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2000 Lotus M250 news, pictures, and information

'The concept behind M250 is to produce another superlative driver's car, in the same mould as the Elise, but with technical refinements and enhancements made possible through what we've learned from over 50 years of sportscar development.'

The Lotus M250 Concept was designed as a lightweight vehicle with superb aerodynamics. Downforce and high speed stability were top priority in place of a very low drag coefficient. The airflow underneath the vehicle produced even greater downforce resulting in a Cz of 0.15.

A three-liter naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine in 'vee' configuration was placed transversely mid-ship resulting in excellent weight distribution. The 250 horsepower supplied by the engine were sent to the rear wheels with the help of a six-speed manual gearbox. With an unladen weight of around 1000 kg, the vehicle achieved excellent power-to-weight ratio. Speed was electronically limited to 155 mph and zero-to-sixty was achieved in just five seconds.

The two-door, two-seater sports car was outfitted with many amenities such as electric windows, central locking, and air conditioning. The body was comprised of an aluminum composite construction while the chassis was bonded aluminum composite tub with modular chassis construction for greater stiffness and rigidity. The steering was courteous of a power-assisted rack-and-pinion unit. The suspension was independent upper and lower wishbones Co-axial springs and dampers. The brakes were four-piston racing calipers with disc brakes and ABS on all four corners.

The vehicle was debuted to the public at the 1999 Frankfurt Auto Show, but unfortunately never went into production. Orders were taken and deposits were received, however, Lotus decided to cancel the planned production due to an inability to satisfy the needs of the global marketplace.

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