RE: Lotus Exige S delayed...

[Kolbenkopp]

GranCab said:

I doubt if Lexus/Toyota dealerships would know how to cope with the "idiosyncrasies" of Lotus ...

Yeah, difficult to manage that but not totally impossible? Anyway, just wishfull thinking that they can get under the wing of some major brand to give them room to operate. Considering the resource available, the Evora and the S are incredibly good results I think. How much was the development budget for the Evora? Probably less than Audi spends on cup holders.

[Kolbenkopp]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Stereo installation in Evora is unique for a £55,000 car.

Honestly, I find this solution a lot better than what is a available elswhere. OK, the Alpine's styling is particularly awfull IMVHO and would have to go. But a double-DIN looks nicely integrated and ergonomics seem to be good for touch screen use.

Put in something with Android [1] and you have a multi purpose system that can easily be upgraded when tech evolves. You can do that with adapters on other cars of course, but they never really look good.

[1] http://www.phonocar.de/de/autoradio/multimedia/med...

[Helicopter123]

Ozzie Osmond said:

zebedee said:

Evora interior is lovely looking and feeling, if not ergonomically the best. Far more uplifting than a Porsche interior for example.

Stereo installation in Evora is unique for a £55,000 car.

That would be poor in a £10k car but £55k FFS.

Would be better if they just didn't bother with it?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Helicopter123 said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

zebedee said:

Evora interior is lovely looking and feeling, if not ergonomically the best. Far more uplifting than a Porsche interior for example.

Stereo installation in Evora is unique for a £55,000 car.

That would be poor in a £10k car but £55k FFS.

Would be better if they just didn't bother with it?

Or you could just not bother with the poverty spec:

[Thorburn]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Or you could just not bother with the poverty spec:

To be fair they standard headunit could still be better - it looks a bit naff with the empty DIN slot.

The Bluetooth, Sat-nav and reversing cameras are all separate modules that plug in to the original Alpine headunit, so they could have fitted the double-DIN unit as standard and then added those in with the Tech Pack...

[Grovsie26]

Twincam16 said:

Also, it's just a fekkin stereo, surely the way the car drives is more important, or is this the Audi plastics-fondling fetish that seems to be getting more important to some people than the substance of the car itself rearing its ugly head?

Seriously, it's just a stereo.

But it matters, and it's not just the stereo. Peole are spending 60grand on a car they have a right to want a quality interior lol. People want quality, and the Lotus hasn't got it, not inside, compared to a 991 it's leagues behind, but then it would be. Not saying it's not a great car.............

[interloper]

zebedee said:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Lotus_Evora_I...

= >

http://www.seriouswheels.com/2006/2006-Porsche-911...

the latter could be in a golf or something, it is just so incredibly boring.

Well that sums it up nicely, one looks like an exotic car's interior the other if you ignore the clues like the multiple dials ad the Porsche badge, could be from a Hyundai.

I suspect only the tightest of buyer will go for a single din head unit, so I wouldn't worry too much about that!

[900T-R]

Grovsie26 said:

But it matters, and it's not just the stereo. Peole are spending 60grand on a car they have a right to want a quality interior lol.

I'd rather have the option of a quality stereo rather than the overpriced, designer-label tat op the manufacturers' options lists. There's enough double-DIN units out there to satisfactorily plug the hole in the Evora dash anyway, but it's nice to have the option of installing whatever you want.

As for the Porsche, the current Panamera/991/Boxster are the first ones not to have all the atmosphere of a coal mine inside (before 'upspeccing' to serious poundage levels). Give me a simple instrument cluster and leather-lined surfaces any day of the week Plus the architecture of the Evora makes it feel far more like a junior exotic than the Porsches which could as well be fast 2-door saloons.

[Beefmeister]

The Exige V6 S really is an incredible drive. I loved it, see here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Oh, and it also shows itself pretty well in Evo's eCoty 2012:



2nd place behind the £820,000 Pagani Huayra, with the same final score of 25. The Pagani won though as it had more 1st places.]

Not bad.

Edited by Beefmeister on Monday 5th November 12:08

[Twincam16]

Grovsie26 said:

Twincam16 said:

Also, it's just a fekkin stereo, surely the way the car drives is more important, or is this the Audi plastics-fondling fetish that seems to be getting more important to some people than the substance of the car itself rearing its ugly head?

Seriously, it's just a stereo.

But it matters, and it's not just the stereo. Peole are spending 60grand on a car they have a right to want a quality interior lol. People want quality, and the Lotus hasn't got it, not inside, compared to a 991 it's leagues behind, but then it would be. Not saying it's not a great car.............

If that's the case how did Ferrari ever sell any F40s or F50s? Or Maserati any MC12s?

If you spend a large amount of money on certain Porsches they replace the doorhandles with plastic cords. Oh, the humanity!

[Grovsie26]

Twincam16 said:

If that's the case how did Ferrari ever sell any F40s or F50s? Or Maserati any MC12s?

If you spend a large amount of money on certain Porsches they replace the doorhandles with plastic cords. Oh, the humanity!

It's not 1990, and are you really comparing a fking Evora to a F40?

[Twincam16]

Grovsie26 said:

It's not 1990, and are you really comparing a fking Evora to a F40?

Yes. Lotus engineers cars taking a similar approach to the F40. And what's 1990 got to do with it? Why has everyone got to make the same car with no real USP for 'the buyer' to be happy?

I don't care what the radio looks like, it just shows the focus of the Lotus is elsewhere. Because it's a Lotus. That's what makes it a Lotus. It's not a Porsche. It's not meant to be a Porsche.

[Grovsie26]

Twincam16 said:

Yes. Lotus engineers cars taking a similar approach to the F40. And what's 1990 got to do with it? Why has everyone got to make the same car with no real USP for 'the buyer' to be happy?

I don't care what the radio looks like, it just shows the focus of the Lotus is elsewhere. Because it's a Lotus. That's what makes it a Lotus. It's not a Porsche. It's not meant to be a Porsche.

So if there so awesome, and if so many people want them, why have they sold sod all? and the whole business at risk?

If your going to compare anything modern to the F40 it should be the Noble M600. Not a lotus with a crappy Toyota V6.

[zebedee]

Grovsie26 said:

So if there so awesome, and if so many people want them, why have they sold sod all? and the whole business at risk?

If your going to compare anything modern to the F40 it should be the Noble M600. Not a lotus with a crappy Toyota V6.

define 'crappy'.

Wasn't crappy enough for Evo to not vote it car of the year when released. Even less crappy with a supercharger attached to it. Everyone says the K-series is crappy too, but it still puts a smile on my face every time I plant the throttle in my Elise, just like the Toyota unit did for me in the Evora. I suspect the reason they have sold so few is the severe prejudices of the car buying public (and even alleged petrolheads) as evidenced by your good self, such that they never bothered trying one and therefore failed to realise what a great car it is.

[parvs]

zebedee said:

define 'crappy'.

Wasn't crappy enough for Evo to not vote it car of the year when released. Even less crappy with a supercharger attached to it. Everyone says the K-series is crappy too, but it still puts a smile on my face every time I plant the throttle in my Elise, just like the Toyota unit did for me in the Evora. I suspect the reason they have sold so few is the severe prejudices of the car buying public (and even alleged petrolheads) as evidenced by your good self, such that they never bothered trying one and therefore failed to realise what a great car it is.

I don't think it really helps that, with the evora, lotus managed to make a car with a great chassis handling etc,etc but haven't seemed to manage to employ someone to effectively stick bits of leather to static parts. The design and shape of the interior is really pleasing to my eyes and a place that I enjoy being. But the little bits of trim that come away are really annoying, we also have a Porsche and have had no such problems.

[DJRC]

Grovsie26 said:

Twincam16 said:

Yes. Lotus engineers cars taking a similar approach to the F40. And what's 1990 got to do with it? Why has everyone got to make the same car with no real USP for 'the buyer' to be happy?

I don't care what the radio looks like, it just shows the focus of the Lotus is elsewhere. Because it's a Lotus. That's what makes it a Lotus. It's not a Porsche. It's not meant to be a Porsche.

So if there so awesome, and if so many people want them, why have they sold sod all? and the whole business at risk?

If your going to compare anything modern to the F40 it should be the Noble M600. Not a lotus with a crappy Toyota V6.

Ironically amusing. Lotus and Cooper won the engine debate 50yrs ago. Enzo had wonderful V6s in his F1 cars, the Brits put some small 4 banger pieces of crap from Coventry in them. The Brits won.

My problem with the Evora interior is that it feels far too much like a Porsche for me, i.e. dull, dreary, drab and astoundingly boring.

[zebedee]

DJRC said:

Ironically amusing. Lotus and Cooper won the engine debate 50yrs ago. Enzo had wonderful V6s in his F1 cars, the Brits put some small 4 banger pieces of crap from Coventry in them. The Brits won.

My problem with the Evora interior is that it feels far too much like a Porsche for me, i.e. dull, dreary, drab and astoundingly boring.

see the pictures in my post 9 posts back. Couldn't disagree more.