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Lotus reveals new LMP1 at Le Mans

Lotus is at Le Mans this week where it has unveiled its new LMP1. Only it's not racing at Le Mans. And it's not really a Lotus, either.
The prototype belongs to an independent German team that ran a Lotus chassis in the LMP2 category last year, but was granted license by the FIA and ACO to step up to the top-tier LMP1 category to dice it with the front-running hybrids from Audi, Porsche and Toyota this year. Unfortunately, the team - which licenses the Lotus name from the automaker, much as the F1 team does - faced some setbacks. Not the least of those delays resulted from a mid-stream switch in engine suppliers from the Audi-sourced, naturally aspirated V8 it was originally set to use to a new turbocharged V6 from Advanced Engine Research.
As a result it wasn't ready for the Silverstone race that kicked off this season's World Endurance Championship in April. Nor was it ready for the second round at Spa in May or not for the headline event this weekend at Le Mans, but it aims to be on the track at the next round in Austin.

EVO "2012 Car of the Year: The Track Battles" is a sports car salmagundi

EVO has come out with another gotta-watch-it video, throwing its 2012 Car of the Year contestants around the UK's 1.5-mile Blyton Park track. It's actually a 15-minute teaser for the full-length DVD detailing the magazine's Car of the Year selection, but the tease is worth every penny free second.
Tiff Needell and sports car racer Richard Meaden handle the wheel duties, the two driving five pairs of sports cars: Lotus Exige S vs. Porsche Boxster S, Morgan Three-Wheeler vs. Toyota GT86, BMW M135i vs. Porsche 911, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Black Series vs. Alpina B3 GT3, the marquee event pits the McLaren MP4-12C vs. the Pagani Huayra. After a head-to-head lap with commentary during drifts, Meaden takes each car out to set a representative lap time.
You'll find the verdicts, lots of tire smoke, and lines like "Anything you can do sideways I can do sideways" in the video below.

Lotus Type 132 crossover EV teased five ways in video

Lotus has combined its series of video teasers of the Type 132 crossover into one reel. The result provides peeks at five of the features we can expect on the electric CUV when it launches next year. Under the "Breathe" section, there's the active lower grille, divvied-up hexagonal openings that twirl open or closed to provide the right combination of powertrain cooling and vehicle aerodynamics. Titled with "See," there's what looks like a sensor detection unit rising from the roof; it looks like a LIDAR unit pointed toward the rear, but it's impossible to know from the clip. In the "Stretch" section, we see an active rear spoiler moving into a higher drag configuration, connected to a fender with lines that evoke the Evija and Emira. Finally, in "Awaken," there's what looks like a giant screen canted toward the driver and towering over the instrument panel. The Type 132 will commence Lotus' EV-only series production future, the first of four models due in the next few years, and the largest. After it will come a sedan marketed as a four-door coupe known as Type 133, expected on sale in 2023, a smaller crossover called the Type 134 that will debut in 2025, and a sports car currently dubbed Type 135 that's planned for 2026 and could get an Alpine-branded sibling. The four-door models are expected to ride on Lotus' Evolution architecture for "premium" vehicles, with available dual-motor powertrains that might get up to 750 horsepower powered by batteries up to 120-kWh. The sports car will get the E-Sports platform Lotus will share with Alpine and sell to other manufacturers, the junior relative of the Extreme platform that supports the 1,973-hp Evija.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.