Daily News: Wednesday 9/6/17

Lotus Expands Evora GT430 Range Lotus, always masters of stretching something out, have somehow managed to turn their special edition GT430 range-topping Evora, into its own model line-up, with different models on offer. The original GT430, with its supercharged V6 producing 430hp, is now sold as the ‘normal’ one, with both an automatic and manual on offer (automatic versions receive 10NM of torque more).

New to Lotus and the GT430 ‘line’ is the addition of a Sport model, which also features the supercharged V6 and the choice between an automatic and a manual gearbox. To differentiate it from the normal model, the Sport loses the aerodynamic elements of its normal GT430 sibling.

This loss of aero pieces reduces weight by 10kg, while more importantly altering the profile of the car, enabling a top speed of 196mph. This effort–also aided by changes such as smaller diameter tires–has led to the fastest production car ever produced by Lotus.

Both models feature various motorsport-derived technology such as two-way dampers and variable traction control. The new, fully homologated Lotus Evora GT430 range is available in two-seater configuration only and can be ordered now.

Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster RevealedIn a somewhat predictable move, Lamborghini has announced the Aventador S Roadster at the IAA in Frankfurt, following the announcement of the fixed-roof version a few months back.  The new Aventador S Roadster is the same as its fixed-roof brother, simply sans roof.

This means that the Roadster adopts the four-wheel drive, new active suspension, new four-wheel steering system, and the new EGO driving mode introduced on the Aventador S Coupe. This allows a 0-60 of a little under 3.0 seconds, and a top speed equal to that of the coupe’s at 217mph.

The first customers will take delivery of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster in February 2018 at suggested retail prices as follows:

Europe:    EUR 313,666.00
UK:          GBP 251,462.00
USA:        USD 460,247.00
China:      RMB 7,478,513.00
Japan:      YEN 46,267,692.00

It takes a lot to look that good.

Bollinger Motors Adds Two Doors to it’s B1 Off-Roader A couple of months back, an electric vehicle company named Bollinger announced their B1 off-road EV vehicle, the first off-roading EV designed as such from the ground up. Today, the company has announced the later availability of a four-door variant.

“We always wanted to make a 4-Door version of the B1,” said Robert Bollinger, Designer and CEO. “And our assistant designer Ross Compton and I developed a great sketch [Shown above, in an orange color available at launch-S]. The vehicle still has great proportions and it’s amazing off-road capabilities remain intact since we only had to stretch the chassis by 9 inches”.

This chassis stretch results in a new overall vehicle length of 159 inches and new wheelbase of 114 inches. The two-extra doors also create an additional 6 cu. ft. of cargo volume for a total of 101 cu. ft. Both the 2- and 4-door variants will have the same battery options available of either 60 kWh or 100 kWh. Most importantly, both vehicles will have the full pass-through option as there is no engine in the front or the rear.

Engineering the B1 towards production is ongoing and additional information will be made available in the future.