Evora vs Elise vs Caterham
Discussion
Help me please - especially if you have owned more than 1 of the above!
Yes I can do test drives... But want to get a sense of longer term ownership. Here is my dilemma:
Thought I had my heart set on a Caterham. After driving one for a weekend round Scotland last year, really felt like there was nothing like it. After the hire I jumped in my friends BMW M3 for the trip home and the M3 felt basically like a bus by comparison. Objectively far faster, but so boring!
However, building up to pull the trigger, and having a wobble for 3 reasons
1. Motorways. If I wanted to repeat the scotland trip, getting there up the motorway in a Caterham would be harrowing and miserable.
2. Rain and the Caterhams primitive roof.
3. Kids: I have 2 boys (pretty young) who love cars, and they couldnt both join me in a Caterham (I'm a single parent so more complicated to leave one behind)
It would suck to get a caterham then not really get the use because, say, my weekend in the lakes didnt really work practicality wise. I want go nice places, park it without excess worry, climb hills and do stuff, have a nice drive around, then a nice drive home..
So...I could maybe solve problems 1 and 2 with an Elise
...and maybe solve all 3 with an Evora.
I personally love the Evora looks (more than either other option). I'm looking for a fun, sensory (driving feel, sound, vibration, smell) drive rather than outright speed (I want a car thats fun at 70 on a real road. Rather than a trackday machine)
So... Questions:
When driving an Evora do you find yourself missing an Elise or Caterham? Or...when driving the others do you find yourself missing the liveableness of the Evora? If you have more than one, which one do you instinctively grab the keys for to put a smile on your face?
Any other options? (Other than the obvious 911)
Thanks!
Yes I can do test drives... But want to get a sense of longer term ownership. Here is my dilemma:
Thought I had my heart set on a Caterham. After driving one for a weekend round Scotland last year, really felt like there was nothing like it. After the hire I jumped in my friends BMW M3 for the trip home and the M3 felt basically like a bus by comparison. Objectively far faster, but so boring!
However, building up to pull the trigger, and having a wobble for 3 reasons
1. Motorways. If I wanted to repeat the scotland trip, getting there up the motorway in a Caterham would be harrowing and miserable.
2. Rain and the Caterhams primitive roof.
3. Kids: I have 2 boys (pretty young) who love cars, and they couldnt both join me in a Caterham (I'm a single parent so more complicated to leave one behind)
It would suck to get a caterham then not really get the use because, say, my weekend in the lakes didnt really work practicality wise. I want go nice places, park it without excess worry, climb hills and do stuff, have a nice drive around, then a nice drive home..
So...I could maybe solve problems 1 and 2 with an Elise
...and maybe solve all 3 with an Evora.
I personally love the Evora looks (more than either other option). I'm looking for a fun, sensory (driving feel, sound, vibration, smell) drive rather than outright speed (I want a car thats fun at 70 on a real road. Rather than a trackday machine)
So... Questions:
When driving an Evora do you find yourself missing an Elise or Caterham? Or...when driving the others do you find yourself missing the liveableness of the Evora? If you have more than one, which one do you instinctively grab the keys for to put a smile on your face?
Any other options? (Other than the obvious 911)
Thanks!
I think you're right about no one car doing everything
My ideal garage would be
1. Battered daily drive with a big boot, lots of space and low running costs (my current Skoda Octavia, only 1350kg fits the bill, I'll be keeping it as its just extremely good for transporting grubby kids and daily junk around)
2. A K-Series Caterham, 200 ish bhp (Any faster is bowel slackeningly scary for me)
3. A GT car - likely gonna be an Evora in the short term, since I'm only getting 1 new car which also needs to do the Caterhams job.
4. A land rover defender
My ideal garage would be
1. Battered daily drive with a big boot, lots of space and low running costs (my current Skoda Octavia, only 1350kg fits the bill, I'll be keeping it as its just extremely good for transporting grubby kids and daily junk around)
2. A K-Series Caterham, 200 ish bhp (Any faster is bowel slackeningly scary for me)
3. A GT car - likely gonna be an Evora in the short term, since I'm only getting 1 new car which also needs to do the Caterhams job.
4. A land rover defender
TdM-GTV said:
The Evora is a great choice for your specific needs and I think you already knew that!
For me the NA is the best of the bunch on the public road. It has enough poke but not so much that you can't stretch it's legs (you'll still be going plenty fast enough if you do!). I have a theory that the best way to get as close as possible to what you want is to:
Get an S1 NA on the smaller wheels (you'll appreciate the lower grip)
Strip out some of the sound deadening, a lot of it is basically just taped/velcroed in so you can add and remove as you wish
Change the front seats for some lighter items as they are quite heavy
Get rid of the third cat
You can later tweak the suspension, bump the power a bit with new headers and an intake and even do a bit of bodywork to replace the heavy glass over the engine.
That will bag you an Evora that's reasonably light, pretty quick, handles beautifully is still more than capable of doing the cruising thing but gives a bit more visceral experience as well and most of it is very easy to return to original.
That being said. Any of the Evoras are lovely just the way they are go test drive a few and see what you like.
Thanks for the suggestions on this... Must confess browsing the classifieds I got a touch of the "more power" disease...just a bit more for an S...just a bit more for a 410...but actually the 276 bhp first iteration is probably fine for real world fun. For me the NA is the best of the bunch on the public road. It has enough poke but not so much that you can't stretch it's legs (you'll still be going plenty fast enough if you do!). I have a theory that the best way to get as close as possible to what you want is to:
Get an S1 NA on the smaller wheels (you'll appreciate the lower grip)
Strip out some of the sound deadening, a lot of it is basically just taped/velcroed in so you can add and remove as you wish
Change the front seats for some lighter items as they are quite heavy
Get rid of the third cat
You can later tweak the suspension, bump the power a bit with new headers and an intake and even do a bit of bodywork to replace the heavy glass over the engine.
That will bag you an Evora that's reasonably light, pretty quick, handles beautifully is still more than capable of doing the cruising thing but gives a bit more visceral experience as well and most of it is very easy to return to original.
That being said. Any of the Evoras are lovely just the way they are go test drive a few and see what you like.
Also like the idea of changing seats - partly for weight, but also I liked the feels of being squashed tight into a caterham and connection to the road.
Going for a test drive with kids this week - if they hate it then back to an Elise
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