This Is The Most Stunningly Extreme Lotus Evora Ever And We Want One

Stop what you’re doing and get excited for precisely the length of time it takes you to finish this paragraph. Lotus has unveiled its most powerful road-going sports car ever, called the Evora GT430, but, as usual, it’s not actually new.

Feel free to stay excited if you like, because while it’s essentially another fiddle-job it’s still pretty cool. Instead of being new, it’s the next level of hardcore weight-reduction in the Evora’s evolution, focusing on chopping weight out wherever possible. There’s no air-con unless you add it as an option. Obviously there are no rear seats in this one, but ‘hand-crafted’ carbonfibre body panels help lower the centre of gravity and cut weight to 1258kg dry – 26kg less than the Evora Sport 410 despite 9kg of extra components.

It laps the Lotus test track in 1m25.8s, which is an Evora record. It’s actually as fast as the track-day 3-Eleven special on the same circuit, says Lotus. Power still comes from the supercharged and charge-cooled 3.5-litre V6, but power is up to 424bhp at 7000rpm and torque nudges up to 325lb ft at 4500rpm. There’s a Torsen limited-slip differential and an interesting air-to-liquid gearbox cooler hidden away, and a lightweight titanium exhaust that isn’t.

Just 60 are being made for markets across the globe, giving it guaranteed collector’s car status and underlining Lotus’ latest business model built on maximising profit margins via evolutions and special editions. The GT430 will launch to the 62mph standard in 3.8 seconds, while top speed is an eye-opening 190mph. Zero to 100mph should take less than eight seconds.

The carbon bodywork isn’t just for show, even if it is pretty enough to mount on your wall. It helps the GT430 produce 250kg of net downforce at 190mph. It matches the Sport 410’s peak 64kg downforce rating at 90mph, so at higher speeds there’s a measurable improvement in cornering speeds. The larger front air scoops, front splitter, air blades and louvres over each wheel arch all help the car to cut through the air more cleanly, making better use of its energy. The big rear wing is another integral part of the aero package.

It sits on track-biased Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres that are 10mm wider than those on the Evora Sport 410, jumping to 295/30 R20 at the back. Behind those are Lotus-tuned Ohlins TTX two-way adjustable dampers with 20-click compression and rebound adjustment, all wrapped in Eibach ultra-lightweight springs. The setup saves 10kg over that of the Sport 410. The brakes are upgraded AP Racing four-piston calipers all round, while the three-piece rear discs shave 2kg off.

There’s a new traction control system that allows a user-selectable amount of rear wheel slip, from 1 per cent to 12 per cent for a bit more wheelspin and potentially a nice dab of oppo. It’s only available in the most extreme of the driving modes.

The price for all this advanced but old-school engineering? To be one of the 60 lucky customers who’ll own one, the charge is £112,500. Then there’s the options list, which stretches from the £3500 Sparco seat upgrade (pictured) to either black or red ultra-lightweight alloy wheels at £900 for the set. There’s a titanium harness frame with four-point harnesses for £4000, air-con for £1500, a stereo unit for £2000 and metallic paint for £1200, among other eye-wateringly expensive options.