Europa Interior Upgrade: Is it worth it?

[PJP]

Good morning one and all,

After having two Elises (111S then a Sports Racer) I'm seriously thinking of returning to the fold. Though I loved my Elises the years are catching up with me am I'm looking for something less "full-on" hence my interst in a Europa. Having scanned the ads there seems to be some good bargains out there to be grabbed. Based on what I've read the re-map 225bhp upgrade is a definite must (corrrect me if I'm wrong) but I'm still unsure about the interior upgrade. As yet I haven't seen a europa with the new interior and was wondering what the opinion of the community is? Is the upgrade worth the money, does signifcantly improve the cars interior and comfort. Thanks

Phil

[kambites]

I think you can get the nicer interior retrofitted for not much more than the original cost of speccing it anyway.

[jazzyjeff]

If buying a dealer, best to negotiate the Luxury Touring Pack within the purchase price?

JJ

[Ocean]

When I spoke to my dealer when I was buying my Europa, they told me that the Luxury Touring Pack was not being offered as an option anymore as they had had some warranty claims with it. Not sure what they were. It is still mentioned on Lotus website as an option though.

In my opinion the Europa is pretty cool inside. It is of course purposeful and a little spartan but the seats are leather and so are the door internals and it is fully carpeted.

I think if you are buying used you may try to find one but my opinion would be just get the best car for the money.

In terms of the 225 upgrade I would absolutely get one with this done. Mine has been done and driving it back to back with a standard model it is much better. Smoother and a good bit quicker.

You can get it done aftermarket though at Courtenay or Thorney. You might want to look at tuning for VX220 Turbos. Same engine and stuff.

After 6 weeks of ownership, I adore mine. Great car.

Pete

[peter450]

Doesn't that interior come as standard on the new SE?, at the end of the day it's just a leather trimmed interior, i cant see what the issue would be that it's discontinued

From pictures it does look very nice though

[Twit]

The luxury pack is an must have, its not just the interior - it alters the tint of the windows and the mesh grile colour. Get it wrapped up as part of the purchase price and I can confirm that it is still available, I have a Europa in the trim shop at the moment having the work done, it does take a while!

The 225 upgrade is worth having as is the brake upgrade - all of which the dealers can sort out. When you compare a car with the luxury interior Vs one without, the difference is massive!

Edited by Twit on Thursday 13th March 23:18

[hahithestevieboy]

Twit said:

The luxury pack is an must have, its not just the interior - it alters the tint of the windows and the mess grile colour. Get it wrapped up as part of the purchase price and I can confirm that it is still available, I have a Europa in the trim shop at the moment having the work done, it does take a while!

The 225 upgrade is worth having as is the brake upgrade - all of which the dealers can sort out. When you compare a car with the luxury interior Vs one without, the difference is massive!

Build quality is also vastly improved with the new interior. You could always wait for the SE

[Christian43]

Just to add to the confusion:

Brake upgrade I don't think is worth it. I have tracked a Europa with standard brakes and it was fine on a hard circuit with hard driving.
My Europa has the interior upgrade and it looks nice. However I had one with standard interior and I also liked that one. If buying second hand I would get one with standard interior and haggle on the price. You could then get the upgrade done later if you fancied a change.
No idea on the power as have only driven with the upgrade but at 225hp they go.

cheers

C

[Grinnders]

If you are after something "less full on" why are forum members recommending the 225 bhp and brake upgrade ?

Some of the advice you may be getting here is obviously from owners and fans that track or drive spiritedly ! Nothing wrong with that but is that you ? "less full on" suggests you may be after more of a "GT" package.

Sure, go for the interior upgrade because it might make it a snugglier place to sit from and enjoy but why waste the money on things you may rarely if ever exploit ?

I've had the same discussion re; Boxsters. My wife loves them. Every bloke says get the S, but she'd never use that extra performance. She likes the looks, the badge, etc. etc. and I'd hardly ever drive it with the Elise, so where's the sense in having the extra "S" on the boot?

Aplogies because in my job I deal with this sort of thing often

So other forum members here "listen to the customer requirements"

right I'm done....

[peter_england99]

I think a lot of people go for the 225bhp upgrade as it doesn't just give you the extra power, but also 'corrects' the torque curve, that on the original model caused many negative comments in terms of driveability.

Regards,
Peter.

Grinnders said:

If you are after something "less full on" why are forum members recommending the 225 bhp and brake upgrade ?

[Grinnders]

peter_england99 said:

I think a lot of people go for the 225bhp upgrade as it doesn't just give you the extra power, but also 'corrects' the torque curve, that on the original model caused many negative comments in terms of driveability.

Regards,
Peter.

Grinnders said:

If you are after something "less full on" why are forum members recommending the 225 bhp and brake upgrade ?

Fair do's.. That's what I'd call a "qualified" recommendation and stands on it's own merits.

[jazzyjeff]

Grinnders said:

peter_england99 said:

I think a lot of people go for the 225bhp upgrade as it doesn't just give you the extra power, but also 'corrects' the torque curve, that on the original model caused many negative comments in terms of driveability.

Regards,
Peter.

Grinnders said:

If you are after something "less full on" why are forum members recommending the 225 bhp and brake upgrade ?

Fair do's.. That's what I'd call a "qualified" recommendation and stands on it's own merits.

Qualified yes, but it's been made by a number of existing owners and several tuners so there must be something in it. I'll definitely be insisting on it when I get mine

JJ

Edited by jazzyjeff on Friday 14th March 15:12

[Grinnders]

jazzyjeff said:

Qualified yes, but it's been made by a number of existing owners and several tuners so there must be something in it. I'll definitely be insisting on it when I get mine

JJ

Edited by jazzyjeff on Friday 14th March 15:12

Tuners are not exactly independent advisors are they ? They've got to earn a living too

Good Luck PJP best suggest you test drive one of each v at your pace ;o)

I'll leave this topic well alone now.

[crackthatoff]

boring boring emoticons ...use some of these! http://www.jonrb.com/emoticons/  copy and paste ...sorted!! ps jon is a pistonhead and thanx for the link!