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The Lotus [INAUDIBLE]
may have been with us for quite some time now, but we've seen quite a few variance of the flagship in Lotus' lineup over the years.
And this year It would seem as no different.
The GT 430 and the GT 430 sport don't just represent the next chapter in the story of Evora, but represent the fastest road cars Lotus have ever built.
And today I'm having a quick try of them On track and that on the road.
Thanks to advancements in engineering and carbon fiber everywhere the Evora GT 430 weighs basically nothing which means that you can take the 43 horse power and the 3.5 liter super charged V6 Skips out along with a 325 pump feed of toque and gets it up to 60 in 3.17 seconds and all the ways up to 190 miles and hour which is blistering the quake.
And you can do all this with a manual gear box.
In fact if you want and automatic you have to wait for it.
For now it's only available old school.
I had a brief slot of time to enjoy it out on track and that's exactly what I did [NOISE].
Now what everyone else in the world seems to use the [UNKNOWN] to test their cars, Lotus is different.
Lotus has ethyl.
And this.
Is were Lotus cars have to prove their worth.
Not down a foxhole or in carousel, here mantel, [UNKNOWN], on the [UNKNOWN] curves.
Names are as legendary as the name Lotus is.
And this is the fastest road car that Lotus has ever put on this track.
All of the classic Lotus handling characteristics are there.
The lack of weight makes incredibly nimble.
Turning is sharp, easy to get back on the power, easy to build momentum, easy to keep momentum.
Forgiving through the corners.
That downforce keeps you pinned but even if it does start to go It's progressive, it never feels snappy or dangerous.
It's fun, the brakes that fit into this thing don't have as much as to do as the car isn't as heavy.
But they do a great job of stopping this thing dead when they need to.
You don't have to scrub off as much speed as you think, the down force in this thing makes it grip.
Quite well and even when it does go, it's progressive, it's predictable.
Now that giant wing on the back One of those things that gives you more and more confidence the more you use it.
You realize that there is just so much more that this car can give you in terms of traction.
This isn't a turbocharged car.
So there is a very flat torque curve.
Once you hit that sweet spot, it just stays.
And the power just keeps coming all the way up.
There's no peaks and troughs.
Gear shifts are nice and sharp.
If you're inclined to [UNKNOWN], the gear box is nice and tight.
Nice and close together.
Makes that a complete possibility.
Even for A driving dunce like me.
Now I wish I could spend more time with this car to really get to know it.
But today's track session is just a taste of what this car can do.
But [SOUND]
It shows that Lotus still knows very much what they're doing.
As a slight sample of what this car can do [SOUND] You can count my appetite whetted.
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Speed comes effortlessly, as the car happily revs all the way up to the red line.
Thanks to the lack of weight, the brakes don't have a Have as much work to do, and you can hammer on nice and late and carry plenty of speed through the corners.
The grip from the tires is impressive, making it hard to break traction even with the six-way adjustable traction control dialed all the way back.
And that wing on the back pushes the car down into the tarmac so hard, it was difficult to find anywhere near the limits in my short time on the circuit.
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And a quick sidebar here.
GT 430 relates to 430 honest to goodness horsepower, not PS, horsepower.
Are you listening, McLaren?
That's how you name a car.
So initial impressions of the GT 430 is that it's quick, really, really quick.
But some customers liked the performance and said it's a little too ostentatious for us, what can you do?
So Lotus lobbed the wing off and built this, the GT430 Sport.
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Without the wing, the GT430 Sport has less downforce than its' more aggressive brother, although it will still generate over 100 kilos of the stuff.
What you lose in cornering speed, though, you make up for in aerodynamics, as without that giant wing, the 430 Sport isn't held back by the air.
So much so that the top speed goes all the way up to
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196 miles an hour, making this the fastest road car Lotus have ever made.
[SOUND] With cars like the Elise and the Exige, Lotus carved out a niche for itself with affordable, attainable, realistic sports cars that kept the weight down, so the horsepower didn't have to be huge, still giving you that great power to weight.
Combined with amazing handling to build a sports car that was just perfect.
The Amor aimed higher, though, higher in the market, higher price.
A more discerning customer who's got the choice of some really, really awesome cars.
It's important for Lotus to get this thing right to stay relevent in that higher price bracket.
And little things like making Apple car play available to customers and having options on seats, and stitching, and color.
And this lovely Alcantara interior rather than the exposed The medium sasse are all things that allow it tp still be that lightweight great handling platform.
But be slightly more premium.
Make that 100,000 pounds feel like it's actually going towards what you can see and touch in the car.
A Lotis can be great to drive out on the track where you're more focused on the job in hand that It has to be an all-rounder.
It has to be a car you can actually drive out on the road, be that maybe even a daily commute.
But certainly, a B road blast.
[SOUND] [LAUGH] It sounds the part.
Noise regulations mean that that exhaust can't be fully open below 4,000 RPM but you keep the gears nice and low.
For a V6, that sounds impressive.
Doesn't quite have the grumble of a V8, but it sounds like it's doing the bestest.
My one gripe would be the seating position which just feels an inch or two too high, but even though this car is very low and The seating position feels a little bit high, I still have headroom.
I'm still not entirely sure how that is even possible.
Apparently there's enough room in here for someone who's 6'5" to drive comfortably.
Which, in a Lotus, is nothing short of a miracle.
Lotus has so many fans, so many people want it to succeed.
I'm one of them, I want this to be a successful car.
But it is up against some Massive competition from the likes of Jaguar and Porsche, but hell if you're going above 100 grand then you really have to consider all of the super car manufacturers as being in your backyard.
Lotus has the heritage, it has the class, it has the right attitude Can't make it work?
Let's hope so.
I have a slight personal dog in this game.
My father, my father's father, my father's father's father, for generations before that all came from the same small town just a couple of miles down the road from the factory.
The county of Norfolk is in my blood.
I may have personally never lived here, but there's actually a street named after my family, ten minute drive from that Lotus factory.
For that reason alone, I have a sense of nation pride in Lotus.
There's something about it, no matter...
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To who owns it, no matter where the money's coming from.
The fact that this factory nestled in the heartland of East Anglia is building cars that people all over the world love.
For better or worse, they're English cars.
And for that reason alone, I really.
Really hope that cars like the GT430 and the GT430 Sport can help keep Lotus on the map, help them stay relevant, help them stay.
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