The upcoming Lotus Evora promises extreme fun for up to four, but back seat passengers will be left out of the equation when it comes to the Evora convertible. Whereas the Evora coupe will offer 2+2 seating, the Evora convertible will only offer seating for two.
Lotus plans to keep the Evora hype going by adding new features to the car each year – including a paddle-shift gearbox and a high-performance supercharged variant – culminating in a roadster model in 2012. However, to make room for the convertible top, Lotus engineers had to do away with the Evora’s rear seat.
“It’s not going to be easy to fit the roof in,” Steve Crijns, the Evora’s exterior designer, told Autocar. “It will have to go in front of the engine, where the rear seats are now. The rest of the car has been designed with the cabrio in mind; the doors, for instance, are styled so that they can accommodate the system without any changes.”
Crijns also revealed the Evora will do with a soft top rather than a retractable hardtop. The decision to use a more conventional soft top will not only save on engineering time but will also keep the car’s weight down.
However, since few cars in the Evora’s segment offer rear seats – such as the Porsche Boxster /Cayman – we doubt many people will throw up to big of a fuss over the Evora convertible’s two-seat setup.
