RE: Lotus Evora

[DrTre]

RonnieP said:

Tuna said:

It's been said that there is room in there for a couple of turbos on the Toyota lump they're using, that 350bhp is easily achieved and 400 isn't unreasonable.

The big problem Lotus have is convincing people that they can do reliable cars that are a pleasure to drive. Raw power only sells to a minority. Porsche like build quality sells to the rest.

Porsche build quality is a total myth - Evora will have Porsche thinking big style, but then Lotus are not looking for volume

Can I just ask about your first comment. Is it said in jest or with a nod to being truthful?

[RonnieP]

Nope, said with my head completely out of the sand Doc

[DrTre]

Reason I ask is it's something I've heard before but never really been sure on, ie that Porsches reliability isn't as strong as they'd have you believe, and it's more that they're good at fixing issues when they arise...Not that that's a bad thing of course.

[Mikeyboy]

Tuna said:

kambites said:

There's also a big difference between perceived build quality and real build quality. Lotus have been slowly getting the hang of the latter over their years of building the Elise - the latest ones really aren't far off a Boxster (although I think Lotus are more prone to letting "Friday afternoon" cars slip through the net) - but they don't seem to know how to do the former at all.

Agreed - and that's one reason not to put a highly tuned/stressed engine in there. It'd only take one blowing up or giving a reviewer trouble and they'd be suffering all the same build quality tales. If an owner puts one in a ditch, they could equally loose the reputation for good handling.

Mikeyboy said:

At the moment it looks like Lotus know they don't have the kudos to compete with the 911 but don't have the finances to compete on price with the Cayman/Boxsters.

As it's got two more seats than the Cayman, it seems reasonable to price it above that car. The Cayman, Farbio and GTR are all in that price bracket so it doesn't look out of place particularly. It all rather depends what you want from your car.

Evo's review is very good apparently - easily better than the Farbio, better than the Cayman and just a hair better than the GTR (not exactly a cheap car). Five stars. Car has it as better than the 911. That might justify the price.

Edited by Tuna on Friday 22 May 21:07

agreed it is in the same price bracket but the difference is the headline figure for a Cayman S, let alone a Cayman is 5k cheaper than the 2+2 version of the Evora and 2k less than the 2 seater.
The difference in handling is being noted by even the foreign press but would 1500 of the 2000 buyers a year really notice the difference? I'm not so sure myself.
Whereas just looking in the back of a car magazine and a car buyer will see Porsche, a brand kids aspire to owning, is the cheaper car and that's the case I suspect even after you spec them up to a "ownable" standard. Its a marketing issue, not a quality of product issue.

After I write these I really have to stress that I really really want one of these things. I just wanted to buy one for about what I got the Cayman for.

[anonymous-user]

What highlights the price of Evora so severely is that it costs over twice as much as an Elise!! Surely hard to justify when they're both aluminium tubs from Hethel with a Toyota engine in the back.

I really want Evora to succeed and very hope Lotus haven't been too ambitious with their pricing. The EVO write-up is worrying on this front, highlighting the severe limitations of 2+2=2.5 and saying the car's not as sharp to drive as an Elise.

[Tuna]

5 USA said:

What highlights the price of Evora so severely is that it costs over twice as much as an Elise!! Surely hard to justify when they're both aluminium tubs from Hethel with a Toyota engine in the back.

You could argue that with many cars.. why does the 911 cost so much more than the Cayman?

5 USA said:

I really want Evora to succeed and very hope Lotus haven't been too ambitious with their pricing. The EVO write-up is worrying on this front, highlighting the severe limitations of 2+2=2.5 and saying the car's not as sharp to drive as an Elise.

Well, it's being compared to the GTR, Farbio, Jaguar XK5.0 and 911 - all of which cost at least as much or more. Performance Car, Evo, Autocar and a host of other respected publications are saying the Evora is the better car. Of course it's not as sharp as the Elise, the Elise is a great serious sports car - and hurts like hell for long journeys. The Elise comes with no creature comforts, a stereo that you can only hear when you're not driving anywhere and little all else. Compared to that the Evora provides a very comfortable place to drive long distances. On top of that, the chassis is very, very much more sophisticated than the Elise and the engine, at 276bhp is at the bottom of it's tuning range, not the top.

[Forbes82]

I think the reviews its getting speak for themselves, an i also think it looks fantastic, i just hope its the right price to be a success for Lotus. With the obvious great job they have done on this, i cannot wait to see the new Esprite...

[ewenm]

Very positive review from evo this month too. I really hope Lotus do have a winner on their hands here

[anonymous-user]

Saw my first Evora on Saturday, it was on the back of an AA transporter going into the Dartford Tunnel at about 1pm. It was bright orange with black wheels, looked nice from what I could see. Sure it would've looked better moving under it's own steam though.

[jayfish]

Nice dutch review of the Evora, with english subtitles. Refreshing to see that it's not just Britys who 'get' Lotus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El103DGpGxM&fea...