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Supasse V borrows Lotus strategy

Suzusho will show its new Supasse V off at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Wayne Cunningham Managing Editor / Roadshow
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
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Suzusho Supasse V
The Supasse V uses a Mazda-sourced engine, and will be at the Tokyo Motor Show. Suzusho


Lotus has few competitors, but Suzusho, a Japanese specialty carmaker, announced a car for the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show that looks like it could give the Elise S a good run. Mid-engined and weighing only 1,875 pounds, the Supasse V takes a page from the Lotus strategy book, but it remains to be seen if Suzusho can match Lotus engineering expertise for handling.

The Supasse V uses a fiberglass body and aluminum frame, explaining the low-weight figure, and takes the engine from the Mazdaspeed 3, similar to how Lotus uses engines sourced from Toyota. The turbocharged 2.3-liter four cylinder engine puts out 270 horsepower, which puts the power-to-weight ratio at 1 to 6.9.

Suzusho Supasse V
Suzusho

No interior pictures have emerged, so we don't know what kind of cabin tech you can expect, but these types of cars are usually pretty stripped down. Of course, as the car will only be sold in gadget-loving Japan, it might use technologies we've never seen before.

(Source: WorldCarFans.com)