The Lotus Evora GT410

The Lotus Evora GT410 – the Sports Car With Better Ride Comfort!

Hot on the heels of the recent announcement that the new Nissan Nismo GT-R would have a more refined ride than the previous incarnation, we have Lotus telling us that the new Evora GT410 will have be a more comfortable ride experience too. Crucially, both cars will offer this extra comfort without compromising performance.

The new Evora GT410 will be a welcome addition to the Evora range – especially as it will come in at around £3,000 cheaper than the more hardcore Evora GT430. Factor in the promised smoother ride, and you have a car that will surely prove to be a winner for Lotus.

The design of the GT410 has been clearly focused on driver comfort, whereas many manufacturers may be able to offer an unquestioned sparse interior and a harsh ride by calling the model a track car, there’s no getting away from it – comfort is king if you want to sell more cars to a wider (and maybe older) demographic.

Comfort includes, in the case of the Evora GT410, more usable everyday driving kit too. Comfortable Sparco sports seats are standard as is Apple CarPlay, air conditioning and a DAB radio. It also gets rear-parking cameras to negate that pillar-box rear view (although there has been more glass added to that rear view). It even has armrests as part of the revamped door furniture design along with more areas to safely put things.

Lotus has clearly thought carefully about the idea of comfort, and the manufacturer has also tweaked an aspect of this that is often overlooked – cabin noise. You might be surprised at just how much continuous noise affects driver wellbeing and comfort on a long journey.  With that in mind, Lotus has improved the sound deadening on the Evora GT410 too; if the increased ride comfort makes you want to take the sports car on a long drive, then this will certainly be a noticeable improvement.

It’s no secret that America tends to have a different preference for suspension setups on their cars, sometimes being described as spongy by Brits more used to our own stiffer damping. It was this American ride feel that inspired Lotus head Phil Popham to demand a softer ride for the new European sports car. Damping has been fine-tuned with the input of the Lotus GT racer, Gavan Kershaw. Kershaw is quick to put any doubters’ minds to rest: “It’s still extremely stable and quick” he says, while also confirming that the general ride will soak up small hits better – an acknowledgement of the state of British roads.

Power will come from the V6 Lotus 3.5-litre engine pushing out 410bhp and 310lb ft torque, while the whole GT410 will sit on 19-inch alloys up front and 20-inchers at the rear. If anyone is still thinking that there must have been a performance compromise, then a 0-60mph in 4 seconds and a (limited) top speed of 190mph should put your mind at rest. Price-wise, the Lotus Evora GT410 will come in at £82,900 – including that larger glass incorporating tailgate, air-con and pretty much everything else mentioned above. Sounds good.