Lotus Europa S: Spotted
A lightweight Cayman rival with a four-cylinder turbo? The Europa was the 4C of the 2000s.
Seen one recently? Us neither
Think about it. Both are very light, use fairly run-of-the-mill turbocharged engines and don't power steering; they were both intended to offer fresh alternatives to the ubiquitous Germans.
The logic behind the Europa seemed fine. A slightly more habitable Elise that could be used everyday without much sacrifice in handling purity. Under a tonne and 200hp but with leather, air-con, a stereo of sorts and airbags. The best of both worlds, surely?
But it never really worked for the Europa. The first contributing factor has to be how it looked, an issue the Alfa certainly isn't afflicted by. The daintiness and originality of the Elise was replaced with a well-proportioned but rather dull and featureless silhouette. There's nothing fundamentally bad about the Euopa's appearance, but that styling spark that makes people crave a sports car was lacking.
Like an Elise, but a bit plusher
Time has been kind to the Europa though. The initially frosty reception meant fairly swift depreciation but values seemed to have levelled out now. This early S is still up at £21K after 20,000 miles and seven years of use. As an Elise that could be used on the occasional commute or longer journey, the Europa may well have found its niche.
The advert for this Graphite Grey Europa says it has 225hp (as opposed to the standard 200) so it could have some tweaks from the later and improved Europa SE. That or its Milltek exhaust has a rather optimistic power gain...
The 'but' with the Europa comes, of course, with the Elise. You could sacrifice some comfort for that last bit of dynamic edge, right? And it isn't turbocharged. And you could have this gorgeous Sport 190 for the same money as the Europa with an identical mileage. Decisions decisions...
LOTUS EUROPA S
Engine: 1,998cc four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 200@5,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 200@5,000rpm
MPG: 30.7
CO2: 220g/km
Recorded mileage: 20,700
First registered: 2006
Price new: £32,995
Yours for: £20,989
See the original advert here
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Admittedly they are different cars but the Z4M's engine is in a differnet league, the car is far more practical, etc.
As stated above if your willing to accept the compromise go with the Elise/Exige if not the Z4M/Cayman and quite a few other cars at this price point offer a better ownership proposition.
I do like these though
If it had been sold as 'The Elise You Can Go To Work In' or 'The Elise Your Wife Will Like' it might have sold better, but the intersection between Cayman buyers and Lotus buyers is small, so selling it as a serious alternative to the Cayman was never going to fly.
Always liked them though, at the time they were launched I had a S2 Exige and always thought I'd progress to the Europa, but instead went racing and had a family, so ended up with family/tow cars and a pure racer in the garage.
As for the Sport 190 as an alternative, been there bought the S1 Sport 190 - K-Series in that level of tune are not for the faint-hearted (or those who need to rely on the car to get them anywhere), most people find it surprising when I say I enjoyed the ownership of the S2 Exige far more than the S1 Elise as it goes against received wisdom, but I could use the car more, running costs were cheaper and life was far less fraught with breakdown/repair bills.
I think the Europa is a step further down that road, the S2 was easier to live with than the S1, the Europa even more so - the woman you marry to the S1's tempestuous but doomed affair.
Essentially IIRC a hard-top Elise for £35,000 with the VX220 engine when you could buy a nice new Elise for £25,000.
As a historical curiosity from Lotus it, like the M250 concept, shows what Evora should have been. i.e. not some poorly styled and packaged 2+2.
Still, £20k seems OTT for this to me.
I just glanced at my calendar and noticed that the 12c is a remarkably similar shape to an Evora. Irrelevant but felt the need to say it anyway.
This one in the classifieds looks a good punt too
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...
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