... you would think Honda would have no trouble! Looks pretty good to me. This is from the current issue of Car and Driver. Come on, Honda - do your magic - come out with something to beat the pants off this.
Gee, if Lotus can do it...
- Thread starter Jeff A
- Start date
Sounds like Lotus is just borrowing a bunch of parts from other manufacturers vs Honda building the car themsleves.
At $130,000, the car better have more than 400 HP. That is nearly double the price of the current Esprit and it has 350HP.
At $130,000, the car better have more than 400 HP. That is nearly double the price of the current Esprit and it has 350HP.
Osiris_x11
Gold Member, Moderator: Marketplace
not too shabby, me likes...
What was the MSRP of the outgoing Lotus ESPRIT?!?
I think it was quite close to 6-figures.
The Lotus ESPRIT was the F430/Gallardo of it's day. There's a lot of pageantry, history, and panache` w/ this marque`.
We've been spoilt the past 5-6yrs w/ the Carrera_GT, Enzo, Koenigsegg, Zonda, SLR, and then the Gallardo & F430... in terms of power, styling, and overall design/package. It'll be challenging to come up w/ something totally refreshing w/ these predecessors...
The timing of the HSC was nearly ideal when introduced a few years ago, suggesting an '05/'06 launch...
NetViper said:
What was the MSRP of the outgoing Lotus ESPRIT?!?
I think it was quite close to 6-figures.The Lotus ESPRIT was the F430/Gallardo of it's day. There's a lot of pageantry, history, and panache` w/ this marque`.
We've been spoilt the past 5-6yrs w/ the Carrera_GT, Enzo, Koenigsegg, Zonda, SLR, and then the Gallardo & F430... in terms of power, styling, and overall design/package. It'll be challenging to come up w/ something totally refreshing w/ these predecessors...
The timing of the HSC was nearly ideal when introduced a few years ago, suggesting an '05/'06 launch...
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
Yub... and don't forget the saleen S7 and the The Bugatti veyron. I don't know what else someone can come up with that hasn't been seen/done.
Osiris_x11 said:We've been spoilt the past 5-6yrs w/ the Carrera_GT, Enzo, Koenigsegg, Zonda, SLR, and then the Gallardo & F430... in terms of power, styling, and overall design/package. It'll be challenging to come up w/ something totally refreshing w/ these predecessors...
Yub... and don't forget the saleen S7 and the The Bugatti veyron. I don't know what else someone can come up with that hasn't been seen/done.
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
excellent point, though: the market's changed a great deal over the past few years....
fuel cell / gas / electric hybridTURBO2GO said:
excellent point, though: the market's changed a great deal over the past few years....
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
Sure has.
Not only do cars have to be amazing, with style and performance, they have to be inexpensive, too.
C6Z06.
Makes for a tougher launch.
Sure has.
Not only do cars have to be amazing, with style and performance, they have to be inexpensive, too.
C6Z06.
Makes for a tougher launch.
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
i'm a 40 yr honda fan so haven't given up hope just yet
agreed - and to me seems a likely reason for delaying a next gen nsx or comparable product... hard to outdo the competition when they keep changing the rules so much.BioBanker said:
i'm a 40 yr honda fan so haven't given up hope just yet
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
Look for a hybrid with the new Lexus Supercar according to the mags. I think there will be two versions.
queenlives said:
Look for a hybrid with the new Lexus Supercar according to the mags. I think there will be two versions.
Re: not too shabby, me likes...
The Esprit the F430 of its day? A little stretch?
From all of the Lotus club track day's I've attended I'm pretty certain that the most road time most Esprit V8's have seen was on PC's when Need For Speed 2 first came out. I'd take an Elise or a Super 7 anyday over one of those things. The Esprit V8 which was intended to revive sagging interest in the platform, was by any measure a sales disaster.
In fact, to be perfectly frank IMHO the Esprit V8 like many of its predecessors was a POS, something not even lotus forum members have any problem discussing on elisetalk as many owners have spent close to the cost of the car trying to keep that fine example of British engineering running within the first three to five years of ownership. It wasn't a lot of fun to drive, heavy, bulky, poor visibility, bad reliability, lots of major issues- engine, tranny.... horrible resale, outrageous service costs through their dealer network, really wasn't all that fast... the first time I sat in one and test drove it for more than 20 minutes I was like WTF kinda person would buy this thing? I could go on and on... but some owners chalk it all up as being worth it for the history... British styling... yadda... and that's there deal...
Esprit aside... it's not comparable really.... I wouldn't even begin to compare a hand built 130K offering from Lotus to a 30K production S2000 from Honda let alone the future higher priced HSC... nor any of the other mentioned offerings... which given the list above start at a minimum of twice the price and on some listings are up to 10 times the price of a V8 from manufactuers that have the in-house design and manufacturing capabilities to even build production quality vehicles.
In short, Lotus does not have near the resources and backing as many of the other listed manufactuers, which is exactly why the 2005 US spec road version of the Elise has a Celica GTS motor in the back of it... it was not cost effective to develop and meet NHTSA federal requirements in-house. In fact, in the posted article it makes a reference to their new car not even having a Lotus developed power plant being too expensive. Obviously if they can't even do that they are not playing around with fuel cells that cost 100 times as much to R&D.
How typical... if it has to be British why not just buy an Ultima GTR put it together yourself and have something that is actually fast and won't fall apart?
Thus, I wouldn't get my hopes up... no matter what hype is in print now from Lotus... if you want a production quality vehicle for your money... I still think it might be worth it to hold out for that Honda HSC...
Osiris_x11 said:What was the MSRP of the outgoing Lotus ESPRIT?!?
The Lotus ESPRIT was the F430/Gallardo of it's day. There's a lot of pageantry, history, and panache` w/ this marque`.
We've been spoilt the past 5-6yrs w/ the Carrera_GT, Enzo, Koenigsegg, Zonda, SLR, and then the Gallardo & F430... in terms of power, styling, and overall design/package. It'll be challenging to come up w/ something totally refreshing w/ these predecessors...
The timing of the HSC was nearly ideal when introduced a few years ago, suggesting an '05/'06 launch...
The Esprit the F430 of its day? A little stretch?
From all of the Lotus club track day's I've attended I'm pretty certain that the most road time most Esprit V8's have seen was on PC's when Need For Speed 2 first came out. I'd take an Elise or a Super 7 anyday over one of those things. The Esprit V8 which was intended to revive sagging interest in the platform, was by any measure a sales disaster.
In fact, to be perfectly frank IMHO the Esprit V8 like many of its predecessors was a POS, something not even lotus forum members have any problem discussing on elisetalk as many owners have spent close to the cost of the car trying to keep that fine example of British engineering running within the first three to five years of ownership. It wasn't a lot of fun to drive, heavy, bulky, poor visibility, bad reliability, lots of major issues- engine, tranny.... horrible resale, outrageous service costs through their dealer network, really wasn't all that fast... the first time I sat in one and test drove it for more than 20 minutes I was like WTF kinda person would buy this thing? I could go on and on... but some owners chalk it all up as being worth it for the history... British styling... yadda... and that's there deal...
Esprit aside... it's not comparable really.... I wouldn't even begin to compare a hand built 130K offering from Lotus to a 30K production S2000 from Honda let alone the future higher priced HSC... nor any of the other mentioned offerings... which given the list above start at a minimum of twice the price and on some listings are up to 10 times the price of a V8 from manufactuers that have the in-house design and manufacturing capabilities to even build production quality vehicles.
In short, Lotus does not have near the resources and backing as many of the other listed manufactuers, which is exactly why the 2005 US spec road version of the Elise has a Celica GTS motor in the back of it... it was not cost effective to develop and meet NHTSA federal requirements in-house. In fact, in the posted article it makes a reference to their new car not even having a Lotus developed power plant being too expensive. Obviously if they can't even do that they are not playing around with fuel cells that cost 100 times as much to R&D.
How typical... if it has to be British why not just buy an Ultima GTR put it together yourself and have something that is actually fast and won't fall apart?
Thus, I wouldn't get my hopes up... no matter what hype is in print now from Lotus... if you want a production quality vehicle for your money... I still think it might be worth it to hold out for that Honda HSC...
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looks like a modify Gallardo
