RE: Lotus Evora 400 :Driven
Discussion
DonkeyApple said:
But givin it proper good looks would massively increase sales from their current levels without compromising any of the current ability. just making it look serious and aspirational will make it a dirt cheap supercar.
They probably can't make it look better without removing the rear seats which will leave them with pretty much what the Exige is now.It sounds from the article and discussion as though the mechanical credentials of the car are very competitive. My only fear is that unless people look at it and regardless of any other consideration say "My god, that's beautiful!" there's going to be a very limited market. Still, maybe there are some people out there who think it's better looking than I do.
I think it's much better looking. The previous version was too plain at the front. I wish them luck and hope a few floating customers from Porcshe take the time to give it a closer look.
It's pricey, but what do you expect, it's a 400hp hand built low volume sports car. Not massed produced.
As already said there are people who'll go for it to be different.
I felt like that when I got my first Audi 15 years ago. Now they are everywhere I'll be choosing something different next time.
It's pricey, but what do you expect, it's a 400hp hand built low volume sports car. Not massed produced.
As already said there are people who'll go for it to be different.
I felt like that when I got my first Audi 15 years ago. Now they are everywhere I'll be choosing something different next time.
kambites said:
DonkeyApple said:
But givin it proper good looks would massively increase sales from their current levels without compromising any of the current ability. just making it look serious and aspirational will make it a dirt cheap supercar.
They probably can't make it look better without removing the rear seats which will leave them with pretty much what the Exige is now.I listened to BBC and ITV's coverage of the Tour De France this year. At every point, they were fair but also rooting for Chris Froome to win the Tour and why not. To the point where an ITV journo confronted a former doping French Cyclist turned journo who accused Froome of doping and humiliated him publically and rightly so.
In the end Froome won it. There was honest and warm praise for the competitors and genuinely enthusiastic praise and pride that a British rider had won the tour and won it twice. 5 years ago cycling in the UK was nowhere.
Nationalism is ugly, a smidgen of loyalty and rooting for the home team is expected and important.
It would be so good to see this attitude reflected in the UK motoring press. It might of course be that many of the cycling journos are former riders and thus know how immensely tough it is to win a stage in the Tour let alone the entire race. You have to wonder how many UK motoring journos have actually worked in, for or with a car company and thus know how incredibly tough and frustrating it is to compete with an industial leviathon like VW Group, BMW or Merc that are in many ways one company and how it feels to be panned by critics after working immensely hard.
Perhaps not an entirely accurate comparison or the correct review but it is getting really tiresome that some journos always come out with the line that the lastest from XY or Z is really good at almost everything but well yah it is just not as good as the 911 or the Cayman as if chatting in a pub in Chelsea. Especially when the German press have ignored a comparison to the 911 because it is not relevant and rate the Evora better than the Cayman. It smacks of snobbery. People do not buy a Lotus because all the switchgear is milled from solid obtanium and that specific window button was designed by 20 fanatical engineers over a period of 6 months.
The fact that Lotus is still around is a minor miracle, that it can even produce a car that comes anywhere near the Cayman in modern motoring engineering is a huge achivement. yet we get: "But whether driven by cost or weight saving (likely both) there's a flimsiness to the switchgear those accustomed to the German rivals will simply find laughable".
Perhaps those accustomed to German rivals should be roundly criticised for being much too anal about the window buttons and seemingly completely uninterested in how the car actually drives.
Thus German consumers will buy the Evora because it is a brilliant drivers car. British "consumers" with enough money will buy the Cayman, swayed by the central and fundamentally important arguement that the window buttons feel like the ones a winner would touch and the door handle feels soooo sensual as one shuts the door on the way to a colonic irrigation and chat with one's Shaman.
Come on PH. "And as a driving machine it has purity and feedback unmatched at any price, combining raw pace with a delicacy overtyred and overgeared Porsches can only dream of"
That is the one and only interesting sentence and obviously the headline yet it is buried in the article. How about being fair to those in Hethal busting their guts to make an amazing drivers car. Did they set out to design the best window switch?
It is almost ineviatable that when the new TVR comes out, iStream will be praised as adorable, the Cosworth V8 as great and the car as a beast but well, is it as good as the 911 and to be honest the x,y,z derived switchgear is just not as good as Porsche Boxter, Cayman, 911 or 918. So the choice is therefore clear. The F1 has switchgear off a Vauxhall and the rear lights from a Bus.
Some journos should spend more time shaping opinion and challenging people's views rather than supporting the staus quo. Especially ones, apaprently interested more than anything in drivers cars.
In the end Froome won it. There was honest and warm praise for the competitors and genuinely enthusiastic praise and pride that a British rider had won the tour and won it twice. 5 years ago cycling in the UK was nowhere.
Nationalism is ugly, a smidgen of loyalty and rooting for the home team is expected and important.
It would be so good to see this attitude reflected in the UK motoring press. It might of course be that many of the cycling journos are former riders and thus know how immensely tough it is to win a stage in the Tour let alone the entire race. You have to wonder how many UK motoring journos have actually worked in, for or with a car company and thus know how incredibly tough and frustrating it is to compete with an industial leviathon like VW Group, BMW or Merc that are in many ways one company and how it feels to be panned by critics after working immensely hard.
Perhaps not an entirely accurate comparison or the correct review but it is getting really tiresome that some journos always come out with the line that the lastest from XY or Z is really good at almost everything but well yah it is just not as good as the 911 or the Cayman as if chatting in a pub in Chelsea. Especially when the German press have ignored a comparison to the 911 because it is not relevant and rate the Evora better than the Cayman. It smacks of snobbery. People do not buy a Lotus because all the switchgear is milled from solid obtanium and that specific window button was designed by 20 fanatical engineers over a period of 6 months.
The fact that Lotus is still around is a minor miracle, that it can even produce a car that comes anywhere near the Cayman in modern motoring engineering is a huge achivement. yet we get: "But whether driven by cost or weight saving (likely both) there's a flimsiness to the switchgear those accustomed to the German rivals will simply find laughable".
Perhaps those accustomed to German rivals should be roundly criticised for being much too anal about the window buttons and seemingly completely uninterested in how the car actually drives.
Thus German consumers will buy the Evora because it is a brilliant drivers car. British "consumers" with enough money will buy the Cayman, swayed by the central and fundamentally important arguement that the window buttons feel like the ones a winner would touch and the door handle feels soooo sensual as one shuts the door on the way to a colonic irrigation and chat with one's Shaman.
Come on PH. "And as a driving machine it has purity and feedback unmatched at any price, combining raw pace with a delicacy overtyred and overgeared Porsches can only dream of"
That is the one and only interesting sentence and obviously the headline yet it is buried in the article. How about being fair to those in Hethal busting their guts to make an amazing drivers car. Did they set out to design the best window switch?
It is almost ineviatable that when the new TVR comes out, iStream will be praised as adorable, the Cosworth V8 as great and the car as a beast but well, is it as good as the 911 and to be honest the x,y,z derived switchgear is just not as good as Porsche Boxter, Cayman, 911 or 918. So the choice is therefore clear. The F1 has switchgear off a Vauxhall and the rear lights from a Bus.
Some journos should spend more time shaping opinion and challenging people's views rather than supporting the staus quo. Especially ones, apaprently interested more than anything in drivers cars.
^Brilliant post.
I am en ex Evora owner, bought new and absolutely loved it. Utterly brilliant. It does both the long distance cruising, and back road blasting better than any car I have been in.
On first look I was really disappointed with the looks of the 400 but it is slowly growing on me. The glowing reviews are also helping. I am tempted.
The fact a Roadster is on the way is making me hesitate somewhat.
Well done Lotus!
I am en ex Evora owner, bought new and absolutely loved it. Utterly brilliant. It does both the long distance cruising, and back road blasting better than any car I have been in.
On first look I was really disappointed with the looks of the 400 but it is slowly growing on me. The glowing reviews are also helping. I am tempted.
The fact a Roadster is on the way is making me hesitate somewhat.
Well done Lotus!
How many of the people who have commented have actually test driven the Evora ? With any sports car, there is a fair bit of heart over head when making a purchase, otherwise we would all drive sensible saloon diesels.
I was unsure until I drove one, then I was hooked. I usually get bored of cars within 6 months, including a 997 GT3, however after 9 months the Evora S still made me smile and was only sold to fund a property development.
Just go drive one and then report back your thoughts based on experience
Dave
I was unsure until I drove one, then I was hooked. I usually get bored of cars within 6 months, including a 997 GT3, however after 9 months the Evora S still made me smile and was only sold to fund a property development.
Just go drive one and then report back your thoughts based on experience
Dave
Also, I find the constant Porsche comparison a massive compliment. How good would the Evora be if Lotus had Porsche's budget?!
Personally for me, spending that much on a car, it has to feel special. The Cayman/911 may well be the better all rounder but it would feel instantly less special pulling out the driveway and to be passed by another.
The Evora is unique, and genuine junior supercar presence on the road.
Personally for me, spending that much on a car, it has to feel special. The Cayman/911 may well be the better all rounder but it would feel instantly less special pulling out the driveway and to be passed by another.
The Evora is unique, and genuine junior supercar presence on the road.
zebra said:
IMI A said:
Truly an embarrassment of a car. Too expensive , too heavy and too ugly......
There speaks a happy Porsche driver who hasn't driven the new Evora. 
If you want a fastish anodyne company car then buy a modern Porsche. If you reslly want delicacy and precision along with speed character and daily useability the Evora is great.
A lot of comments on whether the 400 has sex appeal.
About 6 months ago I asked my wife if she fancied getting something a bit more interesting as a daily driver; kids are small so now seemed the best time to get a 2+2. We looked at BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, Maseratis, Astons, and even the Cali T. When the 400 was shown at the London expo, I dragged her down to London. She took more photos, and got more excited by the 400 than anything else we looked at (she wasn't fussed by the S1 Evora). She has since been showing her friends the photos, all of them are amazed and very complimentary.
If driving something that looks good and having people appreciate your car as you drive by is your thing, the 400 most definitely ticks that box. The fact that it drives (based on all the reviews) amazingly and satisfyingly well, is enough for me. I should collect mine in October.
About 6 months ago I asked my wife if she fancied getting something a bit more interesting as a daily driver; kids are small so now seemed the best time to get a 2+2. We looked at BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, Maseratis, Astons, and even the Cali T. When the 400 was shown at the London expo, I dragged her down to London. She took more photos, and got more excited by the 400 than anything else we looked at (she wasn't fussed by the S1 Evora). She has since been showing her friends the photos, all of them are amazed and very complimentary.
If driving something that looks good and having people appreciate your car as you drive by is your thing, the 400 most definitely ticks that box. The fact that it drives (based on all the reviews) amazingly and satisfyingly well, is enough for me. I should collect mine in October.
Shambler said:
Maybe the Porsche comments are more to do with corporate hospitality that the journalists love so much, if Lotus were to put journalists up in five star hotels and massage their egos then the article would be gushing with praise.
Good point. Only Ferrari seems to get away with it (but then they are Ferrari and they're all scared of them). Awesome! I hope they have great success with this machine.
To those mocking comments regarding interior quality and switchgear, please realise that what's not important to you, often is important to other people. Yes it's very easy to argue that it doesn't matter in a Lotus, but then this car is trying to compete with some serious machinery. Some won't care about that stuff, but some will.
Usually one concludes that those who try to impress upon others what does or doesn't makes a great package, cannot even afford the car in question, which in my opinion makes their opinion moot.
To those mocking comments regarding interior quality and switchgear, please realise that what's not important to you, often is important to other people. Yes it's very easy to argue that it doesn't matter in a Lotus, but then this car is trying to compete with some serious machinery. Some won't care about that stuff, but some will.
Usually one concludes that those who try to impress upon others what does or doesn't makes a great package, cannot even afford the car in question, which in my opinion makes their opinion moot.
I find it really amusing that a small English car company can knock up a car that blows away ANY other in the handling department, especially the Germans with all their Klaut.
Evoras look mean on the road too, really cool, followed a matt black Evora on the M3 yesterday and it was a sight to behold.
I like some Porsches too but not the owner idiots that come across almost like they are emasculated by this impertinent little British upstart. Get a grip, drive the Lotus and judge for yourselves FFS. You will be pleasantly surprised I'm sure. Probably won't I suspect they've spent so much trying to justify their 911's existence that they would be embarrassed...
Evoras look mean on the road too, really cool, followed a matt black Evora on the M3 yesterday and it was a sight to behold.
I like some Porsches too but not the owner idiots that come across almost like they are emasculated by this impertinent little British upstart. Get a grip, drive the Lotus and judge for yourselves FFS. You will be pleasantly surprised I'm sure. Probably won't I suspect they've spent so much trying to justify their 911's existence that they would be embarrassed...
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