Lotus Evora S Sports Racer
Discussion
I've frequented Pistonheads since the very early TVR days but this is my first Readers Cars post. Been in the wilderness for the last few years, with other priorities meaning I've had the last 6 or so years running normal rather than sporty cars. Last one was a Mercedes CLS 350 Shooting Brake, which was a great car for what I needed it for at the time but didn't really tug at my heartstrings like some of the other cars I've owned in the past.
Luckily for me my wife recently swapped her rather small Evoque for a RR Sport so the green light was given for me to hunt for something a bit more fun and less practical. Although I still wanted something I could use as a daily if needed and also my 2 year old son would fit in.
Considered a few cars, Maser GT 4.7, BMW M6, XKR, Mercedes C63, but in the end decided to go for something I'd always rather fancied, a Lotus Evora, namely an Evora S Sports Racer. I've always admired these, particularly the sports racers with the black bits and updated interior. Particularly like the fact they are rare, think I'd only ever seen 1 on the road and the fact the motoring press raved about them at the time.
So a couple of weeks ago I picked up this Pewter Grey, Evora S SR with IPS. I had wanted to hold out for a manual but actually quite enjoyed the IPS when I test drove it and it's a bit more useable for me on a daily basis. The throttle blips on downshifts in sports mode are epic
. Colour probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it looks very striking in the flesh and I believe it's quite a rare colour.
Here's a couple of pictures to begin with, will get some better ones once I've been somewhere a bit more interesting with it!
The reviews at the time waxed lyrical about the cars handling and feedback, and whilst it's early days for me I really can't believe quite how good it actually is. It really is sublime, I don't think there can be much out there for the price quicker point to point.
Future plans
Obviously early days but quite fancy changing out some of the harder leather (bit cheap looking and feeling) around the dash vents and on the steering wheel for some matching alcantara or nicer quality leather. Also whilst it sounds great, I was lucky enough to have the use of an Exige Sport 410 for a couple of weeks which sounded epic. So may consider a 2tubular valved exhaust to replace the standard valved one but want to keep it looking as stock as possible really.
It's also been fitted with some Kumho rear tyres, will get these swapped out for something decent.
Issues & quirks
1. Nothing serious but the left hand dash screen seems to have a line of missing pixels, so will need to look at getting that fixed.
2. Get quite a bit of road noise in the car. I'm not sure if this is the Kumho rear tyres or whether they all do that. I think from memory the Exige I used also did this but the overall experience and noise masked it. In the Evora it's a bit more refined so you hear it more on longer journeys.
3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
For the amount of time we'd all go out together, especially given the time of year I think I will just leave it as is and we'll take the Range Rover. I am hoping that in the spring my son may be >15kg and I can move to the Milano child seat which will free up a lot of space and allow us all to use it as planned.
Here's a picture of the current seat in the back so you can see what I mean.
I will try and keep this thread updated and hope to plan some decent road trips in the new year.
Cheers
Graham
Luckily for me my wife recently swapped her rather small Evoque for a RR Sport so the green light was given for me to hunt for something a bit more fun and less practical. Although I still wanted something I could use as a daily if needed and also my 2 year old son would fit in.
Considered a few cars, Maser GT 4.7, BMW M6, XKR, Mercedes C63, but in the end decided to go for something I'd always rather fancied, a Lotus Evora, namely an Evora S Sports Racer. I've always admired these, particularly the sports racers with the black bits and updated interior. Particularly like the fact they are rare, think I'd only ever seen 1 on the road and the fact the motoring press raved about them at the time.
So a couple of weeks ago I picked up this Pewter Grey, Evora S SR with IPS. I had wanted to hold out for a manual but actually quite enjoyed the IPS when I test drove it and it's a bit more useable for me on a daily basis. The throttle blips on downshifts in sports mode are epic
. Colour probably isn't everyone's cup of tea but I think it looks very striking in the flesh and I believe it's quite a rare colour.Here's a couple of pictures to begin with, will get some better ones once I've been somewhere a bit more interesting with it!
The reviews at the time waxed lyrical about the cars handling and feedback, and whilst it's early days for me I really can't believe quite how good it actually is. It really is sublime, I don't think there can be much out there for the price quicker point to point.
Future plans
Obviously early days but quite fancy changing out some of the harder leather (bit cheap looking and feeling) around the dash vents and on the steering wheel for some matching alcantara or nicer quality leather. Also whilst it sounds great, I was lucky enough to have the use of an Exige Sport 410 for a couple of weeks which sounded epic. So may consider a 2tubular valved exhaust to replace the standard valved one but want to keep it looking as stock as possible really.
It's also been fitted with some Kumho rear tyres, will get these swapped out for something decent.
Issues & quirks
1. Nothing serious but the left hand dash screen seems to have a line of missing pixels, so will need to look at getting that fixed.
2. Get quite a bit of road noise in the car. I'm not sure if this is the Kumho rear tyres or whether they all do that. I think from memory the Exige I used also did this but the overall experience and noise masked it. In the Evora it's a bit more refined so you hear it more on longer journeys.
3. Unfortunately my son being 2 and currently less than 15kgs still needs a child seat with a harness. For the Evora the recommended one is the Recaro Young Sport Hero. Purchased one of these but even with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward I can't really get my son in (without removing his legs) and still allow my wife (5'4) to get in. The problem is the child seat doesn't allow his legs to bend, forcing them straight out which means we have to recline the passenger seat so far forward my wife can't get in. I think I can remove the rear seats which would give a few more inches but this leaves exposed metal work so not the most elegant solution.
For the amount of time we'd all go out together, especially given the time of year I think I will just leave it as is and we'll take the Range Rover. I am hoping that in the spring my son may be >15kg and I can move to the Milano child seat which will free up a lot of space and allow us all to use it as planned.
Here's a picture of the current seat in the back so you can see what I mean.
I will try and keep this thread updated and hope to plan some decent road trips in the new year.
Cheers
Graham
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Thursday 13th December 00:52
had ham said:
Looks great, and I love the colour. Not normally a fan of black wheels, but they work very well here!
I'm not familiar with this variant - what are the engine specs?
Agree ref the wheels, normally I’m not keen either but they work here. I'm not familiar with this variant - what are the engine specs?
S Sports Racer no different from the regular Evora S in terms of the engine which means the same Supercharged 3.5 V6 with 345 bhp. Sports Racer was essentially a run out model which included all the optional packs at the time, Tech, Premium and Sports plus the addition of the black sills, roof, front highlights, larger rear diffuser and wheels.
They seem, at least whilst I was looking more sought after than the earlier or non Sports Racer cars. There are however quite a few Evora’s where owners have given them the Sports Racer look.
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Wednesday 12th December 22:25
blueg33 said:
Great car. I have one in Daytona blue, same spec as yours except mine has the Lotus motorsports exhaust.
Blueg33 yours looks amazing, great colour. What’s the details on the Lotus Motorsport exhaust? Do you have any pictures? I quite like the sound (from YouTube videos) of the 2ubular but it is twin pipes similar to the non-S.
giveitfish said:
Thart’s a great looking car you have there! In Evora speak, ‘rare colour’ probably means there are less than 10 in existence in the whole world, so it’s pretty special!
I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
Hope mine is just as reliable! Lovely looking and sounding car you have there. Agree the wide doors are a bit of a pain, especially being 6’4 so need a big opening to get out. Finding I am having to be very picky with car park spaces I was tempted to start a thread about about my daily-driven non-S Evora Sports Racer.
It’s just that after 6 months and 7k miles of mainly commuting there really isn’t much to write about! These threads need drama to keep them alive and there hasn’t been any,
It’s lovely to drive, sounds great, and is a slight pain to use daily (wide doors, noisy exhaust-valve-open start up, 25mpg average in traffic).
It’s just had winter tyres fitted so I hope my story continues the same over the winter, just with more muck on its lovely white bodywork...
https://youtu.be/MjHY8ERxV_M
Out of interest, what winter tyres did you fit?
Thanks for all the feedback and positive comments on the car. Readers car of the week as well 
I did drive another manual Evora S and I must say I quite liked the gearbox, again it was a Sports Racer so would have been the later linkages. Also had use of an Exige Sport 410 with the later exposed gear mechanism for a couple of weeks and again really like the box. Very mechanical, kind of fitted with the whole experience.
Am enjoying the IPS though, the changes are more than fast enough for my use but must say I use Sport mode most of the time. JayEmm did a nice video on both the S1 IPS and 400 Auto here if you want to get a view on what it’s like.
I did drive another manual Evora S and I must say I quite liked the gearbox, again it was a Sports Racer so would have been the later linkages. Also had use of an Exige Sport 410 with the later exposed gear mechanism for a couple of weeks and again really like the box. Very mechanical, kind of fitted with the whole experience.
Am enjoying the IPS though, the changes are more than fast enough for my use but must say I use Sport mode most of the time. JayEmm did a nice video on both the S1 IPS and 400 Auto here if you want to get a view on what it’s like.
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Sunday 16th December 18:00
Apologies for being so totally crap at updating this thread, I had good intentions, even though it's been almost a year since posting the original 
To be honest the car has been fantastic, nothing much to report other than I'm still really enjoying owning it. Every time I take it out I still have to pinch myself at just how well it drives, how nothing seems to phase it, the speed, confidence and composure it has down a twisting B road is unreal. I can only imagine how well the Evora GT Sport 410's or GT430's must go.
I'm now pretty much used to the IPS and like it. I always put into Sport mode and depending on mood leave it to shift itself or use the paddles. Breaking hard is accompanied by perfectly timed throttle blips on downshift. It sounds truly epic when you are going for it.
I was using the car daily and as my only transport but it was a bit frustrating dropping my son off at nursery and trying to park it in the fairly narrow parking spaces at work, so ended up buying a BMW 130i to daily in the end. It's not to say you couldn't daily the Evora, it wouldn't be a problem but I didn't like the thought of the short journey to my son's nursery and the crappy muddy potholed filled country lanes I need to use to get there.
Reliability has been great, no real issues other than getting the spanner warning come up a couple of times on startup. This usually clears after a few minutes and doesn't return on subsequent start up's. I think this really only happens when I've not used the car for a while. The car now lives in the garage and is on a trickle charger so hopefully the battery should stay in better condition. Only other issue I've had is the reversing camera has on occasion played up giving a dark flickering picture. I think I may have over enthusiastically jet washed it once so now try to avoid that area.
I've not really done any mods, did get the steering wheel reupholstered as I didn't like the original. The leather was quite hard and it felt a bit thin in my hands. Used Royal Steering wheels ( https://royalsteeringwheels.com) who did a fantastic job and its so much better than the original now. They also added a couple of mm to the thickness which helps.
Positives
The handling
The noise
The ride quality - hardly feel the bumps my 130i crashes over. Amazing.
Reliability
Running costs have been minimal - got a service included from Bell & Colvill when I bought it and they cover the MOT.
Looks - genuine mini supercar looks
Feel good factor - everyone seems to respond really positively to it.
Very easy to drive at normal speeds. It can easily potter around if needed.
Interior, I really like the mix of leather and alcantara in the Sports Racer and the Recaro seats are the best I've sat in. So comfortable yet supportive.
Rarity - I also joined the Lotus Forums club and as part of that package I received a Certificate of Vehicle Provenance from the Lotus archives. It's nice to have and whilst I knew they were built in small numbers, the certificate confirmed there were 101 Sports Racers and out of that 4 were painted Pewter Grey, all Supercarged, two IPS and two manual. Mine was the 74th Sports Racer made.
MPG not too bad, seem to average around 22mpg, saw 28mpg on a long motorway run.
Despite the market at the moment, values still seem to be holding well. Bit of a drop from my purchase price but not too bad considering.
Negatives
The size of it can make me a bit paranoid when parking it. You need a big space especially as the doors need to be opened wide to account for the wide sill.
Water culminates in the cutouts for the door handles, and scallop top edge of the door. So you need to be careful when opening it otherwise it ends up down your trouser leg.
Everything you put in the boot will cook. It gets hot in there.
Offset pedal position takes a bit of getting used to
Alpine SatNav whilst okay and functional isn't the most intuative to use - may look at upgrading this to a car play unit at some point.
Some pictures
A couple of jobs for me to do over winter.
Looking at the pictures the mesh grills at the front dont seem to be quite so black anymore. Doesn't look as if it's peeled but maybe has been touched up before and faded. I guess that involves a fun day with a brush and a tin of black hammerite!
The heat tubing in the engine bay has seen better days. Still intact but the black colour has peeled off in places and looks a bit tatty. Think it's only a cheap part so will get it replaced.
Thirdly I may have a go at getting the dashboard vent surrounds done in matching alcantara and red stiching.
Also trying to resist the urge to buy a 2bular exhaust ( https://www.2bular.co.uk/). Cost is putting me off at the moment but may give in an just order one
Enough from me, will try and update a bit more regularly from now on!
To be honest the car has been fantastic, nothing much to report other than I'm still really enjoying owning it. Every time I take it out I still have to pinch myself at just how well it drives, how nothing seems to phase it, the speed, confidence and composure it has down a twisting B road is unreal. I can only imagine how well the Evora GT Sport 410's or GT430's must go.
I'm now pretty much used to the IPS and like it. I always put into Sport mode and depending on mood leave it to shift itself or use the paddles. Breaking hard is accompanied by perfectly timed throttle blips on downshift. It sounds truly epic when you are going for it.
I was using the car daily and as my only transport but it was a bit frustrating dropping my son off at nursery and trying to park it in the fairly narrow parking spaces at work, so ended up buying a BMW 130i to daily in the end. It's not to say you couldn't daily the Evora, it wouldn't be a problem but I didn't like the thought of the short journey to my son's nursery and the crappy muddy potholed filled country lanes I need to use to get there.
Reliability has been great, no real issues other than getting the spanner warning come up a couple of times on startup. This usually clears after a few minutes and doesn't return on subsequent start up's. I think this really only happens when I've not used the car for a while. The car now lives in the garage and is on a trickle charger so hopefully the battery should stay in better condition. Only other issue I've had is the reversing camera has on occasion played up giving a dark flickering picture. I think I may have over enthusiastically jet washed it once so now try to avoid that area.
I've not really done any mods, did get the steering wheel reupholstered as I didn't like the original. The leather was quite hard and it felt a bit thin in my hands. Used Royal Steering wheels ( https://royalsteeringwheels.com) who did a fantastic job and its so much better than the original now. They also added a couple of mm to the thickness which helps.
Positives
The handling
The noise
The ride quality - hardly feel the bumps my 130i crashes over. Amazing.
Reliability
Running costs have been minimal - got a service included from Bell & Colvill when I bought it and they cover the MOT.
Looks - genuine mini supercar looks
Feel good factor - everyone seems to respond really positively to it.
Very easy to drive at normal speeds. It can easily potter around if needed.
Interior, I really like the mix of leather and alcantara in the Sports Racer and the Recaro seats are the best I've sat in. So comfortable yet supportive.
Rarity - I also joined the Lotus Forums club and as part of that package I received a Certificate of Vehicle Provenance from the Lotus archives. It's nice to have and whilst I knew they were built in small numbers, the certificate confirmed there were 101 Sports Racers and out of that 4 were painted Pewter Grey, all Supercarged, two IPS and two manual. Mine was the 74th Sports Racer made.
MPG not too bad, seem to average around 22mpg, saw 28mpg on a long motorway run.
Despite the market at the moment, values still seem to be holding well. Bit of a drop from my purchase price but not too bad considering.
Negatives
The size of it can make me a bit paranoid when parking it. You need a big space especially as the doors need to be opened wide to account for the wide sill.
Water culminates in the cutouts for the door handles, and scallop top edge of the door. So you need to be careful when opening it otherwise it ends up down your trouser leg.
Everything you put in the boot will cook. It gets hot in there.
Offset pedal position takes a bit of getting used to
Alpine SatNav whilst okay and functional isn't the most intuative to use - may look at upgrading this to a car play unit at some point.
Some pictures
A couple of jobs for me to do over winter.
Looking at the pictures the mesh grills at the front dont seem to be quite so black anymore. Doesn't look as if it's peeled but maybe has been touched up before and faded. I guess that involves a fun day with a brush and a tin of black hammerite!
The heat tubing in the engine bay has seen better days. Still intact but the black colour has peeled off in places and looks a bit tatty. Think it's only a cheap part so will get it replaced.
Thirdly I may have a go at getting the dashboard vent surrounds done in matching alcantara and red stiching.
Also trying to resist the urge to buy a 2bular exhaust ( https://www.2bular.co.uk/). Cost is putting me off at the moment but may give in an just order one
Enough from me, will try and update a bit more regularly from now on!
Edited by ParanoidAndroid on Thursday 14th November 23:33
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