Lotus - Geneva 2015

The revised Evora does its best to stand out surrounded by the stars of Geneva

Lotus has a small stand in Geneva, and an equally small line-up: the Elise 220 Cup and the new Evora 400. And although we'd love to tell you that the pairing was drawing the crowds five-deep, that would be an exaggeration. An unfortunate bit of positioning saw the stand right next the McLaren's, complete with bouncers and a velvet rope to limit the gawkers.

Better in the metal/GRP than initial pics suggested

Despite that, there was certainly a polite level of interest in the Evora, though. And although we're still not really sure that Lotus's claims the car is substantially new can be borne out by the reality of something that looks pretty much identical to its predecessor from 30 feet away, there's certainly lots to like about it. The new cabin is indeed far easier to get into and out of thanks to the lower and narrower sills and the interior fit and finish is vastly better than before. There's still not much headroom - wearing a helmet in here is going to feel tight even if you're only of average height - and the central touch screen for the Alpine entertainment system feels more Corsa-at-McDonald's grade than £70,000 sports car. But it's certainly a decent go given what we suspect was a very, very modest development budget.

The proof will definitely be in the driving.