Thursday 19th October 2017

Lotus Evora GT430: Driven

The most expensive Lotus has landed. And it lives up to its billing

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Lighter, faster, more aerodynamic, better handling, better built: stock phrases (and good ones) that you could apply to any new Lotus variant created over the past three years under the watch of company boss Jean-Marc Gales. And true they are again of this, the new Lotus Evora GT430. With it, we reach something of a watershed moment: the £100k Lotus. Or rather £112,500 to be exact. Yes, a 3-Eleven will cost you six figures too, but that's a race car with number plates - the 430 is a rather different animal.

Not that Lotus thinks it'll have any trouble selling the last few it's got left. It started life as a production run of 30, which soon became 60 off the back of demand. That 60 then spawned another 60 of a 'Sport' version (effectively the same car without the aero package). The US is interested too, so once this production run is done, there will be 60 federalised versions of each flavour heading stateside.

The name is the giveaway to what's new about the GT430 and the purpose behind it. The GT part is borrowed from the Evora GT4 - the racing variant which shares as much with the latest model as the Sport 410 directly below it in the Evora pecking order. It is the race car which donates its suspension system, comprising lightweight Eibach springs and manually adjustable Ohlins dampers. Also taken from the GT4 is the adjustable traction control system, and the inspiration for a whole new aero package, which creates some 250kg of downforce according to Lotus.

The 430 part of the car's name refers to the power output, some 20hp more than the 410's, erm, 415hp. The rear wheels drive through a six-speed manual gearbox; the one with the improved gearshift taken from the excellent Exige 380. There's an auto' version as well, although that impacts on the torque output, 0-60mph time and the top speed.

The weight saving mission Gales is now on has reached the point where he thinks it'll be a next generation car before anything meaningful can come out of an Evora again. For the record, the GT430 weighs 36kg less than the Sport 410, and the diet of salad and tap water this time has even turned to the washer fluid bottle, which is now tricked into believing its always full (thereby negating the need to keep all 7 litres onboard).

More is more
The car's wider limits are something you'll struggle to breach even when leaning against them on track, such is the GT430's level of grip. Flattering decent drivers and challenging experienced ones is how Lotus wants the Evora GT430 to be considered, and that's the way it feels. This is a car that seems quite intimidating in the press pack, yet is quite easy to get in feel confidently quick after only a couple of laps of Hethel's circuit. Maybe not Lotus chief engineer Gav Kershaw quick (who has set the lap record for a Lotus road car in the GT430) but quick enough to make the Evora feel more supercar than sports car.

You can play around with the various levels of traction control involvement to the point where you can get the car to slide, but in truth a rather inflated pair of cajones are needed to hold it. Not unusually for Lotus, this is a car more about rapid changes of direction than prolonged oversteer, with a turn-in so immediate and precise you'd have to be driving a proper race car to replicate it.

It would be understandable if that extraordinary track ability made the Evora a far less usable road car as a result. Yet it's not; granted, it's firmer than it's ever been on a British B-road, but the ride is not brittle or overly wearing. The tyre roar in the cabin would be a harder thing to live with, and although as well put together as it's ever been, the cabin remains an Evora with the ergonomic and visibility foibles that can be traced back to the car's near decade-old roots.

And that powertrain, as urgent and responsive as it is with its extra power and less weight to carry, remains the Evora's greatest limiting factor when it comes to earning its place in the supercar price index. That's not to say you'll be wanting for more speed, just that its rivals (and Lotus is open about listing the likes the Porsche 911 GT3 about being a rival) all offer a greater and more invigorating brand of straight-line performance.

Will the buyers of the car care? Evidently not. Nor will they need to spend much time thinking about whether or not a Porsche 911 GT3 is a better all-rounder. But the world is undoubtedly better place with the rarefied Evora GT430 in it. In handling terms, it is one of the world's foremost models, and the fact that Lotus can sell it at a higher price, for greater profits - so that it might generate future products in turn - is just canny business sense. That's something there's not always been enough of at Lotus; if the GT430 is what results, let's hope for much more of it.

Inspired? Buy a Lotus Evora here

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LOTUS EVORA GT430
Engine: 3,456cc, supercharged V6 petrol
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 436@7,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 325@4,500rpm
0-60mph: 3.7 seconds
Top speed: 190mph
Weight: 1,299kg
MPG: N/A
CO2: 234g/km
Price: £112,500

Mark Tisshaw

[HeMightBeBanned]

Yum yum

[sidesauce]

As good as this car may be (and I don't doubt its credentials at all), I'm actually more excited to see what comes down the pike under Geely's stewardship.

I think this car is the best with what they could do on a shoe-string budget and for all its appeal to a few thousand people, on the worldwide stage it just doesn't cut it which is why many will head straight to Porsche. Before anyone jumps down my throat, let me say that regardless of its fans, Lotus has always been seen as a niche/left-field choice to the 'non-pistonhead' whereas I think it could and in fact should really be the standard given its known abilities when it comes to handling etc.

Unfortunately, things like reliability and ergonomics are not seen as strong points (many people I know simply are too big to comfortably fit in an Elise for example) so unless these things were properly addressed they'd never be a main player. Even if the cars are now in reality more reliable, the market at large simply doesn't perceive that to be the case, which is a shame. I know a few will say "that's not their target market" but I'd disagree; in my mind, there's always been a whiff of 'starving artist' about Lotus...

Some on here may not agree but I think in a lot of ways, Lotus should be where McLaren is now is given its heritage in racing and obvious competency in creating cars that drive, steer and handle really really well. If Lotus were to be given an actual budget, what would be the net result? Hopefully the next generation of Lotus cars will take them into the Premier league as I don't doubt that people would pay top dollar for one against the likes of the more established competitors.

None of this is really meant as criticism per se - I really just want them to be a proper (as opposed to niche) player in the worldwide market!

[kambites]

sidesauce said:

None of this is really meant as criticism per se - I really just want them to be a proper (as opposed to niche) player in the worldwide market!

Well that really is the question isn't it? Do Lotus need (or even want) to be a volume player in the Porsche mold? I don't really doubt that Geely are capable of taking them there if they choose to do so but it will be a long road and personally I think it could probably only happen at the expense of what makes Lotus.... well Lotus. IMO the world doesn't really need another Porsche clone because it's got Porsche.

ETA: However I suspect you're right. I can't really think of a reason Geely would have bought them if it wasn't to turn them into a major player in the world (or possibly just Chinese) sports car market. Realistically that almost certainly means manufacturing the cars (or at least some of the cars) in China; it's not like Lotus have huge production capability here that they'd be ditching.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 19th October 06:26

[Addymk2]

It has a 7 litres of screenwash capacity!? That's impressive.

If I won the lottery...

[SWoll]

So to save 7KG of advertised weight they've pre-broken the washer fluid sensor and not filled the bottle?

Only Lotus would come up with that as an engineering solution. Porsche must be kicking themselves for not thinking of that

[angelicupstarts]

7 litres washing fluid tricked in to believing it is / is not there ... exciting times and a great pub brag

when i fuel up at the petrol station I also put 7 litres less petrol in ....im now passing much more expensive sports cars in my rover ..silly fools over fueling

Edited by angelicupstarts on Thursday 19th October 07:37

[sidesauce]

kambites said:

IMO the world doesn't really need another Porsche clone because it's got Porsche.

Lotus wouldn't be a Porsche clone precisely because they're not Porsche - not in terms of ethos, execution nor target market really. Many on here (including yourself, I've noted on occasion) deride the current Porsche offerings but regardless of anyone's opinion, the 911 is a 'go to' for a reason and it's not because it's just a 'name', it's a thoroughly competent sports car. You might like a spartan interior and call foibles that a car has 'character', the general market does not...

I'm not saying I want Lotus products to be like Porsche, I'm saying I want their ergonomics, percieved build quality/reliability to be the market 'standard' rather than Porsche as I strongly believe that, given the budget, they could make a superior (in areas other than handling, steering and dynamics) product.

Again, I use McLaren as the example - for a company who's only been around making road cars in earnest for 6 years, their achievements in their target market are nothing short of incredible given who they're up against. You don't have to like their products but you have to respect that they are a genuine, viable and cross-shoppable alternative to Ferrari or Lamborghini and not a niche/left-field choice. I'd just love to see Lotus in that same light in relation to Porsche, that's all!

[stuckmojo]

That looks gorgeous. Happy that Lotus revisited that terrible front end on the other Evoras. I used to like the original clean design and always thought the restyling ruined the car. This front end is perfect. Please put it on the other cars too

[kambites]

sidesauce said:

kambites said:

IMO the world doesn't really need another Porsche clone because it's got Porsche.

Lotus wouldn't be a Porsche clone precisely because they're not Porsche - not in terms of ethos, execution nor target market really. Many on here (including yourself, I've noted on occasion) deride the current Porsche offerings but regardless of anyone's opinion, the 911 is a 'go to' for a reason and it's not because it's just a 'name', it's a thoroughly competent sports car. You might like a spartan interior and call foibles that a car has 'character', the general market does not...

I'm not saying I want Lotus products to be like Porsche, I'm saying I want their ergonomics, percieved build quality/reliability to be the market 'standard' rather than Porsche as I strongly believe that, given the budget, they could make a superior (in areas other than handling, steering and dynamics) product.

Again, I use McLaren as the example - for a company who's only been around making road cars in earnest for 6 years, their achievements in their target market are nothing short of incredible given who they're up against. You don't have to like their products but you have to respect that they are a genuine, viable and cross-shoppable alternative to Ferrari or Lamborghini and not a niche/left-field choice. I'd just love to see Lotus in that same light in relation to Porsche, that's all!

I understand what you mean, but realistically sorting those sorts of things out (1) costs a lot of money, which isn't necessarily a problem if Geely are willing to contribute, and (2) adds weight, which is. Porsche have an incredible ability to keep weight under control in their cars whilst maintaining a good level of fit, finish and NVH but pretty much no-one else manages it. Adding 150kg of stuff to make the Evora's interior Audiesque would almost certainly remove it's existing USP (it's control delicacy) without necessarily adding a new one. That's what I meant by "making it a Porsche clone" really; not that the cars would be identical.

Maybe they can manage it, but it would be a huge change of ethos for the company.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 19th October 08:04

[SWoll]

kambites said:

sidesauce said:

kambites said:

IMO the world doesn't really need another Porsche clone because it's got Porsche.

Lotus wouldn't be a Porsche clone precisely because they're not Porsche - not in terms of ethos, execution nor target market really. Many on here (including yourself, I've noted on occasion) deride the current Porsche offerings but regardless of anyone's opinion, the 911 is a 'go to' for a reason and it's not because it's just a 'name', it's a thoroughly competent sports car. You might like a spartan interior and call foibles that a car has 'character', the general market does not...

I'm not saying I want Lotus products to be like Porsche, I'm saying I want their ergonomics, percieved build quality/reliability to be the market 'standard' rather than Porsche as I strongly believe that, given the budget, they could make a superior (in areas other than handling, steering and dynamics) product.

Again, I use McLaren as the example - for a company who's only been around making road cars in earnest for 6 years, their achievements in their target market are nothing short of incredible given who they're up against. You don't have to like their products but you have to respect that they are a genuine, viable and cross-shoppable alternative to Ferrari or Lamborghini and not a niche/left-field choice. I'd just love to see Lotus in that same light in relation to Porsche, that's all!

I understand what you mean, but realistically sorting those sorts of things out (1) costs a lot of money, which isn't necessarily a problem if Geely are willing to contribute, and (2) adds weight, which is. Porsche have an incredible ability to keep weight under control in their cars whilst maintaining a good level of fit, finish and NVH but pretty much no-one else manages it. Adding 150kg of stuff to make the Evora's interior Audiesque would almost certainly remove it's existing USP (it's control delicacy) without necessarily adding a new one. That's what I meant by "making it a Porsche clone" really; not that the cars would be identical.

Maybe they can manage it, but it would be a huge change of ethos for the company.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 19th October 08:04

Whilst I agree that improving quality has a cost I'm not sure why it automatically means that a load more weight needs to be added? And at £100k+ spending a bit more on the materials used might help to improve peoples perceptions of the brand?

[kambites]

SWoll said:

Whilst I agree that improving quality has a cost I'm not sure why it automatically means that a load more weight needs to be added? And at £100k+ spending a bit more on the materials used might help to improve peoples perceptions of the brand?

Is there actually anything wrong with the material quality of the Evora these days? The place the interior loses out is things like a relative lack of sound deadening (which is heavy) and the obviously bought-in infotainment unit (which obviously isn't).

I was actually thinking more of the ergonomics though. I don't have much experience of the Evora, but the Elise/Exige's biggest ergonomic issues are the lack of cabin space in all dimensions and the difficulty of getting in and out. Solving the former would involve making the car larger in all dimensions; solving the latter would involve lowering the sills which would mean making the chassis considerably heavier (or out of a more expensive material like Carbon Fibre).

[plenty]

kambites said:

Realistically that almost certainly means manufacturing the cars (or at least some of the cars) in China; it's not like Lotus have huge production capability here that they'd be ditching.

Parts perhaps, but for final assembly I’m not at all sure that’s the case. A huge part of the Lotus proposition is its British heritage, which is as important to overseas buyers as British ones. Geely are too smart to mess with that.

[kambites]

plenty said:

kambites said:

Realistically that almost certainly means manufacturing the cars (or at least some of the cars) in China; it's not like Lotus have huge production capability here that they'd be ditching.

I’m not at all sure that’s the case. A huge part of the Lotus proposition is its British heritage, which is as important to overseas buyers as British ones. Geely are too smart to mess with that.

If they build them here, wont they have to pay exorbitant import duties to get them back into China? Or do those not apply to Chinese companies building abroad?

Where are Chinese market Volvos built?

Edited by kambites on Thursday 19th October 08:49

[Krikkit]

Addymk2 said:

It has a 7 litres of screenwash capacity!? That's impressive.

Presumably because it has Xenons with the mandatory washers - they need a big fluid reservoir to be type approved.

[Hungrymc]

kambites said:

plenty said:

kambites said:

Realistically that almost certainly means manufacturing the cars (or at least some of the cars) in China; it's not like Lotus have huge production capability here that they'd be ditching.

I’m not at all sure that’s the case. A huge part of the Lotus proposition is its British heritage, which is as important to overseas buyers as British ones. Geely are too smart to mess with that.

If they build them here, wont they have to pay exorbitant import duties to get them back into China? Or do those not apply to Chinese companies building abroad?

None issue I think.
JLR now make cars in China, Brazil, Eastern Europe.... Of course maintaining a UK manufacture and dev base
Volvo make cars in China, NA, Belgium..... Of course maintaining a Sweden manufacture and dev base.
Many other examples. Do it right and the heritage survives.

[kambites]

Oh I wasn't trying to imply that they'd need to stop manufacturing here; I'm just not clear on whether they could do ALL of the manufacturing here.

I could see them going down the same manufacturing route as MG - final assembly for the European market cars in the UK; most component manufacture and final assembly for the eastern markets in China. From a heritage point of view, I suppose the key thing is that the design is kept in the UK.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 19th October 09:05

[sidesauce]

kambites said:

I don't have much experience of the Evora, but the Elise/Exige's biggest ergonomic issues are the lack of cabin space in all dimensions and the difficulty of getting in and out.

This a great example of what I mean. Lotus up until this point don't have the wherewithal to improve on this as the cost of development is prohibitive. Is it fair that certain people cannot enjoy the cars because of their physical stature (all in the name of saving weight)?

You point out that Porsche have an incredible ability to keep weight under control in their cars whilst maintaining a good level of fit, finish and NVH but pretty much no-one else manages it; I think Lotus, given the budget, could easily match them as I believe their engineering nous more than makes up for what they lack in budget. You ask if anything is wrong with the material quality of the Evora these days? In reality, probably not, but the markets perception isn't the same as your own. Non-pistonheads do not generally say 'those Lotus interiors are lovely' where they would say that with a Porsche.

Again, I'm not saying I want Lotus to be a Porsche clone, I just want to see what they can do when they actually have a decent budget and are not fighting to simply survive, a la McLaren.

[Audemars]

Lotus cars are more reliable than Porsche though.

Porsche are the most unreliable cars out there after Audi in terms of big failures.

[sidesauce]

Audemars said:

Lotus cars are more reliable than Porsche though.

Porsche are the most unreliable cars out there after Audi in terms of big failures.

Whether that's true or not is based on two things. Firstly, if Lotus made as many cars as Porsche, maybe that metric would be different? Secondly, it doesn't matter if the world at large doesn't perceive it to be the case. Porsche's 'real-world' reputation isn't one of unreliability. Lotus's infamous acronym 'Lots Of Trouble, Ususally Serious' exists for a reason...

Edited by sidesauce on Thursday 19th October 09:16

[kambites]

sidesauce said:

You ask if anything is wrong with the material quality of the Evora these days? In reality, probably not, but the markets perception isn't the same as your own.

It wasn't meant to be a rhetorical question; I have no experience of recent Evoras.