Ultimate Lotus—The new Evora GT430

FOLLOWING the successful introduction of the Lotus Evora 400 and Evora Sport 410 to global markets, Lotus has unveiled its most powerful road-going model ever— the Evora GT430.

A beautiful and pure combination of elegance and power, Lotus has lavished attention on handcrafted carbon fiber components to endow this fully homologated Evora with a level of precision engineering and design unseen before.

This focused evolution of the critically acclaimed Evora has resulted in a landmark model for the famous British manufacturer. Powered by a new development of the 3.5-liter V6 supercharged and charge-cooled engine producing 430hp, and benefitting from a significant hike in downforce, the rare breed Evora GT430 is a class apart from its competitors.

Given the car’s breathtaking design and phenomenal performance, the Evora GT430 is an instant classic. Just 60 editions of this supreme Evora will be handbuilt in Norfolk, England, for sale in select markets around the world and, following the popularity of Lotus’ recent limited run editions, it’s already in line to be a true collector’s car.

Marking the return of a famous Lotus badge, and acknowledging the Lotus Esprit V8 GT and the Esprit GT3 from the 1990s, this two-seater encapsulates the company’s approach to fast point-to-point sports cars. 0-60mph is dispatched in just 3.7 seconds and the car’s top speed is an incredible 305 km/h.

With new and specifically designed body panels, featuring exposed carbon weave sections, front and rear, the Lotus GT430 generates up to 250kg of downforce through advanced aerodynamics. Larger front apertures, a new carbon fiber splitter, air blades and louvers positioned on top of each front wheel arch clearly illustrate the supercar credentials of the Evora GT430 when viewed head on. At the rear, aero ducts behind each wheel reduce pressure in the wheel arch and offer visibility of the wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, and a large rear diffuser provides a sharp visual finish. Both are crowned by the large, profiled carbon wing.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc said, “The Evora GT430 is a landmark car for Lotus. Lightweight engineering and class-leading handling, paired with Lotus’ aerodynamic expertise, define the Evora GT430 as a legendary Lotus. It’s a truly beautiful car, meticulously finished in hand-crafted carbon, and employing the latest aerodynamics and lightweight materials. This highly developed vehicle perfectly reflects Lotus’ attention to engineering and design. We expect the lucky owners to be blown away by its pure presence and staggering performance.”

FASTER, LIGHTER, SHARPER

Every component of the Evora has been evaluated before inclusion to ensure that the car retains only the items essential for performance.

Despite the addition of 9kg increased specification components (lightweight carbon rear wing and larger wheels and tires), overall dry weight is down by 26 kg, to 1,258 kg, compared to the already super light Evora Sport 410, making this the lightest road Evora to date.

All Lotus cars are regarded as the finest handling sports cars on the market and the new Evora GT430 takes dynamic performance to the next level. Damping is provided by Lotustuned, Öhlins TTX two-way adjustable units, with 20 clickadjustment compression and rebound settings and saving 10kg in mass compared to the Evora Sport 410 set-up. New, ultra-lightweight, low-sideload Eibach springs provide an increase in spring rate and the car’s handling is improved further through the use of front and rear anti-roll bars.

Perfect for B-roads, but ballistically fast when needed, the new Evora GT430 can lap the famous Hethel test track in 1 minute 25.8 seconds – a record for an Evora. As fast as the famed Lotus 3-Eleven road car on the same circuit, the GT430’s performance envelope is derived from a combination of clever aero and dynamic developments as well as outright power. As a result, the car is manifest of Colin Chapman’s visionary quote: “Adding power makes you faster on the straights; subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.”

A superb example of this is the removal of critical weight from beyond the front and rear axles of the Evora GT430, reducing the car’s polar moment of inertia, resulting in improved transient response, overall agility and driver feedback.

Retaining a 3.5-litre supercharged and chargecooled V6, the car ’s reconfigured engine produces 430hp at 7,000 rpm and 440Nm of torque from 4,500 rpm. As standard, the Evora GT430 also features a titanium exhaust, cutting 10kg from beyond the car’s rear axle and further amplifying the car’s aural presence.

Also fitted as standard, the Evora GT430’s six-speed manual gearbox features a lowinertia, single-mass flywheel, to help ensure swift changes, while a Torsen-type limited slip differential (LSD) gives better traction, and faster exit speeds, when cornering.

The substantial aerodynamic revisions introduce bodywork elements that boost the downforce of the Evora GT430, up to 250 kg at maximum speed of 305 km/h and matching the Evora Sport 410’s maximum downforce of 64 kg at only 145 km/h.

To harness the increased downforce and power, mechanical grip is provided by 10 mm wider Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, with 245/35R19 at the front and 295/30R20 at the rear, on one inch wider 10.5J rear wheels. Ultra-lightweight forged aluminum wheels are standard, in either black or silver, with optional finishes available in gloss red or a gloss black machined rim design.

Dynamic stability modes (with ‘Drive‘, ‘Sport’, ‘Race’ and ‘Off’ settings) can be selected, which allow the driver enhanced vehicle control before the system intervenes. The Evora GT430 also includes a newly developed variable traction control function, linked directly to the ECU, which allows the amount of wheel slip to be set by the driver whilst in ‘Race / Off’ setting, with five pre-set traction levels (1%, 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% slip) and ‘Off’ displayed via the instrument cluster.

A fast car requires substantial stopping power, and the Evora GT430 uses two-piece J-grooved and ventilated brake discs at the front, paired with AP Racing four-piston calipers all round, while the rear uses threepiece discs with lightweight aluminum centers saving 2kg.

The external theme of carbon continues into the car’s exquisitely crafted cabin, with visible-weave, handmade components as standard. These include Lotus’ beautifully detailed carbon race seats, new carbon door sills and a new lightweight carbon instrument binnacle cover with a new design of graphic on the instrument panel.

Newly-designed carbonbacked Sparco seats with a unique trim design can also be ordered, while customers looking for a more race focused cabin can specify an optional driver and passenger four-point harnesses and titanium rear frame.

The steering wheel, dashboard, door panels, transmission tunnel and centre console are all trimmed in a combination of black Alcantara and perforated leather, with a full leather or full Alcantara trim option available at no additional cost. All trim choices are complemented by contrast twin color stitching, in red and white, and matt black interior

An integrated touch-screen infotainment system can be specified, including iPod connectivity and Bluetooth functionality, satellite navigation and reversing camera.

The new, fully homologated, Lotus Evora GT430 is available in two-seater configuration only and can be ordered now.