Lotus Evora GT410 Sport & Honda e
Discussion
[For Honda e content go to the post on the 25th March onwards!]
Hi everyone!
Right! So, the story starts about six months ago with a really speculative visit to Bell & Colvill and a quick chat to Jamie. I have a feeling that I'm not the only one on PH with a story that starts like that! I had a little bit of money and was considering maybe something second hand, but I really wasn't looking to buy. Honest. Of course, after a while chatting, Jamie introduced me to the 50/50 0% finance offer that Lotus (some? all?) dealers are offering. This, in conjunction with the 20% discount I get from not paying VAT (I get this on one car every three years) made a new Evora very very attainable. I've never been able to make up my mind if I ever wanted to buy a new car or not, on the one hand it's undeniable 'bad value', but on the other, you end up with a car that's exactly as you want it to be. In the end, the combination of it being 'my' car and at a very reasonable price was too much of a temptation and an order was placed late April, for an expected delivery date in August.
Four (ish) months later, it was back to B & C for a very, very good day indeed
1 hapy boi by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora Side at B and C by Alex D, on Flickr
Jamie was amazing when it came to organising everything and throughout the whole process, so a huge shout out to him. The hand controls were sorted before pickup allowing me to see it and drive it away the same day, which isn't necessarily a given. The full, just into six figures spec is as follows:
Evora GT410
Auto Gearbox
Touring Suspension
Sparco Seats
Rear Seat Delete
Tan Leather Upgrade
Alcantara Steering Wheel
Mud Flaps
Air Conditioning
Premium Infotainment
Cruise Control
Sound Insulation
Centre Console Cup Holder
Lower Side Sills Colour Change
Dark Racing Green Paint
Forged Wheel Colour Finish (Bronze, not done through Lotus)
It's worth noting at this point that I have never driven or been in a Lotus before this, and due to needing hand controls I wasn't able to test drive this before buying. I just took it on faith and reviews that it was a good product and well, I haven't been even slightly disappointed.
Okay, so Now I've had the car for about 6 weeks and 4,300 miles, some thoughts on it. Let’s get something out there in the open, I don't think this is a six-figure car. I ended up paying a fair bit less than half of the list price, and at that price point it's a bargain. but six figures? No way. Anyway! That doesn't mean I don't love my car, as I very much do. The good bits of the interior are the luggage space, the seats and the general layout. It's straightforward and everything is reachable by the driver. The much-maligned infotainment is decent, Android Auto means I have Waze and Spotify there, what more could I want? Speakers are fine too, they can be heard clearly without having to turn the volume up too much at motorway speeds. Climate control would be really nice, but I accept that most likely it's either too heavy or too expensive to implement. Seats are really nice, they seem to support me well and in the right places, I managed a 7 hour slog up to Edinburgh with no achy bits. They look cool too. Wheel is nice and dash is reasonable, although the digital speedometer is a godsend, the analogue one is not very clear I find. The tyre pressure monitoring is nice to have. Downsides of the interior are the cheap switchgear and the fact it feels a little conflicted as a car. So, it seems to be pitching itself as almost a GT when you've specced the sound insulation, touring suspension and rear seat delete. It's comfy, quiet and actually has loads of luggage space. Problem is, when you're touring, you do tend to accumulate crap in the cabin and there's nowhere to put it really. The cupholder is in a really bad position, there are no door bins and there's nowhere to put either elbow for both the driver and passenger. This is all utterly irrelevant when you're out on a Sunday drive, but all of a sudden becomes very relevant indeed when you're doing a 300-400 mile trip on motorways to get to more interesting roads. For the money, this irritates me and I think I'll work on sorting it out myself.
Really though, this car is about the driving. After 500 miles of taking it easy (I swear!) and then another few hundred of not taking the piss, the running in service was completed and I was free to go nuts.
Wow. Just wow. Actually, before the running in service I was blown away. When travelling from B & C back to the A3, the nav takes you down a really horrible, lumpy and bumpy NSL road. The Fiesta I have is awful down this road, the C63 Wagon is better but still iffy. The Lotus ate it. I couldn't believe that after all the hype and after everything that has been written about Lotus suspension, in my eyes it still doesn't come close to describing the reality. The car just floats down tough roads, it isn't quite delicate per say, as you need a strong grip on the wheel at times, but wow... It's brilliant. The automatic gearbox is very far from the worst out there, and when in race mode and driving aggressively it does a really good job at keeping the engine in the powerband. The acceleration through gears 1, 2 and 3 is fantastic, certainly for a road car it's hard to see why it would need to be much faster. The Cup 2s are brilliant in the dry and the whole car is whispering, talking or even shouting at you about what's going on beneath the wheels. The exhaust not is really good, although possibly it verges on antisocially loud. Something quieter is on the horizon. Cruising is easy and relaxing, at 70mph it's really civil inside. I can't claim that it's actually quiet, but it's certainly not loud. The steering is utterly fantastic, you get so much feedback about how much grip there is and what the front tyres are doing. The chassis overall is really neutral and easily caught if you do take the piss and get a little out of shape. All in all, I really struggle to see how any driving experience gets better. The car overall might be a little overpriced, but the driving experience certainly isn't.
Is it perfect? No, of course not. In addition to the interior gripes, I'm thinking it could be a little faster. Does it need to be? No, absolutely not. Do I think the chassis could take an extra 100bhp? Yes, easily. Another small gripe is the exposed carbon. At the time when I discovered that you couldn't get the rear deck painted, I thought it best to go with a carbon roof and bonnet service panel, and black vanity panel behind the roof. I'm not a huge fan of exposed carbon but I thought I'd see how it went. I'm still not a fan actually, and I'm going to look into getting the carbon parts wrapped body colour, as a low-cost way of testing out if I like it or not.
Other than that, the plan is to just drive it a lot. it'll be driven through the winter and I'm considering putting winter bias tyres on it like Michelin Pilot Alpin's. Now I think I've done all the chatting, have some photos!
Lotus Evora NC500 by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora at The Mill by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora at Leith Hill by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora at Bell & Colvill by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on Flickr
Evora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on Flickr
Vmax200 September by Alex D, on Flickr
Vmax200 September by Alex D, on Flickr
Vmax200 September by Alex D, on Flickr
Vmax200 September by Alex D, on Flickr
Now, for the eagle eyed amongst you, you may have spotted a little bit of a bent diffuser. Yep. I picked the car up on a Friday, and on that Saturday I was on my way into Kensington to meet a mate for lunch. When I was sitting at traffic lights in Twickenham, a young lad on a moped ran into the back of me. I was really quite angry, but credit to the lad he didn't leg it, he was properly insured, unhurt and called his insurance co right away to admit fault. It still hasn't been repaired partly because of commitments I had and partly becuase Lotus is a little slow when it comes to sending large parts like a full rear bumper out to the bodyshop. It'll be back to good as new in no time!
Hi everyone!
Right! So, the story starts about six months ago with a really speculative visit to Bell & Colvill and a quick chat to Jamie. I have a feeling that I'm not the only one on PH with a story that starts like that! I had a little bit of money and was considering maybe something second hand, but I really wasn't looking to buy. Honest. Of course, after a while chatting, Jamie introduced me to the 50/50 0% finance offer that Lotus (some? all?) dealers are offering. This, in conjunction with the 20% discount I get from not paying VAT (I get this on one car every three years) made a new Evora very very attainable. I've never been able to make up my mind if I ever wanted to buy a new car or not, on the one hand it's undeniable 'bad value', but on the other, you end up with a car that's exactly as you want it to be. In the end, the combination of it being 'my' car and at a very reasonable price was too much of a temptation and an order was placed late April, for an expected delivery date in August.
Four (ish) months later, it was back to B & C for a very, very good day indeed
1 hapy boi by Alex D, on FlickrEvora Side at B and C by Alex D, on FlickrJamie was amazing when it came to organising everything and throughout the whole process, so a huge shout out to him. The hand controls were sorted before pickup allowing me to see it and drive it away the same day, which isn't necessarily a given. The full, just into six figures spec is as follows:
Evora GT410
Auto Gearbox
Touring Suspension
Sparco Seats
Rear Seat Delete
Tan Leather Upgrade
Alcantara Steering Wheel
Mud Flaps
Air Conditioning
Premium Infotainment
Cruise Control
Sound Insulation
Centre Console Cup Holder
Lower Side Sills Colour Change
Dark Racing Green Paint
Forged Wheel Colour Finish (Bronze, not done through Lotus)
It's worth noting at this point that I have never driven or been in a Lotus before this, and due to needing hand controls I wasn't able to test drive this before buying. I just took it on faith and reviews that it was a good product and well, I haven't been even slightly disappointed.
Okay, so Now I've had the car for about 6 weeks and 4,300 miles, some thoughts on it. Let’s get something out there in the open, I don't think this is a six-figure car. I ended up paying a fair bit less than half of the list price, and at that price point it's a bargain. but six figures? No way. Anyway! That doesn't mean I don't love my car, as I very much do. The good bits of the interior are the luggage space, the seats and the general layout. It's straightforward and everything is reachable by the driver. The much-maligned infotainment is decent, Android Auto means I have Waze and Spotify there, what more could I want? Speakers are fine too, they can be heard clearly without having to turn the volume up too much at motorway speeds. Climate control would be really nice, but I accept that most likely it's either too heavy or too expensive to implement. Seats are really nice, they seem to support me well and in the right places, I managed a 7 hour slog up to Edinburgh with no achy bits. They look cool too. Wheel is nice and dash is reasonable, although the digital speedometer is a godsend, the analogue one is not very clear I find. The tyre pressure monitoring is nice to have. Downsides of the interior are the cheap switchgear and the fact it feels a little conflicted as a car. So, it seems to be pitching itself as almost a GT when you've specced the sound insulation, touring suspension and rear seat delete. It's comfy, quiet and actually has loads of luggage space. Problem is, when you're touring, you do tend to accumulate crap in the cabin and there's nowhere to put it really. The cupholder is in a really bad position, there are no door bins and there's nowhere to put either elbow for both the driver and passenger. This is all utterly irrelevant when you're out on a Sunday drive, but all of a sudden becomes very relevant indeed when you're doing a 300-400 mile trip on motorways to get to more interesting roads. For the money, this irritates me and I think I'll work on sorting it out myself.
Really though, this car is about the driving. After 500 miles of taking it easy (I swear!) and then another few hundred of not taking the piss, the running in service was completed and I was free to go nuts.
Wow. Just wow. Actually, before the running in service I was blown away. When travelling from B & C back to the A3, the nav takes you down a really horrible, lumpy and bumpy NSL road. The Fiesta I have is awful down this road, the C63 Wagon is better but still iffy. The Lotus ate it. I couldn't believe that after all the hype and after everything that has been written about Lotus suspension, in my eyes it still doesn't come close to describing the reality. The car just floats down tough roads, it isn't quite delicate per say, as you need a strong grip on the wheel at times, but wow... It's brilliant. The automatic gearbox is very far from the worst out there, and when in race mode and driving aggressively it does a really good job at keeping the engine in the powerband. The acceleration through gears 1, 2 and 3 is fantastic, certainly for a road car it's hard to see why it would need to be much faster. The Cup 2s are brilliant in the dry and the whole car is whispering, talking or even shouting at you about what's going on beneath the wheels. The exhaust not is really good, although possibly it verges on antisocially loud. Something quieter is on the horizon. Cruising is easy and relaxing, at 70mph it's really civil inside. I can't claim that it's actually quiet, but it's certainly not loud. The steering is utterly fantastic, you get so much feedback about how much grip there is and what the front tyres are doing. The chassis overall is really neutral and easily caught if you do take the piss and get a little out of shape. All in all, I really struggle to see how any driving experience gets better. The car overall might be a little overpriced, but the driving experience certainly isn't.
Is it perfect? No, of course not. In addition to the interior gripes, I'm thinking it could be a little faster. Does it need to be? No, absolutely not. Do I think the chassis could take an extra 100bhp? Yes, easily. Another small gripe is the exposed carbon. At the time when I discovered that you couldn't get the rear deck painted, I thought it best to go with a carbon roof and bonnet service panel, and black vanity panel behind the roof. I'm not a huge fan of exposed carbon but I thought I'd see how it went. I'm still not a fan actually, and I'm going to look into getting the carbon parts wrapped body colour, as a low-cost way of testing out if I like it or not.
Other than that, the plan is to just drive it a lot. it'll be driven through the winter and I'm considering putting winter bias tyres on it like Michelin Pilot Alpin's. Now I think I've done all the chatting, have some photos!
Lotus Evora NC500 by Alex D, on FlickrEvora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on FlickrEvora at The Mill by Alex D, on FlickrEvora at Leith Hill by Alex D, on FlickrEvora at Bell & Colvill by Alex D, on FlickrEvora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on FlickrEvora Scotland 2019 by Alex D, on FlickrVmax200 September by Alex D, on FlickrVmax200 September by Alex D, on FlickrVmax200 September by Alex D, on FlickrVmax200 September by Alex D, on FlickrNow, for the eagle eyed amongst you, you may have spotted a little bit of a bent diffuser. Yep. I picked the car up on a Friday, and on that Saturday I was on my way into Kensington to meet a mate for lunch. When I was sitting at traffic lights in Twickenham, a young lad on a moped ran into the back of me. I was really quite angry, but credit to the lad he didn't leg it, he was properly insured, unhurt and called his insurance co right away to admit fault. It still hasn't been repaired partly because of commitments I had and partly becuase Lotus is a little slow when it comes to sending large parts like a full rear bumper out to the bodyshop. It'll be back to good as new in no time!
Edited by leglessAlex on Thursday 25th March 19:18
williamp said:
Ooohhh thats gorgeous (the car, not you!!)
What did you manage at vmax??
Oi! I'm gorgeous too I'll have you know What did you manage at vmax??
Vmax website says 193.43mph, because they've got the 6 upside down
. It managed 163.43mph, which is slow but that's okay. It's not what this car was built for. 
Great car, great write-up, and great plate!
I really like these and have my eyes on a few second-hand, but your comments about a deal caught my eye. I qualify for a tax-free purchase so if B&C can do a deal I might consider new. Can you give any details or is it best to go direct to the dealer?
I really like these and have my eyes on a few second-hand, but your comments about a deal caught my eye. I qualify for a tax-free purchase so if B&C can do a deal I might consider new. Can you give any details or is it best to go direct to the dealer?
Thanks very much for the kind words everyone, hopefully I'll have a good year getting out and about!
Is that a lot? Yeah, it is. £1,200 per month on depreciation is no small amount, but if you were to look at a 24 month lease of, say, a 911 GTS, the Lotus is still significantly cheaper I believe. Obviously, those are fairly 'worst case' numbers, and if you didn't drive it much and kept it two years, you might only lose £500pm. Cheap.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
I really like these and have my eyes on a few second-hand, but your comments about a deal caught my eye. I qualify for a tax-free purchase so if B&C can do a deal I might consider new. Can you give any details or is it best to go direct to the dealer?
My numbers were roughly as follows: £104,000 list, £86,000 minus VAT, £2,000 discount and then 50% of it financed for two years at 0% interest. I'm in for £42,000 or so, and if I keep it just one year I expect to get about £28-30,000 of that back. This would maybe go up to as much as £36,000 back if it was driven as little as sports cars often are. Is that a lot? Yeah, it is. £1,200 per month on depreciation is no small amount, but if you were to look at a 24 month lease of, say, a 911 GTS, the Lotus is still significantly cheaper I believe. Obviously, those are fairly 'worst case' numbers, and if you didn't drive it much and kept it two years, you might only lose £500pm. Cheap.
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