Renault Test Mule?

[Henning]

I was at a country house hotel in Kent, England at the weekend and on the Sunday there was a Lotus customer drivers day (Elise, Evora, Evora S and Evora paddle shift version) for test drives. They also had a Lotus Renault F1 car there, so I performed my duty and took as many "interesting" shots as I could without the sales guy getting mad at me.
The Lotus representative said that is was the official test car from the Lotus factory. Obvioulsy it's painted in this year's livery, but it had a simplified verion of last year's nose and last year's mirrors mounted on the turning vanes so I think it might be another mish-mash of left over parts. There was definitely not much security around. Especially since there was an SLS in the carpark with a "Mercedes GP Petronas" paddock pass for this weekend's Spa Grand Prix! No idea why it was in England and not over in Spa.

Some things I noticed:

• "NP" on the pedal. Could that be Nelson Piquet? Do drivers have individual pedal setups? Is this a clue to it being last year's car.
• Tube (looks like a pitot tube) coming out from the end of hte gearbox. What is that for?
• "Fire pull" button. I didn't think F1 cars had built in extinguishers. What could this be for?
• Something is definitely missing to the left of the drivers seat. Next to where his hips would be. Any ideas what goes there?

Please enjoy the photos and let me know if you want any in higher resolution (these are 25% of the originals).

[gridwalker]

To me, that looks much earlier than last year : it is certainly 2008 spec or earlier with a load of aero bits removed and a 2009 spec rear wing for good measure ... I'm going to take a poke through a few pics to see what I can find.

EDIT :
It looks like they've artificially widened the 2007 spec front wing, as those cascades would have attached to the nose.



I suspect that the car is an R27 with the bodywork cleaned up to match the 2009 regulations, then painted up to reflect the current sponsor arrangements. The periscope exhausts are definitely not representative of the past few seasons.

Dating this to 2007 also supports NP representing Nelson Piquet, as he was their test and reserve driver that season. Each driver has their own preferences for pedal adjustment, which varies according to height and individual preference (some drivers prefer smaller pedals, etc). Maybe this was an 07 testing chassis, which was converted to a showcar when it was no longer required.

[thisisatest]

the NP could also be a different version of the sticker on the brake pedal stating NOT PASSED. as in it did not pass a non-destructive structural test?

[RB7ate9]

From the looks of it, it seems like the "show car" for Red Bull. If you look at footage of it, it's definitely got the same periscope exhausts. However, I think the RB nose is more 2009/10 spec.

I concur that it's most likely the 2008 car with different aero bits on it. You're really lucky to get so many pictures of it!

[Henning]

Thanks for the clarification guys. From what you've said an R27 does look likely. Probably why there was no security and why I could take so many photos. Not much on it is relevant now. If only I could have sat in it.

[Richard]

Great pics thank you for posting them!

I'm surprised to see the switch for wets and inters being down on the floor, its normally on the steering wheel.

I recall that they have to have a chassis number on a plate in the cockpit, can't find the regs though.

That 07/23 number probably relates to the pedal set for the year 2007? Interesting to see the rough surface on the brake, and smooth on the accelerator.

A fire extinguisher is mandatory ...

The driver must be able to trigger the extinguishing system manually when seated normally with his safety belts fastened and the steering wheel in place.

Furthermore, means of triggering from the outside must be combined with the circuit breaker switches described in Article 14.2.2. They must be marked with a letter "E" in red inside a white circle of at least 100mm diameter with a red edge.

[ESPImperium]

Do you have a larger pic of this one, or any of the chassis plate as id be able to give that cars complete competition history for you.

[thestig84]

I agree with this being based on the 2007 model. The steering wheel have a TC disable button pointing to a pre 08 traction spec car.

[HampusA]

Are you even sure this is an F1 car?

I know Lotus is selling their own F1 inspired car that looks very much like this from what i´ve seen.

It´s sort of the Ferrari syndrom where yo buy a car but Lotus keeps it.
You just let them know what racetrack in the world you want to do some laps on and they will send a full team for you.

[HampusA]

Early test car. Could have been revamped aero-wise.

[gridwalker]

HampusA, do you see where it says Exos on the rear wing end plate? That is their Track-Day production car, which doesn't even comply with F1 regulations. It isn't an early test car, so I'm wondering where you got that info.

The pic you just posted is of one of these :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EtrgQzU ... r_embedded[/youtube]

The car pictured in the original post is not the same.

For more info on the Exos, please visit http://gglotus.org/blog/2010/08/lotus-e ... -revealed/

[HampusA]

No i think you need to re-read what i wrote.
I said Lotus has created their own "F1-inspired" car. I thought that might be it.
the picture i posted IS an early test car of the Exos.

That´s why i said the aero pack might have been re-vamped.

[gridwalker]

Seeing as they are trying to make a profit from the Exos, they'd probably make sure that anyone looking at it would be aware of what it is : where's the point of displaying a car that anyone with enough cash can buy but trying to pass it off as a genuine F1 car? That would be a pretty poor marketing strategy.

Close inspection of the original photos indicates that it is a modified R27, though we'd need the chassis number to be absolutely certain.

[RB7ate9]

Seeing as they are trying to make a profit from the Exos, they'd probably make sure that anyone looking at it would be aware of what it is : where's the point of displaying a car that anyone with enough cash can buy but trying to pass it off as a genuine F1 car? That would be a pretty poor marketing strategy.

Close inspection of the original photos indicates that it is a modified R27, though we'd need the chassis number to be absolutely certain.

I'm thinking that Lotus wants to connect the Exos (or T125) with the pedigree of the Lotus Group Renault Grand Prix Racing Conglomeration Cars Not Malaysian Team Lotus. It's one thing for a company to make something that looks F1-ish, but it's different for a company to make something BASED off of their F1 tech. It's not so much passing off as an F1 car, but emulating F1 levels of sophistication to appease the cash-heavy customers that can't afford - or aren't capable of driving - a proper F1 car. Hence, the closely-copied livery from the F1 cars to the Exos.

[gridwalker]

Why are we even discussing the Exos? The pictures in the original post are clearly not of an Exos, which isn't even built by the same company (Renault F1 still being an independent business)!

The Exos was released by Group Lotus before they got involved with the Renault F1 team, whilst they were still licencing their name to Lotus Racing (soon to become Team Lotus). It was also designed and built by Group Lotus without the involvement of Lotus Racing, so they cannot claim any F1 pedigree through the team they were involved with at the time.

There is no direct connection between F1 and the Exos, as it was designed and built independently from the F1 teams carrying the Lotus name, so it really is trying to emulate F1 technology and cannot claim to be based on any of their genuine F1 efforts!

This is why I hate what Danny Bahr is doing with the Lotus brand : he is passing off Group Lotus as the genuine heirs of Chapman's legacy and cross marketing their road car arm using the achievements of independent F1 teams that owe NOTHING to Group Lotus.

This is the precise reason why I was totally against the "return" of Lotus to F1 in the first place ...