is the SS still there? I wanna see pics of it clean

 

[QUOTE=mschmidt]Here is the pic of the sign on the building... do some digging if you have the time and are that interested, I couldn't find much.


Can you get us an address for the building? To me, being an architect, the building appears to be either a distributor, a part manufacter (Probably something for interiors or performance part designer) , or a testing center. If I had an address I could find alot out about the company. As for the Lotus sign, this would support my theory and the reason their are manufacter cars there.

 

GM used to own Lotus, I don't know if the still do???

 

It is on Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If I drive by again I will get you a number... maybe a picture too if the car is there.

 

Thanks

 

i know that many auto companies contract lotus to help with suspension tuning. This is just a shot in the dark, but that may be part of the reason they have an SS.

 

Thats pretty sweet, what really got me is how narrow the car is actually. Looks swift cause its not "fat" i guess. And the rear spoiler isnt to bad after all.

 

Not to say I would'nt be extremely happy if the SS went to Lotus for suspension tuning but I find it highly unlikely, usually you hear about everyone that goes to Lotus for anything but who knows GM is sneaky sometimes and one of the biggest things the SS is selling itself on is the impressive handling.

btw, saw a Lotus Elise in bright bright yellow on the street yesterday: weirdest/coolest looking car ever.


Regardless of what happens, looks like with the SS we are going to have one hell of a winner on our hands.

-ry

 

We know that the SS has been tested and tuned both in Germany at the Nurburgring and at GM's new Milford test track, but I'd imagine using Lotus as a handling consultant couldn't hurt! IIRC Isuzu cars used to have "Handling by Lotus" badges, so we know GM has been there before... either way thats some cool info.

 

very interesting...

 

Ding Ding Ding,

we have a winner......

It's Lotus Engineering, Inc. - Powertrain.
1254 N. Main Street
Ann Arbor
MI 48104
United States
Tel: +1 734 995 2544
Fax: +1 734 995 9301
Email: sales@lotuseng.us

Found on Lotus's UK website here
http://www.grouplotus.com/eng/location.php?id=US
Notice the little logo on the upper right corner of the page

The plot thickens........

Here's the blurb of info from the website.

"Our offices based in Ann Arbor and Plymouth, Michigan, enable Lotus Engineering to offer both powertrain and vehicle engineering expertise within easy reach of its US client base.

Lotus Engineering USA specialise in providing design and development, engine/vehicle calibration services, component ageing and driveline/transmission testing in the field of automotive, marine, recreation and developing markets"

 

makes me think that that might be a performance upgraded cobalt...possibly with the hp upgrades or something and they are just doing its testing or making recommendations to chevy about it....(wishful thinking i know)

 

Wow, good find! You guys are like investigators

I wonder what are they up to !?

 

Voodoo, GREAT find!

Cool that they are testing the SS for long term use/abuse on the driveline and tranny. Good to know that the SS is in good hands before they go into production.

For all you guys waiting on the SS to start production (including myself), I think we all can agree that having Lotus look at the car before it hits the streets is def. worth the wait to get their input.

With all of the great reviews that have been made so far off of pre-production SS's anything that Lotus can bring to the table will be spectacular for the consumer.



ryan

 

sweet... way to do some diggin! I am glad I could help.

 

Yea definetly a good find! At least we know that some of the kinks already in our cobalts could be fixed. Who knows this could be adding to the delay?

 

Just out of curiosity.... has anyone called that number Voodoo posted to ask lotus why they have it? That would certainly be an odd phone call...

"Hello"
"Hello"
"I was calling in concerns to the Chevrolet Cobalt SS sitting outside your building"
"..."

lol.

 

Well d**nit i don't come on for 2 days and i miss all the excitment!!! When i saw the sign that was in front of the building i was like yep thats got to be the Lotus car company. Then when Voodoosoup posted the address i was like s**t he beat me to it cause i just started to do a search for that. I guess it makes sense as to why that car is there and I'm wondering what kind of testing or what they could be looking at to help with the cobalt that would be very interesting. I'm half tempted to call that number. I was really pulling for Bob's house of crazy kinky ****...ohh well Darn *snaps fingers*

 

So yeah, I wasn't doing anything and decided to give Lotus a call about this.

Lotus: Lotus Engineering. This is Dave speaking.
Me: Hi, my name is Ryan and I'm with Cobaltss.net. I just wanted to clarify some information that you may be able to give me on Lotus' involvement with the Cobalt SS.
Dave: (laughter for 1/2 a minute)
Dave: Well, I don't really know what to tell you. I work in the lab. Your best bet is to call back during the week. There's not much I can tell you.
Me: Oh ok, well I'm under the impression that your facility does driveline and transmisson testing?
Dave: Yeah. We also do emissions testing as well.
Me: Is that some of the testing being done on the Cobalt?
Dave: Don't really know for sure.
Me: Ok, well, thanks for your time.



Yeah, so I really doubt they can tell us anything but it was worth a try. Anyone want to call on monday morning?


-Ryan (black listed by lotus)

 

I'm going to add to your wishful thinking and hope that they are testing the staged upgrades for reliability so they can be installed with warranty full and intact.

LOL, good finds though guys, and props to Ryan for actually calling.