Lotus Introduces Race-Spec Evora Type 124

With Lotus seemingly introducing a new version of the Elise/Exige platform seemingly every day, sometimes we forget they make more cars than that. Their newest creation, the Evora, has been receiving a surprisingly mild and unconcerned response from the press, perhaps due to it's softer nature compared with the Elise/Exige twins.  Maybe it's that it shares it's engine with the Camry V6, or maybe it's the soft suspension, or maybe it's just that there are much more exciting sports cars on the market today.

Anyway, Lotus isn't ignoring the Evora like everyone else is, and they've presented a version of the Evora designed for endurance racing to the public.  Called the Evora Type 124, it's built to comply with FIA GT Race Specifications.  The Type 124 will have it's competition debut at next year's 24 Hours of Nurburgring, which is certainly a good litmus test for a new race car.  "If you can survive this... you can conquer anything."

To help the Evora on it's mission of conquering the competition, Lotus have done my two favorite things: subtract weight, and add power and sophistication.  As far as power and sophistication goes, the 3.5L Toyota V6 (actually a pretty awesome engine, despite it's "please kill me" roots in the Camry, etc.) gains a stable full of ponies, with the  count rounded up to an even 400bhp.  Of course, being a competitive race vehicle, Lotus doesn't tell us how they managed to extract an extra 110bhp from a naturally-aspirated Toyota V6, and frankly I'm curious.  The standard transmission is dropped in favor of a 6-speed sequential manual transmission.

Kerb weight is reduced by about 440lbs, to a total of around 2,600lbs thanks to extensive use of carbon-fibre in the body panels.  They also included a front aero splitter and a rear diffuser, rendered in carbon fibre of course, as well as an adjustable rear spoiler.  400bhp and 2,600lbs means the Evora Type 124 has a very attractive power/weight ratio, which is what you'd expect.  They haven't ignored the rest of the package, though.

Suspension perks include 4-way adjustable dampers as well as adjustable anti-roll bars front and rear for dialing in the perfect handling characteristics.  6-piston AP Racing calibers and huge ventilated rotors provide the "whoa" at both ends, mated to a raced-tuned Bosch ABS setup.  Simple but effective, in typical Lotus fashion.

Other changes are pretty minimal and mostly aimed at meeting race specs.  There's an FIA-compliant integrated rollcage, FIA-compliant fire suppression system and a 120L ATL Fuel Cell.  The Type 124 rolls on lightweight 18" wheels, 9.5" wide in the front and 11" wide in the rear, shod with Pirelli race slicks.

And... that's about it as far as changes go.  When you start with a softened-up race car, you don't have to do a whole lot to turn it into a real racecar.  The Type 124's should go into circulation sometime during 2010, and if you want one, I'd expect you're going to need a pretty big bag of money.