Lotus Evora GT430 Sport

Like the idea of a faster Evora but don't need all the track aero? The GT430 Sport is for you!

We like Lotuses at PH, don't we? Driver focused, involving and exciting sports cars that reward on road and track, they're really refreshing in an automotive world dominated by less interesting things. And Hethel just keeps coming back with more stuff...

Cor!

In July we had the Evora GT430, a car that attracted 228 mostly positive comments on PH and an average PH o'meter rating of 8.76 after 114 votes. It was received rather well, put it that way. Now there's the GT430 Sport, a less hardcore - all things being relative - version of the fastest Evora.

Spotted the difference? The wild aero kit of the regular GT430 has been ditched, lending the Sport a slightly more subdued look, a kerbweight reduction of 10kg (1,248kg dry) and less downforce (100kg at top speed, as opposed to 250kg for the GT430). Therefore the Sport is a fraction slower around the Hethel test track - 1:26.8 plays 1:25.8 - than the GT430, though this is still a very rapid car: Lotus claims 0-100mph in less than eight seconds, and 196mph flat out, giving it the highest top speed of any Lotus production car.

Much of the GT430 package has been carried over to the Sport: Ohlins TTX adjustable dampers, AP Racing brake calipers, a Torsen limited-slip diff and a 436hp version of the supercharged V6. While the Sport features the same design of forged wheel and Cup 2 tyre as the GT430, this car uses fractionally narrower versions: 235/35 R19 at the front (against 245/35 R19s) and 285/30 R20s at the back with a 9.5-inch wheel (295/30 R20s with a 10.5-inch wheel on the GT430). Interestingly an automatic gearbox has also been confirmed today for both models, though that isn't available until January. And you wouldn't unless you really had to, would you?

When can we drive it? When can we drive it? When...

Elsewhere it's as you might expect: plentiful carbon inside and out, a massive central-exit exhaust and a level of swagger we've not really seen from Lotus for a very long time. Imagine what it sounds like!

Now the £112,500 asking price for the GT430 did raise some eyebrows; the Sport does undercut that by £8,000 with an RRP of £104,500. Also the the automatic gearbox will cost £2,600 on both models, with the GT430's wider rear wheels and tyres available on the Sport for an additional £2,000. More details when we have them!