Lotus F1 Team Evora GTE

New Lotus F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen pulls the wraps off the latest version of the Evora, the Lotus F1 Team Evora GTE at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The Lotus stand is a thing to behold, bold, large and thoroughly befitting a major car manufacturer. Now let's just see those supercars. Except there's a bit of a cloud hanging over Lotus, with the company waiting to hear what happens now that its Malaysian owner Proton has been sold.

What is it?

This is a bit complicated. There is the 280hp Evora, the Evora S with turbocharging and 350hp, and the Evora GTE that ups the power to an incredible 444 horsepower. The F1 inspired GTE boasts gleaming carbon fibre.

What's hot?

With power up almost 60% over the original Evora and 100kg shaved off the weight, the performance potential is stupendous. This F1 version extends the carbon of last year's Pebble Beach car to the full bodywork.

What's not?

25 GTEs were originally slated to be built, but there are 200 orders that Lotus will naturally fulfil. Sadly they will largely go to China where the regulations are, shall we say, a bit more relaxed than elsewhere. This Geneva F1 Evora is, for the moment, just a show car.

How much and when?

The Lotus Evora isn't cheap in any form, and it's easy to reach £75,000 for a well-specified Evora S. So this Lotus F1 Team Evora GTE will be the other side of £125,000 should it ever reach production.

Anything else I need to know?

Performance figures are hard to come by as Lotus is being coy about even the regular Evora GTE, which was developed primarily as a race car. But 0-62mph in less than 4.0 seconds has to be on the cards.

On Bing: see pictures of the Lotus Evora GTE
Find a used Lotus Evora on Auto Trader
First Drive Review: Lotus Evora S (2011 onwards)