There are still signs of life at Lotus with the news that a faster and lighter version of the Evora will debut at Geneva. That confirms our suspicion that Lotus is on the slide from a carmaker that once frequently built new cars to the cash-strapped shell-of-a-company that resorts to rehashing old ones. These are the first major changes to the car since its launch in 2008. Ouch.
Called the Lotus Evora 400 it makes some bold promises for the brand. Some we believe more than others. For starters we believe it will be the fastest production Lotus ever (0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds) but have our doubts that it alone can treble Lotus’s volume in the next three years. Even if Lotus do hire 150 more production workers and open another production line, as promised, they might struggle to keep up with Porsche’s brilliant Cayman GTS – which unlike the Evora hasn’t been sitting around staring out the window.
The name references the 400 horsepower produced from the 3.5-litre supercharged V6. That’s an increase of 16 per cent. A larger supercharger now drives the Toyota-sourced engine with improvements to engine management, exhaust and lightened clutch mass. An automatic is available as are three different driving modes.
Lotus has changed 60 per cent of the Evora’s body – which if you’re Lotus is not dissimilar to building an entirely new car. Nose and tail are more streamlined and the changes add 30mm to the length. There’s more cooling and downforce and yet the entire package weighs 22kg less. How fast? Lotus has conducted their own testing and say the Evora 400 is six seconds quicker around the track – but that track is not the Nurburgring, and therefore how can we trust it…
Big changes to the interior provide a more comfortable cabin and one that’s easier to climb into. There’s more footwell space and the doors are lighter but carbon fibre is not as prevalent as you might expect. A saving of 10kg comes from the seats alone and the instrument cluster features sharper graphics together with better tactility for climate controls.
Will we see the Evora 400 in South Africa? Not if it has been watching the dismal sales of the Alfa 4C…
