Cosworth to Supply Lotus With Engines for the Track and the Street

The future for Lotus continues to look bright, very bright. The British sports car maker is looking to grow significantly over the next few years and along with new models, plenty of new talent and a multi-leveled return to motorsports, it has now announced a partnership with Cosworth to help in producing high performance engines.

Currently, Lotus gets its engines for the Elise, Exige and Evora from Toyota – hardly a company known for building exciting automobiles. And yet, Lotus has done amazing things with the 1.8-liter 4-cylinder and the new V6. Still, we’ve always thought the engine (and gearboxes) were the weakest parts of a Lotus.

For now, Cosworth, which has teamed up with Lotus to win 10 Formula 1 constructors titles over the years, will help turn those Toyota engines into track performers – starting with a 400-hp 4.0-liter V6 in the Evora Cup Car. Cosworth has also been tasked with building versions of the current engines found in Lotus street cars, for street use. We can’t wait to see what the engine experts have in store for the tiny Elise and Exige and perhaps a 400-hp version of the Evora will also be offered for the street.

Official release after the jump:

Group Lotus and Cosworth Announce Strategic Partnership

Two of Britain’s most renowned automotive names to become closely associated through a strategic partnership looking at the opportunity to develop high performance engines for Lotus road and race cars

The new partnership includes the supply by Cosworth of high performance engines based upon existing Toyota engines for future Lotus cars and the assembly by Cosworth of racing engines for all motorsport activities which are based on Toyota powertrains. The first application of these race engines will be for the V6 engine in the new Lotus Evora Cup racing car.

Dany Bahar CEO of Group Lotus commented, “The ties between Lotus and Cosworth are, of course, already historical ones but our new strategic relationship is based purely on Cosworth’s competencies, brand and race engine development capabilities. This new strategic partnership will align two of the most renowned names in the automotive world and will be of huge benefit for both organisations.”

Tim Routsis, CEO & Managing Director of Cosworth Group said, “I am delighted that the Cosworth name is once again linked to Lotus through this new strategic partnership and these new high performance engines. Our mutual history over many decades resulted in a great number of racing successes and I expect to see further triumphs not only on the racetrack but also in the competitive high performance sportscar market, where Lotus is already acknowledged as a world leader.”

ENDS

About Lotus
The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Ltd, which has two operating divisions – Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognized automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany and Japan, with rapid expansion in new territories such as South East Asia.

Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world’s OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party ‘niche vehicle’ engineering and manufacture worldwide.

Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, the Exige, the 2-Eleven and Lotus’ latest model, the Lotus Evora. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.

About Cosworth
The Cosworth Group provides high performance technologies to a diverse range of global industries including automotive, defence, clean energy generation and sports.

The Cosworth Group is headquartered in Northampton, UK and operates additional facilities in the UK, North America and India to leverage its unique combination of advanced technologies, mechanical and electronic engineering expertise and globally recognized brand to deliver performance solutions.

Cosworth has been at the forefront of international motorsport for over 50 years and is a brand synonymous with success. Cosworth high performance race technologies have delivered championships in every major series across the globe including Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, World Rallying, World Touring Cars and MotoGP.