"The factory GT1 Lotus Racing team (run by Fabien Giroixs-First Racing )would be the only ones to opt for the Chevrolet V8 instead of the Lotus 3.5 V8 turbo unit." The other privateer teams (GBF UK and Martin Veyhle Racing) stayed with the 3.5 turbo V8. These 3 teams got the 7 chassis that were built.
The flat plane LT5 was eventually replaced by Dodge V-10's in the Elise. Talk about a step----down. The V-10 couldn't match the lackluster performance of the Chevrolet LT5 V8 or the even worse Lotus 3.5 turbo engine. While the Lotus developed LT5 was a good engine, it was competing against race bred engines and apparently did have the top end power that other pure race engines were delivering.
Here are some LT5 pics the Lotus Elise GT1.(at least I think they are LT5 derivatives. Its tough to decipher as the 3.5 Lotus was a V8 as well, though it was turbocharged
