RE: Lotus Exige Sport 380: Time for Coffee

[Yipper]

Give it a proper interior for grownups, some gadgets, a decent flappy gearbox, and Lotus could wipe the floor with Porsche.

[kambites]

Yipper said:

Give it a proper interior for grownups, some gadgets, a decent flappy gearbox, and Lotus could wipe the floor with Porsche.

People still wouldn't be able to get in and out and it still wouldn't have a Porsche badge, so I doubt it. It'd also end up damned-near as heavy as a Porsche once you've done that to it so it'd need power steering which would add still more weight.

[Kawasicki]

Nice car!

[Hungrymc]

Yipper said:

Give it a proper interior for grownups, some gadgets, a decent flappy gearbox, and Lotus could wipe the floor with Porsche.

I don't think they are in the same market. Most Porsches are now very much everyday cars that are beautifully engineered and are relatively quick and engaging. Elise and Exige are sports cars as priority 1, 2 and 3 - it is a fundamental of what they are.

Even the Evora with its every day / GT concessions is still a very different proposition to most porsches, the area of overlap where they directly compare and compete is pretty small.

I'm starting to really yearn for a V6 Exige.

[suffolk009]

Hungrymc said:

Yipper said:

Give it a proper interior for grownups, some gadgets, a decent flappy gearbox, and Lotus could wipe the floor with Porsche.

I don't think they are in the same market. Most Porsches are now very much everyday cars that are beautifully engineered and are relatively quick and engaging. Elise and Exige are sports cars as priority 1, 2 and 3 - it is a fundamental of what they are.

Even the Evora with its every day / GT concessions is still a very different proposition to most porsches, the area of overlap where they directly compare and compete is pretty small.

I'm starting to really yearn for a V6 Exige.

My wife owns a Porsche Boxster. It's a great car, she uses it every day, I drive it occasionally. It's a nice car, comfortable and quick when you want it to be. I wanted to get a Lotus, but she put her foot down. I think it was the right decision - the Lotus could have been tiresome for her on a long daily commute. The Porsche really is more GT than full on sports-car.

But then, there are very few car manufacturers as focused as Lotus.

Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 4th April 07:35

[Vroom101]

cib24 said:

Vroom101 said:

Lovely in red & gold, but my word, I find that guy annoying.

Totally agree. He is hard to listen to and he is only 20 and his parents live in Monaco, but still, he's a Lotus fan and a real petrol head (he had an Elise before), and I thought these two videos were very good to be able to see all of the curves of the Exige Sport 380 and check out the interior as well.

The Copper Fire Red he chose is unreal and the gold wheels are a perfect match.

Yeah, I used to subscribe to Seb' Delaney's channel when he had the Elise Club Racer, as there weren't many videos featuring the little Lotus, but I found him too irritating to carry on. When you've got a 15 minute video and only about five minutes is about the car, then it wears pretty thin, pretty quickly. Many of the current YouTube motoring 'stars' suffer from this, too.

[johnwilliams77]

Always amazed at how many PH'ers slate lotus for crap interior etc - rather missing the point. Nothing has the steering feel of a lotus which is what driving is all about.

[CABC]

johnwilliams77 said:

Always amazed at how many PH'ers slate lotus for crap interior etc - rather missing the point. Nothing has the steering feel of a lotus which is what driving is all about.

ph is a catch-all site with plenty not interested in driving or driver's cars. It reaches down to the lowest denominator; and then a 19 yr old shares his Ginetta G20 ownership journey. inspirational.

[Europa1]

suffolk009 said:

My wife owns a Porsche Boxster. It's a great car, she uses it every day, I drive it occasionally. It's a nice car, comfortable and quick when you want it to be. I wanted to get a Lotus, but she put her foot down. I think it was the right decision - the Lotus could have been tiresome for her on a long daily commute. The Porsche really is more GT than full on sports-car.

But then, there are very few car manufacturers as focused as Lotus.

Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 4th April 07:35

Out of interest, did you consider an Evora?

[DrTroy]

I've got a 350 and it wasn't purchased for its interior, Its no way comparable to a cayman/boxter.
If your prepared to put up with being bruised getting in and out, a stereo that basically plays music as good a mobile phone on speaker, deafening aircon, have arms like popeye for parking and being moaned at by your better half for the ungraceful exit and entry.

Its epic ! ha

[shibby!]

Love mine too!

[suffolk009]

Europa1 said:

suffolk009 said:

My wife owns a Porsche Boxster. It's a great car, she uses it every day, I drive it occasionally. It's a nice car, comfortable and quick when you want it to be. I wanted to get a Lotus, but she put her foot down. I think it was the right decision - the Lotus could have been tiresome for her on a long daily commute. The Porsche really is more GT than full on sports-car.

But then, there are very few car manufacturers as focused as Lotus.

Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 4th April 07:35

Out of interest, did you consider an Evora?

I'm not at all fond of the looks, I know that's subjective, but there you are. Also they're still a bit too expensive in the second-hand market at the moment.

[MrLizard]

DrTroy said:

I've got a 350 and it wasn't purchased for its interior, Its no way comparable to a cayman/boxter.
If your prepared to put up with being bruised getting in and out, a stereo that basically plays music as good a mobile phone on speaker, deafening aircon, have arms like popeye for parking and being moaned at by your better half for the ungraceful exit and entry.

Its epic ! ha

completely agree with the above

I sold my Cayman GT4 for the Lotus 350, the Porsche was lovely and was much easier to use but I wanted something with more feeling and faster point to point. I went from an Atom to the GT4 (Mrs Lizard insisted) and the lotus for me is a nice half way house - having said that when people state nothing steers like a Lotus that is in fact true, the Atom was different rather than better or worse but the way the Lotus feeds back is like nothing else.

[CABC]

MrLizard said:

completely agree with the above

I sold my Cayman GT4 for the Lotus 350, the Porsche was lovely and was much easier to use but I wanted something with more feeling and faster point to point. I went from an Atom to the GT4 (Mrs Lizard insisted) and the lotus for me is a nice half way house - having said that when people state nothing steers like a Lotus that is in fact true, the Atom was different rather than better or worse but the way the Lotus feeds back is like nothing else.

i've only driven the Honda Atom at Palmer, 3 sessions i think. Absolute hoot but i didn't feel much feedback and it was a little snappy. That scenario is obviously brief and adrenalin-fuelled though. i've read the later V8s became far more feelsome.
Interesting that the Nomad, designed for off-road, has won acclaim for on-road behaviour. I wonder whether the 'softer' set up gave more feel and involvement? I think Palmer should offer them over the 4x4 course!

[MrLizard]

CABC said:

i've only driven the Honda Atom at Palmer, 3 sessions i think. Absolute hoot but i didn't feel much feedback and it was a little snappy. That scenario is obviously brief and adrenalin-fuelled though. i've read the later V8s became far more feelsome.
Interesting that the Nomad, designed for off-road, has won acclaim for on-road behaviour. I wonder whether the 'softer' set up gave more feel and involvement? I think Palmer should offer them over the 4x4 course!

Never driven a Nomad but they look awesome. The Atom was a little snappy i guess because of the short wheelbase but it was manageable and you could adjust the suspension (in like 5 seconds) to change the feel of it. To be honest when the sun was out there was so much grip and so little weight it was a riot - definitely a car that I will get back into at some point but it would be an addition rather than a replacement for me.

[Europa1]

suffolk009 said:

Europa1 said:

suffolk009 said:

My wife owns a Porsche Boxster. It's a great car, she uses it every day, I drive it occasionally. It's a nice car, comfortable and quick when you want it to be. I wanted to get a Lotus, but she put her foot down. I think it was the right decision - the Lotus could have been tiresome for her on a long daily commute. The Porsche really is more GT than full on sports-car.

But then, there are very few car manufacturers as focused as Lotus.

Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 4th April 07:35

Out of interest, did you consider an Evora?

I'm not at all fond of the looks, I know that's subjective, but there you are. Also they're still a bit too expensive in the second-hand market at the moment.

Fair enough. I had one (a MY2012 S) for a year or so and loved it - wasn't convinced by the looks until I saw it in the flesh. The fluidity and comfort of the ride was amazing when coupled with the fact it cornered like a housefly. And the interior was a nice place to be - not as many buttons and gizmos as a Boxster, but everything you actually needed and nicely executed.