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2011 Los Angeles Auto Show

The Los Angeles Auto Show has become a significant event for auto makers and equals in importance with the Detroit show in January. For Lotus the show has become a fixture along side Paris and Frankfurt for the company to launch new cars and make major announcements. In 2010 Lotus used Paris and Los Angeles to introduce the new up market strategy along with 5 new cars. So, it was that the GGLC headed to the Press Days at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

CARS

The Lotus booth was modest in comparison to their 2010 presence. Most apparent was the focus on the present versus the future focused 2010 booth. The 4 cars in the booth represented cars currently being sold, the Evora, Evora S and Evora (S) with IPS (Lotus nominclature for automatic transmission).

LOTUS MERCHANDISE

In the booth was a lounge area, refreshment/information bar, meeting area and display of Lotus merchandise. I had an opportunity to meet and speak with Antonio Marsocci, Head of Retail with Lotus Cars Ltd. Antonio is oversees the design, creation, sales and distribution of the Lotus merchandise that was launched about a year ago on www. lotusoriginals.com

Antonio has bold plans for the Lotus merchandise. He was at LA to speak with some of the 40 US Lotus dealers about the distribution and sales of the Lotus merchandise in the US. The US it turns out is a large market for Lotus gear with over 25% of worldwide sales! The US plans are to immediately have US dealers sell Lotus Originals. There are plans for opening Lotus boutiques in key markets like China and Abu Dhabi.

Lotus Merchandise & Display

 

LOTUS PRESS CONFERENCE

Lotus held a press conference on Thursday morning (Nov 17th). Kevin Smith, PR Director for Lotus Cars USA opened the conference. The big news was with Lotus Motorsport and the announcement that 3 Indy Car teams had signed with Lotus Motorsport and the Lotus V6 engine was on the dyno at Judd (see separate blog posting).

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Lotus announces IndyCar Partner Teams

Lotus utilized the Los Angeles Auto Show today as a platform to announce three partner teams that will race the new Lotus IndyCar V-6 engine in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series. Alongside this Lotus showcased developmental updates on future products and introduced the new Evora with Intelligent Precision Shift (IPS) transmission to the Western US.

Just as developmental work is progressing at full speed on the first of Lotus’ future cars, the all-new Lotus Esprit and its clean-sheet high performance V-8 engine, Lotus Motorsport is rapidly readying its new twin turbo V-6 IndyCar engine for the rigors of racing.

Izod Indycar Series/Lotus KV Racing

Group Lotus Director of Motorsport Operations, Miodrag Kotur said: “At the LA show last year, we announced that we will be an engine supplier to IndyCar and exactly 12 months on, we are here with an all new Lotus engine and three teams, ready to go. The numbers that the engine is already achieving in our dyno testing are extremely encouraging so our hard work is well and truly paying off.”

“These partnerships with Bryan Herta Autosport, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, and HVM Racing mean a great deal to Lotus Motorsport and mark the start of a new chapter for Lotus in the IZOD IndyCar Series. We’re thrilled that these already successful and illustrious teams have chosen Lotus, as we believe that our capabilities as a partner will pay dividends for them in the future. These three teams have immediately become part of the Lotus legend and have joined us in our journey as one of the most innovative and successful sports and racing car brands in the world.”

From L to R – Robbie Buhl & Dennis Reinbold from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing; Keith Wiggins CEO of HVM Racing; Bryan Herta from Bryan Herta Autosport.

Each of these racing organizations, as Lotus partner teams, will benefit from the extensive testing and development work of the others to more quickly achieve the mutually desired competitive results.

Keith Wiggins from HVM speaks to the press

In addition to the new Lotus V6 twin turbo IndyCar engine, work is continuing on the new Lotus Motorsport facility in Indianapolis, which will give the company its base close to the action and its partner teams.

As the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season draws nearer, further announcements will be made by the teams at their individual launch events in due course.

Lotus Indy Engine on Dyno

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Group Lotus Secures British Government Backing

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has formally confirmed that Group Lotus’ bid for funds from the second round of the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) has been successful.

One of the main purposes of the Regional Growth Fund is to support growth within the UK manufacturing sector. Lotus recognised that the Government was seeking applications which would enable private sector organisations to invest in projects that would create jobs and secure long-term growth. Lotus’ growth plans are completely aligned with the Fund’s objectives and will go someway towards rebalancing employment between the public and private sector in the South Norfolk region.

The grant will be put to good use supporting the industrial research element of the production of Lotus’ future product range. This significant development will go towards ensuring that the manufacturing of future Lotus products remains in the UK for the foreseeable future and in the process create a considerable number of new jobs over the next five to six years.

Commenting on the news, Group Lotus Chief Executive Officer, Dany Bahar said: “This is great news for all those concerned about Group Lotus moving production overseas, to say that we’re pleased with the result would be an understatement. We are an authentic British automotive manufacturer with an incredible heritage and an exciting future ahead, this funding will play a role in assisting with the realisation of our business plan to produce a new range of sports cars with best in class performance and emissions.

“We would like to thank everyone for their support during the bid process. The local authorities, MPs and the local enterprise partnership have all played a role in helping us secure this funding – we’re very grateful, it’s nice to know people feel strongly enough to act on our behalf.”

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “We need to be doing all we can to enable businesses and organisations to create much needed jobs and inject private investment into the economy.

“We have announced today that a further 162 projects will benefit from the fund, and expect to deliver a huge number of jobs across their businesses and in the supply chain.

“This is a very significant boost to local communities, and the Regional Growth Fund will help businesses like Lotus to drive local growth.”

More details on the Regional Growth Fund:

The Regional Growth Fund is a discretionary £1.4bn Fund that will operate for 3 years between 2011 and 2014 to stimulate enterprise by providing support for projects and programmes with significant potential for creating long term private sector led economic growth and employment. In particular it will help those areas and communities that are currently dependent on the public sector make the transition to sustainable private sector-led growth and prosperity.

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Lotus Recalling 05 and 06 Elise/Exige

Lotus is recalling over 5000 Lotus Elise and Exige in the US due to the oil cooler line potentially getting detached and spraying oil on either a tire or the engine. This will affect all cars of model 05 and some cars of 06. Owners of cars manufactured between 1-June-2004 and 30-November-2005 will be contacted by Lotus Cars or can directly contact Lotus at 1-800-245-6887. Since this notice was only issued yesterday dealers may not yet be aware or the issue and we recommend waiting a month before contacting Lotus.

The full NHTSA notice can be read here:Lotus Recall Notice – 05-06 Elise/Exige (PDF).

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2012 Lotus Evora Updates

Price
Base price increase of $2000 for Evora however Sport Pack is now standard so really a $500 increase in price since that option goes for $1500.

Sat Nav
One of the most prominent interior modifications has come from the change in Satellite Navigation System. Both the Evora & Evora S Tech Pack option will now feature the Pioneer F930BT.

Highlights of the new unit include:

  • Direct Ipod or Iphone Control
  • An App mode that enables you to listen to music and video from your Ipod or Iphone apps
  • Eco Drive, which evaluates your driving performance including accelaration, braking and C02 emissions
  • TTS (Text to Speech) which provides detailed voice guidance messages in 18 languages, relaying traffic information and suggest new routes based on Traffic Message Channel

Exterior Colour Options
There is a selection of new exterior colours, including 3 colours unique to the Evora.

Standard colours – 2 colours

  • Ardent Red
  • Solar Yellow

Metallic colours (optional) – 6 colours

  • Racing Green
  • Sienna Brown
  • Starlight Black
  • Arctic Silver
  • Carbon Grey
  • Nightfall Blue

Premium colours (optional) – 3 common colours with the range
+ 3 Evora specific colours

  • Velvet Red
  • Aspen White
  • Laser Blue
  • Amethyst Grey/Only available on Evora
  • Frost Blue/Only available on Evora
  • Autumn Bronze/Only available on Evora

Motorsport colours

  • Motorsport Black
  • Motorsport Green

Floor Mats
A new design of floor mats will be available as part of the Premium
Packs. A new logo will be introduced along with refined, high quality
leather piping.

Brake Callipers
Red Caliper Brakes are now standard on the Evora S and are part of teh Sport Pack on the Evora.

New Wheel Styles
There will be a range of 7 wheels for the MY12 Evora with 2 new additions:

  • Design wheel, Gunmetal Grey, forged (19″ front and 20″ rear)
  • Design wheel, Gloss Black, forged (19″ front and 20″ rear)

New Exhaust
The new exhaust for MY12 improves the engine note, giving the Evora a sportier tone. Within the exhaust a valve opens above 4700 rpm, changing the flow of exhaust gases, increasing the volume. When the sport button is depressed the valve stays permanently open, giving an exhaust sound commensurate with the car performance.

The exhaust gas primary flow path goes through a multi chamber silencing system which reduces noise. This silencing system generates excessive back pressure at higher engine rpm and could damage the engine. The valve activation occurs to protect the engine from the back pressure, allowing only a small amount of exhaust gas to pass through
the silencing system.

The naturally aspirated Evora with no Sport Pack will open its valve at 4700 rpm but only the sport button in the Sport Pack will override it.

Interior
Three different optional Premium interiors can now be specified on the Evora range: Premium, Premium Suede Tex or Premium Sport.

The leather grade has been improved over MY11 giving an immediate better quality perception of the car. The interior colour break down will also change. The cabin will now be fully trimmed in the colour of the Premium Pack selected.

Premium
For the Premium option there is a wide range of leather colours including Ebony Black, Ivory White, Venom Red, Cognac Brown, Imperial Blue, Cocoa Brown and Ash Grey.

Premium SuedeTex®
A double material seat with Ebony Black Leather and Slate Grey Suede Tex® is also available.

White with premium option all stitching in piping is in the same tonal colour as the selected leather. It is also important to note that all seats also come with tonal piping and the Lotus roundel embossed into the headrest.

Premium Sport
On the Premium Sport option a range of four leather colours are available, Ebony Black, Venom Red, Cocoa Brown and Imperial Blue. The seat itself now has a different stitch pattern, carbon effect leather inserts, a contrast stitch, which is also replicated throughout the rest of the interior. In the Premium Sport Pack the Lotus roundel emblem will be embroidered onto the headrest.

Other improvements

  • Chrome Door Handles
  • Headlights-Xenon standard fit
  • Gear Knob-Better
  • Vent & Door Surrounds-In leather
  • Close Ratio 6 Speed Manual Gearbox-Standard
  • Interior Grab Handle-From plastic to leather

Download the 2012 Lotus Evora Brochure (PDF)

via Abraham Reyes/Newport European Motorcars

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Pitstop Pizza Party @ Dietsch Werks with Lotus Cup USA(9-Sep-11)

Stop by and hang with the Golden Gate Lotus Club for a pizza party at Dietsch Werks, located inside Club Auto Sport of San Jose, Friday, Sept 9th, the night before Round 5 of the Lotus Cup USA at Infineon Raceway!!. The pizza will be hot and the beer will be cold from 4-8pm

Dietsch Werks will be open all day long for complimentary pre-race inspections, brake checks, tire service, suspension checks, pizza and beer. All LCUSA drivers are welcome to attend

Registration is not required but much appreciated. No charge to attend, members and non members welcome!

Dietsch Werks is located inside Club Auto Sport of San Jose at 521 Charcot Ave. Race prep in Unit 251, pizza party in the 10k sq ft event center.

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Autocross registration open (Sept 11, Marina)

Registration is now open for the September 11th (Sunday) event at Marina Airport.

As usual only participating GGLC members can register during the first week of registration. Club members are also given preference on the waitlist. Click here to register on the motorsport reg site. Cost is $60 for members and $70 for non-members.

See you all in a few weeks,
Colm
GGLC AutoX Chair

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Q&A with Asif Kapadia, Director of Senna

Several GGLC members attended the special SFF1 pre-release screening of the Senna documentary with director Asif Kapadia last night. We have been hearing rave reviews of the movie for several months now and have to say that the movie meets and actually exceeds the hype. The film makers have done a masterful job keeping the flow of a movie and building suspense even though we all know how the story ends.

After the movie Asif was kind enough to stay back and answer questions about the movie and the following video shows the session in its entirety. Some highlights include the process of shooting a movie with only archival footage, getting access to Bernies archive, showing the movie to the Senna family, extended footage in the DVD/Blu-Ray, writing the music before making the movie, etc…

A huge thanks to Asif for spending his valuable time with us and giving us this insight into the genius of Senna. He will also be appearing in person on 8/19 at the 7:30pm and 10:00pm shows at the Landmark Embarcadero theater, and on 8/20 at the San Rafael Film Center. We highly recommend that you attend those showings for a chance to discuss the movie in person. For more info on the Senna movie please visit: http://sennamovie.com/

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LOG 31 updates

Martin Donnelly as Guest Speaker
Former Lotus F1 driver Martin Donnelly will be joining LOG 31 as the guest speaker for the Saturday Banquet. Martin, is an Ambassador for Lotus Cars alongside Jean Alesi and Nigel Mansell. He is also Chief Instructor at the Lotus Driving Academy. After competing in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 he won 3 races and was a championship contender. During 1988, as well as fulfilling his racing commitments, Donnelly was the test driver for Lotus Formula One team. But it was during 1989 that Donnelly got his first race start when he substituted for Arrows driver Derek Warwick at the 1989 French Grand Prix. In 1990 he continued in F1 with Lotus as a race driver alongside new team mate Derek Warwick. Donnelly has since managed a Formula Vauxhall team. On July 2, 2011 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Donnelly drove a Lotus 102 similar to that which nearly took his life. The Lamborghini-powered car was the same specification as the car he drove in 1990, the original car having been completely destroyed in the crash. Having worked as sporting director and driver development manager at Comtec Racing, Donnelly has recently formed the Donnelly track academy specialising in Lotus trackday events and racing services in Norfolk.

Private Viewing of the Senna documentary

Special LOG Package to the Indycar Season finale on Sunday
LOG 31 and Lotus Ltd have created a special package for the folks interested in attending the Indycar season finale on Sunday. The package includes Designated Infield Parking, Paddock & Neon Garage Passes and Reserved Terrace Seating. All for a Reduced Rate of $134 per Car + Driver (Your Passengers Pay Only $84 Each)

You must purchase your tickets by calling:
Jessica Canning
jcanning@lvms.com
800-644-4444 x.7098

When calling, provide your full name and Lotus, Ltd. as your group affiliation. Only 100 tickets are available. All orders must be placed by October 1st to allow for processing. Tickets will be available for pickup in the LOG registration room at the Red Rock. Tickets will NOT be available for purchase during registration!

Room reservation deadline
In order to receive the LOG 31 discounted room rate at the Red Rock Hotel and Casino, you must reserve your room by September 14th. Book Online or Call 702.797.7777 using promo code “LOTUSLTDLOG”

Current List of LOG 31 Events

Friday
Registration
Evening Reception by Lotus Cars USA
Indoor Karting Championship
Bowling
Round Table Discussions

Saturday
Concours & Car Show
Scenic Drives
4 Tech Sessions
Saturday Night Banquet
(With Guest Speaker Martin Donnelly)
BRM Watch Auction
Senna Movie Private Viewing

Sunday
Autocross
High Performance Driver Education at Spring Mountain
IZOD Indycar Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Scenic Drives
Sunday Buffet
(Guest Speaker Todd McCandless of Formula1blog.com)
KV Racing Technology Guest Appearance

Click here to visit the official LOG 31 website.

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Lotus Double Premieres during Pebble Beach Week 2011

Lotus will again have a significant presence during the upcoming Pebble Beach week of automotive events showcasing the Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept and the Exige Matte Black Final Edition

World Premiere of the new Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept

The new Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept will be unveiled to the world for the first time within the Lotus exhibit at the McCall’s Motorworks Revival event Wednesday night, August 17, at the Monterey Jet Center.

The Lotus Evora GTE is a race car developed with a single-minded aim to be successful in the new global motorsport GTE category, which includes the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours.

To celebrate this ground breaking car, Lotus has built the race-inspired Evora GTE Road Car Concept. This high-strung Evora elicits over 420 bhp from its race-developed engine, fed through a sequential AMT racing gearbox and put to the pavement through ultra-lightweight forged alloy wheels with center-lock hubs shod with Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires.

The Evora GTE Road Car Concept isn’t merely a paint scheme or homage to a race car – this is a serious race car that makes for a very serious road car.

The Evora GTE Road Car Concept will later be shown within the Lotus exhibit on Peter Hay Hill near The Lodge at Pebble Beach Thursday, August 18 through mid-day Saturday, August 20 before being moved onto the Concept Car Lawn for display throughout the remainder of the Concours weekend.

US Premiere of the North American only Exige Matte Black Final Edition

To mark the end of an era of Exige production, Lotus has created the Exige Matte Black Final Edition – exclusively for North America. The Exige is one of the world’s greatest sports cars, and this Final Edition of the motoring icon will premiere within the Lotus exhibit on Peter Hay Hill near The Lodge at Pebble Beach Thursday, August 18 through Sunday, August 21.

With power upgraded to 257 bhp, an exclusive Matte Black paint finish providing a stealthy presence, black Alacantara sport seats and a high level of standard equipment, the Exige Matte Black Final Edition makes a striking statement.

Only 25 examples of this Exige will be built, each with their own numbered plate, which should help make these cars instantly collectible.