Leaked patent images show forthcoming Lotus SUV
10-29-17, 11:04 AM
#1
Leaked patent images show forthcoming Lotus SUV
Upon discovering leaked patent images of a Lotus SUV, the proper response is, "It's about time." Not because we've been insomniac with anticipation of a people-hauler from Hethel, but because we've had at least three years to prepare. Make that ten years if you start the clock from when Lotus blitzed the 2006 Paris Motor Show with the seven-seat APX concept in 2006. The APX first brandished the company's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA). An evolution of that VVA - which can withstand a 3,520-pound curb weight - still supports the Evora. In 2015, when Malaysian carmaker Proton owned Lotus, Lotus CEO Mark Gales announced an SUV already in development that would be "the fastest and most agile" of its kind, and target the Porsche Macan. Now, with a new owner, better sales, and much bigger profits, we get a clearer view of what this slow-cooked, swoopy Lotus van might bring.
The front clip, center roof channel, what look like bulging rear wheel arches, and the taillight treatment establish Lotus ties. The side view stands as notable for its rear window treatment and high-altitude fuel filler cap, both design elements echoing the 1974 Lotus Elite and foreshadowed by Gales two years ago. Tech rumors posit a Toyota-sourced four-cylinder engine and a 1,600-kilogram curb weight objective. That's 3,520 pounds in US speak, yet with a new car range in the works and more Geely-funded tools to choose from, the SUV won't use the aged Versatile Vehicle Architecture. If Lotus succeeds at the scales, the SUV would subtract roughly 1,000 pounds from a Porsche Macan. As Gales told Top Gear earlier this month, "[W]hat an Evora is to a 911 our SUV needs to be to a Cayenne."
Intended for global export, Lotus plans to manufacture the SUV in China, and we're likely four years away from an on-sale date. Although we're promised the family offering will handle "like nothing else," it won't be a sports car, and only Lotus sports cars are welcome at Hethel.
The front clip, center roof channel, what look like bulging rear wheel arches, and the taillight treatment establish Lotus ties. The side view stands as notable for its rear window treatment and high-altitude fuel filler cap, both design elements echoing the 1974 Lotus Elite and foreshadowed by Gales two years ago. Tech rumors posit a Toyota-sourced four-cylinder engine and a 1,600-kilogram curb weight objective. That's 3,520 pounds in US speak, yet with a new car range in the works and more Geely-funded tools to choose from, the SUV won't use the aged Versatile Vehicle Architecture. If Lotus succeeds at the scales, the SUV would subtract roughly 1,000 pounds from a Porsche Macan. As Gales told Top Gear earlier this month, "[W]hat an Evora is to a 911 our SUV needs to be to a Cayenne."
Intended for global export, Lotus plans to manufacture the SUV in China, and we're likely four years away from an on-sale date. Although we're promised the family offering will handle "like nothing else," it won't be a sports car, and only Lotus sports cars are welcome at Hethel.
Lotus APX Concept (2006)
A lotus SUV
10-29-17, 06:42 PM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
Has the same wacky D-pillar arrangement as the lamented Jeep Compass. More frightening though, is this horrible obsession to choke off the view and create huge blind spots on SUV's.
10-29-17, 08:01 PM
#7
I'm joining the chorus here in shaking my head in confusion as to how a Lotus SUV makes sense or goes with Colin Chapman's brand ethos. I understand why from a business standpoint nearly every automaker in the world seems to feel that at least one SUV needs to be part of their repertoire, even if it may have nothing to do with the brand's product focus, aesthetic and values but it still makes it no less ridiculous to see a Lotus SUV.
Lamborghini once made the LM002 so sillier things have been produced by pure sportscar/supercar manufacturers. It didn't make them any less silly. The LM002, for all its high running costs, was at least a love it or hate it standout oddity in every way. A truly ridiculous, excessive and nearly pointless 4x4 machine but it was certainly unique.
This design doesn't go nearly that far from the look of it. I'd expect a true Lotus SUV to be a bit smaller in size than this with a 2+3 seating layout, possibly with two doors. I'd expect significantly lower weight than all of its competitors... and from the article above that seems to be one of their key objectives.
I also expect a steering system that has a lot of communicative feedback with a fast ratio. I'll even go so far as to say I'd expect some kind of moving low central counterweight or electronically controlled physical differentials with torque vectoring (ie: no cheap brake-based torque vectoring) to make the large Lotus seem as if it defies physics and avoids any rollover potential when flinging the high CoG vehicle HARD on a track in the same way you can with an Exige or Evora.
Based on what cars Lotus builds as a company I expect those things... but obviously that isn't what they will be delivering.
The appeal of a non-hardcore offroad ready SUV from even from one the most sportscar-focused brands in the world boggles the mind, but there it is.
Lamborghini once made the LM002 so sillier things have been produced by pure sportscar/supercar manufacturers. It didn't make them any less silly. The LM002, for all its high running costs, was at least a love it or hate it standout oddity in every way. A truly ridiculous, excessive and nearly pointless 4x4 machine but it was certainly unique.
This design doesn't go nearly that far from the look of it. I'd expect a true Lotus SUV to be a bit smaller in size than this with a 2+3 seating layout, possibly with two doors. I'd expect significantly lower weight than all of its competitors... and from the article above that seems to be one of their key objectives.
I also expect a steering system that has a lot of communicative feedback with a fast ratio. I'll even go so far as to say I'd expect some kind of moving low central counterweight or electronically controlled physical differentials with torque vectoring (ie: no cheap brake-based torque vectoring) to make the large Lotus seem as if it defies physics and avoids any rollover potential when flinging the high CoG vehicle HARD on a track in the same way you can with an Exige or Evora.
Based on what cars Lotus builds as a company I expect those things... but obviously that isn't what they will be delivering.
The appeal of a non-hardcore offroad ready SUV from even from one the most sportscar-focused brands in the world boggles the mind, but there it is.
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10-30-17, 11:17 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
it's business - you follow the money. if bentley, porsche, lexus, jaguar and others have suvs no reason not lotus, lamborgini (although that one boggles the mind 
), ferrari, bugatti...
), ferrari, bugatti...
10-30-17, 12:00 PM
#11
Lexus Champion
Crossover SUVs are so popular around the world right now that any automaker (including Lotus, it would seem) that does not have one in its lineup risks being passed over for another automaker that does have at least one crossover in its lineup, potentially losing a lot of business.
Crossovers are not SUVs that we here may think they are. They are NOT offroad vehicles; they are now car-based (wagons or hatchbacks with utility vehicle styling cues) and may come standard with FWD only, and the furthest they may go offroad is hopping the kerb in the shopping mall parking lot.
Because they are NOT truck-based but car-based, designing and building one may not be that difficult, if the automaker already has a suitable car platform in its lineup. Lotus may not have a suitable front-engine-based platform, but its platforms are already designed for transverse-mounted engines and transaxles; Lotus has to move that drivetrain to the front to fit this design.
Crossovers are not SUVs that we here may think they are. They are NOT offroad vehicles; they are now car-based (wagons or hatchbacks with utility vehicle styling cues) and may come standard with FWD only, and the furthest they may go offroad is hopping the kerb in the shopping mall parking lot.
Because they are NOT truck-based but car-based, designing and building one may not be that difficult, if the automaker already has a suitable car platform in its lineup. Lotus may not have a suitable front-engine-based platform, but its platforms are already designed for transverse-mounted engines and transaxles; Lotus has to move that drivetrain to the front to fit this design.
10-30-17, 02:01 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
^^^ yup, the jag f-pace is a good example of one that's just a jacked up xf. 
10-30-17, 03:13 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
Part of it (though my no means all) is the need to use more solid, thick, durable roof-pillars on today's SUVs for roll-over protection. But, as you note, that's not necessarily an excuse to use big, vision-blocking triangles.
10-30-17, 05:04 PM
#14
Lexus Champion
Market forces sometimes drive a bad trend towards manufacturers who should know better than to butch up a sedan platform and turn it into an ugly duckling. This Lotus CUV will probably only sell to a very small group of esoteric buyers who know the brand. The thing doesn't look any better than a Hyundai Veloster, which isn't even a crossover.
I still haven't settled on whether I like the Porsche Cayenne or not. That vehicle drove Porsche purists nuts when it was announced, because to have a dedicated sports car company with the pedigree of Porsche reducing itself to butching up the lineup to augment sales numbers was outrageous. And worst of all the front end on the Cayenne looks ridiculous. Like a shotgun marraige between a 911 and some boxy SUV. Ironically the VW Toureg looks much better with a tamer front end.
I still haven't settled on whether I like the Porsche Cayenne or not. That vehicle drove Porsche purists nuts when it was announced, because to have a dedicated sports car company with the pedigree of Porsche reducing itself to butching up the lineup to augment sales numbers was outrageous. And worst of all the front end on the Cayenne looks ridiculous. Like a shotgun marraige between a 911 and some boxy SUV. Ironically the VW Toureg looks much better with a tamer front end.
10-30-17, 06:54 PM
#15
Lexus Champion
Market forces sometimes drive a bad trend towards manufacturers who should know better than to butch up a sedan platform and turn it into an ugly duckling. This Lotus CUV will probably only sell to a very small group of esoteric buyers who know the brand. The thing doesn't look any better than a Hyundai Veloster, which isn't even a crossover.
I still haven't settled on whether I like the Porsche Cayenne or not. That vehicle drove Porsche purists nuts when it was announced, because to have a dedicated sports car company with the pedigree of Porsche reducing itself to butching up the lineup to augment sales numbers was outrageous. And worst of all the front end on the Cayenne looks ridiculous. Like a shotgun marraige between a 911 and some boxy SUV. Ironically the VW Toureg looks much better with a tamer front end.
I still haven't settled on whether I like the Porsche Cayenne or not. That vehicle drove Porsche purists nuts when it was announced, because to have a dedicated sports car company with the pedigree of Porsche reducing itself to butching up the lineup to augment sales numbers was outrageous. And worst of all the front end on the Cayenne looks ridiculous. Like a shotgun marraige between a 911 and some boxy SUV. Ironically the VW Toureg looks much better with a tamer front end.