Lotus 95T

. The car was powered by a Renault turbo V6 engine.

The car was a significant improvement, and helped the team be competitive consistently. Elio de Angelis was in contention for victory on more than one occasion, and four podium places along with several other points finishes helped him to third in the drivers' championship. Added to two pole positions, it was a surprisingly impressive season for the Italian. Nigel Mansell nearly won the Monaco Grand Prix during a rain hit race, but crashed in the closing stages while leading. Other potential podium finishes at Estoril and Dallas were unrewarded with reliability problems, but he did manage to score his first pole position and finished on the podium three times. Mansell departed the team at the end of the season, bound for Williams.

By season's end, Lotus finished third in the constructors' championship with 47 points. The 95T helped to re-establish Lotus as a force in F1 throughout the mid 1980's. It was replaced by the Lotus 97T in 1985.