| Group Lotus is to
unveil the first part of its Project Eagle at the Geneva International
Motor Show next week. The part is the front module of the chassis (below),
which is being shown prior to the full unveiling of Project Eagle at the
British Motor Show in July 2008.
Project Eagle is the codename for a new higher specification addition
to the Lotus product range entering the market above Elise, Exige and
Europa. Going into production at the beginning of next year, Project Eagle
draws heavily on technology used in the Elise family as well as the Versatile
Vehicle Architecture (VVA) shown as the APX (Aluminium Performance Crossover)
Concept Vehicle.
Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus, said: “I am delighted with the
exceptional “fast-track” progress of Project Eagle –
the project is hitting key gateway, timing and technical objectives. The
project utilises our core competencies in aluminium, and composite body
engineering, jointing techniques, and vehicle systems integration.”
He added: “By showing this front module at Geneva, we are proving
that the new Lotus is a reality and that VVA is an advanced ecological
technology from which further Lotus models will be produced, giving Lotus
a true “multi-platform” line up over the next five years.”
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VVA and Project Eagle
Lotus Engineering’s VVA technology is intended to
offer a fast-to-market, cost-effective approach to differentiated
niche products by spreading the development, investment and the
bill of materials burden across a range of vehicle variants, without
the compromise that stems from conventional “platform sharing”.
The idea is based on the commonality and versatility of key elements
of vehicle structure and body systems across a “family”
of niche vehicle variants that meet all world homologation and safety
requirements.
Richard Rackham, vehicle architect of Lotus Engineering, said: “Producing
a bespoke low-volume platform using normal methods is uneconomical,
while sharing a mainstream platform normally results in compromises
in performance and design. Traditionally car manufacturers seeking
to gain competitive advantage through exciting niche vehicles have
to either design a new platform or share one already available.
“The advantage of this VVA technology is that it can be used
by one car manufacturer looking to develop a range of niche products,
or by a group of car manufacturers looking to share investment,
but still retain a high degree of end product separation.”
The Project Eagle chassis is an evolution of the Versatile Vehicle
Architecture (VVA) from the Lotus APX concept vehicle previously
showcased at Geneva, and allows for the development of a range of
vehicles up to a gross vehicle weight of 1,900 kg. This architecture
has been designed to be more applicable to mid-volume applications
by using low capital investment manufacturing processes.
The Project Eagle structure progresses the Lotus bonded technology
used in the Elise family of vehicles with unique extrusions and
folded panels, while providing ease of ingress/egress, build modularity
and improved, lower cost repairability.
The Low Volume VVA architecture has been designed so it can be stretched
in width, length and height. The strength and stiffness of the low
volume VVA chassis can be modified cost effectively by varying the
wall thickness of the extrusions, without altering exterior dimensions.
Combining the ability to lengthen or shorten extrusions with the
option to tailor the chassis stiffness vastly increases the number
of vehicles that could be developed from this vehicle architecture.
Front and mid engine installations have been considered, as well
as hybrid and Electric Vehicle (EV) applications.
Project Eagle has a composite roof as a stressed structural member
to give exceptional vehicle stiffness of 26,000 Nm per degree. To
deliver this high performance structure, bonded and riveted high
grade aluminium extrusions and simple folded sheet elements are
used in the lower structure. Lotus pioneered the aerospace technology
of bonded aluminium extrusions for use in road vehicles and has
successfully developed high performance cars for global engineering
clients using this approach.
The innovative VVA architecture for Project Eagle consists of three
distinct parts, with the centre occupant section being the largest.
Bolted to this centre section are the rear sub frame to which the
engine and rear suspension are attached and the front module that
incorporates the bumper beam and side members that progressively
absorb crash energy.
Practicality has been a major consideration with in-built serviceability
factored into the design. Various systems attach to the front module
including the suspension, cooling pack, HVAC and body. The aluminium
front module on its own measures 938 mm long, 864 mm wide and 387
mm tall and weighs in at a featherweight 25 kg, again “ecologically”
biased.
Project Eagle suspension wishbones are forged from aluminium to
reduce the unsprung mass. These are similar in weight to the steel
items found on the much smaller Elise, Exige and Europa vehicle,
but have a far higher vehicle weight capability. They attach to
the front module via bespoke lightweight bushes.
Lotus says that all its cars have to be fun to drive and deliver
a sensational, class leading driving experience. Project Eagle will
be using Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs with unique dual path
top mounts for optimised vehicle refinement. The high performance
bespoke Lotus AP Racing 4 pot callipers work in tandem with ventilated
crossdrilled 350mm diameter brake discs to ensure phenomenal stopping
power. Hydraulically assisted power steering will be employed with
a TRW steering rack. |
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