The Porsche Boxster Spyder borrows design elements from a bygone era.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
Sport car companies enjoy the luxury of pushing design to the extreme, putting issues such as passenger comfort and cargo area aside. At the Los Angeles Auto Show we found a selection of new car designs that are as beautiful as they are impractical. Porsche showed up with a convertible that makes it more difficult to lower the top than in its other models. Lotus' newest car may be more accessible than its previous models, but you will still need the moves of a break-dancer to get inside. And the second generation of the Spyker C8 Aileron takes car design into the world of art.
Check out all these cars, and a special eco convertible, in our slideshow.
Lotus launches a new Exige S240 for 2010.
(Credit: Lotus)
As uncompromisingly engineered as it already is, Lotus found further enhancements to make to its Exige S240 model. Although the actual changes are few for the 2010 model year--the car uses the same power train as the 2009 model--it should its enhance performance while making cosmetic changes that will show the 2010 as a distinct update. New air vents at the front of the car increase air flow to radiator and oil coolers, while a bigger wing on the back increased downforce.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
We spend a lot of time evaluating the electronics in new cars, digging through navigation system menus, hooking up phones and iPods, and listening to audio systems. But occasionally we get to put these very same cars on the track, to find out how their performance technologies work under stress.
This year, we drove a wide variety of cars on the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. There was the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Chevrolet Camaro. We had familiar rides such as the BMW M3 and Acura TL SH-AWD. Then there were the race-bred cars, the Audi R8 and Lotus Elise SC. We even had a Kia Soul out there.
Check out our gallery for performance commentary and stunning track photos.
Red LG Lotus
(Credit: Sprint)We mentioned at CTIA 2009 that Sprint had plans to release a red version of its popular LG Lotus messaging phone. Well, it's now officially available, and at 50 percent off the original price!
It has the same textured design as the purple version, and features include a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, EV-DO, a music player, and more. And yes, instead of $100, the Lotus is now available for $49.99 with a two-year service agreement. So now it's even more affordable for you messaging fanatics out there.
(Credit:
Sprint)
Sprint has made it official that it plans to release a red version of its LG Lotus messaging phone. It will have the same textured design as the purple version, and will have the same features as well.
Features include a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, EV-DO, a music player, and more. Of course, you also get the same QWERTY keyboard and nice 2.4-inch display. We don't yet know when it'll be released, but it'll likely be about the same price of the current LG Lotus, which is about $100 after a two-year service agreement.
The Lotus Evora is designed for tall people
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Lotus shows off its new Evora model at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, proving the company can make a car for people over 5' 10". Unlike the Elise and Exige, cars that let short people have all the fun, the larger Evora was designed for less athletic ingress and egress, as Lotus puts it in the press release. And unlike its sister models, the Evora gets some real horsepower courtesy of two extra cylinders. Designed for more than sport driving weekends and track days, the Evora brings useful car technology into the cabin, with a full-featured Alpine system.
Even though the Evora has 2+2 seating, its looks are unmistakably Lotus. The nose stretches substantially forward of the front wheels, while the back end is clipped off. Graceful curves rise over the front fenders, then settle back into air intakes just behind the doors. The roof is the only real blemish, looking like a baseball cap on a supermodel.
The Evora has a V-6 engine, yet remains agile.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Lotus claims the Evora, although bigger than its stablemates, still exhibits the company's signature stability and handling. In Lotus style, the engine sits amidships, but this one is a 3.5-liter V-6, sourced from Toyota, but with engine management software designed by Lotus. Producing 276 horsepower at 6,400 rpm 252 pound-feet of torque at 4,700 rpm, this engine is more than adequate for the under-3,000-pound car. Testing hasn't completed on a production car, but Lotus says the top speed will be in the neighborhood of 160 mph and 0 to 60 mph times should come in under 5 seconds, all the while getting more than 30 mpg on the highway.
Adding to that practical fuel economy is the Alpine infotainment system, providing GPS navigation, iPod playback, and Bluetooth cell phone integration. The GPS unit on this Alpine system is removable, letting you take it on nonauto trips or use it in another car. But who would leave the Evora in the garage when the open road beckons?
LG Lotus
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)As we mentioned in our hands-on with the LG Lotus at CTIA earlier this year, we had a really positive first impression of this new messaging phone from Sprint. Now that we've had a chance to really get to know it first-hand, we have to say we're even more impressed. At first we were skeptical about its unusual square shape, but its unique style and fabulous tactile keyboard eventually won us over. The Lotus has a very nice satiny feel in the hand, a vibrant internal display, external music player controls, and the aforementioned keyboard is as roomy as it is tactile. It's also blessed with Sprint's latest One Click user interface, a 2.0-megapixel camera, EV-DO, and stereo Bluetooth.
All this comes at a price though--the Lotus is on the higher end of messaging phones, at around $150 with a two-year service agreement. But if you're a style maven who wants an attractive phone without sacrificing features, the Lotus is certainly one of your best choices, especially if you can't live without a QWERTY keyboard. (We should note that the Lotus is not a smart phone, and that it does not support Outlook Exchange e-mail.) Check out our LG Lotus review and our LG Lotus slide show for more details.
(Credit:
Lotus)
Lotus is taking the idea of its diamond (or 60th) anniversary a little too seriously, releasing a diamond-encrusted version of its Europa sports car. Now, if you're imagining the Europa with a body comprised of the hardest substance known to man, the car doesn't go that far. It merely has diamonds set in the shifter (ouch!), the switchgear, the instruments, and the hood badge.
The car also gets a special paint job which, according to Lotus, gives "the appearance the car has been showered with diamonds." But Lotus actually mixed glass flakes into the paint to achieve this look.
(Credit:
Lotus)
This special-edition Europa is going for £150,000, or about $268,815 at today's exchange rates. The 164 diamonds used in the car make up the bulk of this cost, coming in at £111,000, or close to $200,000.
The diamond Europa sounds like the perfect addition to that diamond iPod. But given that the car goes from 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds, we would be happy with the cubic zirconium edition Europa.
The LG Lotus in purple.
(Credit: LG)Remember not so long ago when almost every cell phone was black, gray, or silver? Then, thanks to the Motorola Razr V3, pink was suddenly an "it" color for cell phones. But gradually, red became the new pink, and now it seems that purple is the new red.
Though we don't agree just yet that a purple wave will sweep cell phone land, Sprint is pushing the line that purple is the new hot hue for cell phones. Indeed, two of its new cell phones introduced at CTIA Fall 2008 come in the color of the royals. The Samsung Rant is offered in purple, red, and black, and the LG Lotus comes in purple and black.
Previous purple phones includes the Sony Ericsson W380a and S500i, the Motorola W755, and the LG CU515. While those handsets appear to be laying the groundwork for a trend, time will tell if purple develops into a full-blown design fad. After all, that whole champagne thing never really caught on. Personally, I'm still hoping green handsets have their day.
What do you think? Is purple here to stay? What cell phone colors would you like to see?
LG partners with Project Runway's Christian Siriano to develop a special scarf made just for the LG Lotus, seen here.
(Credit: Sprint)In an attempt to further tout the LG Lotus as a phone for the fashion-conscious crowd, LG has partnered with Christian Siriano, the winner of Project Runway's fourth season, to develop a special, one-of-a-kind scarf for the Lotus. As we mentioned earlier, the LG Lotus is Sprint's new QWERTY flip phone with a small and square shape. The scarf Siriano designed has a pocket in it made just to fit the Lotus.
The scarf will make its debut on September 11 during New York Fashion Week, and as part of the show, attendees are encouraged to take pictures of the collection and then send them via picture-message so they show up on large flat-screens positioned above the runway.
