Chris’ Evora: Penny-Pinching Pays Off

After several successful years in time trials with two different E36 M3s, Chris Mayfield decided to modernize his equipment.

After that came a short spell with a supercharged E92 M3. As fast and capable as it was with stock power, once adding the supercharger, no matter what he tried, it would not put the power down effectively. He then recognized what the limitations of a front-engined, rear-drive GT sans transaxle were — particularly when the power figure creeped too high. The more power a road racing car must handle, the more value there is in moving the center of mass closer to the driven wheels.

Photo credit: JM Photography

Frustrated with the heavy GT, Chris contemplated hanging up his helmet, but fortuitously, a friend mentioned that one of his contacts happened to be selling a European sports car for a reasonable price. This Lotus Evora’s 2GR engine would make comparable power to the S54, and the chassis would be able to put it down quite easily. It also came with plenty of go-fast bits from factory, so it wouldn’t require as much fettling as the heavier front-engine GTs had. Best of all, if it wasn’t what he wanted, he could make a few quick fixes and turn it for a profit. Considering the bargain he got on the Evora, he named it Penny and began tracking it.

Fabulous From Factory

Even in stock trim, the Evora was refined enough for thousand-mile journeys and direct enough for respectable times at more technical tracks. Though its helical LSD would lock abruptly and induce a little more rotation than intended, it was soft in its breakaway, and always communicative thanks to a fast, feelsome hydraulic steering rack.

Having a torquey motor and sixty percent of the weight over the rear axle make the Evora easy to slide in stock trim. 

Before testing the Evora, he’d expected something more along the lines of a heavier Elise, but the bigger brother was far more forgiving. Even in stock trim with excessive body roll, its soft edges helped him clock a 1:58 around Buttonwillow 13CW his first time out — an impressive time for a factory car weighing 3,100 pounds with a tick over 350 horsepower

It wasn’t just the natural balance which helped him log such a lap. The AP Racing brakes, Ferodo DS2500 pads, adequate cooling, a flat underbody, a decently sized diffuser, double wishbones at both ends, and other features that came from factory contributed to a well-rounded car that could deliver lap after lap without faltering.

The bones were clearly good, but Chris had a few critiques of the car which, though extremely capable, was not quite sharpened enough to be placed precisely in every siThe abrupt lockup was quite exploitable in the slow stuff; bordering on over-rotation, but in faster corners like Bus Stop and Riverside, this characteristic wasn’t as useful. When lifting, the car would rotate as expected, but settling the rear with any throttle would induce a little bit of understeer — even without any weight transfer taking place. For this reason, he found himself overslowing the entries Laguna Seca’s T5 and T10 to ensure he wouldn’t be going for a trip through the dirt.

Beauty Under the Knife

Its suspension design requires less static camber than the E92 does, but there was need for more. With the help of custom upper control arms from Fred Zust at Black Watch Racing, Chris was able to dial in 2.7° up front and 3.5° at the rear. Not much for a full-on track car, but ample in practice, as it turned out.

Along with those custom arms, Fred Zust specced a set of custom Penske 7500 two-ways to sharpen the car and keep the aero platform level over — a must with the elements Chris had planned. With high school friend and founder of Zebulon Ryan Neff leading the charge, the two ran a series of 3D scans to devise the right aero package for the Evora’s sleek but surprisingly draggy body.

Even though the coke-bottle shaped Evora is a sports car, the weight and power produced give it some GT-esque traits which Ryan addressed in his aero design. With this car, he adhered to his typical philosophy for heavier, front-engine cars when designing the aero package: the front gets precedence. Generally speaking, the Evora needs more aero loading at the front axle to get the desired balance with a car like this. So, Neff built the six-inch splitter — which provides the ideal combination of downforce and efficiency — from the front of the bumper and extending all the way to the front axle line, where is blends seamlessly into the factory flat floor.

At the rear, Ryan devised a mounting system which would save Chris from having to hack up the beautiful rear clamshell. Only two holes in the rain gutter were needed to attach the mounts, which connect to a support that bolts directly to the chassis. Ryan’s careful touch is obvious in the design of the two elegant swan necks that pass through the panel gaps between the rear clam and the fenders.

The finishing touches on the first iteration of the aero package were: a set of skirt extensions which widen the surface area of the floor, and bolted on a set of his “ankle cutters,” which manage the inflow of air underneath the car. “The cutters function like a virtual sliding skirt,” he added.

To top off this first round of aero additions, Chris stuffed as much tire as he could fit under the factory bodywork — with 265s up front and 315s at the rear. The car wears its tires well and doesn’t necessarily need a massive footprint, but if the fender wells are wide enough to make room for more, he realized he may as well.

In its second iteration, the Lotus was swift enough to cut seven seconds off Chris’ previous best at Buttonwillow 13CW in the second session that day. A 1:51 is something to rejoice, but he couldn’t be happy too long — at the end of that exciting day, the factory powertrain showed its shortcomings. Simply put, the crankcase ventilation system was not built for 1.5 G and dumped too much oil into the intake manifold; choking the motor and breaking a ringland.

Thankfully, this didn’t mean his budget supercar would be breaking the bank. These Toyota motors have been used in a wide range of cars; making them cheap and plentiful. In went a new motor, to which Chris fitted a set of aftermarket stainless headers for a total of 360 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque.

There’s a planned diffuser on the way, as well as an OS Giken 1.5-way differential, which should make the car that much more accurate and predictable in the faster corners. There’s talk of turbocharging the engine for 500+ horsepower, but that’s still undecided.

If Chris does decide to venture down that route, a platform this strong, with this much aero, a friendly balance, and a great deal of mechanical grip should make great use of that bump in power on the track — unlike his old E92. It may be the best test for a versatile chassis like this. Perhaps it will cease being the friendly thing it’s been, but then it’ll be hard to complain when the times continue to drop rapidly. For the money, Penny has provided far more than most cars in this class ever could with similar levels of work invested.