Frankfurt Live: Lotus Evora GTE

Another stand that impressed me - so much I buzzed around it for a good half an hour after the official press conference - was Lotus. Whilst one of the main attractions of the stand was Jake Humphrey from BBC F1 fame doing an interview with various Lotus executives, the cars themselves blew me away and made me realise just how far Lotus has come in the past decade.

Appearing in prime position on the stand was Lotus' most powerful road car ever built, the Lotus Evora GTE. With 438 horsepower under its belt, the car was intended primarily for the Asian market but was also made to commemorate Lotus' entrance into the global GTE motorsport category. The car is equipped with a racing automated manual gearbox, lightweight alloy rims and a substantial carbon fibrage to help shed 105kg from a standard Evora.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar says, "The response to this model in China has been so incredible, within days we had sold out with 114 orders. In response we decided that the only logical step from a business perspective was to increase production and widen our reach." With more planning to be built, all that remains to say is that we are extremely excited about seeing this larger than life vehicle on our British roads. Want!

A pristine Evora S with a grey and black paintjob and alloy wheel combination also stood out on the shiny Lotus showdeck.

A more important model on display was the brand new 2012 Lotus Exige S. Removing the 4-cylinder 220bhp engine, the vehicle now features a V6 3.5-litre unit from the Evora but for the time being, official performance figures are being withheld. Needless to say, this lightweight sports car will go like stink. A Lotus Exige R GT was also on hand to showcase the ultimate in engine performance with changes to the gearbox and restrictions placed on the engine in order to control output and meet FIA GT requirements.