Ownership experience

Ownership experience

Author
Discussion

zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Saturday 28th November 2015
quotequote all
Is this a realistic view for those who took the plunge or is it a bit rose tinted and what else needs to be borne in mind as an ownership proposition rather than buying guide? I want a 2 plus 2 with sport and reverse camera, n/a will do me.

http://archive2.dailysportscar.com/viewArticle.cfm...

Nightmare

5,182 posts

283 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
i think that pretty much sums up my experience of ownership (minus putting kids in the back)

that satnav now thinks it's permanently in Green Park - i must get round to resetting it!

that's actually now my car.....and with 30k miles on it, it feels exactly as described...and nothing has so far gone wrong in my ownership bar aforementioned alpine unit of awfulness

this year ive enjoyed an Aventador, a 458, an MP4-12C and an MP4-12c convertible and 2 huracans. Even with being a total lambo fanboy, but i genuinely believe the evora is a better drive than any of them. None of them can match the evoras ride...the huracans is very compliant but it has bugger all feedback from either steering set-up; the MP4s ride far more like an elise (v good but v jarring) and the 458 i found to be just woeful in that respect (yeah, i havent read that in any review either so im probably wrong but i really didnt like it). Sure, all are in different straight-line speed category; but in normal road driving that's felt pretty irrelevant (and just license risking) and the evora is a genuinely fast car. The evora steering and feedback is just amazing in direct comparison. everyone (including all reviewers) has said that McLaren are brilliant in this respect; but my own opinion from getting out of one and straight into the other is that actually they're very artificially light and over-assisted in comparison. they're all great fun, but the evora is the only one Id actually want to own. (and hurrah for Autovivendi!)

30mpg, £400 services, 10k/6k fronts/rears tyres, reasonable boot+back seats for storage...quiet and comfortable when you want but really agile on track and a heater and windscreen wipers which actually work!

downsides: getting in and out aint much easier than an elise.....er....the Alpine unit in terms of phone/satnav and radio is pretty st. plays music off my iphone okay though which is all i want, but still rubbish.....am struggling to think of anything else (and I could easily come up with ten negatives for my elise which i absolutely adored or any of the silly cars above)


CTE

1,488 posts

239 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
I generally agree with comments as well...the Evora certainly has something. I am also lucky enough to own a 12c and do not entirely agree with the previous comment. The 12c in normal mode rides really well on all surfaces, and it does not roll due to the hydraulic levelling system. The 12c is a supercar, the Evora is not. However I drive the Evora on a daily basis and I really enjoy driving it...still... daily drivers tend to become the norm and no longer special. I think if I drove the 12c on a daily basis it might loose it's specialness?
Definitely prefer the Evora to a 458....In fact I was very disappointed with the 458....apart from the power and the sound of course. Have had a passenger ride in an Aventador and whilst it sounded fantastic and was fast, it also felt big and cumbersome, and err a bit like an Audi!
The Evora is a brIlliant drivers car. I even test drove the new 400 but actually prefer the previous version, although the extra power and sound are definite positive for me. Also no matter how brilliant a Porsche of comparable spec may be, they do not cut for me either...

Sumsion

277 posts

171 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
I am with the above , only driven a 458 . Almost a daily driver except when I need to take SWMBO and dog ( in the Subaru Levorg GT , sub plot what a car for the job ) .

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
All holds true from my very short ownership of a MY2013 s sr. They updated the nav for my car and while it's not perfect and is laggy it functions well and offeres me all I need. I did have to remove the rear seats (base and back) to fit my daughter behind my wife (who is 5 foot 7) for it to be comfortable. Take one for a test drive, the suspension is magic! Flat and planted when cornering yet supple and soaks up imperfections. How??? Feck knows


zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Sunday 29th November 2015
quotequote all
How do you mean remove the seat? Is she basically sitting on a carpeted shelf then?!

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
zebedee said:
How do you mean remove the seat? Is she basically sitting on a carpeted shelf then?!
Exactly, the whole rear seat come out very easily. The base is Velcro and the back is 4 screw. No different from a 911 where both the base and back are held in by Velcro. It makes a massive difference space wise.

zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
but is it ok to sit on? Presumably not for very long...

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
zebedee said:
but is it ok to sit on? Presumably not for very long...
My photobucket account is having a brain fart or id upload the image. I will lay carpet where the seat is exposed. I would not sit anyone there with both seats removed. Neither would I in a 911.

Ikobo

511 posts

148 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Might be worth pointing out she's in a child seat though, not just sitting on the shelf! biggrin

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Ikobo said:
Might be worth pointing out she's in a child seat though, not just sitting on the shelf! biggrin
Haha! Yes indeed. She is in a baby seat :0)

Nightmare

5,182 posts

283 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
CTE said:
I generally agree with comments as well...the Evora certainly has something. I am also lucky enough to own a 12c and do not entirely agree with the previous comment. The 12c in normal mode rides really well on all surfaces, and it does not roll due to the hydraulic levelling system. The 12c is a supercar, the Evora is not. However I drive the Evora on a daily basis and I really enjoy driving it...still... daily drivers tend to become the norm and no longer special. I think if I drove the 12c on a daily basis it might loose it's specialness?
I totally agree re: 12c is a supercar and the evora aint - it really does turn everything up to another level

My town has an impressively shoddy high street surface....i was just surprised at how much better the evora rides it (from a masking said shoddy surface standpoint) than the 12c - no rolling sure, but it definitely bumps and jiggles more - assuming it cant go more compliant than normal in handling and powertrain? I do think it's miles better than its own competitors for sure tho

i also completely agree re: daily driver thing - again why its the evora id own myself. (to be fair if someone offered me one of each for free and i could only have one then obvs id take the 12c!)

zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
stuno1 said:
Ikobo said:
Might be worth pointing out she's in a child seat though, not just sitting on the shelf! biggrin
Haha! Yes indeed. She is in a baby seat :0)
Ah, I see! Genius idea, presumably all the buckles and belts are still in a decent position? My 2 eldest are on booster seats now, so I guess that just takes the place of the 'old' seat cushion, albeit I guess they aren't then 'boosted', but they are still secure and no risk of 'submarining' or whatever they call it without a cushion underneath so should be OK I would have thought.

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
Yup. No issues at all fixing the car seat in place. All buckles etc are very easy to reach.

zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
have tried googling pictures elsewhere of this but I think you might be a trailblazer... If you can get a shot up that would be great, might help me sell the idea of the Evora even more to my other half (pictures of child seats touching the seat backs in front don't cut the mustard!)

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 30th November 2015
quotequote all
zebedee said:
have tried googling pictures elsewhere of this but I think you might be a trailblazer... If you can get a shot up that would be great, might help me sell the idea of the Evora even more to my other half (pictures of child seats touching the seat backs in front don't cut the mustard!)
My photobucket account is still not working. Pm me with your email address and I'll whip it over. Doesn't sound a lot but my wife who is 5 foot 7 has a couple of inches ish between her knees and the dash and my daughter has a couple of inches legroom from touching the back of my wife's chair. As my daughter gets older and moves to a booster this will get better as the back of the child seat won't be an issue any more.

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
The image is in the thread below on the lotus forum... All be it lop sided!

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/78818-r...

zebedee

Original Poster:

4,589 posts

277 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
good work, I can see why you would want some carpet for the area though! Or another child seat...

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Indeed! Once some carpet has been added it will look fine but as it is it looks a bit of a mess.

Shnozz

27,422 posts

270 months

Tuesday 1st December 2015
quotequote all
Nightmare said:
i think that pretty much sums up my experience of ownership (minus putting kids in the back)

that satnav now thinks it's permanently in Green Park - i must get round to resetting it!

that's actually now my car.....and with 30k miles on it, it feels exactly as described...and nothing has so far gone wrong in my ownership bar aforementioned alpine unit of awfulness

this year ive enjoyed an Aventador, a 458, an MP4-12C and an MP4-12c convertible and 2 huracans. Even with being a total lambo fanboy, but i genuinely believe the evora is a better drive than any of them. None of them can match the evoras ride...the huracans is very compliant but it has bugger all feedback from either steering set-up; the MP4s ride far more like an elise (v good but v jarring) and the 458 i found to be just woeful in that respect (yeah, i havent read that in any review either so im probably wrong but i really didnt like it). Sure, all are in different straight-line speed category; but in normal road driving that's felt pretty irrelevant (and just license risking) and the evora is a genuinely fast car. The evora steering and feedback is just amazing in direct comparison. everyone (including all reviewers) has said that McLaren are brilliant in this respect; but my own opinion from getting out of one and straight into the other is that actually they're very artificially light and over-assisted in comparison. they're all great fun, but the evora is the only one Id actually want to own. (and hurrah for Autovivendi!)

30mpg, £400 services, 10k/6k fronts/rears tyres, reasonable boot+back seats for storage...quiet and comfortable when you want but really agile on track and a heater and windscreen wipers which actually work!

downsides: getting in and out aint much easier than an elise.....er....the Alpine unit in terms of phone/satnav and radio is pretty st. plays music off my iphone okay though which is all i want, but still rubbish.....am struggling to think of anything else (and I could easily come up with ten negatives for my elise which i absolutely adored or any of the silly cars above)
Nightmare - if you have the early Alpine 505, consider swapping it for the latest Alpine 920 used in the later cars. Mine has gone from the 505 through to the Pioneer as used on the "middle year" cars to the latest 920 and its a vast improvement.

My windscreen wipers seem to work fantastically. But they squeak. Which is very, very annoying!