Footdown
Luxe Lotus gets waahs in Wan Chai
You can see a Lotus Evora at Richburg Lotus, at 128 Gloucester Road, until Tuesday, says the dealer's chief executive, Eric Wong Yat-po. The British marque's mid-engine 2+2 supercar (above) is the first all-new Lotus since the Elise's debut in 1995, and generated a few waahs in Wan Chai, he says. 'A lot of passers-by thought it was a Ferrari,' says Wong.
Powered by a Lotus-tuned 3.5-litre V6 engine producing 276 horsepower, and weighing just 1,350kg, the Evora has a six-speed manual gearbox and is expected to sell for about HK$1.04 million when it goes on sale in Hong Kong in September. Lotus developed the Evora to attract people to the brand, so it is less spartan than the Elise, Exige, Europa and 2-Eleven, with wider, taller door apertures and narrower sills for easier exits.
'The design of the cabin will accommodate two 99th-percentile (1.95m or 6ft 4in tall) American males in the front seats,' Lotus says. We hear the 60-year-old marque's Hethel factory can only make about 2,000 Evoras a year, however.
Four-door Porsche set for Hong Kong
The star of the recent Shanghai motor show, the Porsche Panamera, could arrive in Hong Kong in September, says Porsche Centre Hong Kong spokeswoman Mabel Wong. Hong Kong prices for the four-door fastie (below) range will differ from the mainland prices we quoted in yuan in last week's show report: The Panamera S (400bhp 4.8-litre V8, 0-100km/h in 5.4 seconds) will cost HK$1.48 million; the Panamera 4S (400bhp 4.8-litre V8, 0-100km/h in 5 seconds) will cost HK$1.56 million and Panamera Turbo (500bhp 4.8-litre V8, 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds) will cost HK$2.26 million, she says.
Lex symbols unveil hybrid SUV
Two beauty queens - Miss Hong Kong 2006 Aimee Chan Yan-mei and Miss Chinese International Pageant 2005 first runner-up Fala Chan (below) - helped unveil the new Lexus RX450h at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong last week. The hybrid sports utility vehicle could trade more on its intelligence than its looks, however. Its 3.5-litre V6 has the 'fuel economy that would be expected from a 1.5-litre engine', says local Lexus dealer Crown Motors, pointing to sip stats of 6.8 litres per 100km (41.5mpg). With fuel at HK$12.99/l, that's 88 Hong Kong cents per km, the dealer says. There are two cars in the RX450h range: the Luxury version (about HK$650,000) comes on 19-inch wheels with a panorama glass roof and power sunshade, a heated or ventilated climate control seat, a power back door with remote control and jam protection system, and front seats that help occupants find their most ergonomic position. The model is also the 'the first SUV in town with low-beam LED headlamps', the dealer says. The Sport version (about HK$600,000) has 18-inch wheels, a power moonroof and a sporty roof rail, just like a BMW X5. If you're going to buy an RX450h you may as well stick with the luxury version - or look at BMW or Volvo.
The model is fitted with continuously variable transmission and its electric four-wheel-drive (E-4WD) system sounds just right for summer monsoons. When it is activated, 'the vehicle will automatically switch to all-wheel drive when you accelerate powerfully or drive on slippery road surfaces, and it returns to front-wheel drive under normal driving conditions to obtain higher fuel efficiency,' says Crown Motors. You get 12 airbags, lots of safety electronics, and green car status that can save 'up to HK$50,000 in registration tax', the dealer says.
