The car you see here signals a fresh new era for Lotus. Not because it ushers in an entirely new one-make race series for the Norfolk firm, as you might assume, but rather because the accompanying press release gets through six whole paragraphs before saying 'performance through light weight.' And it doesn't even mention Colin Chapman once. Astonishing.
Let's move on. The Lotus Evora Cup seems to be based on a philosophy that performance can come through reducing weight, so it sheds more than 200kg from the showroom car's kerb weight, at just under 1,200kg. It's the same sort of thing Colin Chapman used to do...
Set to be unveiled at the Autosport show in Birmingham today (January 14th 2010), the Evora Cup will eventually compete in a pan-European one-make race series in 2011, though before that in the 2010 Evora Cup Series that culminates in Italy on the 22nd November. It's been built to compete in the GT4 series and can be used, says Lotus, as a sprint or an endurance racer.
So what are the changes? The 3.5-litre Toyota V6 of the standard car is replaced by a 4.0-litre unit with 395bhp and dry sump lubrication so it can corner at massive speeds without complication. A six-speed sequential paddle shift 'box sends power to the back wheels.
An aero package increases downforce and cornering stability, the dampers are adjustable and the brake callipers have six-pot pistons and clamp onto two-piece aluminium discs. The final spec isn't actually complete yet, and won't be until the car's official motor show debut in
Geneva in March, though interested racers with a spare £120,000 can register their interest with Lotus now.
Mark Nichol - 14 Jan 2010