[Cartoday]
The Lotus Eagle neé Evora was officially revealed at the recent British International Motor Show in London and, despite its lightweight architecture and 202 kW 3,5-litre V6, the general consensus was ‘nice...but a bit more grunt wouldn’t hurt.’
Sure enough, Lotus CEO Michael Kimberly has made good on his promise of more diverse and powerful models to come with the announcement that six different versions, including a convertible, are on the way.Let’s face it, a convertible Evora was inevitable ,but even so, the power upgrades are still worthy of some attention. The next two years are expected to herald the arrival of a series of tweaked powerplants, starting with a revised version of the standard car’s normally-aspirated 3,5-litre V6 that develops 238 kW.
The rest of the line up will utilise forced-induction as the existing V6 engine has been located in such a way that it can accommodate a supercharger. The result is claimed to be a power output in excess of 300 kW. Take into account the standard car’s 1 350 kg dry weight, and we could be looking at 0-100 km/h acceleration times in the sub-4 second territory.
These modifications should, according to Lotus, keep the Evora fresh during its projected eight-year lifespan and, in supercharged guise, quick enough to make it a plausible alternative to the 911 Turbo.