RE: Lotus Europa S | Spotted

[p4cks]

otolith said:

ewand said:

"Overweight" is a bit strong. Later Elises (like the 220 Cup) had more power but more weight too; the Europa SE was just under 1000kg so it wasn't like it was some lardy tub getting dragged around. What did for it was the extra price and that fact that nobody was going to put up with the sills and the cabin (architecture, noise, etc) except people who already loved Lotus. No-one would seriously weigh up a Cayman and an Europa as a comfortable, everyday sports car, and pick the Lotus.

Check out the sales brochure though. They knew how to dream in Hethel

https://www.onlymanuals.com/lotus/europa/lotus_eur...

That’s the point though - if you wanted something like an Elise you didn’t want 150kg of lard, and if you wanted a comfy everyday car you didn’t want something Elise based!

Perfect synopsis really.

The Europa was a ginger stepchild no matter how you look at it. Unsold VXT chassis and a warehouse full of VXT engines, what can we do? Let's design something vaguely different, lock the ECU so people can't tune it like a VXT and start selling it as the new Eupora. Alongside, we're expecting the Evora soon...

No wonder no fker bought one

[Olivera]

I certainly like this colour scheme.

Weren't they (like the VX220 turbo) not entirely resolved from the factory, with an iffy map and abs system?

[p4cks]

Olivera said:

I certainly like this colour scheme.

Weren't they (like the VX220 turbo) not entirely resolved from the factory, with an iffy map and abs system?

They were unsold VX220 Turbos gifted back to Lotus <although the ECU was locked so you couldn't tune them as a Vauxhall> because they had st loads of Z20LET engines lying around

[smilo996]

seems to have disappeared without trace. Really like them and a bit more sophisticated (well, in a Lotus kind of way) than the other E's of the period.

[otolith]

ewand said:

Cup 220 is 220bhp and 950kg, Europa SE is 225bhp and 995kg IIRC... but yes, you don't want the cramped cabin, high sills and rattles if you want something relaxing.

Yes, and the Exige is now 1100kg - but back then the 111R was 850kg and the sub-800kg 111S was a recent car.

[clacs2]

Good replies, Actus and roger.

The export thing is an interesting point. I had completely forgotten but when I bought my TVR, the chap I got it from had a barn full of Elises off overseas. Waltham Abbey way IIRC.

[Cotty]

I really like these

[TR4man]

I test drove a very low mileage one around six years ago and what stuck with me to this day was how it rattled and squeaked over every slight undulation of the road.

Despite that memory, reading this article I still think what a great looking car.

[Jazzybaby]

Nimerino said:

Love everything about Lotus. Except for this. This looks exactly like what it is - a botched outsourcing job for a Malaysian budget manufacturer. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if the exterior design was signed off by Proton, as I can’t for the life of me imagine Lotus themselves thinking this looked decent, had all the tooling not been finished already.

As far as I am aware the styling was by Russell Carr!

[Promised Land]

TR4man said:

I test drove a very low mileage one around six years ago and what stuck with me to this day was how it rattled and squeaked over every slight undulation of the road.

Despite that memory, reading this article I still think what a great looking car.

Obviously never owned or driven an S1 Elise, had two and regret selling both.

[Cotty]

Found an old Fith Gear review by Jason Plato. He didn't really like it. I ran an Elise S2 for three years and I considered one as a replacement, I would still like one today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peTrQtPmrRk&li...

[otolith]

Didn’t potato dislike the supercharged Elise too?