Tuesday 16th April 2019

New Lotus Evora GT4 Concept at Shanghai

The motorsport Evora is back, promising a race car "that perfectly encapsulates the company's competitive spirit"

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Don't worry, we know what you're thinking - there already is a Lotus Evora GT4 car. And that's correct, there is, and PH drove it many moons ago. There are Evora GT4s to buy, too. This Evora, however, is a new GT4, promising to bring "the inherent talents of Lotus to bear in both the car's aesthetic and performance credentials."

Clearly this is still an Evora though and uses the same extruded aluminium architecture as before and supercharged V6 - now with 456hp. What's new are the carbon-aluminium body panels, taking lessons from the GT430 road car to improve cooling and downforce, Note the wheelarch louvres, ducts behind the rear wheels and reprofiled spoiler/diffuser arrangement. The centre-lock, forged aluminium rims are also of a new design.

Elsewhere it's all you might expect from a bonafide race car: T45 eight-point cage, bucket seat, wheel festooned with buttons and displays, slick tyres, sequential gearbox, enormous 120-litre fuel tank and uprated brakes - 380mm front discs, 355mm rear. The GT4 weighs 1,200kg with ballast, too.

While billed as a concept, the GT4 is likely to see competitive action in 2020. After all, it can't be that far different from the previous version. The fact that factory drivers - Cui Yue and Gaoxiang Fan - have already been appointed further implies that preparations are well under way for racing, as does confirmation of development taking place at Hethel over the coming months. There's some expectation on this GT4 as well, the previous Evora having won at the Dubai 24 Hours, Barcelona 24 Hours and the Sepang 12 Hours.

Lotus says additional details of the car will be forthcoming later in 2019, with Gavan Kershaw promising the Evora "will give the driver a competitive edge right from the start." We'll find out for certain this time next year...

 

[British Beef]

Le Mans 24 next year would be a great start for this GT4.

Beating 911s at Le Mans, would be very nice!!

[Krikkit]

British Beef said:

Le Mans 24 next year would be a great start for this GT4.

Beating 911s at Le Mans, would be very nice!!

Apart from that being a completely different racing car you mean? There aren't any GT4 cars race the LM24.

Good to see them expanding into this class though, business for GT4's is apparently booming.

[Ahonen]

British Beef said:

Le Mans 24 next year would be a great start for this GT4.

Beating 911s at Le Mans, would be very nice!!

GT4 cars don't race at Le Mans - this will race the Caymans in GT4. There was a GT2 Evora at LM a few years ago, which was a shockingly awful thing.

If this has 460PS and weighs 1200kg they can expect to be given another 150kg of ballast as part of its Balance of Performance before it starts racing in the GT4 category.

[Nerdherder]

Those side naca ducts should be on every Evora. Sheer porn.