Evolution, Vogue, auRA. Evora. That’s the etymology of the first new Lotus since 1995, when the delicious Elise came to market. Staying true to the tradition of the Norfolk-based company, Evora designers obviously chose a name that starts with an "E" (as in Elite, Elan, Europa, Esprit, Exige and Eleven, the original E-named Lotus).
Still going against any form of mass production, the ultra-British brand, which is now owned by the Proton Group of Malaysia, stays the course by introducing the heir to the Lotus Esprit, a high-performance GT car built from 1976 to 2000.
We recently got a close look at the new Evora at John Scotti, official Lotus retailer in Quebec, alongside Jim Carter, the brand’s regional director for Eastern North America. "The Evora will hit the market in the first quarter of 2010," he said. "We plan on delivering a thousand units annually across the continent, including 150 in Canada."
Bernard Durand from John Scotti confirmed that 10 pre-orders have already been received.
Family genes
Next to a couple of flashy Elises and Exiges, the Evora is instantly identified as a Lotus, with the same overall looks, curvy silhouette, truncated rear, almond-shaped headlights, wide stance and smiling mesh grille as the rest of the family.
Okay, the DNA is identical, but the car is actually a few centimetres larger in every dimension so as to offer more interior room than the Elise (the Evora is a 2+2) and accommodate the Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 right behind the passenger quarters. Said V6 is an all-aluminum, DOHC unit with variable valve timing which teams up with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
In this application, output is rated at 276 horsepower at 6,400 rpm, allowing 0-100 accelerations in 5.1 seconds, or so claims the automaker (the top rival of the Evora, the Porsche Cayman S, takes 5.4 seconds). We’ll have to wait and see for ourselves because the Evora and Cayman S roughly boast the same weight (1,350 kg), with the latter producing 20 additional horsepower.
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| We recently got a close look at the new Evora at John Scotti, official Lotus retailer in Quebec. |
Still going against any form of mass production, the ultra-British brand, which is now owned by the Proton Group of Malaysia, stays the course by introducing the heir to the Lotus Esprit, a high-performance GT car built from 1976 to 2000.
We recently got a close look at the new Evora at John Scotti, official Lotus retailer in Quebec, alongside Jim Carter, the brand’s regional director for Eastern North America. "The Evora will hit the market in the first quarter of 2010," he said. "We plan on delivering a thousand units annually across the continent, including 150 in Canada."
Bernard Durand from John Scotti confirmed that 10 pre-orders have already been received.
Family genes
Next to a couple of flashy Elises and Exiges, the Evora is instantly identified as a Lotus, with the same overall looks, curvy silhouette, truncated rear, almond-shaped headlights, wide stance and smiling mesh grille as the rest of the family.
Okay, the DNA is identical, but the car is actually a few centimetres larger in every dimension so as to offer more interior room than the Elise (the Evora is a 2+2) and accommodate the Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 right behind the passenger quarters. Said V6 is an all-aluminum, DOHC unit with variable valve timing which teams up with a 6-speed manual gearbox.
In this application, output is rated at 276 horsepower at 6,400 rpm, allowing 0-100 accelerations in 5.1 seconds, or so claims the automaker (the top rival of the Evora, the Porsche Cayman S, takes 5.4 seconds). We’ll have to wait and see for ourselves because the Evora and Cayman S roughly boast the same weight (1,350 kg), with the latter producing 20 additional horsepower.
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| In this application, output is rated at 276 horsepower at 6,400 rpm. |