[devarshi84]

The lotus Esprit is returning and that too in style.

Now lotus cars is owned by proton from Malaysia(not very sure though)

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107257

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Now lotus cars is owned by proton from Malaysia(not very sure though)

They've been owned by Proton for a few years now...Proton uses Lotus to tweak their cars - the special edition Satria that they bring out from time to time ROCKS. I think Lotus also does work on the Petronas bikes, besides preparing the Proton copies of the Lancer Evo for rallies.

Drove an Elise through the streets of KL once...its probably the ultimate chuckable sportscar, but the knowledge that your backside is separated from the road surface by 2 inches, a thin (or Tin) sheet of metal and a seat cushion is rather disconcerting.

[streetlife]

i thought the poor mans supercars were the mazda MX and miattas.... what is the price diffrence between espirit and the mazdas i guess hyundais coupe is around 18.5 lacs(still to come ..)
watched a preview of it in a show

[turbo_lover]

how can the Lotus Espirit be called a poor mans supercar ? its my friggin dream car !!

Lotus badge is considered very exotic ... the exige , espirit are full blooded supercars ..

NSX is a car which can be termed as a poor mans supercar ..not espirit ..

[Mpower]

$70,000 for a poor man supercar. Lancer EVO and Impreza take that title.

[turbo_lover]

Originally Posted by streetlife

i thought the poor mans supercars were the mazda MX and miattas.... what is the price diffrence between espirit and the mazdas i guess hyundais coupe is around 18.5 lacs(still to come ..)
watched a preview of it in a show

neither miatas nor any of the MX series have supercar performance ...
RX-7 and RX -8 are the quickest they could make it ..
a hyundai coupe (tiburon/tuscani) fall in the Miata performance bracket ...

the lotus Espirit V8 was selling for $90K plus in US ..

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

They've been owned by Proton for a few years now...Proton uses Lotus to tweak their cars - the special edition Satria that they bring out from time to time ROCKS. I think Lotus also does work on the Petronas bikes, besides preparing the Proton copies of the Lancer Evo for rallies.

Drove an Elise through the streets of KL once...its probably the ultimate chuckable sportscar, but the knowledge that your backside is separated from the road surface by 2 inches, a thin (or Tin) sheet of metal and a seat cushion is rather disconcerting.

They also own the MV agusta motorcycle brand. I loved Mv agusta. Especially the F4 brutale. Man the looks rock.

To all above:- now I dont think I need to explain you difference between a supercar and a sportscar do I?

lancers, impreza's, miata's rx-8 are all sportscars and not supercars. Hyundai deosnt even come in competition to the Rx-8 or the evolution or the impreza's

TO Turbo_lover: I mayself love a lotus brand(never knew why). I used to cherish this name since I played a racing game in Dos 8 years ago(I want that game but dunno where to look) But Lotus is considered to be a poor mans supercar similar to a corvette

[turbo_lover]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

TO Turbo_lover: I mayself love a lotus brand(never knew why). I used to cherish this name since I played a racing game in Dos 8 years ago(I want that game but dunno where to look) But Lotus is considered to be a poor mans supercar similar to a corvette

espirit is considered to be a poor mans ferrari .. thats that !
we could have a poll right here as to who'd take to a corvette instead of the lotus ..
the nsx is the car we can say is apoor mans supercar ..

[devarshi84]

WHO said anything about Corvette being better?

[devarshi84]

btw just realized even lotus is now under the Flat nosed fools ownership. Indians need to do something fast.

[Gurkha]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

btw just realized even lotus is now under the Flat nosed fools ownership. Indians need to do something fast.

Flat nosed fools=?? Care to elaborate.

[devarshi84]

Flat nosed fools= Proton people who make the worst looking cars in the world. Have a look at Baja. Their cars look like those with frontal collisions repaired for sale.

Wonder how they got so much money to buy MV Agusta and Lotus at the same time.

Btw I heard their revenues fell in the 3rd quarter.

[Gurkha]

OK, you had me scared, thought it was a racist remark, Proton is Malaysian government monopoly, being that, money is no issue from rich Malaysia. However they do pour in money into R&D, something our government or private owned concerns can learn from, not only are they the only one in MotoGP after Japan from Asia with their own engine and they are also in WRC. We in India have nothing like that to show for.

[ananthkamath]

To me, the poor man's supercar has always been the Chevy Camaro/Pontiac Firebird. Agreed, it may not have supercar handling, but its more than enough to put certain Italian exotics in their proper place.

I have heard that these 350 small-blocks have upto 500 hp (N/A not turbo or nitrous) street capability and you can run like a thief in the night for less than 20% of Ferrari money.

Camaros have run in the drags, oval track, road courses and even the European GT championship. Show me one, just one, Ferrari that runs well on the dragstrip as well....the one that did got smoked by a SL55 and (almost) by a souped-up Civic.

[Gurkha]

My first car in US was a black Knight Rider replica Trans AM GTA with T-Tops and decals, engine was Chevy small block 350 V8 with push-rod, was the worse car I ever owned in my life, too much torque combine with a horrible rear just made you loose speed, most German and Japanese high performance 4 bangers were blowing me off in corners and straight line even though I would manage to accelerate better than them.