Dodge Challenger Forums - Automobile Magazine picks Dodge Challenger #9

In general I like what Lotus did in the past and what they were going to do.

I have always been a big advocate of high horsepower to weight ratio designs and Lotus focuses on that concept.

I am not a drag stripper but but a road carver. Handling is everything, hence the reason why the Challenger with IRS is not a problem for me and prefer it.

When I was thinking about building a Ford GT40 (late 90"s, I even printed out the manual) kit car along came this concept car that made me drewl.

It was called the Lotus M250.

It was what I always wanted which was a rear wheel, rear engine car and it was cheaper than a Ford GT40 kit car. I have always liked rear engine cars.

But sadly it never happened.

The Elise is not a bad car but it is bare bones meaning loud inside and cramped and uncomfortable.

The Lotus M250 was not so bare bones and so quieter and more comfortable seats. This article was before the Elise came into this country.

Read below:

A swoopy new Lotus coupe will set the cat among the pigeons at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week as the British sports car specialist sets its sights on the Porsche home team.

Lotus plans to ruffle German feathers with a tantalising life-size concept called M250, its new 145,000 rival for the Boxster S first revealed as an artist's impression in Autocar on 5 May.

Compact, lightweight; at less than 1000kg, and with a mid-mounted 250bhp 3.0-litre V6 driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox, the coupe promises supercar performance and startling agility.

Lotus says the new coupe will rocket from 0-60mph in under 5sec, from 0-100mph in under 1 lsec, and on to an electronically limited maximum of 155mph.

But outright performance is only half the story. The M250's light weight, compact dimensions, state-of-the-art suspension and near-perfect aerodynamic balance should guarantee it has the scintillating handling dynamics that have come to characterise the Lotus brand.

The M250 is destined to slot between the Elise and the Esprit and will hit the showrooms in early 2001.

The coupe is referred to internally as the Monaco (although its final name will probably begin with an E) and will be built on an all-new chassis that makes further advances on the high-tech bonded aluminium Elise.

While the Elise chassis is exclusively aluminium, the M250 will make - extensive structural use of bonded aluminium and carbon fibre, particularly in the front crash structure. The body is likely to feature high-tech composite build, in contrast to the relatively simple Elise's glass fibre skin.

The suspension will mirror the all-round double wishbone set-up of the Elise, but all running gear and drivetrain components will be new. That's partly a consequence of the M250's bigger dimensions, and partly because the higher power output and cornering forces generated will demand a tougher set-up.

The new coupe will have power-assisted steering and 320mm, ventilated brake discs all round with an antilock system.

The transversely mounted, normally aspirated 3.0-litre V6 engine will start life as a bought-in unit, but will required power and torque characteristics.

As yet the company refuses to say where the engine will be sourced, because a deal has not been signed.

"We're still making sure that the engine we want to use can be made to perform in exactly the way that we want," says Lotus design chief Russell Carr.

Given the increasingly amicable relationship between Lotus and General Motor, for whom Lotus will produce the Vauxhall Speester, one possibility is that the aluminium Ecotec V6 from the Vectra could provide its block as a base on which he Lotus engine specialists can work their magic. Lotus officials refuse to comment on any possible GM link.

As head of design for Lotus Cars, Carr is responsible for the M250 coupe's styling.

"Lotus doesn't have many ge