Here you'll find the archived updates to our extended Lotus Evora loan blog running top down in chronological order - to return to the latest update and comments
click here
At 40 years of age and after over eight years at PH HQ it's slightly odd that I haven't ever driven a Lotus. I've always admired them but never really wanted to own one (V8 Esprit and breadvan Europa aside) and press cars are rarely around, so this Evora was my first foray into how Norfolk chaps think a car should be made. Now let's be clear; I'm not a pro road tester but if you want to know what the average Luddite enthusiast thinks of it read on.
First things first, this car looks great and it seems to attract attention more so than any Ferrari or Lambo. When parked I'd come back to people peering through the windows, passing through town people pointed it out to their mates and once or twice people were kind enough to say 'nice car' as they walked past. Top marks to Lotus for creating a car people seem to admire and like; it was universally approved of and you don't always get that in a lairy Italian.
Daily usability claims tested on the commute
using the TVR
daily so I have a good understanding of the idiosyncrasies of a British sports car, something I needed to bear in mind as I hauled my leg over the huge door sill to gain entry to the cabin. Graceful it is not, and neither are the left-set pedals ... but nobody else seemed to notice this so maybe it's my body that is off-set?
Before going further let's be clear about two things; this car looks great and drives brilliantly with commendable handling and the power (if not charisma) from that V6 is all anyone could ever want. But at over £60K you want the full package, right? So while I loved my time with the car, and wished I could have kept it for longer, I still don't want to own one. Why? Let me try to explain.
Ergonomically the car is flawed and for some reason Lotus decided to add far too many buttons, many hidden behind the steering wheel so you can't see them. And then they made them awkward to use - one button to turn the lights on, two to turn them off. Brilliant. There isn't anywhere to store anything, at all. Now I don't want a cup holder particularly but I'd like somewhere to put my wallet and mobile. I could have jammed them in the huge gap between the door shut and dashboard but that was a little unfair. I couldn't see out of it; not inexcusable in a supercar but not great in a Cayman rival and you may as well ditch the rear seats and make some storage as the boot holds three quarters of nothing. Finally the audio/navigation looks like it came from a Max Power cover car from 1999, and it's as awkward to use as it looks.
Yeah, yeah but that's the whole point of a Lotus I hear you cry, it's made for driving not going to the shops. You're right too, I get that. But here's my dilemma. If it was a fun car that you rolled out of the garage for Sunday B-road fun that would be fine. But it isn't, it's a car that makes claims to be daily-driveable and not just for high days and holidays, so that means it must be compared as such to rivals. With a Cayman you get useable space, great handling, perfect ergonomics, all the power you want from an engine bursting with character and you also get a lump of build quality for free. I liked the Evora. A lot. But I'd buy a Cayman and trade those jaw dropping looks for a better overall car.
For previous updates click here for the archive page.
Why is it impossible to talk about the Evora without comparing it to the Porsche Cayman and 911 it falls between? In a way it's a back-handed compliment that the Lotus should face such intense scrutiny alongside two such exemplary cars from the dominant player in this sector.
Barely used Sports Racer like ours for £10K saving
But the reality is there's not much in this price bracket you would nominate as an alternative. Sure, you could spec up a TT RS, SLK or Z4 to not far off this money. But none of those is really a rival to the Evora's more purist abilities. An Alfa 4C is the closest shout but, as we've
already
explored
- and will do in further detail against the V6 version - it's closer to
the Exige
in spirit and a lot more compromised as a day-to-day drive.
So we return to those inevitable Porsches. Eyebrows still raised at the burly £65,900 OTR price I decided to have a look in theclassifieds and see if the comparison still bears scrutiny with used examples. First thing? There seem to be a lot of unregistered Sports Racers with dealers currently asking the full list price for them. Read into that what you will and get your best bargaining pants at the ready...
Same money would also get you into this
'Our' Evora is a 15,000-miler though so I thought a more fair comparison would be to try and find something equivalent. Doesn't look like there is, but there is a 2013 Sports Racer in matching white and with 1,700 miles under its belt for a
useful saving at £55K
Keeping that imaginary sum in my back pocket and paying virtual visits to a few Official Porsche Centres I was hopeful that the equivalent Cayman or 911 would be considerably leggier and less appealing for the same money. Sadly for the Evora that's not the case and it's a straight fight from the Germans.
That same £55K will get you into a very nice 2013 981 Cayman S with a good spec and 8,000 miles on the clock. Or, if you need those rear seats and want more power and status, you could have a 2011 997 Carrera S with a modest 23,000 miles, PDK and some very nicely picked options.
Or the inevitable 911, in this case a 2011 S
Unfortunately for Lotus to even be in the position to consider an Evora your starting point is a proper hatred of Porsches. Ambivalence towards them isn't enough. You'd have to have a real chip on your shoulder or genuine axe to grind with the brand to even look beyond the obvious temptations.
Could I do it? With £55,000 in my pocket could I really overlook the all too obvious charms of that 911 in particular? In my heart I like to think that I could, having found a great deal to admire in the Evora and a number of things it actually does better than a 911. But it'd take real determination and the magnetic pull of the Porsche would be very hard to resist. I'd salute anyone that could.
As I meditate on that it's time to hand the keys to Mr Garlick so he can take it to Sunday Service this weekend. Incredibly he tells me he's never driven a Lotus of any kind before - his reaction to the Evora will be interesting to hear.
So as I write the Evora is sitting at London City airport (hopefully) awaiting my return from the Subaru WRX STI launch. The connection? Both cars seem to use the same Alpine-based nav system. Let's just say it's adequate but there's a reason manufacturers with OE systems charge as much as they do for more integrated set-ups and one of those little details that smaller brands will always struggle with.
Driving position somewhat cosy with kid in back
Anyway, enough of that. How's life with the Evora?
Well, my apologies for not doing anything especially hairy chested or extreme but I've been mainly just using the Lotus as my daily ride and attempting to force it into working as a family car. You need to be a) wildly over optimistic and b) somewhat bloody minded to use the Evora for a family outing but unfortunately for them I am both of these things and, with my knees round my ears, we went out for a Sunday drive, three-up.
Would I recommend this? Not especially, but I take a degree of pride in proving it can be done. Wife and child probably don't share in the delight quite as much but there we go. No escaping that a 911 is a more viable child friendly sports car though, the Lotus's rear bench best described as 'occasional' seating.
Couple of things that spring to mind in such 'normal' use of the Evora. The first being quite how refined and comfortable it is. Getting in and out is still a bit of a contortion relative to more conventional cars but with the young'n in the back at parent and child spaces are your friend. Once you're settled the forward visibility is great, it feels wieldy and, most of all, it's quiet and rides beautifully. I've had recent experience of the 991 911 in widebodied form and though plush it had far more tyre roar on the motorway than the Lotus and could get seriously unsettled on bumpy B-roads, making it surprisingly tiring company. The Evora just floats along; no rattles, no squeaks, commendably little buffeting and the wheel murmuring away quietly in your hands to keep you in touch with what's going on.
PH has driven the Evora in anger too
In my defence I do have experience of driving Evoras in a little more anger, the first time on the launch event for the S in sunny Spain on Monteblanco circuit, where it proved unexpectedly keen to pull fairly outrageous skids for a car with an open diff. And the second in rather different conditions when I took part in a
sprint at
Goodwood
in another S in the pouring rain.
Vid
here
of the latter, displaying how the Evora is both lively but confidence inspiring at the same time.
After those track experiences it's actually quite nice to discover the Evora works rather well as a daily ride too. Pricing, performance and, ultimately, tactile delights are in a different league as you'd expect but there's a similar sense of duality to a McLaren 12C. To many onlookers it seems to have the same wow factor too, the Evora's rarity meaning it really turns heads and gets a much more positive response than others of its type. Porsches can have a degree of emotional baggage in 'civilian' circles but the Lotus seems to duck under some of the more green-eyed reactions and enjoy a generous reception.
Job for the next update? I need to explore these Porsche comparisons that have come up frequently in the comments thus far. True enough, at rrp the Evora does look dangerously pricey. But this car is a proper used one with 15,000 miles under its belt. Perhaps the comparisons will be a little more generous in the used market. Time to find out.
Remember the Lotus Evora? Possibly not. In all the turmoil of recent years and excitement at the arrival of an all-new Cayman, the Alfa Romeo 4C and other distractions like Hethel's own V6 Exige range Lotus's V6 all-rounder has undeservedly fallen into the shadows.
Guilty as charged, indeed. I'd kind of forgotten about it too.
Sports Racer spiced up with contrast panels
And then I remembered. And rang Lotus up to see if PH could have one on an extended loan to reacquaint. Happily they said yes and we'll be running the Evora S Sports Racer you see here for the next three weeks or so and reporting in regularly over this period. Think of it as a PH Fleet style test, condensed into a shorter period but sharing a similar goal of building a picture of what day-to-day life with an Evora.
Looking back at the July 2008 press release announcing 'The Evora is here!' the sense of anticipation and expectation for the car seems almost poignant in its optimism. This was a very different Lotus from the one in 2014 and there were high hopes for the Evora's ability to bring new customers to the brand. The first all-new model for 13 years, then boss Mike Kimberley promised "the Lotus Evora represents Group Lotus ... in a changing world where priorities of efficiency, economy and environmental impact go hand in hand with performance, design and individuality. I think Colin Chapman would have approved."
It's not all been about the daily commute
Described as "one of the company's great milestones" the specially constructed production line was said to be limited - limited - to 2,000 cars per year; Lotus sold just over half that number of cars in total last year. To put that into some global perspective Porsche sold 1,700 Boxster and Caymans in a month this February while HowManyLeft lists just shy of 500 Evoras on UK roads.
Since the Evora launched in 2008 PH has driven the automatic Evora IPS, the supercharged Evora S, the updated MY2012 Evora range and even competed in an Evora S at the Goodwood Easter Sunday sprint. In 2012 we reported on the Sports Racer, basically an 'all the toys' variant for both the standard 280hp and 350hp supercharged cars set off with contrasting black roof and sills.
And it's the latter I'm lucky enough to currently have the keys for, resplendent in Aspen White and loaded up with Sports Racer standard kit comprising Premium Sports seats, Sports Pack (switchable exhaust and DPM stability control, diffuser, drilled discs) and Tech Pack with an Alpine touchscreen nav unit (Bluetooth and iPhone ready too), folding mirrors, cruise control and a reversing camera. Yours for a far from shy £65,900, Lotus claiming a £7,150 saving over speccing an Evora S to the same level yourself.
Lotus does luxury; still pretty minimalist as it goes
Still punchy though, given a 325hp Cayman S starts at £48,783 and the
newly announced GTS
with 340hp kicks off at £55,397. And dangerously close to the nominal £73K starting price for a 911, even if you'd be unlikely to actually leave the showroom without your bottom line starting with an '8'. Home competition has stiffened somewhat too, with a 380hp V6 S
F-Type coupe
starting at just over £60K if polar opposite in intent.
So you'd have to be pretty determined to opt for one. Thankfully the Evora driving experience remains refreshingly different to the mainstream. The Evora's minimalism is almost startling in comparison with the inevitable Cayman, quality now much improved even if those who enjoy playing spot the parts bin/third party supplier still have plenty of opportunities to sneer. It works though and the Lotus now feels like A Proper Sports Car.
Frankly it's refreshing, Lotus's one concession to the German-influenced craze for button pushing being a Sport one that makes the exhaust louder, sharpens the throttle and loosens the reins of the Dynamic Performance Management a tad. And that's it. Passive dampers. No gearbox modes. A manual shifter, three pedals and a delightfully compact and unembellished steering wheel.
If the childseat fits... Now, where's my finger?
Exposure to the Evora thus far has been limited. I've commuted in it a couple of times. I read the handbook, established it had ISOFIX mounts in the back and then nearly lost part of my finger attempting to configure it for the nursery run. While we're talking dismemberment Trent Jr may have to forgo his legs if we're to attempt three-up family drives in the Evora but we'll see how that shapes up over the weekend. Over optimistic or not, that's at least an opportunity you couldn't even attempt with a Cayman. And I take personal satisfaction from parking a Lotus beside the parade of Audi Q3s that seem the depressingly default choice for most fellow parents. I'd give them the finger to symbolise my defiance, were it not a bloodied stump.
I've also been out for a solo drive to get some photos and a little snippet of video (see below) and here the Evora has offered just a hint of why the next few weeks are going to be interesting. The Cayman has a glorious engine and all the toys and luxuries but, whisper it, feels a little overdamped and overtyred in comparison. It's a lovely thing but so tied down and composed you feel the chassis has outgrown the power output and unless you're in the final tenth of its dynamic envelope it doesn't give a whole lot back.
The nursery run, PH style - no Audi Q3 for us
But the Evora has a delicacy and compliance that sets it apart. It's not actually that much lighter than a Cayman but feels it, the Lotus handling DNA meaning it floats and moves around over undulating tarmac but never feels uncontrolled or wafty. And the steering feedback is in a different league from anything else out there. Indeed, in all but powertrain the Cayman feels a bit blunt in comparison.
You'd get the above from any back to back roadtest though. What I want to investigate is whether, after a number of weeks, those novelties and delights still measure up to the reality of what remains an underdog, and an expensive one at that.
here
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