JustBritish

According to the Economic Times, the new Lotus Evora is the best car to ever roll out of a Lotus factory. After thirteen years Lotus has finally added a new model to its existing line-up of exotic machinery like the Elise roadster which came in 1995 and the Exige, which was a coupe version of the Elise. The new model is called the Lotus Evora and the British car-maker has been working on this project for past five years.

It is the only mid-engined 2+2 sportscar currently in production and it is the first model out of the three that the company plans to launch under its five year strategic plan. The bosses at Lotus have been extremely excited about this new car and some of them also commented that this is the best car ever to roll out of the Lotus factory.

The 3.5 litre V6 motor, sourced from Toyota, as installed in the Evora pumps out 280PS of power thrown at 6,400rpm and 342Nm of torque developed at 4,700rpm. The mid-mounted transverse engine is packed inside a modular lightweight bonded aluminum chassis and the steering on the Evora is hydraulically assisted.

Read more of their review at The Economic Times.

Might the mighty Jaguar, once a consistent winner on the LeMans circuit be considering a return to the competition?

According to Autoweek, Jaguar is doing just that – considering a return to LeMans. Supposedly the new Indian parent company, Tata Motors, is evaluating a high-profile motorsports comeback.

“We want to hit the Le Mans race [because] we are examining how to bring the Jaguar brand back to its earlier position,” Tata chairman Ratan Tata told Indian media.

Just a few days after its first roll-out, the fully upgraded RML MG Lola EX265C completed a faultless run to fourth place in the final race of the 2008 Le Mans Series. In a six-hour endurance that was punctuated by dramatic incidents and thrilling nose-to-tail racing, the much-admired new coupé performed without a hitch, rewarding the team’s hard work and meticulous preparation with a reliable and extremely competitive performance.

“I’m delighted – chuffed to bits!” said a smiling Mike Newton, co-driver of the EX265C and CEO of AD Group, principal sponsors to RML’s sportscar programme. “The guys have done an amazing job to put this car together so quickly, and to achieve a trouble-free run is an exceptional achievement.” The team had always approached the Silverstone 1000 Kilometres as an extended, if very public, test session, but poor weather on the previous two days had severely curtailed their on-track development. “When you compare this to where we might have been, after the events of the last couple of days, this has got to be an excellent result,” he added.

The only issue the team encountered during the course of the race was a rise in engine temperature that, if left unaddressed, might have threatened the unit. “The engine was running a little too hot,” said Thomas Erdos, who drove the opening two stints in the MG Lola, and was first to detect the problem. “We were able to de-tune it enough at the next pitstop to ensure it would run the distance, but it meant we were perhaps forty or fifty horsepower down for most of the race. In that respect, fourth is a great result.”

For more, check out PlanetLemans.

The first run of MG cars have left Birmingham’s Longbridge factory for the first time in more than three years. The cars, which departed the plant shortly after 11am on Thursday, will go on sale from September 20.

Chinese owner SAIC/Nanjing began producing the sports car model, the TF LE500, at the factory last month. The Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) bought the assets of the collapsed MG Rover organisation in 2005.

Approximately 6,000 workers lost their jobs at Longbridge when the huge car plant closed in April that year. The return of car production to the plant has been heralded as a boost to business in the region.