Finding one’s inner zen in the Lotus philosophy of engineering

It's been a bit of a moan-fest here so for a change, here's little something about my hottest date in 10 years.

When Oh Kah Beng, head of Lotus Cars Malaysia offered me a chance to drive the Lotus Evora S, I wasn't going to play it cool – I named the time faster than a gangster looking for a showdown.

I've always loved Lotus cars. My neighbour had a green Elan in the early 90s and I used to look at it with longing as I walked past every day on my way to school. Yes, it was front wheel drive and some clever clogs made disparaging comments that it wasn't a 'real' Lotus because of that but it didn't matter to me. Like any other Lotus, the Elan had a fibreglass composite body and was built to Colin Chapman's light weight and fine handling philosophy, whatever the haters might have whined on about. Indeed, Autocar & Motor magazine at the time did concede that it was “the finest front wheel drive (car) bar none” in its review.

Beautiful jewels in a row were what the shiny Lotus cars at the Penchala showroom looked like when I stepped into the glass walled building. All the Lotus models available in Malaysia were there and a few more 'specials' like the F1 car on display in the lobby and the chrome wrapped ones used for promoting for The Host movie.

Lotus has a long and illustrious history and after we had a good chin wag about Lotus' seven time Formula One Championship wins; Lotus' build philosophy and the convenience of having one's own race track (Hethel), Kah Beng showed me Evora S IPS I would be driving.

Gleaming green with two broad yellow stripes on the bonnet, the Evora S started up with a sound that can only be described as sheer aural delight. Toyota may have made the engine but the engine sure as hell doesn't sound like that in a Toyota. I am a veritable engine listener with my ears constantly tuned to a car's engine sounds when I'm driving. If my car sounded like that, a stereo would be redundant. I could have sat there all day listening to it in the very comfortable leather-clad confines of the cabin but that's not what an Evora S is for!

Drive, Reverse and Park are all push buttons on the gear console. Instead of a gear stick are paddle shifts on the steering wheel and since the rear window seems only to be marginally bigger than an A4 sheet, the Evora S comes with a reverse camera. A push of a few buttons and we're off.

The roads around Penchala are rutted and pothole-y but the Evora suspension evened them out without a protest. We get out on to the highway and with a lightest additional pressure on the accelerator pedal, the Evora was off. We weren't even in Sport mode and the sound from the engine just made me want to push the engine even harder. The very responsive and stable steering made it easy to handle the burst of power that followed and manoeuvring past the slouches was a blast. 4.6 seconds never went so fast before and the 345bhp, 400Nm, V6 supercharged orchestra that accompanied the sprint was one of the most enjoyable sounds I've heard in a long time. With the car in Sport mode it was a highly navigable rocket. Is it possible that it sounded even better as it decelerated as I headed towards the U turn, a loud grumble-rumble-rumble sound coming from the active exhaust system? It was a kind of low gurgling rumble I hadn't heard in a long time and hadn't realised how much I had missed.

“Don't brake”, Kah Beng said, as I instinctively did as I neared the curve of the turn.

“Just follow through into the curve,” he said. I did as he instructed and the Evora took the U-turn at at 60km/h like it was a straight road. This was definitely the best driving experience I'd had in the last 10 years.

All too soon the test drive was over and I steered the car back towards Lotus where I reluctantly handed the key back to Kah Beng. It had been an amazing way to spend the 1st of May.

Steve Copley of Autocar UK says that the Evora S is worth every penny. Alas, a lot of pennies are needed to make up the RM650,000 for this beauty I just went out with. If only I'd been saving diligently since I was a little girl.

PS: The two chrome wrapped Evoras fromThe Host promos are available if anyone is interested in discussing rehoming options. Please call Lotus at 03 7725 0182.