The prominent competition included cars from some of the greatest Marques in the world such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin.
The 2009 Performance Car of the Year comprised 30 cars, and included exhaustive subjective and objective testing. The feature incorporated testing on some of the greatest driving roads in Britain, with objective testing at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, where Darren Turner, a Le Mans winning racer, put the cars through their paces.
Chris Chilton, Assistant Editor at Car Magazine was so taken with the Lotus Evora during the first drive activity in Scotland that he said he would eat his Apple Mac if the Evora didn't win this year’s Performance Car of the Year. In saving his Apple Mac, Chris commented, "There are executive saloons that don't ride this well, supercars that don't turn in so crisply, and surely no car on the planet steers like this". To further safeguard his constitution, Chris added, "Lotus has managed to transfer everything that we love about the Elise to a bigger, more refined, more grown up platform...It couldn’t really be much better to drive - the Evora is nigh-on perfect. A winner on every conceivable level".
Roger Becker, Vehicle Engineering Director said that "It is very rewarding to win the well established Car Magazine, Performance Car of the Year award against such tough competition. I am personally very pleased that Chris Chilton so accurately informs on the character and performance that we set out to achieve in the Evora: They are all you would expect from a modern everyday Lotus. The Evora is a great ownership proposition, offering the great Lotus driving experience in a very comfortable, practical, refined and efficient package.”
He added “It is a great validation of the expertise at Lotus to win this title against incredible competition from such a highly regarded publication and very pleasing to continue Lotus’ outstanding record in this competition".
Press release via Lotus