Lotus to return?

[Canada ALMS fan]

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...-back-to-indy/
Good news!

[JagtechOhio]

If they are serious about being part of the future, there's your perfect builder for a 575 HP Ecotec turbo. Bring it to Indy as a Lotus engine, or sell the badging to GM or Vauxhall.

I can't see how Lotus would be rewarded the exclusive chassis contract, even if they thought it was a good investment to go after it.

[mountainstar]

Is this Lotus the car manufacturer or Lotus, the tony fernandes owned racing team?

If it's the racing team, they probably need to focus on F1 first.

[JagtechOhio]

Its too much focus on Lotus hocus pocus.

[icemachine]

Claudio Berro who was interviewed for this article is sporting director with Lotus F1 team. I'm guessing this years car is just a partnership with an existing Indy only team, to remind people they sell the Elise, Exige and the coming soon Evora in the USA

[Jimmy Magnusson]

He is? I've not seen any news about it. However, he (Claudio Berro) was definately hired to be Motorsport Director for Lotus Cars last fall. The Lotus F1 team is odd in that it's not connected to Lotus Cars, but is partly owned and funded by Proton, the Malaysian car manufacturer that owns Lotus. Most of the other investors are from Malaysia, too. Berro has made it clear quite recently that the car company and the F1 team are not linked.

That Lotus are getting involved should not come as a complete surprise to those of you who read Daily Sportscar, as Berro had a long chat with them at the NEC show last month. He spoke about their Evora Cup, Evora GT4 (and maybe even a GT3 in the future), possible expansion into GT1 with new models, and LMP1 factory effort, and IndyCar. Nothing was decided, but the intention was there. In short, this is what he said about IndyCar:

• Branding of a current team
• Interesting market where Lotus has real heritage
• Looking at the potential of doing this for 2010 (didn't mention if it was for Indy or full season, but said they had to work fast, as the start of the season was only a few months away)

Those of you with a subscription can view the article here:
Part 1 http://www.dailysportscar.com/viewAr...nID=STNHPQXUM3
Part 2 http://www.dailysportscar.com/viewAr...nID=STNHPQXUM3

[icemachine]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

He is? I've not seen any news about it. However, he (Claudio Berro) was definately hired to be Motorsport Director for Lotus Cars last fall. The Lotus F1 team is odd in that it's not connected to Lotus Cars, but is partly owned and funded by Proton, the Malaysian car manufacturer that owns Lotus. Most of the other investors are from Malaysia, too. Berro has made it clear quite recently that the car company and the F1 team are not linked.

I was relying on James Allens story I saw last fall, seems a lot of disagreements in the comment section supports your position, Jimmy

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/1...lotus-f1-team/

[Alwaysfirst]

Rossiter testing for KV Racing today in a very Lotus-esque livery...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kvracin...gy/4385924264/

[Adam43]

Isn't this just the same as the Motorsport article from last months edition? They are also going to Le Mans too?
They need to calm down and do one thing at a time. Not even Lotus went into F1, Le Mans and Indy at the same time. This team should consider that.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Isn't this just the same as the Motorsport article from last months edition? They are also going to Le Mans too?
They need to calm down and do one thing at a time. Not even Lotus went into F1, Le Mans and Indy at the same time. This team should consider that.

Le Mans is for 2011. F1 is a different effort, and KV is a branding exercise. It's not that much, really.

[Adam43]

Simples.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

and KV is a branding exercise. It's not that much, really.

For now, this could be a toe in the water towards becoming an engine supplier IMO. A small turbo engine would fit nicely with their current car offering in North America. It could potentially offer a decent ROI and would be a lot less work than trying to become the (unlikely) chassis supplier. If the series would open up to multiple chassis, all bets could be off.

[Purist]

Don't the hot versions of the Elise/Exige use a small, 4-cylinder Toyota engine with some manner of forced induction?

Could make things more interesting for Honda in that case.

[JagtechOhio]

Post #2.

The 2.0 GM Ecotec turbo is in the new Europa.

over 500HP back in 2006 in a Chevy Formula Drift car.

over 400 HP from the 2.4 variant in a Saturn Sky street car with minor mods.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by Purist

Don't the hot versions of the Elise/Exige use a small, 4-cylinder Toyota engine with some manner of forced induction?

Could make things more interesting for Honda in that case.

My thoughts exactly.

[JagtechOhio]

Toyota (Lotus) 2ZZ-GE

1796 cc
189 HP normally aspitated
253 lbs.

Supercharged for the Exige GT3:

1796 cc
271 HP
317 lbs.

There is a stroker kit available for this engine that increases displacement to 1933 cc, and turbocharged it will make 500HP plus. That would be 9.5:1 compression ratio at 9 PSI boost, on gasoline.

Quite a lot of development work was done by TRD in 2000 with 1796cc displacement for drag race builds. Didn't find any specific builders working on these now, but it's a good candidate.

Very much the same story as the Ecotec, for which you can buy the factory competition development book and factory performance parts for less.

[marcostraz]

For what I understood, this project is indipendent from Lotus F1 Team, but it comes directly from Lotus Cars...

[JagtechOhio]

Marco,

It sure is a complicated deal, and I'll hope that people like you can explain it to me 'cause I don't know the players involved.

Certainly Kalkhoven of KV has a relationship with Lotus FI, as he is at least part owner of Cosworth and thus is their engine supplier.

Anything that gets the Lotus brand into IndyCar racing, even if it's just the #32 "JPS" livery, is a good thing. Hopefully they will increase their prominance.

[marcostraz]

I think this is an initiative directly from Lotus Cars...I think that Lotus F1 and Lotus Indy are two branches of the same "parent"...they are indirectly connected...this I understood...

[Quintin03]

Lotus F1 is owned by Malaysians, headquartered at Sepang and doesn't have any connections to Lotus Cars except for the name and maybe some to Lotus' mother company Proton. Lotus Indy is a project by Lotus America which is owned by Lotus Cars.

Or so I've understood.

[duke_toaster]

Lotus F1 is based at RTN in Norfolk (where the Bentley LMPs where made), they have said things about moving to Malaysia but that appears to be on hold.

[JagtechOhio]

Confirmed, Lotus says they will enter two full time cars for the 2010 IndyCar season.

As for engines:

"... considering a bid to supply engines when the new IndyCar chassis and engine formula begins in 2012. The Lotus/Cosworth partnership includes the supply by Cosworth of high-performance engines based upon existing Toyota powerplants..."

[marcostraz]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Confirmed, Lotus says they will enter two full time cars for the 2010 IndyCar season.

As for engines:

"... considering a bid to supply engines when the new IndyCar chassis and engine formula begins in 2012. The Lotus/Cosworth partnership includes the supply by Cosworth of high-performance engines based upon existing Toyota powerplants..."

The source of this news?

[Canada ALMS fan]

Very good news indeed! One step to closer to getting away from being a spec series in the future. And with a great name with a great heritage to boot. Multiple engines here we come, next up, multiple chassis' ?

[JagtechOhio]

Marco, sorry, my bad:

http://www.racer.com/lotus-confirms-...rticle/164876/