Just drove an Evora...
Discussion
Thanks to Silverstone Lotus, and their launch day - i got to drive an Evora today 
My first thoughts were it was a lot better looking in the flesh - I couldnt make my mind up from seeing pictures of it, but walking around it I really liked it, good proportions, and nicely styled.
What impressed me most was the build quality - the inside felt very german - and while it only had a couple of thousand miles on it, this was one of the press cars, so its not been well treated, and seems to have held up fantasticly. Of course, it'll be interesting to see what its like in 20,000 miles...
You still have a sill to climb over and drop into the car, but its much less so than on the elise - its not quite as easy as a 996 for instance, but a massive improvement, and most people (except nervy i imagine) will have no problems.
The rear seats, or rather bench, left more to be desired... it was there, but unless the front seats were all the way forward legroom was none existant... so unless your friends with douglas bader, or just have small kids, your not going to get much use of out of them.
The boot too is very small, i'd say no bigger than an elise's, so while it'll take a weekend away in soft bags, you'll be using the back bench for anything additional you want to take.
To drive...
Well, its lovely, it really is... the steering is light but direct, the front end grips and reacts like an elise... its so light and nimble, it really is a delight to drive.
And the ride is hugely impressive, even on really bumpy roads it seemed to soak them up, but at the same time stay flat and composed... i even did some heavy braking on a downhill entrance to a roundabout with lots of bumps and while i could feel them through the steering the Lotus was composed and easy to control.
The downsides... well its not that fast... that isn't to say its slow... i'd say its about the same as a 997 Carrera, but it just felt like it could do with about another 50-100bhp, which the "s" version will no doubt have.. The noise was quite impressive too, though quite quiet, it did have a nice bark when you gave it some beans, though the rev limiter came in far too early at 6,500 RPM, though that could do with the low miles and the fact its a press car.
Also the car I drove was a left hooker, and didnt have a clutch rest, or anywhere to put your foot, but apparantly the RHD versions fix this.
All in all, im very impressed with the car, its a massive leap for Lotus, and its good to see the British building a good, well built and quality car.
The downside though, the price. The car I drove, specced up (with nice features such as the reversing camera, which you need as you can see more engine than road in the rear view mirror) is about £60k... thats a lot... and while i think it can tempt some 911 buyers, with cars like the GTR at the same price point, its a tough sell.
Overall, i really liked the car, but its not that practical, and not that fast, but it is a joy to drive, and once they release a supercharged version, and some other poor soul has paid for the depreciation, i might just buy one.
My first thoughts were it was a lot better looking in the flesh - I couldnt make my mind up from seeing pictures of it, but walking around it I really liked it, good proportions, and nicely styled.
What impressed me most was the build quality - the inside felt very german - and while it only had a couple of thousand miles on it, this was one of the press cars, so its not been well treated, and seems to have held up fantasticly. Of course, it'll be interesting to see what its like in 20,000 miles...
You still have a sill to climb over and drop into the car, but its much less so than on the elise - its not quite as easy as a 996 for instance, but a massive improvement, and most people (except nervy i imagine) will have no problems.
The rear seats, or rather bench, left more to be desired... it was there, but unless the front seats were all the way forward legroom was none existant... so unless your friends with douglas bader, or just have small kids, your not going to get much use of out of them.
The boot too is very small, i'd say no bigger than an elise's, so while it'll take a weekend away in soft bags, you'll be using the back bench for anything additional you want to take.
To drive...
Well, its lovely, it really is... the steering is light but direct, the front end grips and reacts like an elise... its so light and nimble, it really is a delight to drive.
And the ride is hugely impressive, even on really bumpy roads it seemed to soak them up, but at the same time stay flat and composed... i even did some heavy braking on a downhill entrance to a roundabout with lots of bumps and while i could feel them through the steering the Lotus was composed and easy to control.
The downsides... well its not that fast... that isn't to say its slow... i'd say its about the same as a 997 Carrera, but it just felt like it could do with about another 50-100bhp, which the "s" version will no doubt have.. The noise was quite impressive too, though quite quiet, it did have a nice bark when you gave it some beans, though the rev limiter came in far too early at 6,500 RPM, though that could do with the low miles and the fact its a press car.
Also the car I drove was a left hooker, and didnt have a clutch rest, or anywhere to put your foot, but apparantly the RHD versions fix this.
All in all, im very impressed with the car, its a massive leap for Lotus, and its good to see the British building a good, well built and quality car.
The downside though, the price. The car I drove, specced up (with nice features such as the reversing camera, which you need as you can see more engine than road in the rear view mirror) is about £60k... thats a lot... and while i think it can tempt some 911 buyers, with cars like the GTR at the same price point, its a tough sell.
Overall, i really liked the car, but its not that practical, and not that fast, but it is a joy to drive, and once they release a supercharged version, and some other poor soul has paid for the depreciation, i might just buy one.
sorry boggy, i completley disagree... at £54k there is an awful lot in the price range, yes it drove lovely, but performance wise it was very dissapointing, and you can get some much quicker, and more practical cars for that money that maybe arent quite as sublime as the Evora, but certainly as much fun!
If I may step in at this point...
having owned a 996, well, this is why i used it as a reference point in the first post here...
The rear seats - well, they are slightly bigger in a 996 - i could sit behind my drivers seat with my head resting on the roof - the Evora, while its a bench (rather than 2 seats seperated by a transmission tunnel) which is more practical for carrying "things" on, with the drivers seat fully forward, I had to have my knees either side of the drivers seat, and i was crushed down.
I dont think anyone over 5' tall could fit in the back of the Evora for more than a few minutes.
As for handling better, hard to say, its a subjective thing - the Evora had a stunning turn-in, and did handle beautifully - but the 911 is sublime...
Yes, the Evora rode over bad roads amazingly, thats its party piece - it manages to glide over rough road services, and you feel in complete control...
Looks, again subjective, and its not that much cheaper really...
Performance wise though, I think the 911 is faster, it certainly feels it, and im confident around a track the 911 would easily stay ahead of the Evora in its current guise.
having owned a 996, well, this is why i used it as a reference point in the first post here...
The rear seats - well, they are slightly bigger in a 996 - i could sit behind my drivers seat with my head resting on the roof - the Evora, while its a bench (rather than 2 seats seperated by a transmission tunnel) which is more practical for carrying "things" on, with the drivers seat fully forward, I had to have my knees either side of the drivers seat, and i was crushed down.
I dont think anyone over 5' tall could fit in the back of the Evora for more than a few minutes.
As for handling better, hard to say, its a subjective thing - the Evora had a stunning turn-in, and did handle beautifully - but the 911 is sublime...
Yes, the Evora rode over bad roads amazingly, thats its party piece - it manages to glide over rough road services, and you feel in complete control...
Looks, again subjective, and its not that much cheaper really...
Performance wise though, I think the 911 is faster, it certainly feels it, and im confident around a track the 911 would easily stay ahead of the Evora in its current guise.
i agree completley.
its why i drove one, and i liked it...
I see what you mean on the pricing though, a base Evora is £54k, a base 997 C2 is £59... specced up the Evora is up at £65k whereas you can probably put the porsche past £70k if you got tick happy on the options list..
However, I could pick up a 997 for as little as £30k today... and probably get a good £5k discount off a new one. I cant see you getting an Evora for less than £60k for at least the next 12 months.
and as much as i hate to say it (after all, i loved my elise, and have a huge respect for what the guys in a shed in Hethel are capable of) the Porsche is the better car.
its why i drove one, and i liked it...
I see what you mean on the pricing though, a base Evora is £54k, a base 997 C2 is £59... specced up the Evora is up at £65k whereas you can probably put the porsche past £70k if you got tick happy on the options list..
However, I could pick up a 997 for as little as £30k today... and probably get a good £5k discount off a new one. I cant see you getting an Evora for less than £60k for at least the next 12 months.
and as much as i hate to say it (after all, i loved my elise, and have a huge respect for what the guys in a shed in Hethel are capable of) the Porsche is the better car.
I thought the base price for the Evora was under 50k?BertBert said:
So just as a driver's experience, does it drive better than an Elise and in what ways and to what degree?
Bert
no.Bert
its not as good as an elise.
an elise handles much better - however the evora does drive well, its a great turn in... but it feels much slower than an elise...
the areas where its better than the elise is its build quality, noise reduction and the ride - its so smooth over rough roads.
heebeegeetee said:
Fidgits said:
and the ride - its so smooth over rough roads.
I am delighted that a manufacturer - and who more appropriate than Lotus - has reminded the car world that this is the proper way to make a car fast, and not the dumbed-down, easy-option, supposedly "hardcore" method of making stiff riding, crashy-bangy cars, which all other things being equal would be just plain slower.its almost mercedes glide-link, but loses none of the feel or delicacy because of it... I think it was best summed up, and some miles per hour, downhill braking to a roundabout on frankly a terrible surface - while i could feel the wheel twitching and could tell just how bad the road was and how hard the chassis was working, it stayed straight and true and performed superbly..
if only they'd made it a faster...
heebeegeetee said:
dom180 said:
Fidgits said:
i'm sorry, if your main argument for buying a car is that its built in britain then you should be buying Honda's and Nissan's - they employ far more people than Lotus in this country...
It wasn't my main arguement for buying one - I just noted that it's funny how little the fact that it's designed and built in the UK, seems to matter to most people.Edited by Fidgits on Monday 15th June 07:05
My main reason for being interested in it, is the great reception the car's received from the World press. But if it also means not supporting German industry, so much the better!
It's a good job the japs and germans did come here if you ask me, and show us how a car industry should be managed. God knows what we'd have done if they hadn't.
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