Lotus gave Australian customers a preview of its new Europa S at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney.

The Europa S will provide Lotus customers a spectacular sports machine with significantly enhanced levels of touring and cruising capability as well as higher levels of practicality and refinement to complement the simplicity of the Lotus Elise and Exige models.

The Europa S follows the core Lotus philosophy of performance through light weight, with a class leading weight of just 995 kg, despite the addition of a number of refinements.

This low weight has been obtained through the clever use of advanced and high-tech materials including an extruded and bonded aluminium chassis, composite body panels and a very advanced composite energy absorbing front crash structure.

It arrives 40 years after the first Lotus Europa, which was first introduced in 1966. By the time the original Europa went out of production in 1975 a total of 9,887 had been built. The Lotus Europa was regarded as one of the finest handling sports cars of its time and was Lotus’ first mid-engine road car.

When compared to the award-winning Lotus Elise, the new Europa S has a larger boot/luggage compartment and easier cabin access, resulting from lower chassis sides and a higher roof line.

Combined with a soft full leather interior, ABS, driver and passenger airbags and full carpeting all as standard, Lotus has designed a more comfortable, quiet and relaxing interior whilst remaining true to the company’s design philosophy.

The new mid-engine coupe will deliver high levels of performance with torque of 272 Nm at 5,000 rpm from its two-litre turbo engine producing 147 kW at 5,400rpm.

It achieves 90 percent of its maximum torque at just 2,000 rpm giving it class-leading levels of acceleration, propelling the car from 0 – 100 km/h in around 5.8 seconds and 0 – 60 km/h in around 14 seconds. Maximum speed is approximately 230 km/h.

The Europa S boasts a competitive power to weight ratio of 148 kW/tonne.

The introduction of a Lotus more focused on touring capabilities represents both an important and unique addition to the Lotus product range, according to managing director of Lotus Cars Australia, John Startari.

“The launch of the Europa S re-affirms our position as an innovative player in the highly competitive sports car marketplace,” said Mr Startari.

“It allows Lotus to extend its product appeal beyond our traditional customer base and provides yet another demonstration of the key Lotus brand attributes and high levels of quality for which we are particularly proud,” he added.

Lotus Cars Australia sales and marketing manager, Jonathan Stretton, says the Lotus Europa S will mean that Lotus buyers will be able to enjoy the outrageous fun and exhilaration of driving a true Lotus without having to compromise their comfort and convenience on a daily basis.

“The purity and simplicity of the Lotus Elise and Exige is now perfectly complemented with the arrival of the new Europa S — a car which stays true to the Lotus philosophy of ‘performance through lightweight’, but recognises that for some, the Elise and Exige experience may sometimes prove just a little too ‘extreme’!” he added.

The Europa S had its worldwide preview at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2006.

The Lotus Europa S went from concept to production in just 28 months. This rapid development was due to the capabilities of the Lotus Engineering and Lotus Manufacturing divisions.

Elegant and lightweight 17” diameter wheels front and rear are shod with Bridgestone Potenza tyres (175/55 R17 on the front and 225/45 R17 on the rear).

The light weight of the Lotus Europa S contributes to its high performance braking capability through Lotus/AP-Racing twin-piston fixed aluminium alloy brake calipers at the front and Brembo single-piston sliding calipers at the rear. The 282 mm diameter ventilated discs are linked to a servo-assisted, 4-channel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS).

The Europa S driving position is the same as in the Elise and Exige, a small ergonomically shaped steering wheel is fitted and the lightweight steel and extruded aluminium pedals are positioned to make heel and toe changes easy.

ProBax seats help to significantly improve the postural position of the driver and passenger by maintaining the natural curvature of the spine, so improving comfort and improving the body’s blood flow.

The interior of the Europa S features extensive use of leather (black or black with tan) as standard on the seats, steering wheel, centre console and door inserts.

Carpet lines the floor area and part of the chassis’ sides – in fact the only area where carpet or leather is untrimmed is on the footplate just forward of the seats.

Other standard interior equipment includes driver and passenger airbags and air conditioning. Furthermore, as the Europa S is so highly equipped there are no additional cost options, other than premium paint or custom colours.

The new mid-engine is powered by a GM sourced high torque Ecotec Z20LER 1,998 cc turbocharged engine producing 147 kW at 5,400 rpm and is mated to a unique Lotus engine management system. An aluminium 6-Speed gearbox joins the engine to an open differential.