The small village of Hethel in Norfolk, England, is home to a plucky little car maker that has been through a lot of ups and downs, but is still going strong, fixing on gaze on the horizon thinking of better days. Their latest product, Lotus Evora 400, can make those dreams come true, on the evidence of what you are about to see after the jump.

Lotus Evora 400 is based on the standard model which is widely regarded as one of the most refined, most comfortable sports car in the world. What they have done here is take that car, shave 42 kg off its weight and add 55 horsepower to the output of its engine. The result is a fantastic driver’s car capable of holding its own in the face of the most serious sports cars, while maintaing a certain degree of usability so that it could be a pretty satisfactory daily driver as well.

The main highlights of Lotus Evora 400, compared to the standard model, is a 3.5 liter supercharged V6 engine tuned to 400 hp (406 PS; 298.3 kW) at 7,000rpm. Torque has also been increased to 302 lbs ft (410 Nm) achieved between 3,500 to 6,500 rpm, 42 kg lighter weight, evised spring and damper settings, a Limited Slip Differential (LSD) and a downforce figure of 32 kg (70 lbs) at 150 mph (242 km/h). The net result of all that is a 7-second difference in the lap times of Evora and Evora 400 around Lotus test track.