Seemingly from the moment they arrived in the U.S., the Lotus Elise and its hardtop sibling, the Exige, have spawned an endless stream of derivatives, variations, and special editions. Lotii for hard-core street use, harder-core street use, extreme street/track use, and track-only use culminated in the 2-Eleven, a low-production model that got its own special edition in the form of the 2-Eleven GT4 Supersport. But the Lotus Evora, on sale now in Europe and due in the U.S. early next year, has so far stood pat with just one plain-jane street car.
No more, as Lotus is finally spinning off the Evora Type 124 (say “one twenty-four”) Endurance Racer. Set to make its on-track debut at the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours, the Evora Enduro cleaves over 440 pounds from the street version’s already wispy 3050-pound curb weight. The other column of the power-to-weight table swells by more than 120 hp, for an unspecified total north of 395 from the Toyota-sourced 3.5-liter V-6. (That might make us notice a Camry.)
FIA-compliant equipment includes a roll cage, a fuel cell, and a fire-extinguisher system. All body panels remain the same with the exception of wider side sills and the carbon-fiber rear wing, diffuser, and front splitter. Six-piston brake calipers from AP Racing tuck inside wheels that have been widened to 9.5 inches in the front and 11 in the back. Pirelli racing slicks keep things sticky.
Frequent-Flyer Miles
Lotus is eyeing a number of endurance races in the next year, including the Nürburgring race in May; a 12-hour in Sepang, Malaysia, in August; a 24-hour at Silverstone, in the UK, in October; and the Dubai 24-hour in January of 2011. No word yet on when the car will be available to customers or what it will cost, but based on the cost of the 2-Eleven and GT4 Supersport, we’d guess somewhere north of $125,000.
View Photos
View Photos
Leave a Reply