Evora Borealis: The Northern Lights [Lotus Evora 410]

Editor’s recent photograph of Evora (2016)

 

Introduction

The editors have a primary interest in Colin Chapman his cars and related Industrial Design.

However we will occasionally examine the current generation of Lotus cars when we feel there is continuity or lessons to be learnt that applied in the Chapman era.

This is relatively brief article as it’s though most of our subscribers will be totally familiar with this model.

The A&R wherever possible attempts to benchmark Chapman with his peers and his cars with rival competitors. We believe benchmarking has an advantages of objectivity and consistency.

We were therefore interested in the following newspaper article which adopts a benchmarking criteria.

They also head up their article with headline: “Lotus back in the game-How Lotus turned its fortunes around thanks to this £82K weekend toy”

Subscribers may be interested in directly relevant A&R articles:-

  • Lotus Elan Plus 2
  • Lotus Elise

Performance

The editors have taken the following information from the net:-

The Evora is equipped with a mid-mounted, transverse, Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre 24-valve V6 engine. The Evora S uses the same engine but with a supercharger. Both versions are available with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic with “Intelligent Precision Shift” by Aisin.[18] The Evora has a drag coefficient of Cd=0.337.[1]

Model Power Torque Emissions
CO
2
Top speed Acceleration
0-60
Economy
(combined)
Evora 276 bhp (206 kW; 280 PS) @ 6,400 rpm 258 lb·ft (350 N·m) @ 4,600 rpm 217 g/km 163 mph (262 km/h) 4.8 secs 30.3 mpg-imp (9.3 L/100 km; 25.2 mpg-US)
Evora IPS 276 bhp (206 kW; 280 PS) @ 6,400 rpm 258 lb·ft (350 N·m) @ 4,600 rpm 210 g/km 159 mph (256 km/h) 5.0 secs 31.4 mpg-imp (9.0 L/100 km; 26.1 mpg-US)
Evora S 345 bhp (257 kW; 350 PS) @ 7,000 rpm 295 lb·ft (400 N·m) @ 4,500 rpm 229 g/km 178 mph (286 km/h) 4.4 secs 28.7 mpg-imp (9.8 L/100 km; 23.9 mpg-US)
Evora S IPS 345 bhp (257 kW; 350 PS) @ 7,000 rpm 295 lb·ft (400 N·m) @ 4,500 rpm 224 g/km 167 mph (269 km/h) 4.5 secs 29.3 mpg-imp (9.6 L/100 km; 24.4 mpg-US)
Evora 400 400 bhp (298 kW; 406 PS) @ 7,000 rpm 302.5 lb·ft (410 N·m) @ 3,500 rpm 225 g/km 186 mph (299 km/h) 4.1 secs 29.1 mpg-imp (9.7 L/100 km; 24.2 mpg-US)
Evora 400 Auto 400 bhp (298 kW; 406 PS) @ 7,000 rpm 302.5 lb·ft (410 N·m) @ 3,500 rpm 225 g/km 174 mph (280 km/h) 4.1 secs 29.1 mpg-imp (9.7 L/100 km; 24.2 mpg-US)

Editors photograph. Car seen at Crystal Palace Revival Sprint

Chassis

Information taken from the net:-

The Evora is constructed from a modular lightweight bonded aluminium structure with composite body panels. It features forged aluminium double wishbone suspension with Bilstein high-performance gas dampers and Eibach coaxial coil springs. Steering is by hydraulically assisted power steering.

Lotus Evora “Life and Style”: Motoring by Peter Burgess [City AM -25thAugust 2015 and Andrew Brady 17th Jan.2017]

As mentioned the editors see value in benchmarking and find the system adopted by Burgess to offer some objectivity, ease of comprehension and brevity .Although we consider other subtleties often prevail –see below]

Marque Lotus Evora 400 Alfa Romeo 4C Jaguar F-Type Coupe V6  SC Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe
Price :£ 72,000 51,500 60,260 73,509
0-62mph [secs] 4.2 4.5 5.5 4.8
Top Speed[mph] 186 160 171 180
CO2/G/KM 225g/km 257g/km 234g/km 211g/km
MPG combined 31 41.5 28.8 3.4
Verdict
Design *** **** **** ****
Performance ***** **** **** ****
Practicality *** ** *** ****
Value for money *** *** *** **
Evora Sport 410 Nissan GT-R Jaguar F-Type R Porsche 911 Carrera S
Price :£ 82,000 80,995 89,980 85,857
0-62mph [secs] 4.2 2.8 4.2 4.3
Top Speed[mph] 190 196 186 191
CO2/G/KM 225g/km 275g/km 225g/km 199g/km
MPG combined 29.1 23.9 26.4 32.5
Verdict
Design **** *** **** *****
Performance ***** ***** **** ****
Practicality ** *** **** ***
Value for money *** **** *** ***

The editors feel perhaps the criteria is rather restricted and potential owners might also like to consider:-

  • Running costs, depreciation etc.
  • Servicing costs
  • Insurance
  • Wider green credentials
  • Insurance

And of course in a selection of a car potential owners will factor in subtleties of marque reputation, perception and image projected.

Chapman and Model Range

In the 1970’s Colin Chapman took Lotus up into the prestige marque category. This territory is not just about performance, specification and price. Marketing brand enters the territory of psychology, personal perception, projection and many other subjective factors.

Chapman possibly realized that there were good commercial reasons to develop higher specification vechicles .The editors believe it becomes a complex equation balancing production costs, profitability with sales.

Car ownership can be fickle, competition fierce and judgements/purchasing decisions made in a complex tapestry of imagery, sometimes with performance or practicality not necessarily being primary considerations.

Having gone up market; the 1970’s were a difficult time for Chapman and Lotus with external economic forces impacting negatively on prestige sports cars.

We can see the role the Evora provides within the current Lotus range.

We also hope it can find a niche and be viable.

Learning Opportunities

Our learning /educational opportunities are intended to be challenging thought provoking and requiring additional research and/or analysis.

These opportunities are particularly designed for a museum/education centre location where visitors would be able to enjoy access to all the structured resources available in conjunction with any concurrent exhibition.

In this instance we suggest the following might be appropriate:-

  • Extend the range of sports cars that might be benchmarked against the Evora; are there closer matches?
  • Debate whether or not hot hatch/sports saloons ought be included
  • Consider whether the Evora can claim a niche, how would you estimate the market for this?
  • Profile potential owners for Lotus range, treat exercise as marketing exercise
  • What advantages/disadvantages are of “bought in engines”? What has been their role in Lotus marque history
  • What is the value/ liability of incremental range/platform to motor manufacturers?
  • Does trade up and customer loyalty still apply in motor industry?