Anyone who was a child of the sixties can only have fond memories of the
Lotus Europa one of the finest sports cars of that era.
Lotus pulled out all the stops to rekindle these memories, when they introduced a model for the 21st century in 2006. Falling into the category of a GT two seater, The 2006
Lotus Europa S was introduced to complement the current
Lotus stable winners such as the Elite and Exige. Outstanding due to its low weight of only 2194 lbs (995 kg) largely due to its extruded aluminum chassis and body panels that are made of light weight composite materials designed to withstand crash conditions.
The planning concept behind the new Europa was to make less of pure sports car and to produce a model that was more in line with someone who might use the car for traveling, witnessed by the car’s increased boot space and luxurious interior trim. Design-wise, it was impossible not to immediately recognize the Europa as a
Lotus design not even taking into account some of the fairly exotic color schemes that the car was produced in. Overall, the Europa did have more of a staid look to it than the Elite and Exige, with the sills being lower to allow for easier access. This may be because all of the 500 Europa’s that were produced came out of the company’s original factory in Norfolk, England, and the designers wanted to create a car with more of a European feel to it.
Another variation from the Spartan trim of Elise and Exige interiors is that the inner trim of the Europa is more reminiscent of that of a typical sports car. For example the driver and passenger seats of the Europa are upholstered in leather, to complement the dashboard, steering wheel, center console and doors. Satellite navigation was standard in the 2006
Lotus Europa which seams like a major gesture when you consider that air conditioning, and electric windows were supplied as standard in the Europa, but not in the Elise and Exige.
Having said that, the interior of the Europa could hardly be described as luxurious, especially when compared with some of the car’s major rivals of that time. Where the Europa may have made make up for this shortfall is in its performance, due to its lightweight chassis and, four-cylinder turbocharged 200bhp
Toyota engine.
Capable of reaching 0-60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds and hitting a maximum speed of 140 miles per hour (235k/hs), the Europa is also recognized as being one of the most economical performance cars to run. Power reaches the wheels of the
Lotus Europa 2006 through a 6 gear manual gear box
The car’s braking is based around a four channel, servo-assisted anti-lock system. Lotus’s AP-Racing twin-piston fixed aluminum alloy front brake calipers are used as well as Brembo single-piston sliding calipers in the rear. Discs are cast-iron ventilated both in the front and in the rear, using 288 mm diameter, 26 mm thick discs. I7 inch alloy wheels booted with Bridgestone Potenza 175/55 R17 on the front and 225/45 R17 on the rear are standards.
Suspension in the Europa is fully independent, through the utilization of unequal length wishbones, as well as the placement of an Eibach coaxial coil spring at each corner and a front anti-roll bar. Stopping the car is through.
Observers of the
Lotus company and their marketing policy were heard to state that the Europa was (re) introduced to entice new buyers to the stable, and particularly from the European arena, where many will have heard of the Europa in the original format in its glorious era.
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March 27, 2008, 10:01 am
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