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Lotus hard at work on a new........
.....version of the Esprit and should have it ready to go on sale in as little as two years. It builds on the smaller Elises's aluminum-based "tub" chassis. The Esprit line sells to wealthier customers who want a degree of comfort in their motoring, which is not available in the smaller Elise, so bigger doors are factored into the design. Still, the essentials of the Elise structure have been refined into a format that Lotus calls Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) adaptable to a variety of vehicle sizes and layouts. VVA uses four castings that form the corners of the passenger compartment. They carry crushable structures front and rear and can be used for front-or mid-engined layouts, with the space between the four corner elements adapted to two or four seats. The first VVA model will be the Esprit replacement, a $125,000 competitor to the likes of the Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari 360 Modena. This new Esprit (which will probably carry a different name at its debut) will likely be powered by a mid-mounted V-8 with either turbo-or supercharging. The Elise now has a Toyota engine, so look for the compact V-8 to come from that Japanese automaker. By 2008 Lotus may be set to launch a second VVA model, a front engined 2+2 to slot between the Elise and Esprit replacement. This new model may be powered by a normally aspirated V-8 or a turbo V-6. Finally, VVA would be used on a replacement for the Elise possibly by 2010. Re: R&T-5/04
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