2010 Lotus Evora

May 12, 3:04 PMBaltimore Sports Car ExaminerDamien Bridges

Lotus has come out with a new model for 2010. It’s called the Evora. The Evora is a 2+2 coupe. The back seat is only for small adults and children. According to Lotus the rear seat can accommodate a 5ft tall adult weighing about 120 lbs. The Evora is bigger than Lotuses’ other models the Elise and Elise derived Exige. To be exact the Evora is 21.9 inches longer and has a 10.9 inch wider wheel base than the Elise. This puts the Evora’s dimensions inline with a Porsche 911.

The addition of a back seat has not dulled the distinctly Lotus experience. The top notch Lotus steering and chassis stiffness are preserved. The new chassis is a modular one made up of three separate pieces. There is a front section, center tub and a rear section. These three sections are bolted and bonded together to make one complete unit. The steering is hydraulically assisted as opposed to unassisted in other Lotus models. However, the legendary Lotus steering still shines through. Lotus is so detailed with their steering that they used a magnesium steering wheel. This reduces weight and thus inertia and allows the driver to feel every change in the road surface, through the thin rim flat bottom steering wheel. The weighting of the steering is spot on and provides excellent feedback.

The Evora’s chassis produces a lot grip and feels secure. Then the chassis feels light and nimble when attacking twisty roads. It has that special mid engine car feel with excellent steering. Compare it to an Acura NSX. Only the Evora has a lot better steering. Braking is impressive as well. The Evora wears Porsche 911 bettering 13.8 inch brakes up front. The brakes have immediate bite and are linear in nature giving the driver a lot of confidence.

The same as the Elise the engine is sourced from Toyota. This time it’s Toyota’s 2GR-FE VVt-i V-6. The engine is responsive and has a nice mid-range induction sound. In fact, Lotus routes a tube into the cabin from the intake to enhance the noise. The engine makes 276 bhp at 6400 rpm and 258 lb. ft. of torque at 4700 rpm. Lotus claims the 3026 lb. Evora will hit 60 mph in 4.9 seconds; 100 mph comes in 12.3 seconds before topping out at 162 mph. The Toyota engine exhaust note is a little subdued on the European version that was tested as of this writing. However, the U.S. version is slated to get a louder exhaust system. The engine does yield a 30 mpg highway rating, which is nice.

The Evora will cost around $75,000 dollars when it hits these shores in early 2010. This puts it in Porsche 911, Porsche Cayman S and BMW M3 territory. That is pretty tough competition, although the Evora will only be sold here in supercar like numbers which will give it exclusivity. That means you will probably be the only one in your county with one.

For more info: Lotus website