot of people who pay attention to that #.....(of course none of us do )

[richw350]

Unless the gearing is really wierd, I think that Lotus is sandbagging these numbers.


My IS350 with 306hp and 276ft-lbs ran low 5's (13.3 in the 1/4) and it weighed about 500 lbs more than the Evora.

[Conor]

Originally Posted by richw350

Unless the gearing is really wierd, I think that Lotus is sandbagging these numbers.


My IS350 with 306hp and 276ft-lbs ran low 5's (13.3 in the 1/4) and it weighed about 500 lbs more than the Evora.

Your IS350 has a 2GRFSE though, not the 2GRFE that the Evora is getting. You have the advantage of elevated compression/advanced timing due to the nature of the secondary direct-injection system your Lexus features..

The Evora is getting the Camry version (no direct injection).. Which has been proven to hit ~270 wheel horsepower once the restrictive stock exhaust is removed. Wham bam, thank you m'am, there's your "stock" Evora engine.

As for the S/C'd unit, that's almost certainly coming straight from TRD Australia's Aurion (Australian Camry), which is still the non-DI 2GRFE, just with a non-intercooled supercharger bolted to it.

You can't have the direct-injection 2GRFSE in an Evora because of the block design.. There's no room for a transaxle driveshaft to sit next to the block.

[kbob]

WTF is wrong with Lotus that they'd preannounce a supercharged Evora just in time to kill initial sales of the base model?

Great products, shockingly inane product marketing.

[TheBrander]

Pretty lame now that I'm on my way to a 340BHP Elise!

[Aedo]

Originally Posted by kbob

WTF is wrong with Lotus that they'd preannounce a supercharged Evora just in time to kill initial sales of the base model?

Great products, shockingly inane product marketing.

I know this will surprise some but not everyone wants (or can afford) the highest power model of any car available - how do you think Porsche sell both the Boxter and the Boxter S?

With a total production rate of only 2,000 car per year (not sure how many will get to the US) even in the current economic climate I suspect availbility is going to limit sales rather than different specifications.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by kbob

WTF is wrong with Lotus that they'd preannounce a supercharged Evora just in time to kill initial sales of the base model?

Great products, shockingly inane product marketing.

I didn't see where Lotus preannounced anything. It's magazine conjecture.

I guess you don't remember all the outraged Exige owners that bought the '06 NA Exige only to find out, by surprise, that the '07 was supercharged. Some really PO'd owners back then. Would you have Lotus emphatically deny they will ever produce a SC Evora and recreate the Exige situation if/when they do announce it?

[DeanG]

I thought they announced a supercharged version at LOG 28.

Maybe an announcing future intentions is a way too keep people from unpleasant surprises like the 06 NA Exige /07 supercharged Exige.

[JohnnyQuest]

Notice that it not only got a little slower,

"the standard 0-60mph time from around 5.5secs "

but it put on about 100 lbs.

"3.5 litre normally aspirated engine putting out close to 280bhp in a car weighing less than 1400kgs."

Ah, the evils of cheeseburgers........

Originally Posted by Conor

You can't have the direct-injection 2GRFSE in an Evora because of the block design.. There's no room for a transaxle driveshaft to sit next to the block.

Why does direct injection require a different block design?

[ads_green]

Anybody who thinks any new performance car that is released isn't going to be followed by a higher powered model within 1-2 years is simply fooling themselves.

Ferrari 360->360CS, 430->430 scuderia
Porsche (where to start?) Boxster->Boxster S, 911->911 GT3/GT2
Lotus Elise -> 111s, S2 Exige-> Exige S
Pagani Zonda -> Zonda F

In fact far from hurting sales it may help it - this shows that the car has been built with a supercharger in mind and so a similar retrofit package for initial Evora cars is almost a certainty. In the UK this is actually better as a car is taxed based on it's CO2 emissions at time of registration. So NA Evoras can be supercharged and pay no more tax where as Evora S's will pay (possibly) a fair bit more.

There's no price on the Evora S but I expect it to be a fair difference in order to keep the models separate enough. I reckon at least GBP10k.

[Bibs]

Originally Posted by ChrisB

I didn't see where Lotus preannounced anything. It's magazine conjecture.

100% correct, good man!

The magazines see numbers, do calculations and make educated guesses. Lotus still stand by a sub 5.0 0-60 in the launch edition car, they've never 'said' otherwise!

[jhnmdahl]

Actually, Lotus preannounced the supercharged version, a convertible, a 2+2, and a version with a parcel shelf in place of the rear seats all at the press conference where they initially unveiled the Evora. Plus, they have said the stock engine configuration will be sub-5 seconds from 0-60, according to Lotus:

http://www.lotusevora.com/pdf/Lotus%20Evora.pdf

http://www.lotusevora.com/pdf/Projec...%20Summary.pdf

The info's not hard to find if you look for it...

John

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by JohnnyQuest

Why does direct injection require a different block design?

I don't think the problem is with the direct injection per se. The IS350 engine block is made for a longitudinal installation versus a transverse as used in the Evora.

[kbob]

[quote=ChrisB;1193309]I didn't see where Lotus preannounced anything. It's magazine conjecture.
/QUOTE]

The Pistonheads article says, "Lotus told Autocar a supercharged Toyota V6 is already running on the bench...." I think that counts as an announcement.

However, if they already discussed the supercharged version at the launch and
if they keep a healthy price gap, it's not so bad.

[robains]

Come on folks, the Evora as it stands is lame, nobody will buy it and it might just make Lotus look for another big funding company.

Put 2 turbos on it and it might just raise some interest, but again it's a Toyota motor.

I just hope Lotus have enough other eggs so that this basket doesn't make them bankrupt. It's one of those "what were they thinking" moments.

Rob.