Introduction

The standard model Lotus Evora comes with the choice of 3 gearboxes, the standard 6-speed manual, the Close Ratio Gearbox - again a 6-speed manual but with a closer ratio gear set - and the Lotus IPS 6-speed automatic, making the car an Evora IPS. The standard ratio box was dropped for MY12, making the Close Ratio Gearbox the standard fit for normally aspirated cars.

The supercharged Evora S dropped the standard ratio 6-speed gearbox and instead was only offered with the Close Ratio Gearbox initially, with the IPS box being added as an option to create the Evora S IPS from MY12 onwards.

All three of these gearboxes are Toyota sourced, with the IPS featuring Lotus's own electronic controls to make it more suitable for a sporting application.

Manual gearbox information

For the manual gearboxes this is the Toyota EA60 gearbox, as fitted to the Toyota Auris 2.0 D-4D and 2.2 D-CAT models.¹ These are diesel engines, and the standard ratios are as they in the Auris, possibly explaining why they are often seen as rather long. The closer ratio gear set appears to be a bespoke set of ratios unique to the Evora and Evora S.

An adaptor plate is used to allow the engine and gearbox to be joined together, and the starter motor is relocated compared to the Toyota application.

For the manual gearboxes Lotus list two final drive ratios, one for 1st through 4th gears and another slightly shorter ratio for 5th and 6th.²

Automatic gearbox information

The Evora IPS and S IPS use the Toyota U660E gearbox³ as used by Toyota in conjunction with the 2GR-FE engine in several vehicles.

There are 3 modes of operation for the IPS gearbox: Drive, Sport, and paddle over-ride.⁴

Drive

Drive is biassed towards fuel economy, generally keeping the engine below 2000rpm.

Sport

Sport mode adds throttle blips on downshifts and generally runs the engine at higher revs to improve responsiveness.

Paddle

Paddle mode is activated by pulling on one of the paddles in either Drive or Sport mode, and allows the driver to change gear with the paddles mounted behind the wheel.

In Drive mode the car will return to Automatic operation if the paddles are not used for 10 seconds, and will shift up when the rev limiter is hit.

In Sport mode the gearbox will not shift up automatically even if the rev limit is reached. The original gearbox software would return to Automatic operation if the paddles were not used for 30 seconds in Sport mode, but the latest software updates, carried out when the car is taken for a main dealer service, see the car remain in Sport Manual mode indefinitely until the Drive button is pressed or Sport mode is disabled.⁵

Unlike the manuals, cars fitted with the IPS gearbox do not have the engines rev limit increased to 7000rpm when in Sport Mode, as this would damage the gearbox.⁶

Shortcuts

The following paddle presses perform certain actions^[1]:

Pulling and holding both paddles together for a couple seconds will select Neutral.
When in manual mode, holding the Up paddle for a couple seconds will revert to Drive.

Other information

The IPS gearbox was introduced as an option for the Evora in September 2010 and the Evora S in September 2011.

All Evora S's come with the close ratio Sport Gearbox fitted as standard. For the standard Evora the Sport Gearbox was added as standard equipment for the MY12 cars onwards.

Gear Ratios

Gearbox	1	2	3	4	5	6	Reverse	Final Drive 1st - 4th	Final Drive 5th - 6th
Standard	3.538	1.913	1.218	0.86	0.79	0.638	3.831	3.777	3.238
Close Ratio	3.538	1.913	1.407	1.091	0.9697	0.8611	3.831	3.777	3.238
IPS	3.300	1.900	1.420	1.000	0.713	0.608	4.148	3.935⁷	3.935

Maximum Speed per gear

Speeds displayed at 6400rpm and 7000rpm in brackets for Sport Mode.

Gearbox	1	2	3	4	5	6
Standard	37.09mph (40.57mph)	68.60mph (75.03mph)	107.75mph (117.85mph)	152.60mph (166.90mph)	193.77mph (211.94mph)	239.94mph (262.43mph)
Close Ratio	37.09mph (40.57mph)	68.60mph (75.03mph)	93.27mph (102.02mph)	120.29mph (131.56mph)	157.86mph (172.66mph)	177.77mph (194.44mph)
IPS	38.17mph	66.30mph	88.71mph	125.96mph	176.71mph	207.18mph

Emissions

The official CO₂ emission and fuel consumption ratings for the Evora vary depending on the gearbox equipped to the car.

	Evora MY10	Evora MY11	Evora Sport Gearbox	Evora IPS	Evora S	Evora S IPS
Fuel Consumption - Urban	22.8mpg (12.4 l/100km)	23.4mpg (12.1 l/100km)	22.1mpg (12.8 l/100km)	22.4mpg (12.6 l/100km)	19.4mpg (14.6 l/100km)	19.6mpg (14.4 l/100km)
Fuel Consumption - Extra Urban	43.5mpg (6.5 l/100km)	44.8mpg (6.3 l/100km)	40.4mpg (7.0 l/100km)	44.8mpg (6.3 l/100km)	37.2mpg (7.6 l/100km)	40.8mpg (6.9 l/100km)
Fuel Consumption - Combined	32.5mpg (8.7 l/100km)	33.2 (8.5 l/100km)	31.0mpg (9.1 l/100km)	33.2mpg (8.5 l/100km)	27.2mpg (10.2 l/100km)	29.3mpg (9.7 l/100km)
CO₂ Emissions - Urban	-	285g/km	301g/km	297g/km	341g/km
CO₂ Emissions - Extra Urban	-	149g/km	165g/km	156g/km	179g/km
CO₂ Emissions - Combined	205g/km	199g/km	215g/km	208g/km	239g/km	224g/km