Lotus Omega
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The Lotus Omega is a sports sedan from the vehicle manufacturer Lotus , which was developed on the basis of the Opel Omega A by Lotus and a small series of 988 units was assembled in Great Britain . The body was manufactured in the main Opel plant in Rüsselsheim and transported to Great Britain. The 3-liter engine (C30SE) was also supplied by Opel and processed by Lotus. 393 vehicles of the type were registered in Germany.
The vehicle was presented in 1991 and was considered the fastest production sedan in the world after the Alpina B10 Biturbo (291 km / h) . The Alpina B10 Biturbo surpassed the Lotus Omega in top speed, but the Lotus Omega achieved better values in acceleration. In Germany, the Lotus Omega was sold by the Opel dealer network. Its new price was 125,000 DM (approx. 64,000 EUR ).
technology
The in-line six- cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder has a displacement of 3.6 liters and, thanks to its charging with two turbochargers connected in parallel, achieves an output of 277 kW (377 hp) (C36GET). The maximum torque is 557 (according to other information 568) Nm . The power is transmitted via a transmission from ZF , which was also used in the Corvette C4 . The sixth gear has an extremely long ratio and is therefore designed as an overdrive gear , which reduces fuel consumption at high speeds due to the lower engine speed.
The Lotus Omega accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 5.4 s, with a top speed of 283 km / h. However, the vehicle could be measured with a driving performance of up to 4.9 s at 100 km / h and 17.3 s at 200 km / h.
In addition to the engine, the chassis has also been revised by Lotus. The braking system comes from AP. The body, which originally came from the Opel Omega, was modified according to the technical changes with flared fenders, voluminous bumpers, air outlets in the bonnet and a large rear spoiler . In contrast to the series Omega, the rear wheel arches of the Lotus Omega are not provided with a straight upper edge, but are round. The Omega-Evo 500 also had these round wheel arches. It therefore looks different from the base model. Each of the vehicles built was given one of the model numbers starting with 001.
In Great Britain, the Lotus Omega was offered as the Lotus Carlton, as the Opel Omega was sold there as the Vauxhall Carlton .
Problems
The Lotus Omega was not free from technical defects that made the vehicle very unreliable. Vehicle buyers were enthusiastic when the vehicle was presented and when it appeared, but were frustrated by the frequent breakdowns and the associated workshop visits of their Omegas. The car suffered from problems with electrics and electronics, the clutch, the transmission and the engine, among other things.
