Raw Speed

STRIPPED OUT AND DRIPPING WITH CARBON, THE EVORAGT430IS THE ULTIMATE LOTUS ROAD RACER.

- Scott Newman

IT’S BEEN following me for some time, but with a steep rock wall now hugging the side of the road it feels closer than ever. Only when I lower the window, however, does the shocking intensity of the noise emitted by the Lotus Evora GT430 really hit home. There isn’t a lot of sound deadening in a GT430, but there’s enough to muffle the lightweight titanium exhaust. It’s like standing outside a stadium listening to the concert within – you sense there’s greater enjoyment to be had, if only you could get closer to the action.

Cue that window switch. The GT430 is almost certainly the loudest road car I’ve driven. Ricocheting off those rock walls, the sound in the cabin is so thick and all-enveloping you’d swear you could reach out and grasp it in your hand. It’s probably not what Lotus was aiming for, but it reminds me of a race-spec Torana GTR XU-1. The Evora is smoother and not as gravelly in note, but has a similarly raucous six-cylinder rasp.

It’s been quite a Cinderella story for the 2GR-FE 3.5-litre V6. Initially found powering the Toyota Aurion, Lotus adapted the basic 206kW/350Nm unit to the Evora’s mid-engine, rear-drive layout and then added supercharging for the 257kW/400Nm Evora S. Since those early days Lotus has kept fiddling, a revised supercharger and water-to-air intercooler lifting outputs to 298kW/410Nm. This ultimate GT430 enjoys a further 33kW/30Nm (40Nm in automatic guise) thanks to recalibrated ignition, fuel and camshaft mapping.