Lotus Evora S Sports Racer
Discussion
I've frequented Pistonheads since the very early TVR days but this is my first Readers Cars post. Been in the wilderness for the last few years, with other priorities meaning I've had the last 6 or so years running normal rather than sporty cars. Last one was a Mercedes CLS 350 Shooting Brake, which was a great car for what I needed it for at the time but didn't really tug at my heartstrings like some of the other cars I've owned in the past.
Luckily for me my wife recently swapped her rather small Evoque for a RR Sport so the green light was given for me to hunt for something a bit more fun and less practical. Although I still wanted something I could use as a daily if needed and also my 2 year old son would fit in.
Considered a few cars, Maser GT 4.7, BMW M6, XKR, Mercedes C63, but in the end decided to go for something I'd always rather fancied, a Lotus Evora, namely an Evora S Sports Racer. I've always admired these, particularly the sports racers with the black bits and updated interior. Particularly like the fact they are rare, think I'd only ever seen 1 on the road and the fact the motoring press raved about them at the time.
So a couple of weeks ago I picked up this Pewter Grey, Evora S SR with IPS. I had wanted to hold out for a manual but actually quite enjoyed the IPS when I test drove it and it's a bit more useable for me on a daily basis. The throttle blips on downshifts in sports mode are epic
. Colour probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it looks very striking in the flesh and I believe it's quite a rare colour.
Here's a couple of pictures to begin with, will get some better ones once I've been somewhere a bit more interesting with it!
The reviews at the time waxed lyrical about the cars handling and feedback, and whilst it's early days for me I really can't believe quite how good it actually is. It really is sublime, I don't think there can be much out there for the price quicker point to point.
Future plans
Obviously early days but quite fancy changing out some of the harder leather (bit cheap looking and feeling) around the dash vents and on the steering wheel for some matching alcantara or nicer quality leather. Also whilst it sounds great, I was lucky enough to have the use of an Exige Sport 410 for a couple of weeks which sounded epic. So may consider a 2tubular valved exhaust to replace the standard valved one but want to keep it looking as stock as possible really.
It's also been fitted with some Kumho rear tyres, will get these swapped out for something decent.
Issues & quirks
1. Nothing serious but the left hand dash screen seems to have a line of missing pixels, so will need to look at getting that fixed.
2. Get quite a bit of road noise in the car. I'm not sure if this is the Kumho rear tyres or whether they all do that. I think from memory the Exige I used also did this but the overall experience and noise masked it. In the Evora it's a bit more refined so you hear it more on longer journeys.
3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
For the amount of time we'd all go out together, especially given the time of year I think I will just leave it as is and we'll take the Range Rover. I am hoping that in the spring my son may be >15kg and I can move to the Milano child seat which will free up a lot of space and allow us all to use it as planned.
Here's a picture of the current seat in the back so you can see what I mean.
I will try and keep this thread updated and hope to plan some decent road trips in the new year.
Cheers
Graham
Luckily for me my wife recently swapped her rather small Evoque for a RR Sport so the green light was given for me to hunt for something a bit more fun and less practical. Although I still wanted something I could use as a daily if needed and also my 2 year old son would fit in.
Considered a few cars, Maser GT 4.7, BMW M6, XKR, Mercedes C63, but in the end decided to go for something I'd always rather fancied, a Lotus Evora, namely an Evora S Sports Racer. I've always admired these, particularly the sports racers with the black bits and updated interior. Particularly like the fact they are rare, think I'd only ever seen 1 on the road and the fact the motoring press raved about them at the time.
So a couple of weeks ago I picked up this Pewter Grey, Evora S SR with IPS. I had wanted to hold out for a manual but actually quite enjoyed the IPS when I test drove it and it's a bit more useable for me on a daily basis. The throttle blips on downshifts in sports mode are epic
. Colour probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it looks very striking in the flesh and I believe it's quite a rare colour.Here's a couple of pictures to begin with, will get some better ones once I've been somewhere a bit more interesting with it!
The reviews at the time waxed lyrical about the cars handling and feedback, and whilst it's early days for me I really can't believe quite how good it actually is. It really is sublime, I don't think there can be much out there for the price quicker point to point.
Future plans
Obviously early days but quite fancy changing out some of the harder leather (bit cheap looking and feeling) around the dash vents and on the steering wheel for some matching alcantara or nicer quality leather. Also whilst it sounds great, I was lucky enough to have the use of an Exige Sport 410 for a couple of weeks which sounded epic. So may consider a 2tubular valved exhaust to replace the standard valved one but want to keep it looking as stock as possible really.
It's also been fitted with some Kumho rear tyres, will get these swapped out for something decent.
Issues & quirks
1. Nothing serious but the left hand dash screen seems to have a line of missing pixels, so will need to look at getting that fixed.
2. Get quite a bit of road noise in the car. I'm not sure if this is the Kumho rear tyres or whether they all do that. I think from memory the Exige I used also did this but the overall experience and noise masked it. In the Evora it's a bit more refined so you hear it more on longer journeys.
3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
For the amount of time we'd all go out together, especially given the time of year I think I will just leave it as is and we'll take the Range Rover. I am hoping that in the spring my son may be >15kg and I can move to the Milano child seat which will free up a lot of space and allow us all to use it as planned.
Here's a picture of the current seat in the back so you can see what I mean.
I will try and keep this thread updated and hope to plan some decent road trips in the new year.
Cheers
Graham
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Thursday 13th December 00:52
had ham said:
Looks great, and I love the colour. Not normally a fan of black wheels, but they work very well here!
I'm not familiar with this variant - what are the engine specs?
Agree ref the wheels, normally I’m not keen either but they work here. I'm not familiar with this variant - what are the engine specs?
S Sports Racer no different from the regular Evora S in terms of the engine which means the same Supercharged 3.5 V6 with 345 bhp. Sports Racer was essentially a run out model which included all the optional packs at the time, Tech, Premium and Sports plus the addition of the black sills, roof, front highlights, larger rear diffuser and wheels.
They seem, at least whilst I was looking more sought after than the earlier or non Sports Racer cars. There are however quite a few Evora’s where owners have given them the Sports Racer look.
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Wednesday 12th December 22:25
ParanoidAndroid said:
I
3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
Thank you for posting that, very useful to know.3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
Great car. I have one in Daytona blue, same spec as yours except mine has the Lotus motorsports exhaust.
Mine is my daily driver, it has done road trips across Europe and has never let me down.
Of all the cars I have had the Evora gets the most looks and positive comments, many more than my Reflex Purple Tuscan got, more than any Porsche I have ever driven and at least as many as my mates Ferrari.
They have the advantage of looking like a baby super care and being very rare. i see more Mclarens and Lambo's than I do Evoras's of any flavour.
Mine is my daily driver, it has done road trips across Europe and has never let me down.
Of all the cars I have had the Evora gets the most looks and positive comments, many more than my Reflex Purple Tuscan got, more than any Porsche I have ever driven and at least as many as my mates Ferrari.
They have the advantage of looking like a baby super care and being very rare. i see more Mclarens and Lambo's than I do Evoras's of any flavour.
blueg33 said:
Great car. I have one in Daytona blue, same spec as yours except mine has the Lotus motorsports exhaust.
Blueg33 yours looks amazing, great colour. What’s the details on the Lotus Motorsport exhaust? Do you have any pictures? I quite like the sound (from YouTube videos) of the 2ubular but it is twin pipes similar to the non-S.
Thart’s a great looking car you have there! In Evora speak, ‘rare colour’ probably means there are less than 10 in existence in the whole world, so it’s pretty special!
I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
giveitfish said:
Thart’s a great looking car you have there! In Evora speak, ‘rare colour’ probably means there are less than 10 in existence in the whole world, so it’s pretty special!
I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
Hope mine is just as reliable! Lovely looking and sounding car you have there. Agree the wide doors are a bit of a pain, especially being 6’4 so need a big opening to get out. Finding I am having to be very picky with car park spaces I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
Out of interest, what winter tyres did you fit?
Narrow parking spaces are such a pain! I have to be so careful not to catch the leather sills and door bin while getting in and out. It's something I believe they improved on the Evora 400.
My tyres are Continental Winter Contact TS850P on the standard 19"/20" sizes. They're not the factory approved tyre which is currently the Michelin Pilot Alpin but they seem to do better in comparison tests. The problem with not being Lotus approved is I'm having to guess at tyre pressures. Currently on 2.2/2.6 which might be a bit high.
I've noticed they're quieter than the Pilot Super Sports that were on before but grip is certainly a lot less as you'd expect. The Super Sports were getting pretty loose in low temperatures though and will be lethal as soon as there is any slush about. I enjoy winter hill walking so I want to be able to get to the Lakes when its cold.
Regarding tyre noise in general, this car is slightly noisier than my old Scirocco but is a lot quieter than a Cayman GTS I went in.
My tyres are Continental Winter Contact TS850P on the standard 19"/20" sizes. They're not the factory approved tyre which is currently the Michelin Pilot Alpin but they seem to do better in comparison tests. The problem with not being Lotus approved is I'm having to guess at tyre pressures. Currently on 2.2/2.6 which might be a bit high.
I've noticed they're quieter than the Pilot Super Sports that were on before but grip is certainly a lot less as you'd expect. The Super Sports were getting pretty loose in low temperatures though and will be lethal as soon as there is any slush about. I enjoy winter hill walking so I want to be able to get to the Lakes when its cold.
Regarding tyre noise in general, this car is slightly noisier than my old Scirocco but is a lot quieter than a Cayman GTS I went in.
ParanoidAndroid said:
blueg33 said:
Great car. I have one in Daytona blue, same spec as yours except mine has the Lotus motorsports exhaust.
Blueg33 yours looks amazing, great colour. What’s the details on the Lotus Motorsport exhaust? Do you have any pictures? I quite like the sound (from YouTube videos) of the 2ubular but it is twin pipes similar to the non-S.
My car is also on winters. I use the Yokohama’s as per the handbook and have them on a separate set of wheels as the sizes are different.
Interestingly they sharpen turn in and smooth the ride. Probably due to smaller diameter for turn in and higher sidewalks/softer compound for ride.
Great colour - works really well with the SR Black accents.
Like Giveitfish, I picked up my 2010 NA last week, but nothing interesting enough to warrant a thread for me
but I will reiterate the door situation - that and the crap radio reception are really my only issues with it. I usually part at the back of carparks with all my cars to avoid door dents, but I'm even more paranoid now that someone will park next to me and unless I've got 3 foot gap I won't be able to get in!! But they're awesome cars. I was concerned about not buying an "S" when all the owners videos tell you that, given the S is only a few K more it's not worth it, but I'm finding the performance on the road to be more than enough. Add in the cheaper tax, tyres and better MPG and I can't say I feel short changed (although I've not driven an S....ignorance might be bliss).
Mine came with a 2bular exhaust and 3rd cat removal - I can highly recommend it. No drone at speed, not too loud around town but really picks up with the revs.
I am an expert on parking space selection! On the plus side it means I get more exercise as I inevitably end up parking some distance from the entrance to anything!
Radio reception can be poor which is annoying.
The Evora does seem tom munch through ARB bushes at quite a rate, mine is going to have powerflex bushes fitted next week.
Radio reception can be poor which is annoying.
The Evora does seem tom munch through ARB bushes at quite a rate, mine is going to have powerflex bushes fitted next week.
What a fantastic car and with a user name like ParanoidAndroid, a fellow Sabbath fan too I'm guessing!
When these came out, I thought they looked far nicer than the McLaren MP4-12C which was the other new to market british sports car of the time. I've only ever seen a couple on the road and with a Toyota V6 engine one imagines long term reliability bodes well...better perhaps than some Porsches?!
A great choice.
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