Lotus Evora: The Eagle Flies

May I introduce Evora..?

British manufacturer Lotus Cars was founded in 1952 by an engineer named Colin Chapman. A proponent of light weight cars with agile handling abilities, Mr. Chapman and his company have produced many fine sports and racing vehicles over the years.

The latest offering from Lotus, codenamed “Project Eagle” at the factory, made its debut recently at the London Auto Show as the Evora. This model, in a 2+2 configuration is aimed at a more practical crowd than their current Elise and Exige models, which have a heavy track bias. Performance will still be up to Lotus’ standards though, as the target was thought to be Porsche’s Cayman.

The Evora will weigh less than 3,000 lbs (that’s light, folks) and will be powered by a Toyota sourced 3.5-liter V6 with 276 horsepower and 250 lb-ft of torque, propelling it to 60 mph in under 5 seconds. The handling will be up to snuff as well, with the necessary go-fast bits. Bilstein shocks, Eibach springs and vented and cross-drilled brakes are all present and accounted for.

We expect the Evora to turn up in showrooms in the summer of 2009. With its stunning looks, superb handling and a reliable Toyota engine on board, it should do well if Lotus keeps the price at expected levels.

We think this latest Lotus is a winner..!