Evora as a GT/ daily

[Wayne95]

Hi,
Trying to find my next automotive partner .

I am looking for something interesting to do 25k over 12 months. Needs to be comfortable during the week whilst I travel on business then fun at the weekend when drive through Wales home

Always keep looking at Evora, but not yet taken the plunge. I have 40k to spend .

So, is it comfortable enough and not too loud at a 70 cruise - can I use the phone at this speed ?

Will it be happy doing the miles , through wind, rain and sunshine

I know it will be great on the welsh roads, so no questions on that front .

Thinking a non- supercharged to keep running costs in check , what mpg motorway cruising can I expect ?

Thanks for any info provided

[alex_gray255]

I used mine as a daily driver for 4 years. No issues at all and I did about 70 miles a day for
work commute.

Avg petrol consumption was about 27-35 MPG depending on driving conditions.

[Sumsion]

Make sure the car is at least a MY 12 or younger . My S IPS has done 49000 miles . MPG overall ( includes short town journeys ) 23.5 to 27.0 winter 25.5 to 29.0 summer . Summer motorways 30.0 on a good day .
It is the ride , brakes and handling that make the car special

[CTE]

Its one of the most comfortable cars you`ll ride in short of a Range Rover and absolutely its quiet enough at 70, and its brilliant in all weathers. I`ve run an Evora over 4 years in all weathers for commuting and driving holidays, and they are absolutely fine...you might want to upgrade the infotainment if you are interested in that sort of thing that`s all.

[blueg33]

Mine is my daily driver, and used for long euro road trips. Its my second Evora

At £40k you are looking at a late eg 2014 Evora S (same as mine ). These have more comfortable seats than the 400, which would be out of your budget anyway.

I find it comfy, I am 6ft tall, and not too noisy although mine is fitted with the titanium Lotus Motorsports exhaust.

IMO its a great GT car but much more of a sports car than just about any other GT out there - I tried almost everything under £70k used when I bought mine.

Here is mine in the Picos Europas (any excuse for a pic)



The trip to the Pico was part of a 10 day road trip driving 4-5 hours a day. At no point was I uncomfortable and at all times the car was a quick as my mates F360. It was faultless even in high temps and at altitude, the only downside is that the aircon is average.

[giveitfish]

Another daily driver here, car is a NA from 2013 and is at 55k miles. The first owner did 20k in the year he owned it, I'm going to do about 12k.

Like all the post-2012 cars mine has the Sport Ratio gearbox. It averages 25mpg in city commuting and just above 30 on a run unless you dawdle when you can see up to 35pmg Earlier cars with the "Long" box are even more economical.

Absolutely excellent do-it-all car with the caveat that it's a semi-exotic - it's a bit hard to get in and out of in narrow spaces, rear visibility is limited and you can't travel under the radar. This is all part the of experience and the car is always an event.

Also take note that servicing takes a bit of planning, parts take an age to order in and can be expensive. I've just saved £350 on plugs and aux-belt vs. Lotus prices by buying myself and having the dealer fit them.

Edited by giveitfish on Thursday 14th March 13:24

[blueg33]

You also need to be selective about parking spaces as you need quite a bit of width to open the doors fully.

[Sumsion]

And premium fuel !

[Toaster]

Wayne95 said:

Hi,
Trying to find my next automotive partner .

I am looking for something interesting to do 25k over 12 months. Needs to be comfortable during the week whilst I travel on business then fun at the weekend when drive through Wales home

Always keep looking at Evora, but not yet taken the plunge. I have 40k to spend .

So, is it comfortable enough and not too loud at a 70 cruise - can I use the phone at this speed ?

Yes,

Wayne95 said:

Will it be happy doing the miles , through wind, rain and sunshine

Yes

Wayne95 said:

I know it will be great on the welsh roads, so no questions on that front .

Thinking a non- supercharged to keep running costs in check , what mpg motorway cruising can I expect ?

Thanks for any info provided

28-32 Mpg

[blueg33]

Having had both an S and An n/a, I think the n/a has sweeter handling and balance but I like the extra grunt from the S.

S averages 22mpg, my n/a averaged 28-30mpg as a daily and hit 41mpg on one motorway trip from Manchester to Cheltenham.

The n/a really eats rear tyres whilst I reckon they last twice as long on the S, this offsets some of the fuel costs. Not sure if they changed the geo on later n/a card.

Servicing costs are similar, n/a bizarrely uses more expensive spark plugs but shop around and they can be found cheaper. The S uses plugs that are not in any other UK car, so whilst Lotus prices are lower than Lotus n/a plugs shopping around doesn’t achieve much.

[giveitfish]

Just bought 6 OEM plugs for my N/A from a UK Lexus dealer for £70, instead of the £49 EACH that Lotus wanted. My dealers service guy had the good grace to be embarrassed and is fitting them next week.

[andyj007]

n/a are brilliant.. they dont eat tyres although some came with quite alot of rear camber that eats the tyres on yje inner edges .
£100 on a geo adjusted and you will see 8-10k easy

[blueg33]

andyj007 said:

n/a are brilliant.. they dont eat tyres although some came with quite alot of rear camber that eats the tyres on yje inner edges .
£100 on a geo adjusted and you will see 8-10k easy

I disagree , geo on my n/a was spot on with tyres wearing evenly and 8k was the max I ever got. My S gets around 12-15k.

[giveitfish]

Was that the Pirellis? Michelin SS seem to last a lot longer.

[FWIW]

I suspect that the geo setup varies somewhat between cars.
MPSS definitely much better than the PZs

[blueg33]

giveitfish said:

Was that the Pirellis? Michelin SS seem to last a lot longer.

It was on the Pirelli’s. They were the OEM fit.

[FWIW]

Wayne95 said:

Hi,
Trying to find my next automotive partner .

So, any updates OP?

[Sumsion]

Wayne95 - I might just have the car you require less than your max price !

[Wayne95]

FWIW said:

So, any updates OP?

Thanks for the all the comments on the Evora, it gave me a difficult decision to make. The Evora ran a very close second, but in the end I went for a 996 C4S.

What clinched it was the 4 wheell drive ( lots of B roads in Wales on my route), and a pristine example turning up at a good price. Evora's were pretty thin on the ground at my price level, and service centres were quite wide spread.

I haven't given up on Lotus yet, and at some point in the future I will be back when a sport racer comes within my ( slighly bigger by then ) budget.

Enjoy your cars

[blueg33]

Enjoy the 996 - a very different thing from an Evora.

Personally, I'd rather not have 4wd in a sports car. The Evora manages perfectly well on winter tyres. I live in the Cotswolds, its pretty hilly.