2019 Lotus Evora 400 - Jay Leno’s Garage

that's very nice episode of Jay Leno's Garage today we're featuring Lotus you know I'm a huge fan of quirky English sports cars I just like the way they build them I like to VIN individuality Colin Chapman of course one of the all-time greats you may have seen the piece we did on my Lotus alarm one of the all-time greatest sports cars of all time in fact Gordon Murray kind of based his f1 on the handling of his Lotus Elan and Lotus and one of those companies it kind of goes like this a little bit you know and they have to use their wits because there's just not a lot of money around to compete with the big companies but to me it's like when I watch a movie I like low-budget movies because there's more creative thinking involved you know they're more interesting there's more writing going involved because it's not all special effects and that's what's happened here some very clever styling so very clever engineering and the good news is Lotus has gotten an infusion of cash lately they've partnered with some people that got a few bucks or they're staying off to the side and let them do what they do and that's why they're producing these new cars and this is another thing I like so you know like any car company but you can call up the head guy and he comes by the garage and tell you about it let's meet Russell car you're the design director correct I'm the design director and they switch it appropriately a named Russell car right there yeah yeah very good well you've done a wonderful job a number of people have mistaken this for a Ferrari I guess that's good that's not the worst thing so no it's not the worst thing no but it I mean they're truly exciting cars and I love the fact that you've got a new v6 you've got 400 horsepower because to me the problem Laureles has always been just didn't have that engine couple of bucks to get it over the hump TV advertising to get the product out but now you guys are back in the game and back in the American market tell us what we have here so we have wishes for is the cool TV for 400 right so as you say 400 horsepower the cars designed around and extruded chassis bonded and riveted transversed v6 engine behind the occupants a little unusual in this class of car that it's a 2+2 layout so you can get some small kids in the back or you can put your luggage in there and the cars do right design moment very much around the driver we're a driver's car so certainly when we think about designing product we look back at our roots we look back at our brand values and even in the Chapman ear what was important was how the car drove driving dynamics styling has he would have called it then we call it design now that was one of the core values which is important to us obviously and then we back that up with aerodynamics and of course adding lightness that's very much part of life now the engine that you're using is the Toyota v6 that's correct yeah but we then take that we put a charge called supercharger on it which raises the horsepower from 280 to just like the 400 horsepower and whose supercharger we're using idle rock because that you know it's funny it was a whole time in the 60s I guess I started with Carroll Shelby of taking Southern California hot rodding and and putting it together with European automobiles or English automobiles you know and the fact that Lotus goes to Edelbrock I guess it just kind of makes me smile as opposed to I don't know why you're test I just like the fact that oh they're hot runners let's hot ride our Toyota engine so you take basically a stock toyota motor with the reliability of all the modes with that any there's no camp changes there's no piston change nothing like that no only other thing we do is we put our own internals in the gearbox as well so we have much closer ratio gearbox in there which is obviously all to do with the driving again on the car right and with 400 horsepower pushing what kind of weight so we're in European turns 13 95 kilos and in your money I guess three thousand and sixty pounds so that's that's pretty good and of course every iteration we do have a car we as designers the engineers we're always striving to add more lightness to it again right no I I love the fact that it's something different and it's an alternative you know the it's like eventually they're gonna be down to one automobile company as they keep merging emerging I like the fact that Lotus keeps getting up there throwing punches and coming up every time I think Lotus is down though they come back with something alright I like that I don't say them to be insulting I mean I I think it's good I like that kind of British just above our lip let's see what we can do you know and I think you've done a masterful job with it especially in the red it looks easily mistaken for Ferrari is certainly an Italian styling let me ask you about designing this car because you know my favorite year is like 1966 because at least in America that was the last year of pure design just design whatever you want didn't have bumpers who cares if the headlights too low nobody cared about that but now everybody's got to be this tall and this side and are there certain aerodynamic government requirements as well it must have a coefficient of drag or anything like that not around at aerodynamics but we have a lot of regulations around bumper Heights lights positions of mirrors and things like that we have to work around but that's partly why we call ourselves designers now rather than stylists because we have to balance the aesthetic and the engineered side of things as well the technical side of the car right right and plus you've got to get something that pleases every country to build a world card yeah yeah and the two big markets are there's the European regulations and then North America and you combine those you usually hit most of the regulations around the world but I'm going to commemorating when they did the first generation of the new Ford GT 2005 and since they only build for two years because after that the headlights had to be another inch higher or something which would have you know they look like a bug I spray yeah yeah yeah and they just had to stop so it it must be extremely frustrating for you to come up with a pure design and then government good now now move that nice let's call it a challenge and opportunity an opportunity yeah we have to work yeah cool so some of some of the challenges in designing this I don't know if their challenges but things which are important to us where sports car very emotional product as we said dynamics on our car really important and we want to convey the agility of the car and the way it looks and also help the agility of the car so obviously the first point you think about is where you position the wheels and tires every designer will want the wheels to be as big as possible and you judge the car a little bit the proportion the wheel to the overall height so that's one thing we start of course everybody wants the wheel and tire is far outboard as possible so that's got a nice stance the car looks shrink-wrapped over and there regulations around that there's certain once you have to hit where the wheels are covered for certain markets and then we try and shrink wrap the body over those wheels and size as tightly as possible efficiency in weight it makes the car look athletic it's a phrase we use quite a lot like a sprinter and of course you then you get these lovely lines where you've got from the front fender where the bodywork is draped over it and then kicks up over the rear haunch here and you get this wonderful Coke in the plan view as well so it really accentuates the muscle on the rear of the car reminds you its rear drive mid-engine car etc how long does it take to desert from when they say won't build a new horse yeah from start first sketch to finish is it is it are you constantly doing design changes literally up till almost production or or are you set six months ahead of time if you ask the engineers they say it takes us too long to do our button style but usually from sort of first sketch to production is somewhere between two and a half and three years something like that so we start with sketches which run a few weeks then we'll do maybe scale models or these days digital models and then we'll do some full-size work with clay which which is the fun part right and that's where you get to really sculpt things and really nice things we've got on here you know how they how the bodywork weights in here again which accentuates the rear wheel just give some emotion to the car they're the things you play with in clay and have a lot of fun with basically and the rear wheel is out about what looks maybe half an inch well I remember but it's out well like a racing car yeah they're right the front wheel is inboard of the rear and that's to do the dynamics of the car and it gives it a very specific look on our lay at the car when it comes to doing paint like two-tone like this is that the work of the designer or does someone else come in to decide could you get this in a solid color if you wanted or is it all yeah you can have this in in a solid or you can have it like this one is painted black or you can have it as a carbon fiber option which is really really neat size and weight we kind of like it sometimes when it's a body color because then you really see this wraparound spring into the soy gloss which is a bit like a visor on a crash helmet which is a neat feature now is that is that your choice as designer or to some else decide like a stylist decide color is better will that one if you like it it was my idea if you don't like it was somebody else excellent proper answer very good well I do like the two-tone myself I like the way it sort of goes into the back here and I love this big piece of carbon now we open the back here yeah go ahead yeah okay we have a prop rod here same just goes here right here yeah okay yeah just like the Humber super snake rod looks familiar I like I like to stick I liked it you know it's so funny because you guys you know two struts and hydraulics and how much weight is that it was that stick weigh a couple of ounces they're very funny cool and I love the fact that I can get to the motor and you can see it you know so many modern cars now you can't even open the rear hatch to get to get to the engine compartment okay and this is our Edelbrock supercharger which I I find fascinating and I custom Lotus name very prominent up here and you've got a reasonable sized trunk you can actually go somewhere yeah so we have space here and right and use the space behind the front side right right right and that was what this card was conceived or we all fit and so you had the Elise before and we still have the Elise in Europe and that's a usable car but you make some compromises and the idea of this car was it you can use it more frequently you can put small children as a side yeah in the rear seat you can carry the luggage the car's got a very compliant ride so it's yeah nice to use plus 500 horsepower I'm moving 3,000 pounds that's that's good that's very good this is actually quite light how much is a weight saving is this carbon fiber about 12 kilos which is what about 25 26 pounds okay well that's in that's higher up so that exactly a lot of work was done on getting the center of gravity down lower on the car oh yes we do it there's the front open at all yes anyone expecting the whole front clip to come up I'd say they just have this little whoo yeah so that was all done for weight efficiency that's all you need to do right okay that's just for you Bruins in I guess a brake reservoir and clutch probably and what and will shouldn't washer fluid in there as well and you got a pollen filter there as well no okay I say this is carbon fiber are going to wait and of course where you are here is where you got the exits radiator so that's a little motorsport trip to create all that a downforce reduce lift in front of the car I like this line here that's a really important line for us so yeah sadly no longer with this guy I called Roger Becker who was our ride and handling guru but he always insisted on that so that you could position the car on the track you could see the corners so we always refer to that as the Becker point yeah and of course you got something similar at the rear when you look in the mirrors you see the rear Hort is the car well it's the other thing I like about low does is it's sort of built by a team it's you guys and a bunch of other guys and it's everybody's idea what the car should be so many cars is designed by committee now you just have to have this you have to have that I remember one day I've got that SLR Mercedes it was kind of like not enough McLaren too much Mercedes it didn't quite fit in anywhere a great car but it just did just too many chefs in the kitchen you know I mean I like you say that like the gentleman Becker he said yeah yeah I like I like those kind of stories because it makes you understand why the car looks away and drives this way and there's a certain heritage to it you know I mean Lotus is one of those iconic brands that you know Jimmy Clark and all that it's sixty years later it still has an effect on people you know and that's what this is sort of championing now your point of the team size is really important we're we're quite a small company compared to some of our competitors and that really helps sometimes because it's really easy to go and talk to the guy use of specialists in sales or guys the specialists in dynamics and we all get on really well together and as you say decisions get made quickly we're all enthusiastic the cars as well we drive the car so it really shows I think we really care about the product we're really close to it I mean I love the fact you're doing a manual gearbox model how many Lotus buyers prefer the manual over there I'd say in most markets the the manual is the yeah a big seller I think there's certain markets where the auto obviously takes so to me that's what I love about this about going out into Sunday and having fun on a winding road or going up into the hills and how did you you've got plenty of power let's look at the interior so what we can do with our interior it's all done in house at Ethel in Norfolk where the factory is a and because we are relatively low volume we're able to use processes that are much more crafted so lots of leather or Alcantara whatever you choose to put in there customer can spec what color they want color the stitching etc I remember I went to Bentley before they got bought by Volkswagen and I go into the upholstery department as a woman there's a tea kettle whistling allowed nice to meet you just there's a stitch in here the seat if he kennels whistling you know she's wrapped in butter and they show you the roof where the bomb came through during World War two they've covered it with a tarp and it was just very funny you know and as much as I enjoy all of that you know the fact you've got to be a modern company and that's what Lotus is now you know you've got the engineering you got all the computer stuff and you've got the reliability with the terremoto when we start the process of a new design of a car well we all work together to get the basis it card points on the car right and one of the key ones is the position of the seat relatives of a steering wheel relative to the pedals because that's how you feel the car so we in the studio the end earing guys love guys who work on the package all work together really closely on that and the guys who do all the development work I've always talked about wanting to sort of firm feel like they're wearing the car and so that's really important all that stuff is in the right position tell me about the bricks what do you have here so we use a AP Racing brakes we've got big discs on there on this car they were increased in size from the previous car so they're three seventy millimeter on the front and those steel discs are now there's still disk there are twin part once yeah you know I like the steel disc I have no problem with them they you know sometimes of the others you've got to get them hot first or they really work effectively in normal street driving you never going to get that pretty effects if they're pretty strongly no I don't tell that what you're not moving that much weight let's see what else do we have here this car differs in oh it doesn't have the carbon fiber you know it's hard to decide which one I like better actually and this is kind of a neat feature as well this actually is a proper wing actually floats off the surface so you get the airflow over the top come up with it Vic it's just fixed okay all those debates we have at Lotus because moving the wing is more efficient in one way but of course it's all more weight right and so we always have those arguments about that what's the most effective solution well you know in the real world all the fun happens between 40 and maybe 110 miles an hour mm-hm you know once you get over a hundred and forty on the street you're just going to jail you know I mean I mean guys would say oh I like you know the 207 mile now I mean I'm so glad that we out of this stupid 300 mile an hour 250 mile an hour I mean it's not even logical you know I mean to me all the fun is in that window you know and that's that's where this obviously will perform the best where you can really feel it as well when you drive the car you don't have to be going faster to feel it and because the cars quite compact as well it's certain to drive and it goes without saying the air conditioning is standard and all that kinda yeah oh that's tough yeah yeah stuff that we never would have had yes all the stuff we used to argue about because it's all wait in the car but it's what the customer wants well when I bought my f1 McLaren they said it comes with Erica but if you want the good air conditioning it's $25,000 well why would you know assuming that you live in an Arctic there somewhere we only need the regular but so it's like y'all don't get the optional better air conditioning now do you design inferior as well we do we do the interior as well yeah obviously we work all these things together with with our interior engineering colleagues we work with people who look at the ergonomics and things like that as well but we do that because the only really heritage clues I see of the Lotus badge you know which is good I mean because so many times manufactured just rely on the past to just keep pulling up some you know the one-off addition has you know they give you that special decal edition whatever and I love the fact that you've kept the original logo and it's a totally brand new car so it's it's it's impressive well I'd love to take you for a ride I don't look being a low doesn't owner myself I got to go with a manual gearbox one can we take this one yes because I think this is the one if you're watching this program this is probably the one like you have to move the seat forward sounds good [Music] that's pretty good this night well I think about the supercharged but the current is no line got power and let's get it but I like this feeling yeah we like reasonably small diameter and also the the actual grip size not to be too clear idea but the nice thing is you've got a bulletproof powertrain would approve yelping there's nothing wrong with working off an existing power train either there's plenty of race engines in the past that come from something well I mean so much of manufacture now is boutique you find who has the best brakes for you guys you have but it's ap yeah yeah okay he's ap or grandpa or ever and I don't you look around it's got the best supercharger and Edelbrock okay let's put them in and you know and then you put these pieces again to the form you know on the best million you have a pretty good groom inside the cars illegal place of laser head Roman mystics Galvatron and to me I actually have to move the seat forward most British sports cars I'm so don't like can I answer can both this and drill some holes are good but the scene further back you know what this is actually quite I move that seem forward about an inch and I have to well it helped when we did this car originally we had a CEO who was sort of six-month for six months so the obviously insisted we had we designed it to fit in the earlier version of this car and it's GT film won the British GT Championship its class yeah place it's about for Lotus the one that it really has to be our because there's no money for a racing theme really it was a boutique operation when I see a like like like I said before I like I like a team I like one person's vision of what something should be you get it are you dumb I remember when the Lud stove where they introduced the Dodge Viper Panther people hated it half the people loved it but didn't care about people hate it cuz anyone got to buy it anyway you know chorus thing isn't different extremely comfortable car I like these seats than not those buttock lunching where Karos where I'm sitting like this you know I mean it's just a proper comfortable seat and I love this theory well that's best thought of largest thing I have is staring right right the way back to the 60s that whole feel for the car contrived fingertips yeah we said before that a lot of Salaam was the benchmark I believe that Cora Marie used when he did the end of everyone I see today these few sports cars they use the Elise as a benchmark all the Evora which it is pretty flattering for such a small small company in England accelerations are great failing is great time well I like it because you can sort of enjoy watching the tach go around she pick it up I mean the hypercar is a lot of fun but like the people on they go breathe okay now for jet honey really good I mean this is my mother's death suspension and well I always like British engineering it's like I like that team Ephrata just a bunch of guys sitting around does Lohnes have a Heritage Center it doesn't have a Heritage Center it's got clive chapman thing son of the families glasses and his classic team loses and he keeps a lot of the single significant single seaters what i mean in terms of someone with Europa's and alarms maybe we're building that we're building a new museum on the factory's part of the investment in the company so they're redeveloping the site this would be a new restaurant well I want to thank Russell and I I'm very excited about I mean this is a great product it's a great car it's fast attack and it's different and it's small enough so you can still be an individual and have something interesting you know I mean that's what I always liked about Lotus the old days they were always quirky but not the most dependable in terms of electronics and stuff you know but great cars in Fast and the handle with this one they really kind of hit it out of the park that's the car to drive wall kind supercharged that a turbocharged cannon and it's a good-looking car too Russell thank you very much thank you thank you and thank all the other guys and I'm gonna drop Russell up and then go tear up into the hills see you guys next week [Music]

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 372,451

Rating: 4.9335761 out of 5

Keywords: Lotus, Supercharger, Supercharged, Evora, 400, Russell Carr, Designer, car design, Toyota, Colin Chapman, add lightness, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: w_9LTORK1lA

Length: 24min 46sec (1486 seconds)

Published: Sun May 19 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/akatsukix]

Love the car. Shame that the Toyota engine reliability doesn't percolate through the rest of the vehicle. I've heard the handling is next level.

[u/IWW4]

This car is NOT 94K gorgeous.

It is pretty and has Jay said has an iconic name, but 94K for that?

The interior is planejane and the so is the exterior.

[u/ilaney]

I've always really liked the Evora, but I think it's really expensive for what you get. The 400 costs Z06 with Z07 package money (94k) and I can't imagine myself picking one up over a new mid engined Corvette that's probably going to come in at around 60k.

[u/[deleted]]

God I'm halfway considering an Evora S for my next car, but I drive too damn much to justify it.

Is "high mileage Evora" even a thing?

[u/Trades46]

This is still a hidden gem of a car. The original Evora with the 276hp Camry spec didn't feel special enough but this 400hp spec now feels truly bespoke.

It feels a lot more special than just another Corvette or 911 but Lotus reliability is always the question. If I had the disposable income I would think about having one.

[u/TheOrangeFuhrer]

I've been wanting to get an Evora S for a while.

Then I realized the clutch job is like 5k on a good day.

Nevermind...

[u/[deleted]]

I didn't know they even still made these things.

[u/clutchhomerun]

Do you guys think the evora kind of steps away from the lotus philosophy since it's more than 1000 lbs More than the Elise and exige, and to me is no longer a feather weight sports car?