Horse Powertrain's First V8 Makes 670 HP and Will Power Lotus's First Supercar
The 4.0-liter twin-turbo W40 weighs 441 pounds and pairs with a new eight-speed hybrid gearbox. Lotus says the Type 135 will top 1,000 PS in 2028.
Horse Powertrain, the engine and hybrid supplier owned by Renault Group and Geely (45 percent each) and Saudi Aramco (10 percent), has revealed its first V8. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo HORSE W40 makes more than 670 hp (500 kW), weighs 441 pounds (200 kg), and goes first into the Lotus Type 135, which Lotus calls its first-ever supercar.
It is also the first production-ready V8 from a company that opened a Detroit office in September with no American customers on its books. Horse lists sports cars, pickups, and off-road vehicles as the engine's target applications.
An engine designed around a hybrid gearbox
The W40 is built for longitudinal mounting, with both turbochargers sitting on top between the cylinder banks in a "hot-V" arrangement. Peak torque is 800 Nm (590 lb-ft). Horse credits direct injection, extensive weight-saving work, and a short intake path to the turbos for the numbers.
By the company's own figures, that works out to roughly 1.5 hp per pound of engine, and Horse describes the W40 as one of the most power-dense V8s on the market. It hasn't published a redline, compression ratio, or emissions data.
Horse calls the W40 "hybrid-first": it was engineered from the start to bolt to a new transmission, the HORSE 8LDCT. That is an eight-speed wet dual-clutch unit with its hybrid hardware built in, including silicon-carbide power electronics and a variable-displacement mechanical pump. Horse quotes a clutch pre-fill time under 50 milliseconds and shift response under 20 milliseconds.
The gearbox accepts up to 1,050 Nm (774 lb-ft) of input torque. That is 250 Nm more than the V8 produces alone, a margin that matters once electric torque is stacked on top.
What it means for the Type 135
Horse's announcement doesn't give the car's total output, but Lotus already has. Its Focus 2030 plan, published in May, schedules the Type 135 for 2028 with a V8 hybrid powertrain rated at more than 1,000 PS (986 hp), and says the car is expected to be built in Europe.
That would put it above the 907-hp Lamborghini Temerario and the 819-hp Ferrari 296 GTB, the benchmarks we laid out when McLaren confirmed its 809-hp McL 820. The closest engineering parallel is another 4.0-liter twin-turbo hybrid V8: Toyota's GR GT, whose combined target is at least 641 hp. The Horse engine claims more than that before any electric help.
It is also a homecoming. Lotus hasn't built a V8 car since February 2004, when the final Esprit, a US-market car with the company's own 350-hp 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8, left the line at Hethel.
Whether the name comes back is another matter. Autocar has reported that the production Type 135 will revive the Esprit badge and later add a V6 hybrid version. Lotus hasn't confirmed either.
"By bringing these technologies together with Lotus' expertise in lightweight engineering and chassis dynamics, we aim to deliver a new generation of supercar performance, combining outstanding power, efficiency, and the precise, engaging driving experience that defines Lotus," Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng said.
What we don't know yet
Neither company has said whether the Type 135 will be sold in the US, or at what price. Focus 2030 says Lotus's North American strategy is anchored in sports cars, and for now the Emira is its only new model for American buyers.
Horse hasn't named a second customer for the W40. Its pickup and off-road pitch, though, reads like an invitation to the Detroit automakers it is now courting.
