Lotus cars: Performance, design for a niche taste
KUWAIT: With four luxury models that provide an outstanding performance to satisfy a niche taste, the Lotus cars stand alone as a brand dedicated to delivering a pure driving experience. Over the last seven decades, Lotus has remained true to the ethos of its founder Colin Chapman by applying his approach to precision engineering and automotive innovation, and using the latest technologies and advanced materials to ensure that every Lotus car is strong yet light and simply amazing to drive.
A key to its success is the use of advanced, quality materials. Traditionally, building a faster and more powerful sports car means weight gain in many areas, including the greater power train mass from bigger engines and heavier superchargers. That is not the case with Lotus. The Lotus team has pioneered the monocoque chassis, carbon fiber, aerofoil wings and ground effects, altering Formula One forever and changing the fast driving experience to racing fans around the world. 20 years ago, Lotus famously adopted the multimaterial concept and was a pioneer in using special adhesives to glue cars together - now common practice for car manufacturing - when other car-makers were still making vehicles from steel.
Today, the Lotus Lightweight Laboratory provides a framework for evaluating every component allowing each to be assessed, optimized and re-engineered, to use the most appropriate materials for the right parts, such as carbon fiber for spoilers and wings, aluminum for the chassis and engine, sheet molded compound (SMC) and resin transfer molded (RTM) composites for body panels and parts, and even titanium for the exhaust. The unique bonded aluminum chassis that defines a modern Lotus, provides extreme strength and rigidity - an essential part of the Lotus ethos. No welding is involved, meaning there is no distortion from heat and that great structural strength and incredibly precise tolerances can be maintained.
Materials used are light weight, making the Lotus car drive faster everywhere. The lighter car also means it needs less energy to propel it, stops sooner, corners harder, accelerates faster and uses less fuel. It is also more efficient, not just in fuel consumption, but in tire and brake wear as well. Of course, it produces less by way of emissions too.
In the words of Jean-Marc Gales, Group Lotus Chief Executive Officer: "To perfect a pure sports car, you must consider weight your enemy. Lose weight and you will make significant gains - harder and faster cornering, better braking, greater agility and responsiveness, along with faster acceleration." The overall reduction of weight also allows for optimized weight distribution, greatly contributing to the poise and balance of a sports car during high-speed cornering.
Hands-on perfection
The approach of using the ideal materials to optimize performance is complemented with a hands-on process to perfect each car. In stark contrast to mass-market manufacturing processes, the Lotus production line uses only one robot for cutting composite components such as carbon fiber crash structures and one computer-controlled jig for accurately bonding sills to bodywork. All other parts of the process are carried out as they always have been: by hand, using a small but exceptionally talented and dedicated team.
Every stage of the production process is accompanied by a stringent set of checks and quality controls to ensure the hand-built production methods, which are so important to Lotus owners, are seamlessly integrated with levels of quality control matching any mass-produced rivals. Once completed, Lotus' handling process has been regarded as being the benchmark. A Lotus gives the driver a stable and balanced yet agile and dynamic driving experience, with the ability to change direction and speed both predictably and as required. This means that the driver knows exactly how the car will respond to a particular action on the steering, throttle or brakes.
From a meticulous use of quality materials, unprecedented investment in engineering and a design personalized to the smallest detail, the Lotus has earned its reputation of purity in driving, during which each owner of a Lotus knows they've made the right investment. Experience the purity of speed and unique experience of a Lotus in one of the three models introduced by Alghanim Lotus in Kuwait. The Exige S Coupe and Evora 400 are now available at the Alghanim Lotus showroom located in Shuwaikh and open Saturday through Friday from 10am to 2pm and again from 9pm to 12am during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
With new models on the way to Kuwait, Alghanim Motors invites sports cars enthusiasts to its showroom that's is located at Shuwaikh Industrial 1, block 1, street 11 opposite of the Historical Vintage and Classic Cars Museum on Saturday to Thursday starting from 9 AM until 12:30 PM and 4:30 PM until 8:30 PM.You can also be the first to know what is new by following Alghanim Motors on Instagram at @AlghanimLotusKW.