My Lotus Evora 400 & Video Diary
Discussion
Here's a nice big video update. This one's been a while in the works, but recently I was able to bag a 355 for a very brief drive so performed an impromptu 355 vs Evora debate.
This is the link:
What other cars would you like me to see if I can compare the Lotus against?
ETA
Sorry, monetised clips are not allowed.
This is the link:
What other cars would you like me to see if I can compare the Lotus against?
ETA
Sorry, monetised clips are not allowed.
Edited by Big Al. on Monday 6th June 17:11
The Crack Fox said:
Love the car. To offer some constructive criticism, no-one will watch half an hour of a home-made film. Get it down to 5 minutes, max, and I'm sure folks will follow. Good luck 
Thankyou.Length is something I am constantly watching. I am trying to get most videos to the 10-12 minute mark. Some are going to be longer, some shorter. Where I can I am dividing the videos up. This particular video started off over half an hour, I sliced about eight minutes out of it. I didn't want to ditch too much.
My most watched video is my first one, which is 29 minutes long. I'm trying to make that an exception rather than a rule.
Out of curiosity, have you watched any of the videos? Do you consider them "home made"? I'm trying to make them to the highest standards possible with a two-man crew, each video is getting better as we go along.
Edited by jayemm89 on Tuesday 31st May 16:15
jayemm89 said:
Thankyou.
Length is something I am constantly watching. I am trying to get most videos to the 10-12 minute mark. Some are going to be longer, some shorter. Where I can I am dividing the videos up. This particular video started off over half an hour, I sliced about eight minutes out of it. I didn't want to ditch too much.
My most watched video is my first one, which is 29 minutes long. I'm trying to make that an exception rather than a rule.
Out of curiosity, have you watched any of the videos? Do you consider them "home made"? I'm trying to make them to the highest standards possible with a two-man crew, each video is getting better as we go along.
I have watched them allLength is something I am constantly watching. I am trying to get most videos to the 10-12 minute mark. Some are going to be longer, some shorter. Where I can I am dividing the videos up. This particular video started off over half an hour, I sliced about eight minutes out of it. I didn't want to ditch too much.
My most watched video is my first one, which is 29 minutes long. I'm trying to make that an exception rather than a rule.
Out of curiosity, have you watched any of the videos? Do you consider them "home made"? I'm trying to make them to the highest standards possible with a two-man crew, each video is getting better as we go along.
Edited by jayemm89 on Tuesday 31st May 16:15
Why do you need a camera man in the car? Just put the camera at a fixed point like the latest super car of london or mr jww videos, that would be a lot better. Enjoying the content though.
We have a car mount now, I took some time finding one that I was happy mounting our main camera on. You'll start to see videos coming through now with much improved interior shots.
A camera guy is however essential for stuff where I'm outside the car and talking to camera, as I would like to avoid the go-pro-on-selfie-stick look where possible. There may be some videos of that ilk, but I am trying to keep them to a minimum.
There's a delay of 7-10 days between these videos being shot and posted, partly due to my slow-ass internet, partly because I want to moderate output and not just stick everything up at once. So alongside the camera mount, we now also have a radio mic which has improved sound quality for the newer videos considerably too.
We're getting there, slowly
A camera guy is however essential for stuff where I'm outside the car and talking to camera, as I would like to avoid the go-pro-on-selfie-stick look where possible. There may be some videos of that ilk, but I am trying to keep them to a minimum.
There's a delay of 7-10 days between these videos being shot and posted, partly due to my slow-ass internet, partly because I want to moderate output and not just stick everything up at once. So alongside the camera mount, we now also have a radio mic which has improved sound quality for the newer videos considerably too.
We're getting there, slowly
lockhart flawse said:
Good effort but couldn't hear the Ferrari very well.
There will be, in the near future, a "bonus" video of outtakes and things which will include more Ferrari noise. We were really time limited on the day, I did also do one shot of the Ferrari in full-chat flyby, but found out in the evening my stand-in cameraman hadn't pressed the record button when I told him. Never mind 
Plenty of 355 sound clips online though, they are awesome cars.
I've watched a few from Shmee and Supercars of London. I much prefer your style. I've watched all of them and at no point have I felt bored (or irritated). Unlike the others mentioned, your presentation seems professional but unscripted. That probably does you a disservice, as you probably do write a script, but it comes across a conversational.
I guess you could make some shorter videos, but also keep the longer ones with the more in depth content.
I guess you could make some shorter videos, but also keep the longer ones with the more in depth content.
Thanks Spud - that's what I'm aiming for.
As there is more and more content there'll be a mix of things - videos will be from one minute to half an hour, depending on topic. I've just organised my next big feature, which will be a comparison of the last of the Esprits. Worth noting it's only the Evora 400 that finally eclipsed the Esprit's record of most powerful road-going Lotus ever. The Evora S was a few bhp short.
I don't really script as such, but I know the beats I want to hit and generally go over it in my head a few times the night before. It's a learning process for me, I'm much more used to being the other side of the camera!
As there is more and more content there'll be a mix of things - videos will be from one minute to half an hour, depending on topic. I've just organised my next big feature, which will be a comparison of the last of the Esprits. Worth noting it's only the Evora 400 that finally eclipsed the Esprit's record of most powerful road-going Lotus ever. The Evora S was a few bhp short.
I don't really script as such, but I know the beats I want to hit and generally go over it in my head a few times the night before. It's a learning process for me, I'm much more used to being the other side of the camera!
johnwilliams77 said:
Looking at the other Cayman vs Evora thread I can't believe people are going on about the interior quality. All the Evora needs are some better speakers/head unit, reverse sensor, cruise control and the right exhaust and you have yourself a very fun great all rounder than you can happily sit in traffic in, motorways, B roads or track. Couldn't care if a little bit of trim doesn't have a great fit!
The latest Alpine unit fitted post 2013 or whenever it was is vastly better than the original. I went from the original (cack) Alpine to the Pioneer one of the 2012 MY and then from that to the latest Alpine, which I think is in the 400 too. Mine came with reverse sensors and camera - both of which I found essential living in a city and parking in my apartment car park with s
te rear view vision. Mine also has cruise which I find invaluable in a GT car, especially with 60% of the M1 being roadworks and 50mph specs cameras.Exhaust wise I have the Lotus sports exhaust and everyone remarks it sounds well.
I tried a 400 at JCT - the exhaust sound is fantastic and making it switchable is a good move as it would be a nightmare on a 500 mile trip IMO. My own thoughts were that the 400 was less of a GT by virtue of the seat changes (I found the recaros far comfier) and the suspension, which certainly had less roll but in turn made it harsher. Horses for courses and no doubt a wonderful car, but to me it lost some of its GT nature and the Exige V6 is sat close behind it if you want a sports rather than GT car.
The 400 is definitely a harder car than the S1 Evora. That's fine by me, because if I wanted a more luxurious GT car I would have probably gone with an Aston or similar. As it was, I wanted a car with the world-famous Lotus handling, but just enough practicality that I could use it for weekends away etc...
Here's the next video in the series. This is actually one of the more recent ones to be finished, but I wanted to post up a shorter video before any more long ones go up.
This video shows five little things I really like about the car which aren't particularly obvious before you buy.
ETA
Sorry, monetised clips are not allowed.
This video shows five little things I really like about the car which aren't particularly obvious before you buy.
ETA
Sorry, monetised clips are not allowed.
Edited by Big Al. on Monday 6th June 17:10
The Crack Fox said:
jayemm89 said:
Here's a nice big video update. This one's been a while in the works, but recently I was able to bag a 355 for a very brief drive so performed an impromptu 355 vs Evora debate.
This is the link:
What other cars would you like me to see if I can compare the Lotus against?
Love the car. To offer some constructive criticism, no-one will watch half an hour of a home-made film. Get it down to 5 minutes, max, and I'm sure folks will follow. Good luck This is the link:
What other cars would you like me to see if I can compare the Lotus against?
Good work.The Crack Fox said:
Love the car. To offer some constructive criticism, no-one will watch half an hour of a home-made film. Get it down to 5 minutes, max, and I'm sure folks will follow. Good luck
I think these vids draw a different audience to yours, yours are for a general mass-market audience whereas us Evora fanboys are looking for more detail on a subject we're already interested in. There's a place for both approaches.Yeah, the aim initially was to really just put more information about the Evora out there. It's amazing that for a model which is now seven years old there's just so little about them. If you want to know about nearly any Ferrari, Audi, BMW, Porsche or Mercedes from the last 20 years there is shedloads out there. This Lotus, sod all. A shame really because they're a great car. Will they ever sell in 911 quantities? Not a chance - but there's probably a lot of guys out there with 911s who would be much more pleased with this!
jayemm89 said:
Yeah, the aim initially was to really just put more information about the Evora out there. It's amazing that for a model which is now seven years old there's just so little about them. If you want to know about nearly any Ferrari, Audi, BMW, Porsche or Mercedes from the last 20 years there is shedloads out there. This Lotus, sod all. A shame really because they're a great car. Will they ever sell in 911 quantities? Not a chance - but there's probably a lot of guys out there with 911s who would be much more pleased with this!
Would love to hear more 'geekery' about the models. The details of the traction control systems, the understeer and oversteer control. The undertray components, etc, etc.My Evora went to a Porsche indie the other day for a quick brake pad change (indie is very close so convenient). The mechanic who tested my car after the work came back and told his boss he was surprised at how good it is to drive and how nice it is to be in, in his words "not what he expected"
I think quite a few Porsche drivers are hardly aware of the Evora, it certainly wasn't on the radar for Porsche drivers at work, but all who have been in my car have been pleasantly surprised and most think it looks more expensive than it is. My car has 70k miles on it now and is wearing the miles very well indeed
I think quite a few Porsche drivers are hardly aware of the Evora, it certainly wasn't on the radar for Porsche drivers at work, but all who have been in my car have been pleasantly surprised and most think it looks more expensive than it is. My car has 70k miles on it now and is wearing the miles very well indeed
Indeed - I think there's a lot of guys out there who've decided they want a 911 and don't realise the Evora is even out there.
I am going to do a video in the near future discussing why I think guys who previously bought 911s would actually love the car. After all, a lot of people don't like the fact that the 911 now has electric steering, that it's gotten so big, that it's full of electronic trickery, that it's turbocharged, that it's now often over £100k when specced. Those guys would love the Evora. And I don't really think you're giving up much at all for such huge gains in the fun department.
I am going to do a video in the near future discussing why I think guys who previously bought 911s would actually love the car. After all, a lot of people don't like the fact that the 911 now has electric steering, that it's gotten so big, that it's full of electronic trickery, that it's turbocharged, that it's now often over £100k when specced. Those guys would love the Evora. And I don't really think you're giving up much at all for such huge gains in the fun department.
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