Over four million miles. That’s how many miles of public roads you’ll find stretching across 50 US states. There’s no shortage of ways to explore them, too. Sure, you could drive your typical family-hauling sedan or SUV. Or you could reach for the keys of something with luxury and performance DNA and an appetite for crushing continents. You could reach for the keys to a grand tourer.
Granted, GT cars aren’t typically synonymous with utility or outright sensibility. No, the best GT cars serve to waft drivers and passengers across mile after mile of pavement in serene comfort. But there’s an important distinction: a good GT must be ready to unleash enough power and pantomime to delight at a moment’s notice. Good news: there are plenty of options from marques like Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Maserati. But if you’re looking for something different, you should check out this oft-overlooked European GT with an engine borrowed from one of the last words in reliability: Toyota.
A Simple Formula
You’ve seen it on an utterly confounding assembly of vehicles. Ferraris, V-8-powered pony cars, even the electric, four-door Ford Mustang Mach-E has gotten some serious mileage out of those two little letters. As a result, “GT” is a bit murky in its modern market interpretation. That is, until we dissect it. GT stands for “gran turismo,” an Italian term translating to grand touring. So, what does that mean, then?
In short, a car with GT DNA should be able to drive the line between luxury car and sports car. Comfortable and spacious enough to support a trip, powerful enough to waft across continents, and performance-oriented enough to tackle the demands of twisty ribbons of the Stelvio Pass upon request. Traditional examples include many posh, potent coupes like the Aston Martin DB11, Bentley Continental GT, Maserati GranTurismo Folgore, Mercedes-AMG GT, and the X150-platform Jaguar XK. But that doesn’t mean a good GT car needs to be a front-engine, short rear-deck 2+2 coupe.
Not Known For Reliability
There’s an issue, though. Many of these classic examples of desirable grand tourers aren’t regarded as the most reliable things on four wheels. Depending on which GT car you’re after, you could be looking at pricey, frequent repairs and maintenance. For instance, in the case of the Aston Martin DB11 and the Jaguar XK, owners have reported the always-irritating impacts of electrical gremlins.
As for the Bentley Continental GT, its W12 engine isn’t known for common failures, but when it does, repairs can be cripplingly expensive. Don’t fret, though. Another British marque has an option for a svelte, mid-engine GT with an engine from one of the Japanese brands known for reliability. Lotus, the automaker behind countless motorsport-bred sports cars, even used the letters “GT” in this car’s moniker.
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The Lotus Evora GT Married British Mid-Engine Magic With A Toyota V-6
For the 2020 and 2021 model years, Lotus offered the Evora as a GT trim. Now, it goes without saying that the Lotus Evora GT isn’t quite the same recipe as other larger, front-engined grand tourers. Rather than riding on a hefty all-wheel drive system or packing a weighty V8 or V12, the Evora GT sticks to the guidance of the automaker’s founder, Colin Chapman. The late Chapman believed that, to make a fast, successful car, you must “simplify, then add lightness.”
As such, the Evora GT is more of an example of focus spent on weight savings, power-to-weight ratio, and mid-engine balance. Like the later Lotus Elise Cup 250 and its 2ZR-FE engine, the Lotus Evora GT packed a Toyota-sourced 2GR-FE 3.5-liter V6 engine. But to make the Evora GT as mighty as it could, Lotus used an Edelbrock-sourced supercharger. Certainly not the sort of tameness you’d expect from a Toyota Camry or Avalon with the same 2GR-FE V6 engine, albeit sans supercharger.
Light And Powerful
As Chapman’s fast car philosophy demands, the Lotus Evora GT is light. Really light. Without a piece of meat behind the wheel, the Evora GT tips the scales at 3,112 pounds. To give you an idea of just how light that is, it’s nearly 100 pounds lighter than a Porsche Cayman GT4 of the same timeframe, all the while out-muscling the Porsche’s 4.0-liter flat six.
Lotus Evora GT Specs
|
Engine |
Supercharged 3.5-Liter 2GR-FE V6 |
|
Transmission |
6-Speed Manual, 6-Speed Automatic |
|
Horsepower, Torque |
416 HP At 7,000 RPM, 332 LB-FT At 3,500 RPM (Automatic) |
|
Curb Weight |
3,112 LBS |
|
0-60 MPH |
4.0 Seconds |
|
Quarter Mile |
12.4 Seconds At 111 MPH |
What’s more, it’s nearly 700 pounds shy of the working-order weight of an S550 Ford Mustang Mach 1. And with 416 horsepower courtesy of the supercharged Toyota V6, the Evora GT packs plenty of punch for being a featherweight fighter in the sports car segment. Equipped with the six-speed automatic gearbox, the little Lotus generates 332 pound-feet of torque. However, going with the six-speed manual drops the torque figure to 317 pound-feet. Still, despite producing less twist than the auto-box, we’d have the six-speed manual pairing with the light, taut mid-engine Lotus sports car.
A Driver-Focused GT Car
The Lotus Evora GT doesn’t have the traditional front-engine, long-bonnet setup present in many more traditional grand tourers. But that doesn’t mean it’s not up to the task of crushing miles like a GT car should. For starters, the Evora GT could be had with four seats, though passengers will need to dabble in contortionism to settle into the rear seats. That said, the rear seats can function as overflow storage in addition to the Evora GT’s rather tight six cubic feet of storage.
That’s not quite up to the same standard as larger, more typical front-engine GT cars like a late-model Aston Martin Vanquish. As for the interior, the Evora GT’s layout is driver-centric, pointing analog gauges and a seven-inch touchscreen at the driver. And driving is what the Evora GT is all about. Settle into the Sparco carbon-fiber front seat and push the envelope, and the ultra-light Evora GT will slice around corners and glue itself to the pavement with its Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.
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How Much Are They Worth Today?
When it was new, the 2020 Lotus Evora GT started at $96,950. Now, five years later, a 2020 model sells for an average of $85,500 when examples go up for fixed-price sale or auction. As for the 2021 model, the sticker price rose from year-to-year, adding $2,200 to the Evora GT’s starting price. That said, the average sales price for 2021 models last year was almost exactly the same as the previous model. So, while depreciation has struck the lightweight Lotus driver’s car, it hasn’t sapped too much of its original value over half a decade or so.
So, Should You Buy One?
The Lotus Evora GT represents the end of an era for the small-volume automaker in the United States. The 2020 and 2021 models represented the end of the line for the Evora lineage, closing the book on it before Lotus replaced it with the Emira years later. If you’re looking for an unorthodox GT car with a driver’s-car demeanor and an engine from one of the biggest names in reliability, the Evora GT could be the ticket. That said, earlier Evora models are more affordable. Either way, you’re going to want to book an independent pre-purchase inspection (PPI) before you buy any used luxury sports car.
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Not The First Time
Unique car-and-engine pairings aren’t exclusive to Lotus and Toyota, mind you. Take the Toyota GR Supra, for instance. The GR Supra is the result of an oft-jested-about partnership between BMW and Toyota. The striking coupes are put together by Magna Steyr in Austria using a BMW B58 3.0-liter inline six. That’s right, a Japanese car built by Austrians with a German engine. It’s a crazy world out there.
Sources: Lotus, Toyota, Federal Highway Administration, Classic.com