1998 Lotus Esprit Twin Turbo V8 Coupe 2-door 3.5l 11k Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Race Recap: For the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, NASCAR comes to the principality

Lots of contact, debris cautions, trips into the wall, full-course yellows and a red flag - these are the kinds of racing terms you unbox when you want to have a conversation about NASCAR... or the Formula One grand prix of Monaco. In this case we're not talking about the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, we're talking about 78 laps in the South of France that even featured a fallen camera cable just like that stock-car race.
This year, Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers treated their chassis' like busses instead of F1 cars, Romain Grosjean treated his Lotus like a battering ram, Sergio Perez kept sticking his McLaren's nose in places and eventually got it smacked, and maybe the size of the drivers' mirrors should be changed instead of the tires as there were almost as many firsts as there were crashes. Plenty of F1 fans wish Monaco were removed from the calendar, yet even though it doesn't specialize in traditional thrills, that doesn't mean nothing happens during the parade through - and into - the barriers.

Evora GT430 revealed, Lotus' most powerful road car ever

A new Lotus grows in the English garden of lightness and speed. Lotus bills the Evora GT430 as the company's fastest, "most powerful and accomplished road car to date." And the stats seem to back that up. Lotus says the GT430's 0-to-60 time is a brilliant 3.7 seconds, the logical result of putting a 3.5-liter V6 supercharged and charge-cooled engine producing 430 horsepower into a car with a curb weight of 2,858 pounds (2,768 pounds exsanguinated). Lotus, in continual pursuit of its fetish for lightness, used carbon fiber (some of it exposed) and lightweight chassis innovations to knock 81 pounds off the curb weight of the already-quite-light Evora 410. Other comparison points: The 410 makes 410 horsepower, hence the name, with a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds. The GT430 also gains torque over the 410, generating 325 pound-feet, though higher in the rev range at 4,500 rpm, to the 410's output of 310 at 3,500. The GT430 comes only with a six-speed manual (you can get an automatic in the 410 if so inclined), and its top speed is 190 miles per hour. Tack on aero, notably the large carbon wing, that generates up to 550 pounds of downforce (that's at top speed, but there's plenty far slower), and Lotus says the result is "tremendous real-world speed and handling unheard of in its class." It's the first new product announcement since news broke of Lotus' sale to China's Geely. Only 60 Evora GT430s will be built, at a base price of 112,500 pounds (VAT included) that will escalate quickly with options. That's around $125 grand, assuming you could get one here. Check out Lotus' website for details. Related Video: Featured Gallery Lotus Evora GT430 View 15 Photos Image Credit: Lotus Auto News Lotus Technology Coupe Performance Geely

Xcar tosses the Lotus Evora 400 around in the rain

Lotus appears to be blooming again after a rocky period, and the company is launching the Evora 400 here in December for $89,900. Xcar just got a hold of one of these updated coupes on a rainy day to find out if it can be a Porsche competitor. With 400 horsepower, the aptly named Evora 400 tops the Porsche Cayman GT4 by 15 ponies, and with a purported sprint to 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds, the Lotus also nudges out the Porsche by a tenth of a second. So on paper, the two coupes are quite comparable. Of course, Xcar also digs deep into more subjective factors, like how it actually feels behind the wheel. If you think you prefer a little more wind in your hair, the company is developing an Evora 400 roadster, too. Rather than an actual droptop, the roof will reportedly consist of two, removable carbon-fiber panels. It'll arrive on these shores in the coming years as part of Lotus' re-emergence.