New Esprit - Available in V6 as Well as V8 - Built in Hethel - Cost Possibly Around £400K

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-2028-lotus-esprit-offer-v6-addition-hybrid-v8

"Lotus has set a target weight of 1.5 tonnes for the V8 version of the car, which is codenamed Type 135 and planned for launch in 2028, Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng told investors on the company’s second-quarter earnings call on 27 August."

"Both the V6 and V8 engines are being developed by Horse, which is jointly owned by Lotus parent Geely and Renault." ... "V6 also to be shared with Emira"

"According to Lotus, the total peak power output will exceed 1000bhp."

"The new supercar will be built alongside the Lotus Emira sports car at Hethel, in a boost for Lotus’s historical base in Norfolk."

"No price has been revealed, but Feng singled out the 849 Testarossa as its main rival, suggesting a figure close to the Ferrari’s entry price of £407,617."

 

[Gears]

BTW, why would you ignore the M139I? It's the ICE motor that cranks out the 469HP. The hybrid/Electric add-ons take it well over 500HP. Lotus can easily put out a 430+ HP AMG car.

Because there has been no whispers or word on Lotus being given access to the M139I. Yes, M139 can easily do more power, but I'm pretty sure AMG simply won't allow it. Why would they want another OEM to have a higher powered version of their engine?

 

[Gears]

The horse v6 and v8 engines are meant to be euro7 engines and world compliant. The v6 will only have mid 400 hp.

Indeed. Mind you, Euro7 doesnt have stricter emissions targets over Euro6 as far as I know - its mostly focused on improving emissions monitoring and anti-tamper protections.

My point is that people wave their hand and blame emissions for Lotus not increasing the V6 power, yet there is nothing in the emissions regulations that would stop them from doing so!

 

[Luminated67]

Indeed. Mind you, Euro7 doesnt have stricter emissions targets over Euro6 as far as I know - its mostly focused on improving emissions monitoring and anti-tamper protections.

My point is that people wave their hand and blame emissions for Lotus not increasing the V6 power, yet there is nothing in the emissions regulations that would stop them from doing so!

If the current V6 is being replaced soon then maybe Lotus don’t see the point wasting time and money trying to gain more power from it and maintain the current emissions requirements.

You look at the 420 Sport, the only choice is the 2.0L turbo which suggests to me they are done with putting any R&D into the V6.

 

[geoffbland]

Indeed. Mind you, Euro7 doesnt have stricter emissions targets over Euro6 as far as I know - its mostly focused on improving emissions monitoring and anti-tamper protections.My point is that people wave their hand and blame emissions for Lotus not increasing the V6 power, yet there is nothing in the emissions regulations that would stop them from doing so!

There's a big change to emissions target between Euro-6 and Euro-7 that makes a huge difference on high-performance engines. The emissions limits now also clamp down on ultra-fine petrol emissions (from PN23 to PN10, that is they will now measure particles much smaller in size), the exact kind of emissions you see in high-performance engines under load - so usually while accelerating. Euro-7 is a huge push towards hybrid engines where the electric engine is used to "fill-in" the torque curve for acceleration.

Edit: Euro-7 also now includes brakes and tyres in emissions - so even worse news for sports cars unless new brake pads and tyres become available.

 

[kitkat]

Edit: Euro-7 also now includes brakes and tyres in emissions - so even worse news for sports cars unless new brake pads and tyres become available.

I’m guessing lots of copper free brake pads and tires with higher silica content are in everyone’s futures and not just California.

 

[F1 SML8R]

But that’s in Australia which isn’t EU emissions.

For sure but my point is that they have the technical ability to do this. So, to bump it another 10-15 HP (for the rest of the world that does have emissions restrictions) to sell a few more cars under a different edition moniker is not only possible, it's almost certainly inevitable.

 

[F1 SML8R]

Because there has been no whispers or word on Lotus being given access to the M139I. Yes, M139 can easily do more power, but I'm pretty sure AMG simply won't allow it. Why would they want another OEM to have a higher powered version of their engine?

I think it's important everyone understand what the M139I is. It's identical to the M139, the difference is that it works in conjunction with MB's hybrid/electric systems to get to something north of 500 HP (can't remember the spec.).

It's relevant to this discussion because it is in fact the same engine hardware which is run by the factory to 469 HP. Also know that this is still super safe given no OE ever runs their engines to the limit. This is also why you see most AMG tuning applications for the M139 running at least 500 HP but many are well north of that.

All of this is to say a basic Turbo Emira has so much power with zero hardware mods needed. We just need someone to crack the ECU/CPC and voila! Or, we can wait for the slow trickle of 420 Sport, 430 GT, 450 R, or whatever new cute name Lotus comes up with.

 

[Foxy87]

Evora was Euro6 compliant and made more than 400. Euro7 doesn't kick in till 2030 for small volume cars.

What emissions regs?

Euro 6e apply since 1.1.26. I highly doubt that Evora was 6e compliant…

The new Euro 7 emission standard applies from 29. November 2026 for the type approval of new passenger car models (M1), i.e. for completely new models, which will then be released on the market, and from 29. November 2027 for all newly registered cars.

 

[Gears]

Euro 6e apply since 1.1.26. I highly doubt that Evora was 6e compliant…

The new Euro 7 emission standard applies from 29. November 2026 for the type approval of new passenger car models (M1), i.e. for completely new models, which will then be released on the market, and from 29. November 2027 for all newly registered cars.

Not for Small Volume Manufacturers!

 

[VF Tuner]

I'll be first in line if it is manual transmission and doesn't look like that.

 

[geoffbland]

Not for Small Volume Manufacturers!

Later Evoras were Euro 6 compliance - as soon as Euro 6 came in (early Evoras were Euro 5 compliant).
Euro 6e came into effect after they had finished production of the Evora in 2023.

 

[Foxy87]

Not for Small Volume Manufacturers!

So does Lotus still qualify as a small Volume Manufacturers with 12k sold cars in 2024?