First in a field of one
2020 LOTUS EVORA GT410
SOME PEOPLE get excited by acceleration figures or a car’s time around a certain 13-mile racetrack. At the other end of the spectrum, the way something can swallow suitcases or sip fuel on a run can be just as impressive. We all have our own benchmarks, and ride comfort, compliance and usability on British roads are always factors that rank high-up on my list of requirements.
It’s why I’ve always admired Lotus. It builds some of the finest-handling cars on the planet, yet places huge emphasis on usability and comfort. You do
need a bone-jarring chassis for good handling.
Until recently, the Evora GT410 Sport was the only remaining model in the now 12-year-old Evora range. Stripped back and hardened, it’s the fastest and most focused Evora ever, featuring the same old Toyota sourced V6 engine, supercharged for 410bhp. To restore some of the earlier Evora’s grand touring credibility, the new GT410 (no ‘Sport’) was launched this year.
Softer chassis settings have been adapted from the US-market car, while the sticky Michelin Cup 2 tyres have been swapped for less aggressive all-weather Pilot Sport 4Ss. Other changes include a slightly more luxurious interior, more comfortable, heated Sparco seats, and a clear rear engine cover (replacing a solid carbon item) to improve visibility. Slightly.
This was my first post-lockdown event, and we were invited along to Caffeine & Machine to drive a range of Lotus’s current offerings, look around some classics and talk to the guys from Lotus. I’m not ashamed to say, the new ‘comfortspec’ Evora intrigued me the most, because I know it’s probably the Lotus I would personally buy.
Setting up any car for the road is all about compromises, but it’s clear that what little the GT410 gives up in grip and speed from the Sport, it more than makes up for in suppleness. I’ve driven less compliant executive saloons than this! Even so, the ride is not its defining feature.
That would have to be the fantastic steering. Unlike in the Elise and Exige, it’s assisted but, unusually for a modern car, it’s hooked up to a hydraulic pump. It’s relatively light but extremely communicative and very precise, which helps you build confidence in the chassis very quickly. Immense grip and poise encourage you to explore its very high and benign limits.
Supercharging the engine has given it unusual character in today’s turbo-centric marketplace and, although not particularly musical, the V6 sounds ferocious with the exhaust valves open. The GT410 will do 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds and carry on to 186mph.
Yet the Evora is ageing, and there’s little getting away from that inside. It’s well put together, but it feels a generation or two behind the competition – though not having to scroll through screen menus to adjust damper settings and air-con is also refreshing…
And it costs £82,900: base 911 money. But if you value steering feel, handling and the kind of ride that suits a British B-road best, there’s no alternative. Sure, there are faster, more modern-feeling rivals, but none of them deliver driving sensations quite like this. Intrigued? Try one soon, for it won’t be too long before the Evora is finally decommissioned.