will_warne

Interesting - I never knew that!

The bumpers on the Sport 410 and GT410 (both Sport and non-Sport) aren't really comparable - the Sport 410 is based on the 400 style bumpers, with the black lip on the 400 done in carbon on the Sport 410. The GT410 (both Sport and non-Sport) use the GT430 style bumpers, but not in full carbon. It is these revised, GT430 style, bumpers that give the revised aerodynamics (and increased downforce). The family tree is not straightforward - as mentioned by @EGTE and @Whitey, the GT410 (non-Sport) is much more similar in spec to the 400. It is probably easier to think of the family like this: Evora 400 --->---> Sport 410 --->---> GT410 Sport GT430 --->(styling)↗️↘️ Evora 400 --->--->--->--->--->--->--->--->GT410 (non-sport)

My understanding (supported by Deroure) is that the springs are the same, and the drop in ride height is down to the change in height of the spring platform on the 410 spec dampers vs the 400 spec dampers.

Here's a quick rundown in chronological order, taking the 400 as a baseline: Sport 410 (compared to the 400) - added carbon (roof, boot lid, access panel, lip on front bumper etc), lighter forged wheels, stiffer dampers, 2+0 seating only, Exige seats, possible mild remap vs the 400 to liberate the extra 10bhp, Li ion battery, door cards with no arm rests. GT410 Sport (compared to the Sport 410) - added GT430 style bumpers (but in GRP, rather than full carbon), option of Sparco seats (almost always ticked), option of 2+2 seating (with either Evora 400 wheels or GT430 wheels), option of Ohlins suspension (never seen one with these fitted), option of carbon 'diffuser', option of a 'touring' suspension pack (which was the Evora 400 setup). Slightly revised engine map vs at least the 400. GT410 - effectively an Evora 400 with GT410 sport front and rear bumpers (ie no carbon roof, tailgate etc) and a slightly revised engine map. Just to confuse things, there was the option of 'sports' suspension (the Sport 410 / GT410 Sport setup).

A mate of mine, who a long term owner of a modified S160 Elise and had a 981 Cayman GT4 for about 4 years, recently drove my Evora GT410 Sport. He loved the Evora and had a MASSIVE smile on his face after driving it. In summary, he reckoned that the Evora felt like a 'giant Elise' that was more special and much more of an occasion than the GT4. He reckoned the steering gave far better feedback and the suspension was much more supple (he also reckoned that the GT4 wasn't great on track out of the box and FAR too heavy). One other comment that really surprised me is that he reckoned that the Cayman very much felt like a car that weighted twice as much as an Elise whereas the Evora didn't - I would agree with that. In terms of how special the engine was, he reckoned there wasn't much in it - the 981 GT4 engine is just a Carrera S lump and he felt it wasn't that fantastic and, although the Evora engine is just a Camry lump with a supercharger, it sounds VERY good. In terms of how good the Evora is, mine is a replacement for a heavily modified S1 Elise (215bhp on Jenvey throttle bodies, close ratio gearbox, Nitron suspension, quick steering rack, upgraded brakes, etc) - I owned that for 16 years, made all the modifications to it and loved it very much. On a recent weekend away in Wales I was expecting to miss the Elise at times as it really was fantastic on the right roads. However, I was surprised that I really didn't!

Those look like Eibach springs (unsurprisingly as they are probably the biggest manufacturer of high quality coil over springs) - I've broken them before on my old S1 Elise running Nitrons. Unless the springs are really good at rebuild time, I would tend to treat them as a service item.

^^^ This! If you don't want / need 2+2 it's very much an option.

What spec are you ideally looking for? I think a few of the cars that were hanging around for a while have finally sold, so there's less out there at the moment...

^^^ This! It may be fine, depending on the spring rates and the intended use. At 35k this looks like a MASSIVE steal.

I was in Wales for the weekend and the car got its first proper outing. What a machine!!!! I was expecting there to be moments where I'd miss my old Elise but there genuinely weren't any - the chassis and steering on the Evora is incredible and it sounds amazing. I didn't even miss the angry bark of ITBs at 8000 rpm! It just feels such a special machine. At the other end of the scale, the car was much more pleasant for the journey there and back - put the exhaust into quiet mode and it is a very quiet and comfortable place to cruise on the motorway. It has such a massive operating window!

Having +2 was one of the big drivers for me - my GT410 Sport replaced a highly modified S1 Elise. The Elise was fantastic, but it didn't work with two young boys (3 and 6). While the space in the back isn't massive, it's certainly enough for a couple of little people! Auto v manual is very much down to preference. However, it sounds like the car is going to be a weekend one, so I'd have thought the manual is the one you want.

Here you go. Hardly taken any yet, given I only picked it up in December...

I looked at this one, and the green one with Silverstone before settling on my red one - mine is a very similar spec to the one in the link (including the carbon 'diffuser'), but with red rather than yellow calipers, and with ~9k on the clock. What ultimately swung it for me was that the car I got was much closer to me, and they were willing to come down more in price. While Motorsport Green is a lovely colour, the sums didn't stack up on the one Silverstone have as 1) I didn't want touring suspension (so that would need changing); and 2) I really wasn't keen on the black badges everywhere. It would have meant spending several thousand straight off, and it didn't seem worth it. The red also looks great, particularly with the wheels redone in gold 😎

Finally managed to collect the car earlier this week and I’m over the moon with it. My wife’s less convinced on the gold wheels, but I’ll hopefully win her around! I mean, how could you not like this???

So things may not have progressed quite as quickly as I'd hoped. However, a deal was done on a car a couple of weeks ago and I now just needing to find time to collect it. To say I'm excited is an understatement!

Almost certainly, but I need it to be 2+2 and I understand there is only one manual 2+2 GT430 in the UK, and the 2+0 to 2+2 conversion isn't really a viable option....

Thanks Phil! Your car does look lovely, I must say! Re price, it is difficult to know what people are actually paying - I've been keeping an eye on the market and I agree that it looks like the price has moved upwards from its lowest point 18-24 months ago. However, very few cars seem to sell quickly (unless priced low) and most seem to end up getting knocked down before they do go. Also, what people pay vs the sticker price is the $64k question!

Hi all, I'm hoping to join the club very shortly - I've owned an S1 Elise for nearly 16 years and heavily modified it in that time (~215bhp K series on throttle bodies, close ratio gearbox, Randy spec 46mm Nitrons, rose jointed wishbones, uprated ARB, quick ratio steering rack, ali belled brake discs, probax motorsports seats sourced directly from Lotus etc etc etc). It's been a blast but its now time to move on - with two young boys I really need the 2+2 and, as fantastic as the Elise is for a Sunday morning blast or a track day, I don't get much time for either of these. I now tend to get fewer, longer distance, trips (eg Wales for a weekend) and the Elise is rather hard work on the motorway... Anyway, I normally lurk around SELOC but I know there are more Evora owners on here, so I thought I would say "hi". I've currently got my eye on both the red car on with BAM specialist cars (https://www.bamspecialistcars.co.uk/used-lotus-evora-clay-cross-derbyshire-5140503) and the Essex blue one that went up yesterday with Caffyns (https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306068207835?advertising-location=at_cars&atmobcid=soc5&fromsra&include-delivery-option=on&make=Lotus&model=Evora&sort=most-recent). I feel the pricing on both of them is a little ambitious, but I would welcome other owners' views on this. Also, although I do really like Essex Blue, I'm a little concerned by the mileage of the blue car - 30k seems quite high and I don't really have a feel for how well these cars wear their mileage. From the video they have sent me it seems to be in decent shape but, again, I'd appreciate views any other owners have. I'm pretty flexible on colours, other than not wanting a car in black, white, silver or grey and, ideally, it would have the carbon rear diffuser. Once I do find a car, I've got a few plans... To start, the wheels will need to go silver (if they are not already) - I'm just not a fan of black wheels. I also want to partially paint the rear tailgate (in the same style as the 'Spy Who Loved Me' Evora) and also do the the number plate cut out above the diffuser in carbon (like the GT430 and the US GTs) - I just think that will make the back end look a little more cohesive. Initially I will probably see what results I can get with carbon effect vinyl. However, I suspect I will ultimately look to see if I can get it done in the real thing and may, at the same time, look to see if I can get the sail panel skinned to match (as best as possible) the roof and rear lid. I'm also quite keen on the GT430 cat scratches, so will probably look to get those added too. Longer term, I will probably look to add some more power and I'd be very tempted by some Ohlins TTXs.