Sure, we already knew what the new 2+2 from Lotus looked like — but we didn't know the name — until now. It's called the Lotus Evora. Yes, with the stroke of the "E" key, Lotus has added yet another E-word to the lexicon of Lotus history. The Evora is equipped with a 276 HP Toyota V6 making 252 lb-ft of torque and a six-speed gearbox, good for sub-5 second 0-60 runs. Of course, in the press conference, in proper British style, the only remarks on speed were, "We won't give you the speeds at the moment, because it wouldn't be appropriate, not with so many police around."
Keeping things tight in the corners is a combination of Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers controlling the motions of a forged-aluminum double-wishbone suspension. Slowing down comes courtesy of a set of ABS-enhanced vented and cross-drilled rotors, 13.8" up front, 13" in the back. With 18" wheels up front and 19" at the back, those brakes will probably do a respectable job.
And yet, surprisingly, in that tiny package, there's room for two seats up front and seats/shelves in the back (allegedly — we still haven't gotten a good look at them), a whopping 5.6 cubic feet of storage behind the engine (shaped to take golf clubs - natch) and many of the amenities we've come to expect in non-Lotus cars. Take, for instance, the Alpine multimedia system with 7-inch touch screen, sat-nav, DVD capability, and iPod connectivity. Heck, you can even do Bluetooth phone calls. And let's talk a minute about that gauge cluster. Awfully red isn't it? With red back-lighting on the buttons and red information screens, it makes quite a statement.
What that statement is we don't really know. Indeed, the Evora is certainly a lot more car than Lotus traditionally builds. We're not sure how Colin Chapman would feel about all of this, but it is fast-looking, and pretty. We'll just have to stand by for Lotus to tell us what it does on the track. [Source: Lotus]