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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McLaren LM5 Concept with BMW V10: Design Study for a Spiritual Successor to the F1

McLaren LM5 Concept with BMW V10: Design Study for a Spiritual Successor to the F1

Only time will tell if the styling of the new McLaren MP4-12C will age well and look relevant years later, as the firm's chief designer Frank Stephenson hopes it will, but for now, most seem to agree that the British supercar's looks are unexciting - maybe even generic, especially when compared to the likes of the Ferrari 458 Italia. That doesn't seem to be the case though with this conceptual proposal for a flagship McLaren supercar from Matt Williams, a graduate of Coventry University's Transportation Design degree program.

William's, who created the LM5 as part of his final year project, designed the mid-engined supercar to sit atop the MP4-12C essentially playing the role of the F1's spiritual successor.

Not surprisingly, the F1 inspired the design of the LM5 which retains the same three-seat layout as the original model with the driver in the middle and two passengers on either side. However, the LM5 has its own distinct and rather aggressive styling personality (unlike the MP4-12C...)

In theory, the LM5 was designed to be powered by a massaged version of the BMW M5 / M6 5.0-liter V10 - apparently paying homage to the original F1 that sported a BMW M Division sourced and developed V12 engine.

Via: Diseno-art

Honda CR-Z Hybrid Sports Coupe: First Official Photos of Pre-Production Model Released Ahead of Tokyo Show

Honda CR-Z Hybrid Sports Coupe: First Official Photos of Pre-Production Model Released Ahead of Tokyo Show

The CR-X lives on to tell another tale, or at least sort of. The spiritual successor to Honda's much missed small coupe, the gasoline-electric hybrid CR-Z, will be unveiled in near production form at next month's Tokyo Motor Show. Despite the fact that CR-Z carries a concept moniker, it's obvious that only a few changes will be made to the production model that is scheduled to be launched in Japan in February 2010 and the rest of the world sometime after.

At a first glance, the so-called "CR-Z Concept 2009" doesn't appear to be that different from the original CR-Z concept car that was displayed at the 2007 Tokyo show.

However, as you can see for yourselves in the photos that we've attached below, a closer look reveals that Honda's designers thoroughly reworked the sport coupe's front and rear ends as well as the profile.

Not surprisingly, the pre-production CR-Z's interior has nothing in common with the 2007 concept model, but sans the sportier trim, the dashboard's styling does bring to mind the Insight...

As of yet, there's nothing official on the CR-Z's hybrid powertrain, but recent reports suggest that Honda will ditch the Insight's 1.3-liter petrol engine for a more powerful 1.5-liter unit combined with a more potent electric motor.

HONDA CR-Z CONCEPT 2009

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HONDA CR-Z CONCEPT 2007