Lotus Evora 400: even lighter, even dearer

Just add lightness, says Lotus, if you can afford it

Because it weighs less than 1,400kg, Lotus insists the Evora 400 is a radically lightweight 2+2 sportscar. Well, 1,395kg is admirable for a 400hp machine, but a Porsche 911 Carrera S is only 45kg heavier and that has 420hp. As Jean-Marc Gales seems to have inherited Colin Chapman's mantra about light being right, this minuscule weight advantage clearly isn't good enough. So you can now optionally take out yet more mass from your Evora 400. If you can afford it.

The fanciest weight-saving feature is a new carbon pack, which at least gives Evora 400 owners a bit of visual differentiation for their £6,500 spend. Admittedly hand-made, it includes a carbon fibre front splitter and access panel, roof panel, rear wing centre, rear diffuser and door mirror caps. Presumably the carbon roof lowers the centre of mass a teeny bit; carbon door mirrors could see suburban roads littered with carbon shards, F1-like, when you thwack them against a parked car.

Total weight saving: 5kg. That's £1,300 per kg saved. Ouch. A far better return for your money comes from optioning the titanium sports exhaust system (£5,500) and the lithium ion battery (£1,350. We repeat, £1,350). They in total each save 10kg, which works out at a far better value £550 per kg for the exhaust and a bargain £135 per kg for the battery (it's a £1,350 bargain. We repeat, a £1,350 bargain).

"We are now giving customers an opportunity to drive an even lighter and more responsive car," says Gales: and if you want the ultimate in lightness and responsiveness, Lotus will allow you to delete the air conditioning and 2+2 rear seats. Generously, it'll even allow you to do this for free. In ultimate skinny guise, the Evora kerbwight drops to just 1,353kg, pretty skinny indeed for such a potent car.

Best not spoil it at the coffee shop, then: because Lotus engineers have even crafted a neat ultra-lightweight optional cupholder and oddments tray to sit between the front seats. Yes, it's been weighed: just 120g, "and demonstrates perfectly how Lotus will bend to market demands whilst at the same time ensuring it core values of lightweight and purity are maintained". Skinny lattes all round!