The Lotus Evora GT is lighter and faster for 2020

Attention, Lotus-spotters. Time to update your notebooks. The Lotus Evora 400 and Lotus Evora Sport 410 are no more. This is the new car to replace them both. The 2020 Lotus Evora GT.

Now, the eagle-eyed and calendar-literate among you will notice that it isn’t quite the year 2020 yet. It’s still, we’re quite sure, very much 2019. So, why is this the ‘2020 Lotus Evora GT’?

Well, that’s because it’s for the American and Canadian market. And in America and Canada, the ‘model year’ of a car always precedes the actual year it presently is. They’re living in the future, when it comes to new cars. See also: the 2020 Corvette Stingray.

So, what’s new for the Evora GT that we’re not getting in the UK and aren’t bitter or jealous about ONE BIT? Well, it’s a return to proper Lotus values after the heady excitement of the 1,972bhp, 1680kg Evija hypercar. This is a Lotus sports car that’s got lighter.

It’s 32kg lighter than the Evora 400, in fact – if you spec all the lightweight carbon fibre extras and the optional titanium exhaust. With power from the supercharged V6 set at a healthy 416bhp, it’s no slouch. It’ll do 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds and the manual doesn’t stop until it reaches 188mph. The paddleshift automatic, meanwhile, runs out of go at 174mph. You know which one to pick.

Before all the tasty carbon options, it’s a $96,950 car. So $100k for one of the best handling cars on the planet, or wait for the new mid-engine 'Vette and risk a bargain?