S7 EXG

After almost 12mths and 6k miles I have now sold my Evora. To a dealer by the way after 6 weeks of it being on a forecourt on SOR. Why? To drive, the Evora was great. A superb blend of mile-muncher and sports car. My trip to Spa and the trackday that followed proved it could keep much more expensive machines honest and was very fit for purpose. But it wasn't fit for purpose in many other respects and the overall ownership experience was not up to scratch. Many early teething problems were sorted with help and correspondence from members on here, so thanks for sharing your feedback. I am sure build quality has much improved on later cars. Whilst the car was mechanically A1, gremlins experienced were - central locking breaking - Alpine system - what a load of total crap, really. - Heater / aircon poor and certainly not appropriate for a car of this price level. No climate control?? - gearbox - ropey in general. Dangerous on occasion, would baulk on 2 ->3rd shifts when accelerating using full rev range. IE overtaking. Just what you need! Also did this under cornering ie country roads / trackdays - frightening tyre wear - kids ~(at least 0->2yrs) do NOT fit i the rear as the recommended Lotus seat means no legroom in front. In a nutshell it was not possible for my wife and I to be in the car with our 2yr old in the back. i am sure older kids on booster seats are fine though. - Leaks. Despite numerous visits to the dealer, service bulletins and attempts to fix, the damn thing leaked when parked on a camber (ie, every night) and it rained. - and whilst all these things were looked at by the dealer with support from Lotus where necessary, the whole schlep of having the car taken here there and everywhere frankly peed me off. With winter and the Evora S looming frankly I could not be bothered with the hassle of a steamed up, cold, damp car every day that chucked water on my feet when I open the doors. Although we can look at %age price residual value performance and say it's good, the bid/ offer spread was greater than any other performance car I have owned including a Gallardo over the same period / mileage in part due it seems to little interest from second hand buyers at the moment. Cheap motoring it is not. So in summary - for me the highlights failed to compensate for the low points. If I lived in Scotland and was able to drive your fabulous roads I hope that balance would change. As a 1-size fits all car, it does not approach 911 levels of usability, practicality, residuals etc and that's a shame. In fact if any journalists had been as refreshingly honest as Chris Harris in his Evo column this month I wonder if I would have bought it at all! So I wish you luck and enjoyment from your cars and thanks again for the help from other members. I have now owned 340r, 240r and evora so maybe another lotus in the future. For now, a Fiat 500 Abarth for commuting and Trackclub membership beckon.

You have clarity here- lotus cars warranties the car, not the dealer. I would independently ask lotus in addition to your dealer to give you the complete answer. While i think lotus should get owners views on this in the era of 7yr road car warranties and performance car warranties that don't void with track use, in think it's a difficult area. So much depends on the skill of the driver and mechanical sympathy rather than parts on their own. Buzzing an engine leading to drive train failure could not reasonably be manufacturer liability, but at the other end of the scale, drivers/ sports cars sold on the basis of their overall performance must be able. To sustain driving outside the legal road speed limits and the like It would be an interesting test case if lotus rejected a warranty claim on drive train after track use with all the public pronouncement and evidence of track- honed ability.

is this a new website? http://www.lotusevora.com/en-gb/showroom

"Unfortunately we have placed the advisory sheet for our policy for track and competition use (which applies only to Elise and Exige) into some handbook packs in error, Thus, we can confirm that any track use will invalidate the Evora warranty." "We can only sincerely apologise for any confusion this may have caused and thank you again for bringing this to our attention" Lotus Customer Services and Warranty Manager. Which, as per MB1 and my earlier post, I find disappointing given the brand and type of car, but however cannot surprise to any owner who had read the very clear language in the car's booklets. You have been warned! I would agree though with Bibs that your dealer is your friend...........

probably - AS WOULD PILOT SPORT CUPS A LA M3 OR EVEN AO42 but I ONLY NEEDED 2 REARS - RUN RATE FOR FRONTS SEEMS ABOUT DOUBLE LIFE OF REARS, NOT UNUSUAL FOR A REAR DRIVER

which is interesting as all the parts on that scan Bibs that are recommend fitting for competition use relate to the exige - chassis brace = toyota subframe, toe links, oil coolers (not additionally available for the evora) and accusump. not at all obvious that the letter relates to the evora and rather jars with the repetition in all the owners manuals that track use invalidates warranty which are numerous: Page 12 of the main manual Driving controls / technical data / warranty book is quite explicit, wording posted by Al. This is repeated in the separate warranty booklet page 5, section 2, 'intended purpose' and is very explicit.Furthermore, Section 7, page 9 "obligations of owners' goes to relinquish obligations under warranty "if the vehicle is used for commercial service, or off road, including on a track, whether in a competition or otherwise, or for racing or reliability trials, or in a competitive manner, including timed laps or runs" All of which is total c*ck of course for a car which is 1) a lotus, a company which offers track based driver training in it's own products and 2) has plentiful advertising relating to it's track prowess including dealers showing top gear and 5th gear reviews on looped tape and much footage of the car pounding round Hethel I shall formally ask for clarity as it would certainly influence my decision about taking the car on track.

In normal road driving I rarely see the gauge rise above the half way point. In very hard driving, when high ambient temp eg >25C, have seen it almost at the 3/4 point. All is well.

track? In an Evora? With that warranty wording? Don't be ridiculous. You might be surprised to hear I believe it can keep a GT3 honest.

No issues as described but do have an occasional problem changing 2to 3 in full attack ie overtaking. The box balks badly and revs do not want to drop which means a graumch. Under all other normal conditions I have not had any problems. Clearly losing drive and speed when fully committed to an overtake isn't great!

and to conclude - I have had 2 new rears fitted locally and supplied as per mytyres link on here at pretty much half dealer cost. They are exactly the same in every respect - I checked closely. Thanks to the advice of folks on here that's nearly £400 saved.

I covered 750 miles UK -> Belgium -> UK this weekend and stashed my trusty tom tom in my bag just in case. In fact the alpine nav worked better than ever. I believe the crux of the problem in navigation is that it is too slow to react when at speed, recalc route, or in the urban jungle. Out on the highway it's just fine. As for the radio - in London it's fine. Travelling around less so. Abroad I just use itunes from my iphone. A new respect found. Crank up the volume and it does a passable impression of an expensive audio system. It's really not that tricky to use once you have basic setups sorted out - ie speed camera warnings on / off etc.

No disadvantage at all but if it is an ex dealer demo check the isofix was retro fitted and tbd c locking parts have been updated. Frankly avfully loaded car that is run in at a good price is a no brainer to me. I don't think dealers typically allow cars to be ragged And you could always ask for a evu check to ensure no silliness if that helped your decision. IMHO the engine lisens up very nicely with use and 3 to 4 k miles. Get the deal done with the inclusion of lotus sports exhaust. I do not believe there have been gearbox changes despite autocat mentioning upgrade to the shift but someone may know mire officialy.

So the summary of all this then is don't bother with oem replacements at twice the price. Good news for everyone.

News just in. Tyres are on backorder at the factory so I can't get the 'right thing' fitted anyway. handy that. I think the difference here is going to be about the compound choice. Oem is m01compound which I do not think is available from retailers. (jaws the link appreciated and sent to dealer but I think those are m0) More investigation to follow. I think I'd trade a bit of grip for durability at half cost!

Curioser and curioser.,thanks again. Ball is back in dealers court. Indeed if they are the same - could another owner do an eyeball check please I am away on hols- then plainly there will be some discussion about the bill!