My Lotus Evora 400 & Video Diary

[blueg33]

Annoying niggles you have there. The subwoofers have always been difficult to hear. On the S1 cars if you turn up the rear channel you get more sub as it's wired to that channel.

Switches thing would bug me, it's ok on an S1 because you can't see them anyway. Those plastic switches look a bit cheap to my eye. The S1 switches look more up market but are hidden and it's hard to tell if they are on or off.

Seat sounds like a simple fix and gear doable but time consuming.

Have they given you a loan car?

A tip. Fit paint protection film to the headlights, or within 3 years the lacquer will be peeling. Mine is on its second set of lights. I was hoping the second set would be better. Apparently not.

[johnwilliams77]

blueg33 said:

Annoying niggles you have there. The subwoofers have always been difficult to hear. On the S1 cars if you turn up the rear channel you get more sub as it's wired to that channel.

Switches thing would bug me, it's ok on an S1 because you can't see them anyway. Those plastic switches look a bit cheap to my eye. The S1 switches look more up market but are hidden and it's hard to tell if they are on or off.

Seat sounds like a simple fix and gear doable but time consuming.

Have they given you a loan car?

A tip. Fit paint protection film to the headlights, or within 3 years the lacquer will be peeling. Mine is on its second set of lights. I was hoping the second set would be better. Apparently not.

Thanks for the tip
I was quite fortunate with my purchase that the last owner spent a considerable sum on upgrading the speakers, headunit and bluetooth phone system. It's pretty decent.

[jayemm89]

Thanks for the tip on the lights. I am considering paint protection for the whole front of the car, but it's not cheap.

I need to investigate my headlights too as they wibble a bit

[jayemm89]

Here's a video update (not monetised PH!) which explains a bit more about the channel and what's happening. One thing I want to promise, I will never want to utter the words "true blood wrap". And exhausts are not running costs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rr-E5Let4s

[johnwilliams77]

jayemm89 said:

Thanks for the tip on the lights. I am considering paint protection for the whole front of the car, but it's not cheap.

I need to investigate my headlights too as they wibble a bit

I would strongly recommend looking into all pros and cons of this vs 3-5 year front end respray.
My trusted independent recommended not to bother with the film. Of course it works for many but my car already had a few chips on it when I bought it so I will let it get worse for another few years (not intentionally) but chips are unavoidable then get a 60k mile refresh perhaps.

[jayemm89]

Yeah - the price I saw quoted for PPF was the same as a front end respray so it seems to defeat the point a little bit!

[Shnozz]

blueg33 said:

Annoying niggles you have there. The subwoofers have always been difficult to hear. On the S1 cars if you turn up the rear channel you get more sub as it's wired to that channel.

Switches thing would bug me, it's ok on an S1 because you can't see them anyway. Those plastic switches look a bit cheap to my eye. The S1 switches look more up market but are hidden and it's hard to tell if they are on or off.

Seat sounds like a simple fix and gear doable but time consuming.

Have they given you a loan car?

A tip. Fit paint protection film to the headlights, or within 3 years the lacquer will be peeling. Mine is on its second set of lights. I was hoping the second set would be better. Apparently not.

Interesting what you say about the lights. I had one replaced - £800! Thankfully under warranty.

Second one I had re-lacquered for about £250 and the finish is flawless.

Both have been fine since - unlike the originals. I wonder whether the lacquer has finally been resolved. It must have cost Lotus a fair few quid with all the claims (especially Stateside) for replacement lights under warranty so one would hope they would address that issue on the 400.

[blueg33]

Shnozz said:

Interesting what you say about the lights. I had one replaced - £800! Thankfully under warranty.

Second one I had re-lacquered for about £250 and the finish is flawless.

Both have been fine since - unlike the originals. I wonder whether the lacquer has finally been resolved. It must have cost Lotus a fair few quid with all the claims (especially Stateside) for replacement lights under warranty so one would hope they would address that issue on the 400.

My replacement headlings were fitted 2 and a half years ago, they both started peeling last week within a few days of each other. I emailed Lotus to ask if they fancied contributing as its an obvious manufacturing fault. Even more obvious was their reply, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[blueg33]

johnwilliams77 said:

jayemm89 said:

Thanks for the tip on the lights. I am considering paint protection for the whole front of the car, but it's not cheap.

I need to investigate my headlights too as they wibble a bit

I would strongly recommend looking into all pros and cons of this vs 3-5 year front end respray.
My trusted independent recommended not to bother with the film. Of course it works for many but my car already had a few chips on it when I bought it so I will let it get worse for another few years (not intentionally) but chips are unavoidable then get a 60k mile refresh perhaps.

I use my car a lot, up to 20k miles pa, the film has saved many a chip, I just have it on the front end plus where the factory fit it. My car is a pale ish colour so you cant really see the film unless I am clumsy with the wax and allow it to build up along the edges

[johnwilliams77]

blueg33 said:

I use my car a lot, up to 20k miles pa, the film has saved many a chip, I just have it on the front end plus where the factory fit it. My car is a pale ish colour so you cant really see the film unless I am clumsy with the wax and allow it to build up along the edges

What did you pay to have it fitted? My car already has a few chips so I would want a respray before applying it.....spent enough on it recently(mainly upgrades)

[blueg33]

johnwilliams77 said:

blueg33 said:

I use my car a lot, up to 20k miles pa, the film has saved many a chip, I just have it on the front end plus where the factory fit it. My car is a pale ish colour so you cant really see the film unless I am clumsy with the wax and allow it to build up along the edges

What did you pay to have it fitted? My car already has a few chips so I would want a respray before applying it.....spent enough on it recently(mainly upgrades)

Sorted through Lotus Silverstone when I bought he car, I think it was about £250 for the front. I had a couple of chips, before it was applied but this has prevented many more

[Shnozz]

blueg33 said:

My replacement headlings were fitted 2 and a half years ago, they both started peeling last week within a few days of each other. I emailed Lotus to ask if they fancied contributing as its an obvious manufacturing fault. Even more obvious was their reply, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

hmmm that doesn't bode well.

[Diesel Meister]

blueg33 said:

My replacement headlings were fitted 2 and a half years ago, they both started peeling last week within a few days of each other. I emailed Lotus to ask if they fancied contributing as its an obvious manufacturing fault. Even more obvious was their reply, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm a big fan of Lotus' work but this kind of thing (attitude wise) and the niggles above do them no favours, struggling company or not. You don't necessarily expect a Lexus or Audi-like level of perceived or actual fitment when buying from a small volume specialist car maker, but the kind of thing mentioned would annoy me on a £20k car, let alone one costing 3-4 times that amount.

As Jay says though, I'd rather have to put up with a couple of niggles in return for car that was special to own (look at / sit in / drive, 99% emphasis on the latter). The Evora 400 really appeals even though I slightly preferred the lower-key looks of the earlier Evoras. But at £80k+ they really need to be a bit less checky about hthe non-driving content - if it doesn't work well, sort it our or don't bother!

That said, I'm certain that the ore people with the means that drive these, the more will be sold on merit overall, which is my book A Very Good Thing (TM).

If I didn't already have a 2GR-FE powered car I'd likely be looking at early NA Evoras, wt ha view to eventually getting into an Evora 400 (or an Exige S!).

[jayemm89]

Little update today.

Had a great weekend, took the car to a local car show. Complete washout but some very nice people indeed and interesting to see the comments/reactions from Joe Public. Some people knowing what it was straight away, others recognising the badge, a few kids insisting it was a Lamborghini, not believing their parents it was a Lotus!

Paid a visit to a Porsche dealer I used to work with, one of the guys wanted to see my car. Gave it a quick blip with the exhaust valve open and the rest of the staff came out to have a look what was going on. They couldn't believe it was the stock exhaust (standard reaction).

Also, my issues with the car are being sorted. I said to Lotus why don't I just bring the car to them for them to inspect it, as it's only five minutes away from Stratton Motor Company anyway. They agreed, so it'll be going home! Hopefully I'll get a decent photo-op somewhere.

My channel I am super pleased with, up to 270-odd subscribers now, and 15,000 views. I know quite a few have come from the PHers here, so thanks everyone who has watched/liked/subscribed/commented.

[leglessAlex]

jayemm89 said:

My channel I am super pleased with, up to 270-odd subscribers now, and 15,000 views. I know quite a few have come from the PHers here, so thanks everyone who has watched/liked/subscribed/commented.

I think an awful lot of that is, as you have pointed out, that there is just very little content out there about the 400. You are providing detailed insights as opposed to just putting up some videos of the car revving and doing a basic 'walk around'.

[giveitfish]

Just enjoyed the Esprit drive too. You should have swapped seats with the owner for just a couple of minutes so he could extend the engine a bit though

[LanceRS]

I'd forgotten just how much I want an Esprit. Great video, keep them coming.

[jayemm89]

Thanks Gents

The Esprit owner was very happy with the day, I hope I can persuade him to come on camera soon!

Unfortunately most of the roads where we met were a 40 limit, but we couldn't venture far from his home as he took time away from an expectant wife! I am generally very careful about speeds on camera for obvious reasons. That's why the camera on the Evora is mounted so low, it's just above the number plate. 60 feels like plenty when you're a foot off the ground!

I have some amazing content lined up for the next month, please subscribe if you haven't already as I can't post links here directly!

JayEmm

[jayemm89]

So, ask anyone about an Evora 400 and they'll almost never fail to mention the exhaust - and the volume of the thing.

Exactly how loud is it? I was at Snetterton yesterday for the PHEA social meet, and I decided to get noise tested to find out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhNYRb-Oi4o

[leglessAlex]

Top work on the latest IPS vs Auto video James, I found that very useful. My username is literal and so I need an auto 'box due to not having enough limbs for the manual, so few reviewers really pay much attention to the auto versions which is a pain in the arse for myself, who would like to buy one in the not so distant future.