New Cars + New Gear + New Technology
First Drive
Sexy lobotomized space girls from loveless planets always wanted to say to the irresistible Captain James T. Kirk: "What is... love?" (Because it was obvious that only he knew.) I, a lowly first officer, may have an answer for those space Bettys now.
No matter the planet, love is in the atmosphere because of the new Lotus Evora. In contrast to the earlier ride in Lotus prototype "122," this full-on production Evora has a complete interior, a fully detailed engine bay with handsome engine cover, and the standard tires have switched from Yokohama to Pirelli. In general, as in the prototype, I looked immediately and always for the build quality to show the traditional downfalls: very low comfort, a spartan feeling that translates to very high cabin racket, and a sense that all the parts beyond the coveted chassis just weren't considered terribly important. Here, I am pleased on all three accounts.
The natural comparison for the Evora, the world's only 2+2 mid-engine sports car, is with the Porsche Cayman. In all honesty, as blown away as I am by the Evora, this blown awayness is certainly mostly due to the relative lack of fit and finish on all previous Lotus cars. Up to now they have all been toys and not automobiles. Bleeding wonderful toys, but also bleeding close to a skunkwork bag of bolts to be driven no more than one hour per month.
The Evora is damned good by any comparison. Porsche still outdoes Lotus on fit and finish, and Porsche solidity is perhaps the best on Earth. But in three departments the Evora teaches Porsche some lessons: steering, suspension, and cabin space.
The landscape between Glasgow in County Strathclyde and the shores of the Scottish Highlands is downright Martian. In comparison to police coverage in England, too, Scotland is almost Italian with only an occasional cop car popping up and few if any speed cameras. I had fun with my Evora and her bonnie 3,456cc transverse mounted V6 over 250 miles of this wide open stuff. There was every type of weather blowing through, too, but it turned out the Evora and her Pirelli P Zeros didn't require much slowing up; the stability and on-road feel are fantastic through the double-wishbone configuration and Bilstein dampers helped by Eibach springs calibrated to 65 N/m stiffness in front and 95 N/m rear.
What Lotus and Toyota and Aisin have accomplished with the six-speed manual dynamics are on par with the Cayman's Getrag manual, but the overall notchier action of the Aisin assembly mates well with the Evora personality. Throws are just the right length as well, and all the test cars present had the optional Sport gearing with shorter ratios for third through sixth gears. As Roger Becker, tech boss on Evora, tells me, "Top speed is only a number." And I agree wholeheartedly when talking of nimble little bastards like a lotus. This is the first time this Toyota V6 has been mated to a manual transmission and AP Driveline has done a great job on the flywheel and single-plate clutch redesign. Drivetrain noise in the cabin is no greater than that in a Cayman or Cayman S.
Matt Becker, son of Roger, was in charge of the car's dynamics, and the lad deserves an academy award. The dampers and springs have been dialed in to an all-around pleasing balance not yet felt from any other manufacturer's default setup. Becker the Younger states, "When we started the process with Bilstein, these dampers had only twelve possible fluid bypass shims. By the end we had together designed and tested a total of sixty." This damping combined with the new lighter-weight forged aluminum double-wishbone arms keeps the ride and handling right in line with what I envision in my head as I rocket along through the heather.