Automotive

Having some time at my hands always leads to the what if game. While we do not necessarily need an extra car at the moment there’s the desire to perhaps experience something new and broadening the perspective. A bit like with watches - few of us need any additional ones yet we still desire them 😉
Picture from: evo magazine

I expected more than it delivered. The clutch was quite firm, making the driving experience unfriendly. Later another dealer said that was unusual and must have been the fault of the particular car. I also found the cabin a bit claustrophobic so didn’t pursue any others.

You should get into one and try it out, then report back …

Should definitely give it a try 😊👍🏻
Was there something apart from the clutch where it didn’t deliver as you expected?

My Evora S, from the 1st series, is now in continuous every-day-use since 2010. There were some niggles sorted at the beginning under warranty, but since then it was just an annual service (and one "rebushing" of the suspensions). After 220'000 km it is still on the first clutch, though, I changed recently the original clutch master cylinder for a non-original AP part. It turned out that Lotus had fitted a cylinder with a lot of plastic parts and borderline for capacity. It meant that the clutch pedal had always to be pressed into the carpet to fully release the clutch. While I had got used to it, others driving the car had problems with the gear shift, particularly if they wanted to push the lever around and not guide it. With the AP part I had to rearrange coordination (release is now much higher up the pedal travel) but the gearshift works now like never before.

When the car was in service, they gave me once a standard Evora without compressor as a courtesy car. Compared with my car, it felt limp and i would never have bought it. I also believe it a mistake to go for an automatic gearbox (called IPS by Lotus) with the torque converter - you cannot expect the intelligence of a Porsche PDK, thus taking away a lot of the driving pleasure in my view.

Looking at the first series car, designed by Russell Carr, I had sometimes the feeling that it looks a touch too feminine for my taste. This seems to be confirmed by the many compliments I have received for the car from women. I am also treated very courteously by other road users, for example offered a gap to turn in from a side road (quite a contrast the same manoeuvre with a Porsche). The "soft" design has its advantages and you could also argue it is more coherent than the later workovers.

Of the later iterations of the model, I liked the more aggressive and masculine front end of the 430-variant. But I didn't like the other body modifications that came with it, namely the sill extensions and the rear end treatment. And I don't yet need the slimmer door sills for ease of entry and egress of the later cars.



With the many (slight) model changes after 2011, for my taste Lotus-specific characteristics eroded. My early car has a not too tought, pliable suspension set-up. This helps me as layman to easily feel the car, what it wants to do when driving a bit more briskly. It is also comfortable and quiet (no road or wind noise) when travelling. And the Toyota 3.5L V6 engine comes with a melodious, natural sound. With the superb hydraulic servo steering it is thus an extremely "feelsome" car to drive. And comfortable with generously sized Recaro seats.

Trying a later Evora 410, a lot of these characteristics had noticeably changed, the car set up more aggressively for a crisper turn-in and a "harder" suspension set-up. To me, it felt now too close to a Porsche, what might technically be desirable for some, but robbing me of variety and the specific feel of "flow" when driving a mountain road.



Negatives (for some): The heating and airconditioning system is primitive by current standards (but likely only slightly improved with the Emira). In wintertime you have to turn up the heating driving on motorways (because cold air is pressed in from the front somewhere but never identified) and turn it down again when driving slower. But in summertime the airconditioning is strong enough, but again, you cannot dial in a specific temperature but turn a knob until it feels right.

And in rainy or snowy weather the big front screen fogs up quickly if the cabin is entered with only some moisture in your clothes. It means the ventilation must be set on the blower for some time (and intermittently again when you think all is dry now). For me all no hardship. And with snow tyres I even manage to climb up  steep hills in quite deep snow without a limited slip differential.

Reminds me of Harry's Garage white esprit trip!
I briefly looked at the Evora 400 when they came out because I was in the market for a RHD sportscar with a manual gearbox but early models had all kinds of issues and they were overpriced in this part of the world.

What did you finally go for? 😊

Beside manual transmission I had a set of unusual requirements due to parking space limitations, no more than 190cm wide which ruled out some nice cars (z06, r8 v10). 911s were ruled out early because I already owned one, driven many and they have become too big for my taste, 991 is probably the last one I would do. Considered the abarth 124 (had a mito, more or less the same engine), r8 v8 (hard to find a RHD stick), Megane 4 rs (too wide too heavy), 308 GTI (nice, shame it only came in LHD), ND mx5 (had an nc2, ND is too small inside but nice engine), v8 vantage (a few coupes but not many roadsters, especially in stick), c7 vette (nice but LHD only, targa is nice but a pain if you really like top down motoring), a few C6s including a cab (interior is borderline), rs4 v8 (even found a unicorn 6-speed cab but too heavy and getting a bit old and long in the tooth), evora S and 400 (2 of my friends have had Elises & Exiges but a bit too extreme as I had to take wife or kid often), db7 cab (almost happened!)., db9 (good luck with the maintenance unless you have an indie which is hard here), nissan z (waiting lists and prices were out of control, same with the Civic Type R),at least 3 gens of M2s (hate the thick rim and chassis setup). In the end after 2 yrs of searching I found a perfectly spec'd 981 2.7 boxster and been having a wonderful time since then (well other than that time it blew the timing belt or door lock, german engineering...). If you like to whip your engine without going to jail this is it and sports exhaust is the cherry on top. It's a bit of a pig at low speed compared to a fwd hot-hatch but comes into its own from 80kph and above.

I as recently offered a Bentley R Type, which would have been fun but didn’t fit the garage 🤷🏻‍♂️

I wish they would have offered another Z convertible, loved the 350Z, the 370 not so much. Even played with a rare 6 speed Giulia QV but as much as I love italian cars and bikes, it just left me cold.

Otherwise it tends to get universally positive reviews 🧐🤷🏻‍♂️

Doesn't fare so well vs alfas of old, especially the busso.

I had one for a week and whilst the car had a certain charm the gear change was pretty awful. In my opinion the car just felt as though it needed more development time.

Apart from the gearbox issues would the rest be sorted through time or remained undeveloped to the end? 🧐🤷🏻‍♂️

I guess a test drive will be essential to check out also whether the kids can be put in the back without anyone crying foul.
But it certainly sounds promising enough! Thanks again 🙏🏻

Was properly impressed then that such a thing existed for the Evora 👍🏻

I would not take the +2 aspects (kids) into the equation… they get older soon, and these +2 are children seats! 

But in that time an additional car will likely enter the scene. In the meantime the Evora could be a contender ticking that particular box as well 🤷🏻‍♂️
So if I understand you correctly you’re saying the Alpine is vastly superior to the Evora?

But I drove Ferraris, Porsches and other high performance cars.

A classical winter must ❄️👍🏻