Lotus Project Eagle: The New Era
Motoring Channel Staff - 17/July/2008
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Lotus Project Eagle
The interior of the new Lotus looks very smart
The Lotus LookBoasting a sleek but more
restrained design than the Elise and Exige models, the Project Eagle
design is nevertheless distinctly Lotus. The Head of Design at Lotus, Russell Carr, put in his two bob: "Sportscars are primarily an emotional rather
than a rational purchase and so the design must seduce with its beauty
and distinctive character. However, the modern customer also demands
that the product offers real-world usability as well as exotic imagery.
Therefore every element of the car’s exterior and interior has been
carefully designed to create a product that offers comfort and
convenience as well as traditional performance car attributes. Talking about the interior, Carr said, "We recognise that ‘touch’ not only assists with
driving enjoyment but also conveys messages about quality and therefore
great attention has been paid to all the areas where the driver
interfaces with the car." -
Feann Torr, Editor
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The Lotus Project Eagle has a familiar rear design
With its sleek, gently curved profile and integrated
rear spoiler, the Eagle's aerodynamics look tight
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Hethel, England — It's been more than a year since word of the brand-new Lotus sports car got out, but the flood gates have now opened. Update: We've just come across a handful of leaked images of the new Lotus, including images taken of the rear end. You
can see the new images below the green breakout box, which show a
traditional 'Lotus' rear end, including the trademark brake light
design. While
the name is still be kept tightly under wraps until its London launch
next week - Lotus still refers to the vehicle as 'Project Eagle' - this
is what you can expect from the new model: It's a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car in a traditional sense, and has a 2+2 seating arrangement. It's
powered by a 3.5-litre V6 Toyota engine that outputs 206kW (280hp) and
though it will be a fast, agile vehicle, it will be more forgiving to
drive than it's predecessors. Lotus puts it this way: "Project Eagle also offers real-world usability and a unique sense of occasion." Even so, Lotus claims the new vehicle is faster round the "famously demanding" 20km+ Nürburgring
circuit than the current big seller, the Lotus Elise, and more
stable at speed than the single-minded, motor sports-inspired Exige. It
has a top speed of around 256km/h and will race from zero to 100km/h in
under 5.0 seconds. Even Sir Stirling Moss would be impressed by that. The
CEO of Group Lotus, Mike Kimberley, was understandably effusive:
"Project Eagle is the biggest milestone Lotus has achieved since
the Elise was born 13 years ago. "We are currently working at broadening
the appeal of the Lotus brand through an aggressive 5-year model plan
of which this car represents the first exciting step," revealed Mr Kimberley. There
are also plans to deliver an all-new version of the much larger Lotus
Esprit in the next few years, so stay tuned for that one. Lotus
has confirmed that Bosch-developed ABS and stability controls will be
standard on all Project Eagle models "to provide enhanced safety
features whilst maintaining
performance characteristics". From
where we sit and type, it sounds like Project Eagle will be an
evolution the likes of which the Lotus brand has never experienced
before, at once faster and more liveable. However, for the race hardened types there will also be a 2-seater "derivative". Creature
comforts will include a "truly cutting edge" Alpine in-car
entertainment and navigation system featuring all the good stuff:  Bluetooth hands-free telephone
Satellite navigation
Removable hard-drive
7-inch touch-screen
iPod
connectivity
Reversing camera
According to Lotus, the Alpine system is one of "the most
sophisticated automotive [audio-visual] systems in the world". Air
conditioning, a tyre pressure monitoring, and even rear ISOFIX
mountings for child seats are offered. Has Lotus gone soft? Not likely. The exotic car maker claims that the boot will fit a set of golf clubs and "ingeniously features a fresh air cooling
system to reduce the effect of heat ingress from the engine bay" presumably so your groceries don't prematurely roast. The
driver will be cosseted with leather and form-fitting sports seats,
while the "driver focussed" instrument panel features "blue LED haloes
and a stylised
speedometer and rev counter ensuring that controls are both attractive
and accessible". Lotus will hand build just 2000
of the new Project Eagle models annually, which will hit the streets in
the third quarter of 2009. Related articles:
- Lotus Elise SC (2008)
- Lotus Europa SE (2008)
- Lotus Exige Sport 240 (2007)
- Lotus
Europa S (2006)
- Type 72 Lotus
Elise (2002)
- Lotus
Elise (2001)
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