RE: Lotus Evora 400: even lighter, even dearer

[richardaucock]

peter450 said:

richardaucock said:

Ikobo said:

This reads to me as if the writer is giving the information in quite a sneering tone, which I don't think other manufacturers are on the end of when offering expensive carbon tat options to their cars. Personally I wouldn't want any of it on my own 400, but I doubt these trinkets would be receiving such derision on a certain other marque.

I'm all for adding lightness but the prices do seem a bit steep! Certainly not deriding the opportunity to make a great car even lighter and thus even better, but it seems an expensive way of doing it for a car that already costs £73k...

It is steep, but no worse than anyone else is charging for this stuff

It's funny this article pops up now I was just thinking about my old Lotus Excel this morning.

Build quality was so so, I did not find it that comfortable on long trips and when a time came that I had to use it as my sole vehicle it did not exactly slip into that role with aplomb but when all was said and done I enjoyed driving it (just not for long periods) and for all its faults I liked it and was feeling super nostalgic just a couple of hours ago

This is clearly a sign I need another Lotus !!!

They might be expensive for what they are, but them their also cheap for what they are if that makes sense !!!

If it means you buy another Lotus, glad to be of service! My dad always hankered after an Excel; cue lots of childhood visits to Paul Matty.

Me, I still yearn for an Elise S - with air con. I'll swallow the weight penalty for cool air!

[AH33]

kambites said:

Hmm, I think the S2 Exige/Elise is a rather ugly car. I rather like the Evora's styling, or at least I did before the facelift.

Horses for courses I guess, It's hard to explain why I dislike the Evora's styling so much - It just doesn't look right to me.

[otolith]

Most expensive paint colour option for a Porsche 911 : + £3642.00
Most expensive wheel option : + £2186.00
Upgrade from "black leather" to "espresso natural leather" : + £971.00
Or two-tone espresso/cognac : + £1214.00
Upgrade sports seats to sports bucket seats : + £2420.00
"911 Carrera" decal on doors: + £141.00
Change standard taillights to tinted taillights: + £365.00
Trim strips in high gloss finish: + £320.00
Do the black bits of the wing mirrors in body colour: + £303.00
Paint the interior air vents: + £806.00
Choose a different colour for the instrument dials : + £401.00
Choose a different colour for the seat belts : + £275.00
Trim the seat belt buckles with leather : + £405.00
Storage tray lid with a Porsche emblem embossed on it : £155.00
Trim the bottom of the doors in leather: + £680.00
Cosmetic carbon trim for interior: + £1085.00
Change the design of the exhaust trims: £527.00

Honestly, Porsche have already long established that this market is populated by mugs with more money than sense, Lotus would be fools not to jump on the bandwagon.

[Hungrymc]

AH33 said:

Nope, the proportions are all wrong. It looks bad from every angle to me. The headlights are particularly horrible.

The S2 Exige, now there is one they did right.

Of course it's subjective.....and off course you're entitled to your opinion, even if you're obviously wrong (sorry... Poor joke).

I think the proportions are lovely, incredibly so when you consider its a mid engined 2+2.

[AH33]

Hungrymc said:

Of course it's subjective.....and off course you're entitled to your opinion, even if you're obviously wrong (sorry... Poor joke).

It's fine. "You're entitled to your opinion... but it's wrong" is one of my favourite phrases

[anonymous-user]

AH33 said:

Nope, the proportions are all wrong. It looks bad from every angle to me. The headlights are particularly horrible.

The S2 Exige, now there is one they did right.

I think you're totally wrong. The Exige S2 is very fussy compared to the S1 and the Evora design flows really well.

[AlexHat]

If you compare the options lists on the 911, or any of the Evora's competitors they all offer these kind of options, at these kinds of prices. Is it just the fact that cars nowadays are getting ever more expensive so £72k for a Lotus vs £80k+ for the equivalent 911 is seen as bad value for money?

[peter450]

richardaucock said:

peter450 said:

richardaucock said:

Ikobo said:

This reads to me as if the writer is giving the information in quite a sneering tone, which I don't think other manufacturers are on the end of when offering expensive carbon tat options to their cars. Personally I wouldn't want any of it on my own 400, but I doubt these trinkets would be receiving such derision on a certain other marque.

I'm all for adding lightness but the prices do seem a bit steep! Certainly not deriding the opportunity to make a great car even lighter and thus even better, but it seems an expensive way of doing it for a car that already costs £73k...

It is steep, but no worse than anyone else is charging for this stuff

It's funny this article pops up now I was just thinking about my old Lotus Excel this morning.

Build quality was so so, I did not find it that comfortable on long trips and when a time came that I had to use it as my sole vehicle it did not exactly slip into that role with aplomb but when all was said and done I enjoyed driving it (just not for long periods) and for all its faults I liked it and was feeling super nostalgic just a couple of hours ago

This is clearly a sign I need another Lotus !!!

They might be expensive for what they are, but them their also cheap for what they are if that makes sense !!!

If it means you buy another Lotus, glad to be of service! My dad always hankered after an Excel; cue lots of childhood visits to Paul Matty.

Me, I still yearn for an Elise S - with air con. I'll swallow the weight penalty for cool air!

Yeah air con is not something I would like to be without on any car, especially low volume marques as engine heat soak, condensation buildup etc just seems worse on these cars I guess due to not having the vast design and R&D budgets of the big players were every detail is covered

[jayemm89]

So Ferrari charge over 55k for options on the demo 488 doing the rounds... Lotus offer some optional extras on a premium car and PH decide to take the piss?

Sorry, but this article reads like it has been read with someone that has been bitten by a Lotus as a child. And I say that as someone who has good reason to be wicked off about Lotus.

I look forward to next week's article where you will lambast Porsche for charging thousands for different headlights, a couple hundred for painting the key or painting the calipers a different colour.


ETA I hope you decide the AMG GT is the worst car in the world as it has £11k paint on the options list. And I bet it doesn't save a gram!

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:48

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:51

[kambites]

peter450 said:

Yeah air con is not something I would like to be without on any car, especially low volume marques as engine heat soak, condensation buildup etc just seems worse on these cars I guess due to not having the vast design and R&D budgets of the big players were every detail is covered

For me, a dehumidified garage and a removable roof is a better solution to those problems than 50kg of air conditioning which will probably go wrong (this is Lotus, after all). I spent ages hunting a car without air-con because I didn't want it.

[KTF]

I imagine the target market for these could reduce the weight of the car more effectively by losing a bit of weight themselves rather than forking out thousands for the carbon bits and bobs.

Edited by KTF on Friday 19th August 14:54

[kambites]

KTF said:

I imagine the target market for these could save reduce the weight of the car more effectively by losing a bit of weight themselves rather than forking out thousands for the carbon bits and bobs.

Probably true, but as others have pointed out today's market seems to demand this sort of idiocy on the spec sheet. If anything, Lotus are rather late to the party (as ever).

[Europa1]

I thought, given the price point of the Evora's rivals, that the headline seemed unnecessarily chippy.

[WCZ]

jayemm89 said:

So Ferrari charge over 55k for options on the demo 488 doing the rounds... Lotus offer some optional extras on a premium car and PH decide to take the piss?

Sorry, but this article reads like it has been read with someone that has been bitten by a Lotus as a child. And I say that as someone who has good reason to be wicked off about Lotus.

I look forward to next week's article where you will lambast Porsche for charging thousands for different headlights, a couple hundred for painting the key or painting the calipers a different colour.


ETA I hope you decide the AMG GT is the worst car in the world as it has £11k paint on the options list. And I bet it doesn't save a gram!

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:48

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:51

lots of people see lotus as the antidote to ferrari and porsche though, thats where the issue is

[kambites]

WCZ said:

lots of people see lotus as the antidote to ferrari and porsche though, thats where the issue is

Unfortunately not enough people do, or at least not enough people act on it and actually buy them.

[DaveGB]

Oh dear what a poorly written article.

Probably better to have a go at car options across the board ......take your pick of prices for CF parts on McLarens cheapest model

[KTF]

At the end of the day, most of these cars will be financed so ticking the box for the extras is only an extra X a month rather than 10-15k extra to find.

[richardaucock]

WCZ said:

jayemm89 said:

So Ferrari charge over 55k for options on the demo 488 doing the rounds... Lotus offer some optional extras on a premium car and PH decide to take the piss?

Sorry, but this article reads like it has been read with someone that has been bitten by a Lotus as a child. And I say that as someone who has good reason to be wicked off about Lotus.

I look forward to next week's article where you will lambast Porsche for charging thousands for different headlights, a couple hundred for painting the key or painting the calipers a different colour.


ETA I hope you decide the AMG GT is the worst car in the world as it has £11k paint on the options list. And I bet it doesn't save a gram!

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:48

Edited by jayemm89 on Friday 19th August 14:51

lots of people see lotus as the antidote to ferrari and porsche though, thats where the issue is

This! I'm the biggest fan of Lotus but does it quite command Ferrari or Porsche status and would people really not blink when signing an order form for over £86k with these options added on?

The wonderful thing about writing for PH is that these discussions can arise in response to news pieces, so I'm genuinely interested to hear more thoughts and opinions. Give me an excuse to go visit Lotus and, if necessary, let them tell me I'm wrong!

[Impasse]

richardaucock said:

This! I'm the biggest fan of Lotus but does it quite command Ferrari or Porsche status and would people really not blink when signing an order form for over £86k with these options added on?

The wonderful thing about writing for PH is that these discussions can arise in response to news pieces, so I'm genuinely interested to hear more thoughts and opinions. Give me an excuse to go visit Lotus and, if necessary, let them tell me I'm wrong!

But they're options, not compulsions. The buyer can choose whether or not to indulge. All you've done is sneer at the price while conveniently forgetting other marques offer similar components for similar profit making reasons.

[otolith]

richardaucock said:

I'm the biggest fan of Lotus but does it quite command Ferrari or Porsche status

Not while people keep writing articles saying that it doesn't.