2005 Lotus Elise Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lotus Exige S tears the roof off

Some things just don't make sense. But then we're not sure they really have to. Imagine Porsche took the Cayman, which is essentially the coupe version of the Boxster, and turned it into a convertible. Wouldn't make much sense, would it? Well that's essentially what Lotus did with the creation of the Exige S Roadster.
The Exige, you see, was already the fixed-roof version of the Elise. So what was the point in turning it back into a roadster? That's what our friends at XCar tried to ascertain in the video below. We could tell you what conclusion they arrived at, but that would spoil all the fun. So we'll just let you enjoy the seven-minute clip and see for yourself. Just remember: it doesn't have to make sense. It just has to be a Lotus.

Lotus Esprit all but ready to go, but held back by management issues

Brief and disappointing is this report from Autocar on the status of the Lotus Esprit: it is finally ready and sitting at the light, but the light might not go green for a long time. The good news is that from being a concept two years ago at the Paris Motor Show, the aluminum and carbon fiber revival coupe is "purportedly almost finished." It is powered by a twin-turbo, 5.0-liter V8 with something like 650 horsepower, boosted by a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) and shifting through a seven-speed paddleshift transmission. Even with all that, the UK price is said to be around that of a Porsche 911 4S Cabriolet, and the car only needs "signing off and minor tweaking."
The bad news is that former company owner Proton couldn't stay independent long enough to see through the company's ambitious five-concept-car assault - led by then-CEO Dany Bahar who was hired explicitly to lead such a campaign - and was swallowed up by Malaysian auto supplier DRB-Hicom. For a brief spell Lotus had to shut down production for lack of funds. Then the new owner cleaned house, sweeping out Bahar and, according to the Financial Times just one month ago, the Esprit and every other concept with it. Just after the FT piece came out, Lotus denied the Esprit had been canceled. Still, according to Autocar, the management whirlpool is keeping the Esprit "far from becoming a production reality."
If we're honest with ourselves, we'll keep in mind that the Esprit has been slipping into and out of a terminal ether for what seems like decades. None of us knows what is going on inside Hethel HQ, but the fact that there really is a lightweight, twin-turbo, 650-hp Lotus Esprit finally ready to be produced has to be, in spite of all else, very good news.

Lotus recalling certain 2011 Evora S models for possible oil leak, fire

Last year about 80 examples of the 2011 Lotus Evora S were recalled over an issue with the oil feed pipe. The same number of 2011 Evora S', but with different manufacture dates, are back in the recall box again for a very similar issue; this time it's the engine oil cooler hose that could rupture and spray oil either onto the rear wheels or a hot engine part. Neither of those cases is good, and the latter could potentially lead to a fire.
Lotus is working on a solution, so a recall date hasn't been announced. The bulletin below from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has more information.