La Lotus da 300 km/h!

24 Dicembre 2015 Redazione News, Test Drive

Mixed feelings that intertwine, recede and then crash into each other in a flurry of excitement and wonder. Here is how a poet would describe the Evora 400; a series of words, apparently thrown at random which may leave free interpretation, but which in simple terms are not able to give a precise idea of the fastest and most powerful Lotus ever produced for the road.
Yes, the new Evora 400, as the name suggests wisely, unleashes 400 horsepower and promises performance worthy of a true supercar, with a top speed of 300 per hour and the classic ingredients of the typical Company based in Hethel: involvement and an exaggerated chassis under a car body of just 1400kg. I’ve said it many times: some cars only miss the word, while others are able to really communicate and convey not only the sensations of driving in order to make the most out of the potential of the car itself, but they manage to get into a sort of symbiosis with the driver, creating a relationship of mutual dependence, both in terms of primordial desire to never go down and drive like maniac, both made of trust and constant need to get to that human/machine limit and pinch it, trying to move it always a bit ‘over. The Evora 400 represents an important step for Lotus and does not want to be relegated being a car for the weekends: it aims high, targeting the sports car par excellence, the Porsche 911. And so, for the avoidance of doubt, I went at Gino SPA, that by June is also official distributor for Lotus in Italy, and I collected this unique 2+2 for an entire day, testing it in every possible situation, in the name of science, in search of the verdict of one of the most anticipated sports cars of 2015.
It’s Friday morning and the alarm rings early, but it’s one of those days where you hadn’t slept the night before and where you fell asleep thinking of what to expect, making assumptions about how the car will be tested and where to take it, trying to optimize the time available, so as to give way to a photo shoot worthy of doing justice to a key car for the British brand. A small coupe that despite the nice and smiling muzzle (it seems coming out from the Pixar movie “Cars”) has absolutely no intention to joke, but pretends to be taken seriously, ready to club and put in line giants that have monopolized the market and the hearts of fans. Arrived at the Gino showroom in Cuneo in the early morning and after signing the usual papers, I am greeted by a pleasant and extremely helpful team, and so I’m getting ready for one of the most difficult parts of a test at the wheel of a Lotus: the descent in the cockpit . Not this time! The Evora, you know it well, is low and the small, but the access is easy, you do not step over any extreme tub and so I can slip into the beautiful cabin without breaking a couple of vertebrae. You might ask – “Is this guy drunk?”, reminding me that every Lotus is a proper Lotus, because so harsh and without any kind of comfort. No, I mean: the interior of the tested model is fully finished in Alcantara (expensive but wonderful option) and especally has a good old 6-speed manual gearbox. That’s the second smile of the day (the first, as soon as I saw it, with its orange that is very “Look at me, look at me!”) that peeps on my face, mixing all the ideas I had formed in my head, imagining that I would have the automatic version in my hands. Jacket and bag on the passenger seat and key in the dash, then I press the ignition button and nothing happens. Some dreadful moments go by, starting to think at all the possible ways for ignite the engine, but nothing: thankfully my friend Oscar comes to the rescue reminding me of the small “timer” you need to press if you take it easy from opening the car until the moment you want to start the engine. Accomplished this grotesque obstacle, I push that suffered button and I immediately open the exhaust valves, so the roar of the 3.5 invades the cabin. Advice # 1: constantly drive with the exhaust set in this mode; you can’t miss that. The seat is comfortable, tight enough but without affecting an ideal posture, the steering wheel is perfect, the gear lever is short as the movement it can deal with, each movement is something purely mechanical, raw and requires more energy than the one you consume during some training before the Summer’s arrival. I leave the car park of the dealership and I go towards the town of Barolo, where the photographer is waiting for me. Of course I have to avoid driving to the limit, not only because this is not a press car, but because this very model has not reached the mileage suitable for a proper violent test, and so, taking advantage of a short stretch of motorway, I take the opportunity to let all the fluids and temperatures to warm up, also experimenting the sat-nav and the audio system (which I turn off immediately). You also have air conditioning in here, but a fantastic sun is rising and it allows me to drive with the windows slightly open, in order to better appreciate the fabulous sound of the supercharged V6.
You grind kilometers like driving any other car, it does not seem to sit behind the wheel of a Lotus: the comfort of the Evora has not been affected, despite the differences from the already powerful Evora S are important, and I am talking about brakes, suspension, horses that are +25 and weight: -22 kg less. On the outside, despite having disappointed someone, we find sharp bumpers, a lot of air vents and a different color scheme that plays between the “metallic orange ” and the glossy black roof and plastic panels. The wheels, 19″ at front and 20″ in the back, fits summer tires (thank goodness) and conceal the powerful AP Racing brakes, ready to be called into question as soon as you decide to blast on the throttle. Everyone looks at it, point at it, wondering which car it is and when you stop for a moment, come to ask tons of questions “What is it? Is it new? What’s the top speed?”; you entertain a few minutes, let them taking a few pictures and back at the wheel, arriving finally in Barolo at the Cantina “Marchesi di Barolo” where the photo shoot begins. But the Evora 400 is not a car that wants to sit still and is ready to put the cards on the table, so we go finding some curvy roads deep inside the “Langhe” hills, in search of the “X-factor” needed to establish the validity of a connection to Her Majesty 911. I put in Sport mode, then in Race, as the traction control system is extremely invasive and takes out the power with the delicacy of Mike Tyson; a small contradiction with the light of the valves system that goes off but remains open (the opposite of what you should see in normal mode) and then we’re ready to play. The gas pedal is great, with a very long run and near the brake so that heel-toe is facilitated, useful in order to keep the engine revved. In first and second gear it presses you to the seat and screams like crazy, you upshift and progression is constant, but floor the accelerator when you are riding quiet in fourth or fifth gear and nothing will happen. It wants to be spanked as it should be, practically asking you to be squeezed, this or nothing we could say, and I do not let it saying that twice. The road is free (and closed) and the asphalt is a bit slippery, the rear wheels struggling for grip, having to handle that 409Nm of torque as you were skiing, a bit to the right and a bit’ to the left, until they bite enough to make you shoot the next gear and restart this game once again. Then you slow down and smile, just like when you walk into a tunnel and fall in love with its sound as soon as you get closer to 6000 rpm: this is pretty amazing. Music in its purest form.
Flat and always glued to the ground, it behaves differently from the various Elise and Exige, especially in a non existing understeer. Driving it, you realize you are on a different kind of sports car, but you would never think to be in a Lotus: the sound is different, the overall feelings allow you to communicate with the road and with every power inputs, but not in a brutal way as in an Exige Cup. There’s more filter here, more maturity, it’s not just a sports car, but a sort of supercar. At times, it made me think that if the first R8 V8 would have been rear-wheel drive and a few pounds less, that would be like this: comfortable, even driving in the countryside, performing and with a fuel consumption far from being prohibitive. Ok, let’s say something about fuel consumption, it is time to give it a little ‘of petrol, but not too much, as if to follow the philosophy of “less is more”. And so, after fighting with the fuel tank cap, I park the Evora in the restaurant parking for having lunch. Again, I do not have time to turn off the engine that a group of young people, followed by a group of “older people”, peep around the shiny Lotus and look at it as if it were a spaceship, just landed. After all, I do not think that a 400-horsepower Lotus, running up and down the Langhe is an everyday situation. I eat in a hurry, because I have too much desire to come back on board, to understand more and more from this beautiful small supercar, but in fact I have already assimilated the emotions I was looking for and I have, perhaps unwittingly, understand if and how much I like this new and powerful Evora.
Seats are 2+2, but forget to take on board any rear occupants, unless they leave home their legs. Yeah, we can call it a luggage compartment, much more spacious than the one located behind the engine. And then, let’s face it, it would only be extra weight! In return, the two front seats are comfortable and spacious and as said, climbing up and down is absolutely not a problem. That’s where the Evora excels: it can be used all year round and in any situation, as long as you let it sing, because in any case it is a Lotus and therefore is made to entertain. The price is challenging: it starts at € 100,000, that between an option and the other takes a moment to rise to considerable figures, but if you want a Lotus that is not afraid of the city, of roads in non perfect conditions, and that above all, would give the best on track, without needing any extra horses, this is the car for you. Choose a flashy color, like this metallic orange, and put it in the garage, and down the streets, for the entire year. Having been able to choose, I would have asked for the manual gearbox, just like the one I’ve been lucky enough to test: the clutch pedal is light, but above all, precise. The movement of your legs and hands have to be fast, to avoid losing valuable tenths, but your driving involvement will gain a lot, especially while climbing winding roads such as those of today’s drive. And then it does not matter if some of the details could be upgradeable, such as some plastics on the dashboard, the sat-nav, the handbrake lever and the plastic side air intakes; it’s a Lotus and thus maintains that feeling of “handmade” that nowadays is rare like the water in the desert. This car is alive, it breathes, it asks you to press down that seemingly endless accelerator pedal, crossing that seemingly endless tachometer. And then, the big question “is it better than a 911?” What do we answer? We can say that they are two different cars and that there is a significant difference, not only in terms of handling, but also of components. We can say that the Evora has that supercar’s look (it seems a little McLaren MP4-12C) at which is impossible to resist. We can go on saying so many things, but if I had to pick one, between this and a normal 911, I would opt for the Evora 400, because it is the top of the Lotus philosophy and engineering, able to give its best in every situation. A sort of Ace of hearts that wins on a King of Clubs. Porsche has its aces called Turbo, Turbo S, GT3, GT3 RS, but they cost a lot more and so it would be another story. …and then, there’s the Cayman GT4…

Thanks to GINO S.P.A. for giving us the car and especially to Alessandro Gino, Oskar Tedesco, Desiree Marino and Cinzia Bechis.

LOTUS EVORA 400 (2015-)

Layout – mid-rear engine, rear wheel drive

Engine – V6 cylinder 3.456cc – supercharged

Transmission – 6-speed automatic gearbox

Power – 400 hp @ 7000 rpm

409 Nm @ 3500-6500 rpm

Weight – 1415 kg

Acceleration – 4,2 sec.

Top Speed – 300 kph

Price – from 100.000 €

Words by Alessandro Marrone