Lotus Evora S driven

What is it? More powerful, more focused Evora
Price £57,550-£58,995
On sale Now
Mpg 27.7-28.3
CO2 235-239g/km

The overtime bill at Lotus must be huge. Not only has the company unveiled plans to take on seemingly everyone with a range of five new models over the next five years, it has also had engineers putting in extra shifts to bring us this, the supercharged Evora S.

The S is a more powerful, more focused version of Lotus’s current flagship, arriving just a year after the standard Evora went on sale. With the help of that supercharger, the power and torque of the Evora’s Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 rise by 70bhp and 38lb ft respectively, and there’s been much fettling of the suspension to improve lateral stiffness (better for grip and roll control) without hurting the standard car’ outstanding ride.

A new all-singing, all-dancing stability control system also gets its debut on the S, and will become standard on every Lotus from January, while there are option packs galore, containing luxuries you’d think would be more appropriate to a Toyota Camry than a Lotus.

So, the Evora S is a bit of a confused soul, then? Don’t you believe it. Stick it on the kind of road where the engineers’ work matters more than the efforts of the marketing people and it’s in its element. It’s fast and grippy and it sounds great and tells you everything it’s doing. It even rides better than many a family saloon. What impresses you most, though is the absolute precision with which it does everything. So, it’s neither a track-day special nor a GT, yet you could happily use it as either.

Admittedly, the rear view is rubbish, the ergonomics are a mess and the instruments are largely unreadable, but this merely emphasises that – despite the optional touch-screen navigation, heated seats or parking sensors – the Evora S has its heart in the right place. It does the important stuff properly. That overtime cash has been well spent.
Roger.Stansfield@whatcar.com

What Car? says
A car for people who love to drive. That’s fine by us