Ahead of the official launch later this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lotus have taken the wraps off the highly anticipated Emira. Replacing the Elise and Exige, it represents the first all-new regular Lotus production car since the original Elise was introduced back in the 1990s. The compact sports car has a bonded aluminium monocoque and will be powered by either the familiar Toyota supercharged V6 or a four-cylinder Mercedes-AMG engine that has been tuned for this purpose in-house by Lotus engineers. Available with a manual, dual-clutch or conventional automatic, the lightest version tips the scales at just 1,405 kg. The launch edition will feature the Toyota engine and the AMG-engined version of the Emira will be available in the summer of 2022.
Another major unveiling was that of the new Peugeot Le Mans racer, which will be dubbed the 9X8 Hypercar. It is powered by a sophisticated petrol-hybrid drivetrain that includes a twin-turbo V6 internal combustion engine. Much more interesting is the radical aerodynamics package, which is a fascinating interpretation of the relatively liberal regulations. A flat floor is no longer mandatory, which allows for ground effect aerodynamics to the extent that Peugeot Sport engineers did not feel the need to fit the car with a conventional rear wing. This fact alone makes the 9X8 Hypercar the most interesting sports racer on the grid in 2022. The new Peugeot will be tested for the first time before the end of the year and should make its competition debut some time in 2022, which may or not be at Le Mans.

Enjoy the links:

2021 Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid

2021 Lotus Emira

2022 Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar