Chris J

Yes, all the big online suppliers, same result each time, 88s only. This was back in July this year.

Doesn't seem to be the case in the UK - Michelin's website brings up the Supersport as an option if you search for 225/40 18" with an 88 load rating, but not 92. Odd.

Ah, that was it, the 225/40 18" for the front only came in a lower load rating of 88, rather than the OEM 92. I think the load rating should be fine but as I hadn't heard of anyone else using them on the N/A it scared me off enough to try the Yokohamas.

Do they actually do those in both the 18" and 19" sizes? When I looked I could only find the 19s, the various tyre websites kept coming up with PS2 or 3 for the fronts.

Not quite the same but I put a set of the Yokohama V105 on my Evora recently (18/19). Only used for road driving so far but seem more communicative than the Pirellis were and no grip issues. Since putting them on I saw in one of the magazines a Porsche test driver saying they had them on the Panamera for the hot laps of the Ring so they're probably adequate for the Evora...

Had this on my 2011 S1 - the only annoying creak in the cabin. A pair of £8 seat belt sleeves from Amazon was the answer. A patch of felt on the appropriate part of the seat would also work. TBH I would spend a reasonable amount on a quality item but it's hard to find anything outside the cheap and cheerful £5 - £10 market!

When I bought my Evora from B&C I traded in an Elise for £15k, they put it up for £19k. I had earlier offered the Elise for sale to a couple of independent dealers and been offered in the £13k to £14k ball park. Whether they would have put it up for sale for less than B&C I don't know.

What gets me with the locking is when you unlock it and don't open a door immediately. My Skoda relocks the car after a minute or so, the Lotus quietly sits there and resets the alarm, leaving the doors unlocked as a trap... It's caught me a few times, mostly early in the mornings.

Well done for coming back to the fold, but please tell us what else you considered!

I put the Yokohamas on my Evora (18 and 19 wheels so not strictly on topic...) last month on the strength of the Evo test last year. Can't say anything about them yet though as I've been working away since then. Interesting how the recommendations change from year to year, last year they said the Yokohama was great as long as you don't go out in the wet. This year they say it had an overall victory across the wet handling tests, yet it's one of the tyres that AFAIK hasn't changed since last year...

Britain has moved on since WW2 though. But we stopped in the 70's and 80's when we developed a massive inferiority complex that British built was rubbish with good old British Leyland flying the flag. How long has it taken Jaguar to move past that stereotype - it took a massive upheaval and change of design language to disassociate themselves from the previous image and they have a marketing budget that dwarfs Lotus! But moving on, I love the enthusiasm I've read and seen in all the US reviews, both of the 400 and the S1. Incidentally, has something happened to the Autocar Evora 400, I think I've seen two mentions and now it's vanished from the list at the top of the long termers section?

Wouldn't have thought it would cause more any serious problems than with the Elis which has open grilles (mesh or plastic slats depending on type) directly above the engine.

I understood if you changed the headers, removing the two cats then you should have a replacement cat where the 3rd cat was/would have been (depending if it was ever there). So with my N/A I currently have a decat for the 3rd cat, to go with the 2bular backbox. Then if/when I change the manifold, getting rid of the two pre-cats, I'll be putting a sports cat where the decat pipe is just now.

Thanks Lee. If/when you know for sure, can you let me know?

Do you think you'll make any more? I've been holding off replacing them until November when the Evora's in for service but as only about half of each bracket is left I'll definitely need to get it done.

Ha! Small world, I was rock climbing down at Ansteys Cove. Nice drive round from Exmouth via Teignmouth.

That looks really good with the carbon cover and black paint. Let us know how the paint stands up. I think the Union flag would be right on the borderline of awesome and OTT...

That looks fantastic in the black, well done!

l would suggest that if you can get a good history on a car on a forum like this or the playground it can be reasonable to at least risk a deposit without seeing the car. I did - I saw an advert for one at B&C, asked initially on the playground, was put in touch with the previous owner, got a really good feeling on the car from Tom and others comments, contacted Jamie at B&C and given he had others interested in the car put down a deposit there and then to ensure the car was still there when I could get there to test drive 3 days later.

Thanks for the feedback, I might try the local mobile team at home with the Skoda first and see how they get on before letting them loose on the Evora!

That's what I was thinking, it should be possible to find a supplier for a remote controller box so I don't have to bother Jim but it would be useful to have a wiring diagram and know what voltage it needs/outputs. Sadly the manifold/cat issue is academic at the moment without a small lottery win but I figured I would be needing one of Jim's sports cats as well as the manifold to replace the decat pipe where the 3rd cat used to be.

Thanks Tom. I would like to put a set of silver forged wheels on, though I have to admit as far as 'base spec' wheels go these are pretty good! Sadly no more spending for a while as nipper #2 is on the way, I even justified the splitter as protection for the bumper! (the only time I damaged my old Elise was scraping the bumper on a higher than expected kerb in a car park...) Otherwise I'd be complementing the 2bular exhaust back box with a manifold and CAI and add a GTE bumper and a rear wing... Incidentally you don't have any documentation for the 2bular valve system electronics do you? I'm waiting for Jim to send me down a new control box as it's threw a wobbly a couple of weeks back and isn't listening to either of the remote fobs...

Usually I buy tyres online from the likes of Black Circles and have them delivered to the local garage for fitting. Looking on Tyreleader I see the option for mobile fitting, which would be really convenient as time for this sort of thing is scarce since we had the baby. So I was wondering who's used a mobile fitting service? Obvious questions that come to mind are was it done literally at the roadside or do you have a fair amount of driveway to work on, are there any drawbacks compared to going to the garage and whether the fitter is likely to have problems with the TPMS valves (it's for an Evora). Thanks!

Gave the Evora a wash and polish today as the missus and nipper are away at the grandparents for a few days. Front splitter now installed courtesy of Alfa2Evora (thanks David). Adds a bit of bite to the front which I think it needed.

That's quite a blinkered view IMO and you're dismissing some fine cars because of it.