Lotus CEO, Dany Bahar took the wraps of the Evora GTE and revealed that it would go on sale in Europe and the U.S. from next spring onwards. The definitive car, expected to cost around $190,000, will be shown at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show with sales following shortly. Production will run at 15-20 cars a month, said Chief Technical Officer, Wolf Zimmerman.
Originally just 25 cars, similar to the one pictured, were destined for China but the resulting 114 orders has encouraged Lotus management to expand sales into Europe and the UK as well as providing the funding for the new car.
Power will come from an uprated version of the current engine using strengthened internals as used in the Le Mans car and increased supercharger boost to produce 440 bhp. Lotus is also developing a new automated manual transmission with the same suppliers who work with Pagani, “It’s virtually the same concept as the Zonda with a high pressure pump running at 80 bar to deliver fast shifts,” said Zimmerman.
Swiss-based specialist, Mansory will produce the carbon fiber interior and exterior panels that will reduce the car’s weight by 330 lbs.
Styling changes will include a revised rear wing to meet European and American homologation demands.
Zimmerman also confirmed that Lotus new V-8 was successfully started on the test bed on August 18th, “It was better than I expected,” said Zimmerman before adding, “We will now start the calibration program before converting two mules to start testing the engine at the end of November.”
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