2012 Lotus Evora 2+2 Supercharged Gp Edition Black Gold As-new With 848 Miles!! on 2040-cars

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Yeah, it's more than 10 better | 2018 Lotus Evora Sport 410 Quick Spin

Doesn't it drive you crazy when you get a new toy and within weeks they announce a new, improved version? That's exactly what Lotus has done with the new Evora 400. Just as this two-plus-two coupe is wowing US buyers with its combination of light weight and old-school ride and handling, those sneaky devils have gone and produced a lightweight, sport version. Your correspondent attended the launch to test the waters, but in the process found that you'll still have time to enjoy your stock 400 model, since the Sport won't be gracing US shores before next summer – Lotus still has to engineer its lightweight construction for US safety regulations. And will you then want to swap for one at a likely price in excess of $105,000? Read on. Not if you plan to carry the kids, since the new Sport 410 is now strictly a two-seater. The vestigial rear perches, along with the air conditioning, stereo wireless, rear bulkhead glass, sound insulation, door trims, and even the mud flaps have been jettisoned to reduce mass. As a result, you can't see much out of the rear-view mirror except carbon-fiber stays. Other weight-saving measures include new carbon-fiber panels for the roof, rear deck, and front and rear panels. There's a new lithium-ion main battery saving 25 pounds and an optional titanium exhaust system that's lighter and sounds saucier. Total weight saving is 154 pounds compared to the 400, which makes the curb weight a feather-like 2,923 pounds despite the addition of a new transmission oil cooler. It pushes itself into the ground harder, too. Aerodynamic tweaks such as the front splitter and rear spoiler increase downforce from 19 pounds to 40 at 100 mph and from 71 pounds to 141 at 150 mph. Lotus has tweaked its inlet-charge-cooled and supercharged 3.5-liter V6 Toyota Camry engine to yield 10 extra horsepower for a total of 410 (hence the name) at 7,000 rpm and 302 pound-feet of torque at 3,500 rpm. The 410 will hit 60 mph in 4.0 seconds with the six-speed manual, or in 3.9 with the six-speed automatic. Suspension adjustments include re-valved dampers and an effective spring-rate increase thanks to the lighter weight. The hydraulically assisted steering and AP Racing brakes with two-piece rotors remain the same, as does the geared Torsen-type limited-slip differential. The Sport runs on specially forged Magnesium lightweight wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 19/20-inch tires front/rear.

See the Lotus Evija in detail in this 23-minute video

Henry Catchpole splits his time as a contributor to Evo magazine with on-camera work for Carfection. The ever-gracious Englishmen took to the studio again recently to pore over the brand new Lotus Evija — and his first gift to us is the electric coupe's proper pronunciation: ee-VYE-yah. For a full 23 minutes, Catchpole tours the coming Lotus hypercar with Lotus' head designer Russell Carr. The two men sweep over the car from front to rear, Carr explaining the origins and details of the many shiny bits that attract Catchpole's eye. The spec sheet alone is attention-getting. A 70-kWh battery fuels a powertrain rated at 2,000 horsepower and 1,254 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive and torque vectoring are made possible by electric motors motors front and rear, but the setup is novel. A single drive unit on each axle combines a motor and inverter, but we're told each wheel gets its own gearbox. The package is a little shorter and wider than a Porsche 911, but sits seven inches lower than the roof of the German. Scales bend to the weight of 3,700 pounds in spite of magnesium center-lock wheels, that grandeur managed in part by six Multimatic spool-valve dampers, three on each axle. Just 130 Evijas will be produced, starting next year, each one starting at around $2.1 million. Lotus has filled the coupe with visual flourishes. The Lotus badge on the front is metal inlaid into the carbon fiber bodywork. Carr said he wasn't sure the engineers would be able to finalize that for production, but the designers are hoping. Fans inside the headlights keep the lumens cool, while movable DRLs and turn signals angled like the winglets on an airliner make the lumens look cool. Another neat lighting trick: The "T" in the word "Lotus" on the rear fascia acts as the reversing light. Two features we haven't yet seen on the latest batch of hypercars are adjustable seats, and a strip of metal in the headrests that can be etched the slogan of a customer's choice. And in spite of all the firsts for Lotus in this car, there's one holdover from the Hethel carmaker's other compact sports cars: A dearth of luggage space. The only cubbies are polygonal-shaped holes in the rear of the door sills. It doesn't sound so bad when Catchpole explains it, though, so check out the video.

2015 Spanish F1 Grand Prix makes its Deutsche mark

The first race of the European Formula One season inaugurates the second phase of the Championship. Teams overhaul their cars with the big updates they've been working on since Australia, and at the end of The Battle of Spain we find out how the positions on the field have changed. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg brought a big update to his psychology, straight-up beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to take his first pole position of the season. Mercedes owns the front row and Ferrari maintains its status as primary challenger, Sebastian Vettel lining up in third. Williams proved it's been hitting the books to do better in class, though, Valtteri Bottas slotting into fourth. And Toro Rosso's visit to a track that rewards strong aero rewarded them with the best team grid position since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008: Carlos Sainz secured fifth, ahead of Max Verstappen in sixth. Kimi Raikkonen's bout of Saturday woes – it seems the Finn is always handicapped by lots of tiny issues – continued in Barcelona with one of his sets of prime tires getting cooked by malfunctioning tire warmers. He recovered well enough to take seventh on the grid, but he's got some strong competition ahead of him. He led three other drivers in the Continuous Issues department, Daniil Kvyat unable to wrestle his Infiniti Red Bull Racing higher than eighth, Williams driver Felipe Massa getting it wrong in Turn 3 to fall five places behind his teammate Bottas, and Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull enduring another engine change and sloppy car behavior to get tenth. And while it turned out to be a steady race a little rough around the edges, the positions on the battlefield just might have changed. A little. Of the 66 laps in the race we might have seen Rosberg for three of them – maybe. The German got a smashing start, had a clear lead into Turn 1, and after that we checked in occasionally during his two pit stops and again at the checkered flag. He owned the entire weekend the way we're used to seeing his teammate do, and the cameras left him alone to run his race. No one got within seven seconds of him during the first third, and as the pit stop strategies played out that cushion grew. He finished seventeen seconds ahead of Hamilton, and 45 seconds ahead of third-placed Vettel. Hamilton, on the back foot all three days, stumbled out of the gate.