 |
| Lotus Evora S |
With a great racing history with legendary cars and drivers to a series of owners that included, among others, General Motors, Lotus, both as a car constructor, and an engineering firm, has propped itself for hopeful success with these two cars. We first saw the two Evoras at the Paris Auto Salon last September, so when Lotus called to “see if we would like…” we said yes before they even finished their first sentence.
Leftlane was stoked to be able to sample Lotus’ latest at one of our favorite tracks, Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
 |
| Lotus Evora S |
The roots
The Lotus Evora and Evora S are the world’s only two-seat or two-plus-two configured mid-engined sports cars. Making them additionally unique is the fact that power is supplied by Toyota’s 3.5-liter V6 (Yes, Toyota). Available in naturally aspirated, and huffed (supercharged) versions, the Evora is one of the best-sorted sports cars that we have driven regardless of powertrain. We were surprised at the scope of expertise found in this pair. With parts from some of the best and brightest in the industry, it runs in rare air indeed.
The Evora is not the first Lotus car to pull motive power from a Toyota parts bin. The Exige and Elise both use versions of the 1.8-liter in-line four-cylinder engine, and have done that for years. The Evora follows this tact, by pilfering the 3.5–liter V6 engine that would normally be found in your mother’s Toyota Camry or grandma’s Lexus ES 350. According to Lotus engineers, they also lifted the transmission from the European Lexus IS 200 diesel, a car that is not available here.
Lotus’ Kevin Smith describes the typical Evora buyer as one with several other vehicles in the stable, so the Evora or Evora S would typically round out that a garage as a weekend getaway cruiser or track day star – or maybe a little of both.
Smith continues by saying the competitive set for this Lotus pair is comprised of the Porsche Cayman R & S and 911 Carrera, Audi TT RS, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and Nissan GT-R, the $90,000-maximum Evora almost feels like a bargain.
Looks are everything
The Evora carries design cues that hearken to such brands as Ferrari and Ford with its GT40. Some may even say it looks like a Tesla (!), but since the hard truth is that Lotus builds the rolling chassis for Tesla, that finger should be pointed the other way.
Starting with a massive air intake under the bumper that appears as though inspired by the Ferrari 360 Modena and the 599, we continue up the flanks and over the very elegant headlamp housings. From there, vents in the in the hood area release trapped air to aid with downforce, while intakes further back on the Evora’s shoulders help to assist in cooling the mid-engine powerplant.
In profile, the car looks decidedly Scandinavian, as though it possibly came from a Swedish design studio. An aggressive front splitter, rear wing, under–bumper diffuser, and flat undertray finish off this latest vehicle from the legendary British–by–way–of–Malaysia car company.
Insider information
The Evora and Evora S feature a tight cocoon-like cockpit that is as refined as it is simple. Starting with its leather-wrapped, magnesium-formed, flat-bottomed steering wheel, it is clear this is a driver’s car. Our test cars were fitted with leather throughout including leather-shod Recaro sport bucket seats. Soft-touch materials were everywhere and actually served to class up the joint nicely. Leather covered the top of the dashboard including the gauge binnacle, which we found surprisingly simple in its layout. An LCD panel lists odometer and mileage settings, as well as fuel levels on the left, while a tachometer and speedometer are placed in the center. Finally, a matching LCD panel is on the right with water temperature, tire pressure monitoring and open door diagrams.
Below the gauges are a series of push buttons, which operate everything from gauge brightness, to door locks, to our favorite, the Sport button, which changes the dynamic stability control, resulting in, according to Lotus, “a total experience change.” Additionally, the sport button holds gears longer, raises the redline from 6,800 to 7,200 rpm and opens the exhaust bypass valve for a more succinct sound that doesn’t hold back.
It’s a delicate ballet when entering the car. The right foot is placed into the footwell while you plant your butt into the seat. Swivel in and pull your left leg inside as well and you are good to go. The Recaro sports seats firmly hold driver and passenger in place and offer good support during a day–long journey. Using only manual adjustments for weight savings, the seats nonetheless allowed most every driver to find a comfortable seating position. Behind the front seats is the buyer’s choice of either a shelf or a pair of child–like two–plus–two seats, which have the proper anchors to accommodate a child safety seat.
An Alpine combination navigation head unit with satellite radio offers in-car entertainment, while the lower bout of the center console houses the manual climate controls and the gear shift lever resides just below it.
If the Evora and Evora S have shortcomings it would be in the area of the foot box specifically on the driver’s side, which offers no dead pedal. Exceedingly tight, it left us wanting a place to put our left foot during a respite from shifting duties.
Motor matters
When it came time for the company to build the car, they decided not to reinvent the wheel. It has been said that a piece of Lotus engineering is in 70 percent of the vehicles on the road today. So from a reliability standpoint, the firm turned to Toyota for their 3.5-liter V6 and added their own engine control unit as well as other various and sundry tweaks, which causes it, in Evora trim, to pump out 276 horsepower and 258 lb-ft. of torque at 4,700 rpm. Although not tested by the EPA yet the Evora achieved a 32.5 mpg average on the Euro cycle, while providing 0-60 times of 4.9 seconds. That’s a great performance-to-mpg ratio by any standard.
Put it in the Evora S (that’s S as in Supercharged) and it produces 345-horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 295 lb-ft of torque at 4,500. The EPA did get around to checking this one in at 17 city/26 highway miles per gallon with 0-60 time of 4.3 seconds.
Both engines feature variable valve timing with intelligence (VVTi). Even more impressive is the Evora curb weight of 3,048 lbs., while the Evora S with the added weight of the magnesium supercharger checks in with 3,168 lbs. to push around.
The six-speed gearbox from the Euro-spec diesel Lexus IS is quite solid, smooth and capable of the task of spinning the rear wheels of a 162-mph Evora or a 172 mph-capable Evora S sports car. The Evora S gets the benefit of a sport ratio gear set that is optional on the standard model.
The chassis is a lightweight, epoxy-bonded aerospace type setup with extruded and sheet aluminum structures. In the past if one of the cars should encounter a shunt, some cases would cause the entire tub to be replaced. With the new modular unit, hopefully only some of the modular parts should need refreshing. Eibach spring sets combined with Bilstein dampers and double wishbones at both ends work to keep the wheels firmly planted. The power from the engine can be reined back in by 13.8-inch cross-drilled rotors in front while 13.1 platters bring up the rear. Pirelli P-Zeros in a staggered set are standard, while an optional P-Zero Corsa tire set is available on the Evora S.
The Evora displayed a well-balanced attitude on roads around Monterey. Long sweepers with variable ratio turns at their ends saw the car delicately turning with excellent feedback and control from the Lotus tuned power steering unit. Throttle response was excellent, which amazes us since, in most cases, this is the heart of a family sedan and minivan.
Cruising from downtown San Jose to Laguna Seca Raceway showed off the Evora S’ great street manners. Twisty turns were mere kid stuff with a car that is so well tuned and balanced that it encouraged us to push harder. The steering was ultra communicative and direct, allowing the opportunity to go into a turn a touch later than usual, and the engine so responsive that it was easily available to assist in steering control as well.
The only downside to the whole package was the road noise that permeated the cockpit due to the grooved California highways. Once on smooth surfaces again, the noise was gone.
All that could be heard was the purr of the Lotus-tuned engine.
 |
| Lotus Evora S |
Lotus Cars brings a sportscar to market that truly lives up to its legendary heritage. Well balanced, sharply designed and extremely well executed, it is a livable sports car that surprises and thrills at every turn.
2011 Lotus Evora base price, $64,000.
2011 Lotus Evora S base price, $76,000.
Post Source: http://www.leftlanenews.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment