United Kingdom · Fast sweepers · Loop · Moorland
Evo Triangle
A5 · A543 · B4501 · North Wales
- Length
- 32 km20 miles
- High point
- 496 m1,627 ft
- Driving time
- 30 minutes
- Season
- Year-round
- Toll
- Free
- Country
- United Kingdom
The Evo Triangle is a 20-mile loop on the Denbigh Moors near Cerrigydrudion, formed by the A5, the A543 and the B4501. It takes its name from the magazine whose road testers used it for years, and it became a place of pilgrimage for anyone with a sports car. Lotus press cars covered a lot of miles here.
The drive
The A543 is the fast side: open moorland, crests and long sighted curves. The B4501 past Llyn Brenig is narrower and bumpier, with compressions that test damping. The A5 leg is an ordinary main road that closes the loop.
It is a short drive, so combine it with the roads to the west. The A4212 to Bala, the B4391 over to Ffestiniog and the A4086 through the Llanberis Pass are all within an hour.
In your Lotus
Bumpy, cambered British B-road is exactly what Lotus suspension has always been tuned on, and the B4501 side shows it. The car breathes with the surface where stiffer machinery skips. Average speed cameras now cover the loop, so it is a road to enjoy for its flow, at the limit posted.
Watch out for
- Average speed cameras enforce the 60 mph limit around the whole triangle.
- Sheep graze unfenced on the moor.
- The moor is exposed, and standing water collects in the dips after rain.
