RE: Lotus Europa S
Discussion
GTvr said:
Summing up this topic - you can't please all of the people all of the time, everybody has and is entitled to their own opinion and in my opinion a lot gassing about an ugly car that may or may not drive well but will not sell because its too damn ugly. Hope it doesn't start the demise of lotus and they revise the styling soon (when it doesn't sell) and that the europaII looks as good as the EliseII.
GTvr said:
Summing up this topic - you can't please all of the people all of the time, everybody has and is entitled to their own opinion and in my opinion a lot gassing about an ugly car that may or may not drive well but will not sell because its too damn ugly. Hope it doesn't start the demise of lotus and they revise the styling soon (when it doesn't sell) and that the europaII looks as good as the EliseII.
I'm sure the car will sell just fine. Only 500 people have to like it and to be honest if you don't then I'm sure Lotus won't give a monkeys! After all the car is arguably a supermodel in comparison to the ghastly BMW Z4 and that's selling quite well in much larger numbers thankyouverymuch ;-)
JJ
Labman,
Please let us know what you think of the upgrade when you get the car back.
Regards,
Peter.
Please let us know what you think of the upgrade when you get the car back.
Regards,
Peter.
labman said:
I've bought one and think it's ok, I will be taking it to Thorney Motorsport next week to get a Milltek exhaust and ECU upgrade. Should go quite well after that.....I hope.
Edited by labman on Tuesday 7th August 22:28
bear in mind that journalists' views are heavily clouded by the treatment they receive from the manufacturers (unless, like Clarkson, they are very financially secure and just on a mission to make headlines).
say, for instance, that the boys from Hethel had sent out 2nd class tickets for the slow train to Norfolk, and provided soggy bacon sarnies and luke-warm coffee for lunch, it would have to be a stonking car to get a good review after that.
conversely, when you read a review stating how fantastic the new focus/fiesta/mondeo is, consider the likely fact that the press car was located in the south of Spain, and came with 1st class flights and a long stay at a 5 star hotel thrown in ...
say, for instance, that the boys from Hethel had sent out 2nd class tickets for the slow train to Norfolk, and provided soggy bacon sarnies and luke-warm coffee for lunch, it would have to be a stonking car to get a good review after that.
conversely, when you read a review stating how fantastic the new focus/fiesta/mondeo is, consider the likely fact that the press car was located in the south of Spain, and came with 1st class flights and a long stay at a 5 star hotel thrown in ...
Just had the Thorney Motorsport stage 2 (245bhp)upgrade on my Europa. The upgrade includes new ECU code and a full Milltek exhaust system. When the job was finished I was handed my car back at 6pm and set off on my 122 mile journey home in the rush hour with torrential rain to boot. My first impression was that torque had been increased dramatically and transformed the car into something that felt exciting to drive at lazy speeds and gave the impression that there was a lot more untapped power to come when the time was right. The next day the sun came out for a short while which gave me a chance to test the conversion to its full potential. Unfortunately, when I applied full power in 4th gear from about 3,000rpm it got very messy at about 4,500rpm. The turbo couldn't seem to make its mind up whether it wanted to blow or suck. I had my foot on the floor but the car was surging and cutting out as it struggled past the 4,500rpm. When it finally got itself motivated past 5,000rpm everything started to work in harmony again with only a slight stutter up to the red-line.
I've now done about 700 miles hoping that it was going to sort itself out (because the Thorney Motorsport guy said it might take a bit of time to settle) but it still has a hole at about 4,500rpm that is difficult to live with so I am going to be contacting Thorney to see what they have to say.
Although I have a few problems at the moment I can feel that the car has been transformed and bears no likeness to the standard set-up which is dull and benign by comparison. The upgrade also gets rid of all the cheap sounding hissing and whirring engine management noises from the engine bay behind your head (if you own one you will know what I mean) but, unfortunately the over-revving/turbo-surge between gear changes remains (You will also know about this if you own one).
Watch this space for the conclusion when I contact Thorney about the glitch.
I've now done about 700 miles hoping that it was going to sort itself out (because the Thorney Motorsport guy said it might take a bit of time to settle) but it still has a hole at about 4,500rpm that is difficult to live with so I am going to be contacting Thorney to see what they have to say.
Although I have a few problems at the moment I can feel that the car has been transformed and bears no likeness to the standard set-up which is dull and benign by comparison. The upgrade also gets rid of all the cheap sounding hissing and whirring engine management noises from the engine bay behind your head (if you own one you will know what I mean) but, unfortunately the over-revving/turbo-surge between gear changes remains (You will also know about this if you own one).
Watch this space for the conclusion when I contact Thorney about the glitch.
Edited by labman on Monday 20th August 18:14
Just to pre-empt that call 
Yep, we know about it, its something that appears on some cars but not others and is intermittant. Typical.
Anyhoo, I'm spending a day live mapping a car (we know does it) on the road and dyno so will have a revised map ready for the car next week. We'll then upgrade everyone to that map (FOC of course).
Sorry.
Yep, we know about it, its something that appears on some cars but not others and is intermittant. Typical.
Anyhoo, I'm spending a day live mapping a car (we know does it) on the road and dyno so will have a revised map ready for the car next week. We'll then upgrade everyone to that map (FOC of course).
Sorry.
How's the remapping going?
Regards,
Peter.
Regards,
Peter.
Thorney said:
Just to pre-empt that call
Yep, we know about it, its something that appears on some cars but not others and is intermittant. Typical.
Anyhoo, I'm spending a day live mapping a car (we know does it) on the road and dyno so will have a revised map ready for the car next week. We'll then upgrade everyone to that map (FOC of course).
Sorry.
Yep, we know about it, its something that appears on some cars but not others and is intermittant. Typical.
Anyhoo, I'm spending a day live mapping a car (we know does it) on the road and dyno so will have a revised map ready for the car next week. We'll then upgrade everyone to that map (FOC of course).
Sorry.
Thread ressurection par exelence! Congrats on the purchase and upgrades labman, i hope that you are enjoying your transformed car.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
hahithestevieboy said:
Thread ressurection par exelence! Congrats on the purchase and upgrades labman, i hope that you are enjoying your transformed car.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
I've always loved the Europa and made not secret of it, It just doesn't add up right when you can buy a Porsche Cayman for round about the same money as a full spec Europa. I'll say it again £27995 OTR with touring pack, Ecu flash, Colour choice and change the wheel's it will sellI recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
Boggy
Boggy said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Thread ressurection par exelence! Congrats on the purchase and upgrades labman, i hope that you are enjoying your transformed car.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
I've always loved the Europa and made not secret of it, It just doesn't add up right when you can buy a Porsche Cayman for round about the same money as a full spec Europa. I'll say it again £27995 OTR with touring pack, Ecu flash, Colour choice and change the wheel's it will sellI recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
Boggy
In escence it is a superb idea. I think that they should have been targeting the same people that moved away from an elise / exige for a number of different practicality and comfort related excuses.
Even so at high 30's i'd have expected one with the turbo v6 from the vectra vxr and a kind of wide body at the rear (911 turbo style) to accomodate the extra weight and tire at the rear. Also a "long" aerodynamic tail giving a bigger boot. Something that would paste a cayman on the road and maul a 911 on a track.
Even so
dbroughton said:
been watching the classifieds and there are some pretty good deals at dealers. Lots of sub 30K cars there. It also looks like a few are fitting the new ECU on demonstrators
Might be time to sell the 350z and get back in a lotus
Drive the 225bhp car and if you do buy insist on brake upgrade as wellMight be time to sell the 350z and get back in a lotus
Boggy
hahithestevieboy said:
Boggy said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Thread ressurection par exelence! Congrats on the purchase and upgrades labman, i hope that you are enjoying your transformed car.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
I've always loved the Europa and made not secret of it, It just doesn't add up right when you can buy a Porsche Cayman for round about the same money as a full spec Europa. I'll say it again £27995 OTR with touring pack, Ecu flash, Colour choice and change the wheel's it will sellI recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
Boggy
In escence it is a superb idea. I think that they should have been targeting the same people that moved away from an elise / exige for a number of different practicality and comfort related excuses.
Even so at high 30's i'd have expected one with the turbo v6 from the vectra vxr and a kind of wide body at the rear (911 turbo style) to accomodate the extra weight and tire at the rear. Also a "long" aerodynamic tail giving a bigger boot. Something that would paste a cayman on the road and maul a 911 on a track.
Even so
It's Ok saying well that's what it cost's to build and that they would loose money etc if they sell it for 28k but the fact is it's not worth the money? (Their not selling many now are they?) I know the Lotus name and demand's a premium, hell I've brought 4 so I should know, but at £28k you'd already be paying a premium? they'd sell more unit's and allow Lotus to make a profit I don't care what any sales man says. How much was the VXR new? they've already had the money for the development of that car? It does make me angry as I want Lotus to achieve sales with the Europa as it's a fine car but this arrogant way of marketing just doesn't make sense, I also want the Europa to stay in their line up and will probably end up buying one in time
Boggy
Boggy said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Boggy said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Thread ressurection par exelence! Congrats on the purchase and upgrades labman, i hope that you are enjoying your transformed car.
I recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
I've always loved the Europa and made not secret of it, It just doesn't add up right when you can buy a Porsche Cayman for round about the same money as a full spec Europa. I'll say it again £27995 OTR with touring pack, Ecu flash, Colour choice and change the wheel's it will sellI recently took a trip to JCT600 Brooklands in Leeds, and had a sit in the various models including the europa with a friend of mine (who could only just be considered a car fan given that he used to drive an audi TT and certainly has no real idea about the differing driving dynamics between different lotus models). it is interesting to look at the europa 1 year on and what has been done by lotus (especially in the context of the comments on this forum).
We sat in the exige and euopa and it was interesting listening to the comments of my friend. Basically, his thoughts were that the europa would be the perfect lotus for him, but the cheapness of the interior was the deal breaker. Interestingly, the exige we sat in (that was covered in alcantara) was worth the compromise and felt more luxurious than the europa. Interestingly (for different reasons) his conclusions were similar to mine.
The salesman basically admitted that in it's current form, the europa is virtually unsellable, with lotus getting the positioning of the car all wrong being too expensive and having a poorer interior than an exige. The car we were looking at was also marked up at £26K which is pretty cheap (and good value) for such a new car from such an expensive dealer.
Although they did not have one in yet, he told us that they couldnt wait for the super touring pack as it will give the car alot of what it needs and that lotus are also offering an ecu map upgrade to 228bhp and a big brake kit from the exige (both i imagine are flagrant copies of the thorney items).
Why these upgrades are not standard is beyond me though (and at the very least i think that the ecu upgrade should be provided FOC to all existing owners).
So looking in the context of this forum, it seems that slowly but surely lotus are addressing most of our issues, and have left themselves room for more models in the future so the europa could at least become the excelent car it always could/should have been. As for the power/handling issues, it seems that thorney can sort out those of us that want a more elise like set up and bonkers straight line pace.
Boggy
In escence it is a superb idea. I think that they should have been targeting the same people that moved away from an elise / exige for a number of different practicality and comfort related excuses.
Even so at high 30's i'd have expected one with the turbo v6 from the vectra vxr and a kind of wide body at the rear (911 turbo style) to accomodate the extra weight and tire at the rear. Also a "long" aerodynamic tail giving a bigger boot. Something that would paste a cayman on the road and maul a 911 on a track.
Even so
It's Ok saying well that's what it cost's to build and that they would loose money etc if they sell it for 28k but the fact is it's not worth the money? (Their not selling many now are they?) I know the Lotus name and demand's a premium, hell I've brought 4 so I should know, but at £28k you'd already be paying a premium? they'd sell more unit's and allow Lotus to make a profit I don't care what any sales man says. How much was the VXR new? they've already had the money for the development of that car? It does make me angry as I want Lotus to achieve sales with the Europa as it's a fine car but this arrogant way of marketing just doesn't make sense, I also want the Europa to stay in their line up and will probably end up buying one in time
Boggy
Like you said, the new price as-is is ludicrous, as second hand prices are showing. I suspect someone at lotus is going to have some serious egg on their face and are probably currently looking for a new job. I just hope to hell they swallow hard and drop the prices. Thing is of course, if they do it all at once (rather than gradually), then current owners (all 6 of them) will be up in arms.
I'm taking my Europa back to Thorney next week for an updated map which should iron out the problems I've had with the turbo cutting in and out (see previous post). If this works well then I would have to say that the Europa (in my opinion) is a far better option than the elise simply due to the power that's easily available with such an upgrade.
I did complain to Lotus about the ECU because I took a Europa for a test drive before buying one I noticed that there was a problem with the car over-revving when changing gear (it really is a bind after a week of ownership) and was told by the dealer that Lotus were working on a fix for the ECU to cure this and add more power at the same time, also, the upgrade would be fitted free of charge to all existing owners. I returned to the dealer 3 weeks later (after buying one)to be told that there is an upgrade for the Europa but it would cost me £1200 + fitting (but still didn't fix the problem with over-revving).
As you can imagine I was very pissed off and sent an email to Lotus customer care explaining the situation. I received a reply 3 weeks later telling me that's the way it is and they will not do anything about it, hence I went to Thorney.
Lotus have not impressed me one bit.
I will let you know how it goes with Thorney, if they fix the problems (and I'm sure they will)with the the ECU upgrade then I would have to recommend that you cannot buy a Europa without the Thorney Motorsport upgrade as the standard car is crap by comparison, it really does transform the car into something special.
Watch this space..........................
I did complain to Lotus about the ECU because I took a Europa for a test drive before buying one I noticed that there was a problem with the car over-revving when changing gear (it really is a bind after a week of ownership) and was told by the dealer that Lotus were working on a fix for the ECU to cure this and add more power at the same time, also, the upgrade would be fitted free of charge to all existing owners. I returned to the dealer 3 weeks later (after buying one)to be told that there is an upgrade for the Europa but it would cost me £1200 + fitting (but still didn't fix the problem with over-revving).
As you can imagine I was very pissed off and sent an email to Lotus customer care explaining the situation. I received a reply 3 weeks later telling me that's the way it is and they will not do anything about it, hence I went to Thorney.
Lotus have not impressed me one bit.
I will let you know how it goes with Thorney, if they fix the problems (and I'm sure they will)with the the ECU upgrade then I would have to recommend that you cannot buy a Europa without the Thorney Motorsport upgrade as the standard car is crap by comparison, it really does transform the car into something special.
Watch this space..........................
Edited by labman on Thursday 6th September 06:55
Labman - Thorney will sort it. He's a bloody good bloke and has real integrity. He'll continue remapping your car until you're happy. I've had him work on my VXT (which has some unknown issue causing lower-than-expected power) and he's impressed me with his attitude no end.
Expect the odd pop or surge if you come off the power mid-boost (for example, nail it hard in third, pull WOT all the way to 4000 rpm or so and then jump off the throttle as if you need to hit the brakes for an avoidance manouevre) - it may be a 'feature' of the Z20LET but it does occassionally 'pop' through the Miltek zorst.
But you shouldn't be getting flat-spots or turbo surge - the flat spot is a notorious problem with the *standard* Vauxhall map and it's something that Thorney's remap normally sorts out (even stage 1, let alone stage 2 with the Miltek).
Expect the odd pop or surge if you come off the power mid-boost (for example, nail it hard in third, pull WOT all the way to 4000 rpm or so and then jump off the throttle as if you need to hit the brakes for an avoidance manouevre) - it may be a 'feature' of the Z20LET but it does occassionally 'pop' through the Miltek zorst.
But you shouldn't be getting flat-spots or turbo surge - the flat spot is a notorious problem with the *standard* Vauxhall map and it's something that Thorney's remap normally sorts out (even stage 1, let alone stage 2 with the Miltek).
Three comments on the posts above.
1. Europa vs. Cayman comparison is a non-starter. You can't even get a base-spec Cayman for Europa money AFAIK. Even if you could no-one would buy one, as it'd never sell on.
2. Europa interiors and units not shifting from dealers. A few hundred quid spent to sort the interior of existing cars at the trim shop or let it sit on the forecourt waiting to be bargained down another grand? No brainer. Dealers simply don't know what to do with them it seems.
3. ECU issues on factory cars and £1200 to be sorted out. Ex-squeeze me? Lotus shooting themselves in the foot AGAIN. Ridiculous. I wouldn't buy one out of principle on that alone. One of the main reasons I bought used again with my current car is that I simply don't trust manufacturers or dealers (even though I know there are some good ones out there) not to aggravate and inconvenience customers even more than they have been when their car's broken, by sub-standard support and after-sales service.
1. Europa vs. Cayman comparison is a non-starter. You can't even get a base-spec Cayman for Europa money AFAIK. Even if you could no-one would buy one, as it'd never sell on.
2. Europa interiors and units not shifting from dealers. A few hundred quid spent to sort the interior of existing cars at the trim shop or let it sit on the forecourt waiting to be bargained down another grand? No brainer. Dealers simply don't know what to do with them it seems.
3. ECU issues on factory cars and £1200 to be sorted out. Ex-squeeze me? Lotus shooting themselves in the foot AGAIN. Ridiculous. I wouldn't buy one out of principle on that alone. One of the main reasons I bought used again with my current car is that I simply don't trust manufacturers or dealers (even though I know there are some good ones out there) not to aggravate and inconvenience customers even more than they have been when their car's broken, by sub-standard support and after-sales service.
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff