There are few greater automotive thrills than hurling a Lotus Elise down a bendy back road—or around a racetrack. But it’s almost not fair to compare the intense and delightful responses of the Elise or the related Exige to other street cars because, with curb weights that hover around 2000 pounds, there aren’t really any other street cars like them.

Bigger, but No Less Special

As you likely already know, that’s where the Evora comes in. It’s massively larger than the Elise—21.9 inches longer, with a 10.9-inch stretch in the wheelbase—which puts it on par with other sports cars such as the Porsche 911 and Cayman. The Evora is roughly five inches shorter than the 911 but still manages to squeeze in similarly sized (i.e. tiny) back seats that are designed to fit very small adults or children up to about 10 years old. It also has a narrower door sill and a 2.5-inch-higher seating position, making it far easier to get in and out, which is one of the Elise’s setbacks. Two six-foot-plus males can sit in comfort without their shoulders touching, which is inevitable in an Elise. In fact, this six-foot-five driver didn’t even have to put the front seat back all the way to get comfortable. Read more »

After the Evora was officially revealed in London, Lotus CEO Michael Kimberley has made it clear that more variants of the 2+2 were on the way. Six different versions are planned, including a convertible – originally confirmed the day the Evora debuted – that will keep the coupe fresh over its eight-year lifespan.

While a drop-top is nice, power is what the people crave. So within two years expect another naturally aspirated variant that boosts the 3.5-liter V6′s engine from 280 to 320 hp. After that, it’s all about forced induction. The mid-mounted V6 has been positioned in the engine bay to accept a supercharger, which will bring output up and over 400 hp, dropping the 0-60 time to under four seconds and making the Evora “S” a serious contender to the Porsche 911 Turbo.

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Lotus has released basic information and our first look at the 2009 Lotus “Eagle” as a teaser prior to next week’s British auto show where the car’s true identity will be revealed—Eagle is just its internal codename.

Until then, what we know for certain is that the Eagle will be positioned above the Elise and Exige S models and, like the not-for-the-U.S. Europa, aims to provide increased day-to-day usability. Think Porsche Cayman as opposed to all-out track toy: the Eagle will carry more creature comforts and be larger (although that’s a relative term) than the Elise and Exige.
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