Chinese Market AMG FE in Seneca Blue

[Eagle7]

If you guys haven't seen it, here's a link to a 3rd complete car in China, with a lot of really good photos of the interior. It's a left-hand drive 2.0.

https://car.autohome.com.cn/photolist/spec/52768/p1/#pvareaid=3454554

 

In addition, here's a terrific interactive 3D viewable of the interior.

https://pano.autohome.com.cn/car/pano/52768#pvareaid=2042304

 

It also has this very interesting image that basically says (translated)

" Summary: Chinese market model will come with AMG sourced 2.0T engine, with 360HP and 430NM torque. Combined with 8 speed DCT transmission, 0-100km/h acceleration times will be 4.5s. Initial released First Edition will output a higher 400HP and 480NM torque. Acceleration will be reduced to 4.3s."   There's more to the translation, but the first part was the really interesting part.

[simonb]

LOTUS NYO??

on the badges

 

[edit] found it https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1920341 another chinese company got there first - lol

Edited November 12, 2021 by simonb

[marclurr]

3 minutes ago, simonb said:

LOTUS NYO??

on the badges

I Googled it as hadn't heard about it myself, but apparently that's now the official name in China.

 

Cheers for that, those are probably the best pictures of it online. Lots of details that you're squinting to see in other images.

[simonb]

if UK spec i4 FE is to same power & torque, it will be very interesting

Look forward to hearing it

[exeterjeep]

1 hour ago, marclurr said:

I Googled it as hadn't heard about it myself, but apparently that's now the official name in China.

Did the same...

Lotus officially arrived in China today with the Evora and Elise. And with a new name as well: Lutesi, to differentiate from Youngman’s ‘Lianhua’ Lotus-line. Big surprise though was a new logo with the letters NYO added. According to the Chinese press ‘NYO’ stands for ‘new’, again to differentiate from Youngman. A bit of a strange story that is since Youngman doesn’t use the Lotus-logo.

[Evotion]

Definitely a new car as the Blue UK car was right hand drive.

Good pics. I have to say - it is a huge leap in interior quality.

[JJ]

"Initial released First Edition will output a higher 400HP and 480NM torque. Acceleration will be reduced to 4.3s."

This refers still to an i4, or are we talking v6 now? Still on the fence about that choice. 

Great pictures, thanks!

Should be seeing the European mule tomorrow, but they're probably announcing a new lockdown tonight, so fingers crossed it doesn't actually *start* tonight.

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by JJ

[Del Lardo]

Slightly longer translation makes it clearer they are referring to the i4 though to be clear this is a random person/journalist writing on the internet so could be complete bullshit.

Lotus have stated the i4 will be a 360bhp engine at launch.

 

Quote

The Chinese standard model will be equipped with a 2.0T engine from AMG with can output 360hp and 430Nm torque with 8 speed dual clutch transmission. It takes 4.5s to accelerate 0-100km/h

The First Edition that went on the market first can output higher 400HP and 480Nm torque. The acceleration time will also be shortened to 4.3 seconds. Interestingly the laters maximum hp is almost equal to overseas 3.5 V6 supercharged version. The torque is even more than 50Nm but I still want V6 plus manual transmission

 

[Wake]

30 minutes ago, JJ said:

"Initial released First Edition will output a higher 400HP and 480NM torque. Acceleration will be reduced to 4.3s."

This refers still to an i4, or are we talking v6 now? Still on the fence about that choice. 

Great pictures, thanks!

Should be seeing the European mule tomorrow, but they're probably announcing a new lockdown tonight, so fingers crossed it doesn't actually *start* tonight.

 

Was the torque in the V6 that high? I had 420nm in mind. I can’t remember though 

[hedgerley]

Great pictures and the interior quality does like a massive step forward. Must admit to starting to feel tempted. But my OCD picked up the Emira logo in the drivers footwell. Its the wrong way round, to my eyes at least. 😒

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

No way is the FE AMG going to have 400 bhp and 480 N/mm2. Something has got lost in translation, I.e wrong.

[Evotion]

Agreed. Every you look there is a different 'fact''.

The only tiniest thing that might change this is local CO2 rules and/or an extended delay in the I4 being actually built which might give Lotus more room to manoeuvre with Merc's help.

[Beady]

my laptop intercepted a virus about 5 mins after clicking the link to those photos....coincidence?

 

[NedaSay]

On 12/11/2021 at 03:13, simonb said:

LOTUS NYO??

on the badges

 

[edit] found it https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1920341 another chinese company got there first - lol

Geely was supposed to have worked on that and gotten the brand back I guess  they haven't ironed out that deal yet. Sad.

[TomE]

Interesting info from a Chinese deposit holder on another forum.  No V6 in China, only i4 but will be available in FE and Base specs.  i4 being publicised by car media and YouTubers as 400hp - not clear if Lotus have told them to say that.  Being unveiled at Guangzhou Expo on 19 November.  Price not yet released.

[simonb]

one would assume that China will not be last country in the world to receive customer cars.  Would be interesting to know when their deliveries start, and i4 cars roll down the line

[Evotion]

If they do get 400HP off the bat on the i4 then that will piss off a LOT of the rest of the world.

Even if China has less stringent emissions regs that would be very naughty from Lotus.

Not sure I believe it anyway. Even the cars meant for China are built at Hethel and we have already assumed that only the V6 cars are being made in 2022.

[Del Lardo]

Could be 360bhp as standard (and as announced for the base edition) with a power pack for 400bhp as an option which is included in the FE cars as they're fully loaded.

 

All random speculation obviously. 

[simonb]

i suspect that both the AMG CLA45 and CLA45S engines are available to Lotus, and that the i4 will have two price points.  Be interesting to know which side of the fence the UK FE sits

[Eagle7]

Does China have the same emissions regulations that everybody else does?  If they don't, Lotus may be able to go with a different tune for their market.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Why would the I4 Emira be any dirtier than the AMG 45S anyway? I don’t see why that’s a reason to strangle the engine from the outset. I just think it’s to protect the V6, which they can obviously deliver to customers much sooner.

[DaveC72]

Never mind the power, is this car a runner and not a mock up?  I would LOVE to see/hear some footage of an i4 at max chat.

[Nimbus-in-Notts]

8 hours ago, Evotion said:

If they do get 400HP off the bat on the i4 then that will piss off a LOT of the rest of the world.

Even if China has less stringent emissions regs that would be very naughty from Lotus.

Not sure I believe it anyway. Even the cars meant for China are built at Hethel and we have already assumed that only the V6 cars are being made in 2022.

If it turns out to be true, my V6 auto order will be cancelled as a same 400HP AMG with DCT has so much more potential and the V6 auto residuals would plummet.

We were told the AMG was being (de)tuned to 360 to suit Lotus’ required characteristics but that’s not really true if there’s already one with 400HP. I sincerely hope this info is incorrect. 

[Eagle7]

Well considering Geely has invested a massive amount into Lotus, I don't seeing it being "naughty"  to accommodate their major investor by giving them a version that works for their market.  If this is true, then this would only be available in China so I wouldn't cancel my order expecting that a market specific model would be available elsewhere.  Even if you could get one from China, good luck with getting it out of the country and past customs; especially if it's NOT certified to meet the emissions standards where you are.

There's another possibility here.  If the FE launch edition of the i4 has more power than a base model, it's possible that Lotus could be doing the same thing with the V6 FE; they just haven't said anything about it yet.  It would be a pleasant surprise to have them announce that the V6 FE has passed homologation and is rated at 430 hp, or close to it.  That would be a nice little extra bonus for buying an FE.  That's just pure speculation though, so don't go quoting or announcing it as though it's real.  It's just a guess, IF the China report about the i4 FE is accurate.

[TomE]

Lotus have made a big point about Emira being a world car, able to be sold in all target markets without significant regional specification variations.  A China-specific i4 therefore seems unlikely.

I’m told the tax in China is based on engine capacity rather than emissions and is something like 5% for i4 and 25% for V6.  This is being put forward as a reason for not offering the V6 in China.  But other countries with big tax differences are getting both engine choices.

This all seems inconsistent and a bit strange.