2008 Lotus Elise Super Charged W/ 18k Miles on 2040-cars

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Editors' Picks June 2024: Some German SUVs and an excellent sports car

This month sees some recently-refreshed luxury SUVs join the list of Editors' Picks. Both the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne are fresh for 2024, and both are extremely tempting luxury performance SUVs for the well-off buyer. The vast array of powertrains available for both of them ensure there's a version for all comers, and any enthusiast would adore the extra-high-performance versions of both. Of course, enthusiasts will enjoy the last car on this month's list the most with the Lotus Emira. It's simply spectacular to drive, and we can't recommend it enough to the hardcore driver. In case you missed previous Editors' Picks posts, here’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get an EditorsÂ’ Pick designation. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. You'll find the entire list of Editors' Picks at this link here, which we keep updated as cars are either added or dropped from the list. The vehicles youÂ’ll find below consist of every car we rated in June that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick. 2024 BMW X5 2024 BMW X5 M Competition View 41 Photos Quick take: The X5 is most desirable in its PHEV and M60i V8 trims, but the whole lineup is extremely competent and brings together excellent performance, excess luxury and cutting-edge tech for its segment. Score: 7.5 What it competes with: Mercedes-Benz GLE, Porsche Cayenne, Range Rover Sport, Maserati Levante, Genesis GV80, Audi Q8 Pros: Superb to drive with knockout powertrains; excellent utility and creative features; styling is sporty and attractive but not over the top Cons: Infotainment system can be a pain; M Competition model is a little over the top; gets pricey quick with options From the editors:  Senior Editor, Electric John Beltz Snyder — "I really like the dual-opening liftgate/tailgate combo. The liftgate portion up top opens quickly, allowing you to throw something inside or grab something out of the back. Flipping down the lower tailgate part gives you a nice place to sit and change shoes. Another benefit is that you can open the liftgate without unsecured items immediately falling out. And with the way the X5 M Competition encourages you to drive it hard, you will end up shifting loose cargo around at some point." Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — "I'd snag the X5 M60i out of all the various X5 variants.

Lotus hits the track with new Elise S Cup R

If you want to take a Lotus to the track but the Exige V6 Cup is a bit too much to handle, the boys from Hethel have a new offering that may be of interest.
The new Elise S Cup R features all the track-tuned bells and whistles of its six-cylinder brethren, including a competition-spec aero kit, adjustable suspension, Yokohama racing slicks on 17-inch forged alloys, tow hooks, remapped ECU, cross-drilled and ventilated disc brakes and an interior with a HANS-compatible bucket seat, six-point racing harness and quick-release steering wheel. But instead of a heavier and more powerful V6, the Elise S Cup R "adds lightness" with the same 1.8-liter supercharged inline-four with 217 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque as the road-going Elise S. Yet with all that track-tuned gear, it's a good four seconds per three-mile lap faster than the showroom stock version in the automaker's testing.
Interested parties can pick one up in the UK for £39,125 (before taxes, equivalent to about $63k) and either lap it to their hearts' content at private track days or enter it in one of the dozen Lotus Cup series operating around the world. Lotus only released this one photo (click above to enlarge), but you can check out the full specs in the press release below.

Renault paid GBP1 to buy back its F1 team

Running a Formula One team is anything but cheap and straightforward, but it didn't cost Renault much to reacquire the Lotus team from Genii Capital. In fact, according to the latest reports, the French automaker paid just GBP1 – less than a buck fifty – for the privilege. Still, the process was deeply complicated. The reason Renault was able to get it so cheap is because the team was deeply in debt, part of which Renault will now assume. Less than a year ago, the team was said to be nearly $200 million in the red, and just a few months ago Renault came to its rescue to pay a $4 million tax bill to the British government. Under the terms of the new deal, Renault will assume the debt that the team's previous owners had accrued, but will be spared the nearly $150 million which its stakeholders loaned to the team. The history of the outfit based in Enstone dates back to 1981 when it was founded as Toleman Motorsport. French fashion giant Benetton bought the team in 1985, which in turn sold it to Renault in 2000. A decade later, after two world championship titles, Renault began stepping back its involvement in the team and gradually transferred ownership to investment firm Genii Capital, which has run it ever since under the Lotus name that it secured from the automaker under contract until 2017. Unable to fund a competitive team, Genii has now sold the team back to Renault, but the financial intricacies of the deal are far from straightforward. To start with, Genii and its subsidiary Gravity Motorsports (the team's parent company) didn't hold all the shares in the operation, so it bought back over 6 million shares from Whiterock Alliance to add to its own 60 million shares. The vast majority of those shares were then transferred (for that princely sum of GBP1) to Gringy (UK) Ltd, the shell company that technically owned the team in its Benetton days. Gringy (a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault) will hold a 90-percent stake in the team, with the last 10 percent remaining in Genii's hands and those of its investors. In the process, the outfit will now rejoin the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes among the F1 teams developing their own powertrains. Related Video: News Source: Motorsport.comImage Credit: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Earnings/Financials Motorsports Lotus Renault F1 genii capital