THIS story begins not in Hethel – the spiritual home of all things Lotus, from Elite to Exige – but on the M6, heading north towards Coventry.
The traffic jam, thanks to an accident, has backed up for miles. It is stuffy, confined, and frustratingly slow. There are hundreds of drivers here who have all have one thing in common. Not one of them wants to be here.
If I could choose a car to tackle these congested conditions, it wouldn’t be a mid-engined, supercharged, rear-wheel-drive, look-at-me supercar, and the Lotus Evora S is all of those things. It is a supercar because it goes like a jet aircraft, corners like a go-kart and looks like something styled by a Renaissance artist, but it’s a super car because it does all this with next to none of the drawbacks.
It was – and I don’t say this lightly – no harder to drive in a motorway crawl than a BMW 5-Series.
I know because this time last year, I drove an Elise, the modern classic which to this day can provide any motorist with a master class in how to do ride and handling properly. On the right roads, like any of the mountain passes in the Lake District, it was sublime, but on the motorways it was a noisy companion and once you pull over you’ll do your back in trying to get out.
Naturally, I as tried to figure it out on the train down to Norfolk to visit Lotus’ factory, the Evora would be worse. A big Elise with all the drawbacks, but with a bit of a supercar-style traditional truculence thrown in. But it isn’t.
First, the drawbacks. It’s easier to get into than any other Lotus offering, but it still requires a slightly more agile frame than most. The rear visibility is shocking, the rear seats are hopelessly cramped, and when you first set off, it is very, very wide. Oh, and the supercharged V6 is like me – endlessly reliable, but loves a drink. Own an Evora and petrol stations will become familiar places.
Yet you’ll forgive it everything because it’s two brilliant cars in one; a thirsty executive express with cruise control, leather seats and satnav, and a stunning supercar crafted by hand by Lotus, the company that brought you the Elan and the Esprit. The Evora S has 345bhp and feels like it, belting its way not only down the straights but using its seemingly divine levels of grip to destroy corners too. Oh, and it all comes in what I reckon is one of the best shapes on sale today – the Evora was and still is a truly wonderful aesthetic achievement.
Would I, if I had the £60,000 asking price, go for an Evora S? I suspect I probably would - in fact, every opinion I’ve canvassed since getting it is one of going for the Lotus rather than a 911. Luckily for me, I’ve still got a few days left to find out for definite.
I’ll keep you posted...