Lotus Omega-Carlton

i tried to find a thread on the world fastest sedan in the 90's but it looks like there is only a small discussion on the Singapore region for 2 cars imported there

anibody was in love with the silly-fast 4 doors car developed by lotus in 1990-91?

the LOTUS OMEGA- VAUXHALL CARLTON LOTUS (depending on the market) was the mega entry for GM in the high performance sedan sector: GM had Lotus to develop a beast of a car starting from the relaxed Omega-Carlton....a family car born to carry families with space at average speed was made so quick to be a trouble for the contemporary Ferrari Testarossa and 911 turbo!


i lusted on this car as a kid...i remember still the datas and specs:

3.6 liter straight 6
24 valves
2 turbos
chargecooler
rear wheel drive
6 speed manual gearbox from the ZR1 corvette

not to mention the 17" alloy wheels with big tyres on the back and the AP racing brakes...all tip top performance equipment were used by Lotus to make it the best

with 377 hp and 58 Kgm it went from 0 to 100 kmh in 5.2-5.4 sec
and 0 -200 in something like 16.5-17 sec.
top speed was timed from 275 to 282 Kmh

lotus underatted the standing Kms numbers, declaring same numbers as the M5 ( around 26.2) but the car was proved to be 2 sec (!) quicker in real life (around 24.2!)

this car at the time obliterated the german competition with the BMW M5 3.8 liter and the 500E Benz

to put in perspective how quick this car was at launch, even the much younger E39 1998 M5, with its 400hp 5 liter V8 was a bit slower than the much older Omega Carlton Lotus....and this 7 years later!

this car was (with obvious differnces) for the sedan cars what the F40 was in 1987 for the sport car....a beast able to crunch competitors and not to be beaten for years to come

i wonder if anyone here ever owned one?
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https://youtu.be/XPhdwVT7rvM

top gear test

 

when Lotus started develop the "Super" Omega-Carlton they thought to transplant the Covette C4 ZR1 V8 engine inside the Omega.

During 1986, General Motors acquired Group Lotus.
GM aksed Lotus to develope the world's fastest Covette, to be based on the C4 generation. Lotus designed a new engine to fit in place of the L98 that was powering the standard C4. The result was the LT5, an aluminum-block V-8 with the same bore centers as the L98, but with four overhead camshafts, 32 valves.

In addition to the engine, Lotus helped GM design the ZR-1's (its prototype version was called "King of the Hill" ) as a complete package: so upgraded braking, suspension and steering systems, helping to ensure that the vehicle was more than just a modern-day muscle car with lot of HPs and it was a capable car on the track.

they could not fit the V8 on the omega ...because it was too big ...so they had to decide to go the "hard" route and developed a special twin turbo engine for the Omega Lotus, but they used the 6 speed manual gearbox from the ZR-1 for the job

the funny thing is this straight 6 engine ended up to be same power and even more torque than the ZR1 one!
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here it is the final product from Lotus:
3.6 liter straight 6
twin turbo
24 valves
water intercooler

top tecnology of the time.


final numbers: 377 cv @ 5200 rpm, 568 Nm @ 3500 rpm

same power of a testarossa
same torque of a lamborghini diablo

in a sedan car!
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[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SxhoyNZQCo[/ame]

FIFTH GEAR test drive of the OPEL OMEGA LOTUS

 

yes, these words gave a good idea of the kind of a killer machine it was at the time! CRAZY FAST
the insignia 750 hp is total madness: good comparison!

funny they talked about the Lancia 8.32: i was ans still am a fan of that car
a Lancia sedan with a V8 Ferrari engine was a nice nice idea on paper

but really 8.32 was a joke compared to Omega
215 hp Vs 377 hp, not even 290 Nm of torque against double, front wheel drive Vs rear wheel drive ... and the difference in handling was night and day

the look, interior and sound of 8.32 are good but for the rest....is no match for the Omega Lotus.

the 8.32 was a bit of a let down for stats when new; the Thema 2 liter 16 v turbo was at least as fast in the straight line and probably better balanced than the 8.32, whose handling was not the best

Omega was comparable with the very best sport cars of the time for performances, may be the closest thing for sale at the time was the Alpina B10 biturbo, but not so feroceus

 

i believe the car was not sold in the US.

so most on ferrari chat never heard of it, but it really is one of the most special cars built in the 90's.
it made a huge impact at launch, every car magazines had 1 or more articles or test on the car and ALL wrote great things on this machine

Sport Auto magazine cover ...the omega lotus has better numbers than the 911 turbo 2

many have forgotten about it today, but when they see one on the road or in magazines the memory brings them to 25 years ago
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also happen to like the GN...even if in stock form the Omega Lotus is much more of a performer.

 

in case you would be curious to find if one was ever raced

skip the first part with music and go straight to 20 seconds ....
it leaves tyres marks everywhere

 

"sleeper monster" gives the idea

i spoke with an owner that had a road one with similar power...not big mods to extract 500hp from it

 

i think this was a proto or preproduction car
you can spot different wheels, fog lights and minor details
i think it looked very GOOD!