Discussion
Dangerous2 said:
It's two different philosophies
Do you care about driving? Or do you care about 'ownership propositions'?
Ahh I forgot you are a real hairy chested wheel man unlike the rest of us that spend 50 grand on a car and expect more than just decent steering whatever that is he he,I'm sure the novelty will wear off once your shares in superglue start to drop and you can no longer stick those flimsy bits of trim back on!Do you care about driving? Or do you care about 'ownership propositions'?
BLGuy77 said:
Ahh I forgot you are a real hairy chested wheel man unlike the rest of us that spend 50 grand on a car and expect more than just decent steering whatever that is he he,I'm sure the novelty will wear off once your shares in superglue start to drop and you can no longer stick those flimsy bits of trim back on!
So go buy yourself a Kia or a Toyota, if reliability means so much more than driving experience to you. I can't help but feel that you're on the wrong forum, though. BLGuy77 said:
Ahh I forgot you are a real hairy chested wheel man unlike the rest of us that spend 50 grand on a car and expect more than just decent steering whatever that is he he,I'm sure the novelty will wear off once your shares in superglue start to drop and you can no longer stick those flimsy bits of trim back on!
From a British Leyland enthusiast! God what s
te you talk...
BLGuy77 said:
The Evoras soo good it's nearly phased out already with unsold ones going for nearly 10 grand below list!
wrong ... Its so good that it convinced proton to shelve out £770 millionAs a showcase for vva evora was never supposed to have a long shelf life. Funny thing is, in the process of securing their future Lotus have created one of the finest cars theyve ever made.
"dunno watcha mean so its cobblers though innit mate !!!"
I love them, really do think they're quite brilliant things. Would I buy one? At £50k it wouldn't even be on my short list.
I'd be petrified about the resale value. If Lotus pull off there plan to bring out 70 odd new models then mine will be defunct and worthless. If they fail IO'll have a £50k car from a company that no longer exists. How reliable will it be? What will fall off? Will the plastic crack in the sun?
Sorry, I'm a total faggot. To borrow for a week I'd have the Lotus but to actually spend my own money one? Cayman S.
Sorry.
I'd be petrified about the resale value. If Lotus pull off there plan to bring out 70 odd new models then mine will be defunct and worthless. If they fail IO'll have a £50k car from a company that no longer exists. How reliable will it be? What will fall off? Will the plastic crack in the sun?
Sorry, I'm a total faggot. To borrow for a week I'd have the Lotus but to actually spend my own money one? Cayman S.
Sorry.
With regard to the gearchange, it can be subjective and how the gearchange fits with the driver's preferred style. The gearchange in the Elise for instance is often criticised, but I've driven lots of Elises and never had a problem with any of them; which is probably just the way I change gear. No rights and wrongs there, but I'd just like to point out that gearchanges are often a personal thing. Except for the S2000 and NSX, which have bloody lovely gearchanges objectively - end of story 
I had an afternoon driving Evoras (both S and non-S) at and around Silverstone a couple of weeks ago. And this was my review;
TonyHetherington said:
Well, what a great afternoon that was 
A well run, enjoyable event without much sales pressure - very well done indeed.
To answer 2 questions I was asked many times on the day;
"What did you think of the car?" - Fantastic.
"Would you buy one?" - No.
We had the opportunity to drive both the standard Evora and the Evora S on track (the Silverstone southern circuit), aswell as a short (20min) drive on roads around Silverstone.
First impressions were how 'Lotus like' it is. It soaks up bumps brilliantly and yet has minimal body roll. It feels direct and controllable, but never feels twitchy. All qualities that have remained throughout the Lotus range for some years. The gearbox did take some getting used to - it's surprisingly notchy and not as instantly slottable as I recall my previous Lotus (Elise 111S and Exige S). Our test cars had the close ratio short shift gearbox (standard on the supercharged car, optional on the normally aspirated), so I didn't have the opportunity to try the other options. They even offer a regular torque converter automatic option - though quite how many owners will plump for one I'm unsure!
The engines - both of them - were tractable and rev hungry, perfect combinations for road or track. The lightness of the Evora (1340kg, from memory) really does help. It never feels super fast. Certainly not the punch in the back even the lowly 220bhp supercharged Exige offers, but you never feel wanting, wishing you'd spec'd just a little more (or less!).
Something which did frustrate me through the day was the slight dead travel at the top of the fly-by-wire accelerator. The pedals, in true Lotus fashion, are perfectly positioned for heel and toe. But the accelerator's dead travel at the top means the "heel" part needs to remain for a little longer than you would otherwise think right, waiting for the car to decide you really do want to rev. Only after my short drives did I wonder if the optional "sport mode" change this. I shall investigate.
The wet, but drying, track meant we could exploit the handling of the Evora and feel it's rather impressive systems doing their thing. Get on the loud pedal too early and it will push the nose wide, but once you do get on the power it ensures traction not with an LSD, but with a single wheel braking device (that kicks in before traction control) - similar to that being used in the new McLaren MP4-12C. Even in the wet, traction was very good and the car was always telling you what it was about to do. So long as you are sensible and measured in your inputs it wouldn't spit you off.
This is where I now turn and struggle at the Evora. All of the positives I've mentioned are the exact same that you'd get in a £30k Elise. Yes, we now have a boot and 2+2 or 2+0 seats, but I don't see more value in the car. It's as if they've purposefully not made it as fast as they can to leave a gap at the top of the range for the Esprit. Much like Porsche would not want the Cayman to tread on the 911's toes, I can't see Lotus wanting the Evora to trouble the Esprit. And this is why I think it's a superb car, but simply doesn't differentiate itself enough from an Elise to be worth the extra (significant) cost.
To summarise - it's brilliant, but not £30k better than an Elise.A well run, enjoyable event without much sales pressure - very well done indeed.
To answer 2 questions I was asked many times on the day;
"What did you think of the car?" - Fantastic.
"Would you buy one?" - No.
We had the opportunity to drive both the standard Evora and the Evora S on track (the Silverstone southern circuit), aswell as a short (20min) drive on roads around Silverstone.
First impressions were how 'Lotus like' it is. It soaks up bumps brilliantly and yet has minimal body roll. It feels direct and controllable, but never feels twitchy. All qualities that have remained throughout the Lotus range for some years. The gearbox did take some getting used to - it's surprisingly notchy and not as instantly slottable as I recall my previous Lotus (Elise 111S and Exige S). Our test cars had the close ratio short shift gearbox (standard on the supercharged car, optional on the normally aspirated), so I didn't have the opportunity to try the other options. They even offer a regular torque converter automatic option - though quite how many owners will plump for one I'm unsure!
The engines - both of them - were tractable and rev hungry, perfect combinations for road or track. The lightness of the Evora (1340kg, from memory) really does help. It never feels super fast. Certainly not the punch in the back even the lowly 220bhp supercharged Exige offers, but you never feel wanting, wishing you'd spec'd just a little more (or less!).
Something which did frustrate me through the day was the slight dead travel at the top of the fly-by-wire accelerator. The pedals, in true Lotus fashion, are perfectly positioned for heel and toe. But the accelerator's dead travel at the top means the "heel" part needs to remain for a little longer than you would otherwise think right, waiting for the car to decide you really do want to rev. Only after my short drives did I wonder if the optional "sport mode" change this. I shall investigate.
The wet, but drying, track meant we could exploit the handling of the Evora and feel it's rather impressive systems doing their thing. Get on the loud pedal too early and it will push the nose wide, but once you do get on the power it ensures traction not with an LSD, but with a single wheel braking device (that kicks in before traction control) - similar to that being used in the new McLaren MP4-12C. Even in the wet, traction was very good and the car was always telling you what it was about to do. So long as you are sensible and measured in your inputs it wouldn't spit you off.
This is where I now turn and struggle at the Evora. All of the positives I've mentioned are the exact same that you'd get in a £30k Elise. Yes, we now have a boot and 2+2 or 2+0 seats, but I don't see more value in the car. It's as if they've purposefully not made it as fast as they can to leave a gap at the top of the range for the Esprit. Much like Porsche would not want the Cayman to tread on the 911's toes, I can't see Lotus wanting the Evora to trouble the Esprit. And this is why I think it's a superb car, but simply doesn't differentiate itself enough from an Elise to be worth the extra (significant) cost.
BLGuy77 said:
jackal said:
The gearchange was fine on this one. Like everything you get used to it and no car is perfect. Yes the engine is no gt3 but it feels quick, pulls very nicely and does have a note of sorts. You buy a lotus for the chassis, the feel, the agility, useability, looks and specialness. You cant have everything, you do know that dont you ? You wont get your steering feel in an nsx, you b road suppleness in a GTR, your reliability in an F car, your rarity in a porsche, your tactility in a bmw, your involvement in a gallardo, your continent crossing abaility in a caterham etc... every car is a compromise of sorts. But remember this:
WHAT YOU FEEL CONSTITUTES THE MAJORITY OF THE EXPERIENCE
And the quality of what you feel in an evora has few peers.
Sounds like a load of old cobblers to me,are you sure you were not Just in a recalcitrant mood towards more common German sport cars that will ultimately be superior ownership propositions?WHAT YOU FEEL CONSTITUTES THE MAJORITY OF THE EXPERIENCE
And the quality of what you feel in an evora has few peers.
Mark-C said:
And with that off my chest ... I'm currently working in Norwich so see a few around. Not sure I like the looks from all angles (subjective anyway) but they look very relaxed when cruising on the A11 and certainly hustle across the back roads near the factory in a suitably Lotus fashion.
Ahh the Lotus Road... I bloody love that road! Good hoot too when you catch a couple of the test drivers coming back off their lunch break. Had a quick race with one last summer before he turned off, was great fun!
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