Two years after Dany Bahar’s grandiose six-vehicle launch at the 2010 Paris
auto show, the struggling sports-car maker won’t even have a stand at this
year’s event. Lotus has pulled out of the show, we’ve learned from two
independent sources. In a recent phone conversation, a company spokesman would
not deny what was then a rumor but has now been confirmed by the show’s
organizers.
Lotus’s no-show is not necessarily bad news. It recently put on a truly
impressive display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, complete with historic and
modern cars, proving it is alive and kicking. But the company’s strategy is
under review after former CEO Dany Bahar’s sudden departure. The controversial
former Red Bull and Ferrari executive had not only tried to take Lotus deep into
Ferrari territory, he also hired rapper Swizz Beatz as a design consultant and
teamed up with the tuner Mansory, the offerings of which are as extravagant as
they are lacking in taste. It is alleged that breathtaking expenditures for
Bahar’s lavish corporate lifestyle ultimately led to his exit.
We think that
Lotus will do well to recapture its essence with lightweight and original sports
cars, not with ultra-expensive supercars. It also needs to get its U.S.-market
strategy on track. It won’t be in Paris, but we are confident in seeing a reborn
Lotus at the upcoming auto shows—a reborn Lotus built on its history of
engineering that was on display at Goodwood and not the smoke and mirrors of
Paris two years ago.
There was little question that a Subaru BRZ would be a part of our Four Seasons fleet. Few cars are as hotly anticipated because the fruit of the Subaru/Toyota joint venture that created the BRZ and therefore the Scion FR-S. lightweight weight, crisp handling, affordability, and rear-wheel drive are the endearing characteristics of those twins.
If you need to get out the door for $25,000, you will be heading to a Scion dealership and looking forward to a printed map. The Subaru BRZ Premium, on the opposite hand, comes with HID headlamps, Bluetooth connectivity, and navigation, however its base worth is $26,265. need keyless ignition, heated leather seats, a trunk spoiler, and automatic climate control? That'll be another $2000 for the BRZ restricted. Since the BRZ is meant to be a pure sports automotive, we tend to opted for a Premium equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission. An automatic transmission will be had for $1100; no different stand-alone choices are on the market on either the Scion or the Subaru.
Our solely serious grievance once driving the BRZ on a track in Japan and over difficult roads within the south of France was the modest level of grip from the stock 215/45WR-17 Michelin Primacy HP tires. As soon as we tend to took delivery of our 2013 BRZ, we tend to known as Tire Rack, the official tire and wheel provider of Automobile Magazine, and ordered a group of 225/45R-17 BFGoodrich g-Force R1-S tires and seventeen x seven.5 Sparco Assetto Gara wheels. Since the BRZ will accommodate a whole set of wheels and tires within its cabin, we'll be ready to run R-compound tires on the track and extend the lifetime of our street tires by solely using them on the road.
The cheap base worth makes the BRZ an ideal candidate for tasteful modifications. We're already eyeing a coil-over suspension system and brake upgrade to enhance the track tire package and commonplace limited-slip differential. make sure to follow the BRZ's upgrades on automobilemag.com to visualize what quantity performance we are able to gain by fiddling with the brakes, tires, and suspension. We'll be logging countless track miles with this automotive and measuring changes in performance with every upgrade.
Of course, we'll still use the BRZ for vacations, grocery runs, and daily commuting, as we tend to do with all Four Seasons vehicles. We've already established a lottery system to sign out the automotive once Michigan's initial snowfall, as a result of we tend to expect the BRZ to be a riot this winter once we tend to match applicable seasonal rubber. For now, let's head to the track.
