Wednesday 15th June 2011

Driven: Lotus Evora IPS

Two pedals on a Lotus? Surely that's some kind of heresy...

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The last time Lotus offered an automatic transmission was on the Excel in the mid-80s. Now we have the Evora IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) to satisfy all those American and Far-Eastern buyers who are licensed only for a two-pedal car. Lotus reckons this option could double Evora sales, which would be useful as just a couple of thousand have been built so far.

Initially IPS is available on the naturally aspirated 276bhp Evora, though there's clearly potential to move it onto the 345bhp Evora S sometime in the future - the transmission has the necessary 400NM (295lb ft) capability. That's something Lotus needs to address, because many Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

The engineering of the IPS was more straightforward than the manual car, which needed the gearbox from an Avensis diesel mated to the Toyota V6. Here the engine and six-speed automatic 'box have already been designed in heaven for each other, though Lotus provides its own calibration to the Italian EFI software. Lotus has also developed shift-by-wire for the floor-mounted lever and paddle shift.

You've three driving options, Drive, Sport and paddles, each with its own distinct characteristics. Least satisfactory is Drive. It's designed to maximise mpg and CO2 figures, with the result that the transmission does its best to keep the revs below 2000rpm. In principle there's nothing too much wrong with that - there's kickdown when you need it from the throttle and the paddles will move you into manual mode for 10 seconds to provide the necessary punch.

The real issue is the drone from the exhaust at those low revs. Stick this Evora on a coarse road surface and the combination of exhaust and tyre noise is quite unpleasant.

Sport mode keeps the revs higher, brings in a sweeter engine note and simply transforms the driving experience. There's a decent blip on the throttle on downshifts and an eagerness to hold onto the revs right around the clock. It can feel a touch clunky at low road speeds, but it's perfectly easy to live with.

Find the right and suitably empty Norfolk road - and goodness what a lot of cars there seem to be in this right-hand edge of England - with sweeping, open bends and good sight lines and, well, you're in a Lotus doing what a Lotus does best.

The steering is so very precise that pin-sharp apexing is as easy as in an Elise. The suspension compliance is such that bumps are shrugged off mid-corner as if they weren't there. Slip into paddle-shift mode, as it's almost impossible not to, and there's all the involvement you might ask for, albeit in a parallel universe to a manual-shift Evora.

You have probably worked out that the Lotus Evora IPS has been born of convenience; in a market that favours twin clutches and robotised manual gearboxes, expedience and cost means Lotus has had to go down the torque converter route.

The arrival of a two-pedal option means the company can explore a wider market with the Evora, and Hethel has done a fair job of making a self-shifting Lotus, especially considering the financial and technological constraints placed on its development. But this Lotus is still some distance from becoming a proper grand tourer.

[Boggy]

Heard some great things about this Car time to test drive it!

Boggy

[DaveR]

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

[Rawwr]

Article said:

Lotus reckons this option could double Evora sales

Coo, they're hoping to sell 6 next year?

[spad78]

YAWN - shame that Lotus is reduced to targeting fat yanks who can't drive stick. Haven't had a go in the Evora but following the development it looked like a decent car, whats happened with the flat sales?

[300bhp/ton]

DaveR said:

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

Oddly the displacement doesn't actually have any direct bearing on if it's a small or big block.

[RobCrezz]

DaveR said:

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

I think that's the size of the block, not the cubic capacity. I think you could get 5.7L "big block" also.

[300bhp/ton]

Anyone know how (if at all) the performance of the Evora is affected with the IPS? Any stats (0-60mph, 0-100mph, 1/4 mile ET & trap, top speed)?

[kambites]

spad78 said:

YAWN - shame that Lotus is reduced to targeting fat yanks who can't drive stick. Haven't had a go in the Evora but following the development it looked like a decent car, whats happened with the flat sales?

It doesn't have a Porsche badge, that's what happened.

[tridave]

DaveR said:

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

They also call Mcdonalds a restaurant, 300bhp requirement must be the minimum to haul there fat arses around at speed

[DaveR]

tridave said:

DaveR said:

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

They also call Mcdonalds a restaurant

That's effectively what I was trying to say - you just made a better job of it!

300bhp from 3 litres might be fairly sporty. 300bhp from a massive lump isn't.

[bikemonster]

Article said:

But the though this Lotus is still some distance from becoming a proper grand tourer.

Means exactly which what?

[kambites]

DaveR said:

300bhp from 3 litres might be fairly sporty. 300bhp from a massive lump isn't.

I can see that the size (and weight) of the car matters, but why is a 1000kg car with a 300bhp 6 litre V8 inherently less sporty than the same car with a 300bhp car with a 3 litre V6?

[300bhp/ton]

spad78 said:

YAWN - shame that Lotus is reduced to targeting fat yanks who can't drive stick. Haven't had a go in the Evora but following the development it looked like a decent car, whats happened with the flat sales?

I think that might be the issue. They DO need to target world markets though, the UK is tiny even if it is Lotus's current biggest market.

So I think an auto of some description is a sensible offering. But don't confuse things with stereotyping American enthusiasts. Most of the top level American performance cars are not offered with auto's, Mustang Cobra's and z06 Vettes for instance.

As for the sales - easy! It's price.

Lotus while never a budget car was affordable and attainable, hence the success of the Elan M100 and Elise. Lots of people could buy and run them. The Esprit despite its long production run sold in relatively low numbers, esp towards the end.

The Evora is a darn good car, but £60k is a lot of money. For example a 340hp Z4 is £45k which maybe isn't as supercar looking as the Evora still hugely out performs it for a fair chunk of money less.

This means for someone to buy an Evora you need to critical things:

-A real WANT to buy an Evora
-Enough money

There are probably lots in the WANT camp, many current Elise owners maybe. But the price difference is huge. Today's Elise owners probably aren't tomorrows Evora owners, or at least a large percentage of them aren't - error 1

Enough money. There are lots of people with the money. But at this price level it opens up a huge array of options. And if a person isn't in the WANT camp, then the Evora probably doesn't even get a mention, let alone considered.


BTW - look what happened to TVR when they also moved to this level of pricing (and arguably Marcos too).

[McSam]

kambites said:

I can see that the size (and weight) of the car matters, but why is a 1000kg car with a 300bhp 6 litre V8 inherently less sporty than the same car with a 300bhp car with a 3 litre V6?

Drive two cars like that back to back and you will answer your own question, surely?

You'd have one great big lazy low-revving torque-laden engine making a heavy-nosed car, or a much more compact and lighter revvy and responsive high-end unit. Think I know what I'd take it my sports car, same power figures or not!

300 might disagree with me, but hey

[kambites]

McSam said:

You'd have one great big lazy low-revving torque-laden engine making a heavy-nosed car, or a much more compact and lighter revvy and responsive high-end unit. Think I know what I'd take it my sports car, same power figures or not!

Ah now you're talking about the weight of the engines, not their capacity. There are plenty of big engines that are lighter than plenty of small engines - I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 5.7 small block mentioned earlier is lighter than this V6.

Big doesn't necessarily mean low-revving either. They may tend to go together, but they certainly don't have to.


To my mind, engine capacity is utterly irrelevant to everything. Sure, other characteristics of the engine matter, but capacity does not. Especially in these days in which forced induction is so common.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 15th June 10:50

[RobM77]

Is the auto option something to do with keeping emissions down for Lotus cars as a whole, thus satisfying impending Euro legislation, or perhaps tax brackets in other countries? As we all know, autos get to choose their own gears in the standard EU mpg tests, whereas manuals are limited, therefore the same car/engine combination records an official mpg figure that's a lot better with an auto, even though in the real world it's the same if not worse.

[Hoygo]

DaveR said:

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

Americans also are the only in the world to get 170-200 bhp from a 5.0 V8 engine.

[kambites]

Hoygo said:

Americans also are the only in the world to get 170-200 bhp from a 5.0 V8 engine.

As opposed to the fantastic 137bhp that Rover got from their 3.5 V8 in the MGB?

[RobM77]

Hoygo said:

DaveR said:

Article said:

Americans don't consider anything with less than 300bhp a 'proper sports car'.

Americans also consider that 5.7L is a 'small block'.

Americans also are the only in the world to get 170-200 bhp from a 5.0 V8 engine.

You wouldn't want more power than that going to your leaf springs and live axle though, especially with a complete lack of damping and a design drafted using the imperial system

[300bhp/ton]

DaveR said:

That's effectively what I was trying to say - you just made a better job of it!

300bhp from 3 litres might be fairly sporty. 300bhp from a massive lump isn't.

Depends what it's in though. Also 300hp from an unstressed motor will likely to 200,000-250,000 miles on nothing but oil and filter changes.