Paris Show: Lotus wants to Take on Aston Martin Rapide with New Eterne Sports Saloon

In an attempt to enter the 4-door coupe market, Lotus brought a sedan - you read that right - to the Paris Motor Show. The Eterne is the new Lotus 4-door (other Loti saloons include the 377HP twin-turbocharged Lotus Carlton / Omega of the early 1990s, and they sure are cool); it uses a Lotus-tuned new bad boy engine borrowed from Lexus.

This means that sitting under the hood is a high-output forced-induction 5.0-liter V8. As with the Esprit and Elite, the Eterne will offer optional hybrid power and KERS.

An added bonus is available AWD. The Eterne provides seating for four passengers in an 1,800-kilo package that will cost approximately £120,000 [~ US$190,500 at today's exchange rates] before options.

Clearly Lotus sees a market for a prestigious high-performance 4-door with hybrid power, because Dany Bahar plainly states, "We truly believe that there is a market for the Eterne. There is nothing else like it out there both in terms of design, capacity and performance. The biggest difference between the Eterne and it's class competitors is that it's not an evolution of an existing two-door model, it's a deliberate and considered stand-alone creation. It's the ultimate four door sports car."

Hey, who am I to argue with capitalism? For that money, though, I'd just buy a Fisker Karma and go on a nasty vacation.

By Phil Alex

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2015 Lotus Elise Appears in Paris - With Live Pictures and Video

The new Lotus Elise jumps into entirely new styling territory, not so much evolving from the current model but fully reinventing itself as a baby Esprit. The only similarities are the mid-engine layout driving the rear wheels and 2-seats around corners.

Below, Lotus has been kind enough to provide a nicely-designed chart for your convenience instead of spreading all the car's stats across a 15,000-word press release.

The new baby Lotus will get a standard 6-speed manual (with an optional 7-speed DCT) and be powered by a Toyota 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine putting out 320-horsepower.

If the Elise is putting out that kind of go for a £35,000 [around US$55,500] base price, this is looking to be a bargain basement killer. To make that 320 ponies extra green, it will also offer mild hybrid tech and an optional start/stop system when it comes out in Spring 2015.

By Phil Alex

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2009 LOTUS EXIGE

The Lotus Exige is a two-seat mid-engine coupe that shares mechanical components with the Elise and was added to the U.S. lineup for 2006. For 2007, Lotus added the Exige S to the U.S. lineup, powered by a powered by a supercharged, intercooled version of the 1.8-liter engine used in the standard Exige to produce 220 horsepower and 165 lb-ft of torque. For 2008 the normally-aspirated Exige was dropped and the S 240 was added. Distinguished from the Exige S by the air intake on the roof that extends to the top of the windshield, the Exige S 240 boasts 240 horsepower, is capable of accelerating from zero to 60 mph in just 4 seconds and reaches 100 mph in just under 10 seconds.

The 2009 Lotus Exige adds the S 260 alongside the S 240 and the Exige S drops from the lineup. The S 260 uses carbon fiber for the front lower splitter, access panels at the base of the windshield, roof, rear engine cover, side air intake ducts and rear wing to reduce the weight by approximately 50 pounds over the S 240. The S 260 also adds an additional 17 horsepower.

2009 Lotus Elise

Lotus Elise 2009

2009 Lotus Elise rear