Top Gear Magazine Evora S 2010 Article

[Celica]

Tidying up and found an old Top Gear Magazine article 

 

[jep]

911 and hedge fund managers - appropriate, as the hedge is where many a rear engine Porsche ends up. 

[EGTE]

They always say "interior not as good as a Porsche". Speaks volumes about them and most modern 'drivers'; it's all about the bling/badge, not the drive. 

[philcool]

Just seems everyone on here has a hatred for porsche and the people who drive them ?

Personally I've driven loads from boxsters Caymans 911 and macans and there ok just different to Lotus even serviced a few and the pdk gearboxes are cracking 

Even went in the Exige to a Porsche open day with no official invite and to be fare they let me in and parked up with the rest of them and had a good laugh 

Just my experience that's all 

[C8RKH]

1 minute ago, philcool said:

Just seems everyone on here has a hatred for porsche and the people who drive them ?

Not true at all to be honest and plenty on here defend Porsche and like Porsche cars.

You need to really read the comments, from people like me and others, to understand what we are riling against rather than play the usual "everyone's out to bugger me card".

There are two sets of "hater" comments if you like that I see prevalent on here and that I myself am guilty of peddling on here.

The first, is that there is a definite perception (but remember, ones perception is ones reality) amongst some (including me) that many Porsche owners are not really interested in driving, but just want to join the club and have the badge - bragging rights / look at me I have a Porsche/ etc.  Whilst this absolutely does not cover every single Porsche owner, it covers a large number in many peoples experience and that experience has included a sense of the Porsche owner feeling superior to / looking down on, owners of perceived lesser brands including Lotus.

 

The second, is that there is now a sufficient body of evidence out there to prove (in my very humble opinion) that journalists/magazines are perpetuating a myth around Porsche superiority/total dominance and that this is further strengthened by the brand disengaging with journalists/publications that deviate from a defined line.

 

Remember, by and large, TLF is a forum for Lotus fans and owners first, enthusiastic drivers/owners of cars second.  So why do people on here get surprised at a bias towards Lotus over something like a Porsche? I don't imagine you go on many Porsche enthusiasts forums to see them so enthusiastically supporting and lauding Lotus cars for instance.

Personally, I have no interest in performance SUV's, be they Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini etc.  I have little interest in the earlier Caymans or Boxsters as quite frankly, to me, they looked like something designed by Proton or Rexton and I can only surmise they sold BECAUSE of the Porsche badge, certainly not on looks.  It was hard sometimes to tell the difference on those early cars between the front and back! The only cars from Porsche I have ever really looked at in any detail where the GT sports cars - whether a GT3, GT4 etc and of course the Porsche CUP racing cars.  These to me are REAL cars, the others in the Porsche range are for hair dressers, accountants and dentists - just for show!  It's just how I regard Porsche personally.

The only time I really looked at a Boxster and thought, wow, actually, that looks like a car to own was the Gen 718.  In fact, at £50k new for one in Guards Red I could well see myself with one as a Daily Driver!  Wow!  Who'd have thought that....   I'd consider it whereas I would not consider an Elise 220/240/250 as a Daily Driver. And at roughly half the price of an Evora GT410, well, you can see why people buy them. I'd take the piss out of myself for buying one and probably put a L'Oreal or Babyliss hair dryers badge on the back (how cool would a hair dryer "track map" be!) and leave a pair of high heels in the passenger footwell.  Just to give ME a giggle every time I got into it. I guess my worry would be I'd enjoy it so much I'd end up going the whole hog with hormone therapy and a couple of minor ops to complete the image (oh, and a decent wig a la Jaclyn Smith of the original Charlie's Angels).

 

 

[Kimbers]

1 hour ago, philcool said:

Just seems everyone on here has a hatred for porsche and the people who drive them ?

 

I have absolutely no hatred for Porker Owners. We all need hairdressers!

[jerzybondov]

Well I've got a 996 and an Evora - as an owner of both I can see why journalists comment the way they do on the two brands. The Porsche is 7 years older and 30k miles further down the road than my Evora (which is a decent example) but it still looks and feels 'newer'. There is a precision to every part of the engineering on a Porsche which isn't perhaps shared by Lotus - where that precision engineering tends to only extend to the chassis dynamics, which admittedly knock the Porsche into a cocked hat.

And it's not just about compromises being made for lightness - the 996 (40 Jahre) has exactly the same power output as the Lotus and manages to weigh 75kg less. 

Anyway, love them both, in different ways

[Celica]

8 minutes ago, jerzybondov said:

Well I've got a 996 and an Evora - as an owner of both I can see why journalists comment the way they do on the two brands. The Porsche is 7 years older and 30k miles further down the road than my Evora (which is a decent example) but it still looks and feels 'newer'. There is a precision to every part of the engineering on a Porsche which isn't perhaps shared by Lotus - where that precision engineering tends to only extend to the chassis dynamics, which admittedly knock the Porsche into a cocked hat.

And it's not just about compromises being made for lightness - the 996 (40 Jahre) has exactly the same power output as the Lotus and manages to weigh 75kg less. 

Anyway, love them both, in different ways

Any photos of them side by side 

[C8RKH]

9 minutes ago, jerzybondov said:

There is a precision to every part of the engineering on a Porsche which isn't perhaps shared by Lotus

I doubt anyone would "doubt" that statement is correct. But remember, Porsche has scale and volume at a level way beyond what Lotus could dream of and therefore Lotus needs to target where it "spends" it's resources.  Porsche still dips into the general VAG parts bin just like Lotus dips into everyone elses parts bins!

 

[jerzybondov]

Funny you should ask...  

Very interesting comparing the two cars, as a 40 Jahre will cost you just about the same as a nice Evora S. Design language very different between the two - Lotus definitely more aggressive, Porsche more classical / elegant. 

Performance wise in absolute terms they're much of a muchness, both 345hp, Porsche a bit lighter but Lotus has more torque. the Porsche being naturally aspirated comes on song at high revs, Lotus has more shove at lower rpms but then doesn't progress so much up the rev range. Porsche a bit slipperier so has higher top speed of 180mph. 

In terms of space, practicality, economy the Porsche wins easily. 

In terms of sheer outright driving dynamics the Lotus wins easily. On a twisty bumpy B-road I think I'd leave the Porsche behind pretty quickly. And amazingly, the ride is much better despite 19/20inch wheels vs 18 inch wheels, the Lotus can deal with speed bumps much better than the Porsche. Important in London.

As an ownership proposition - the 40 Jahre is now appreciating. Evora prices stable, may appreciate in a few years. 996 engines have a bad rep, have to be a bit wary of borescore at higher miles. For once, who'd have thought the Lotus would be bombproof when it comes to engine reliability? 🤣 But the Porsche doesn't have the silly stuff going wrong like the Lotus does, air con works, window motors don't fail at a cost of £700 etc. 

 

[Kimbers]

@jerzybondovLiving in London how are you not constantly having to repaint the sides from all the keying you get?

And there's one more thing you haven't mentioned. Looks! That last picture for me is like chalk and cheese. The Lotus looks new, modern and sexy and the Porsche looks old and dated IMHO.

[jerzybondov]

Lol, the cars live on a quiet side road - I haven't been keyed in London since my Mini got keyed about 15 years ago, in a ropier area too. 

Looks are (obviously) subjective - there are times when I look at the two cars and have exactly the same opinion you just expressed. The Lotus is mini-supercar, the Porsche grown up Beetle. And other times I think the Lotus looks fussy and the Porsche just looks cleaner and classier. Girls seem to think the Porsche looks better, FWIW 🤣

[C8RKH]

1 minute ago, jerzybondov said:

Girls seem to think the Porsche looks better, FWIW 🤣

Nope - they just assume you are going through the usual middle aged mid-life crisis and so will be a honey trap for them to exploit!  

[PAR]

Not my experience. 

Nobody notices Porsches in London, there are more in my street than Golf.

 

 

 

 

[Bruss]

40 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

Nope - they just assume you are going through the usual middle aged mid-life crisis and so will be a honey trap for them to exploit!  

Don’t we just throw our keys with the fob of choice on the bar anymore?

[Yan]

Personally I've never liked the look of the 911 and all current Porsches have the same design language. But that's just opinion.

What is objective though is I drove a near new 991.2 GT3 RS and its TPMS was faulty. Kept beeping at me even though tyre pressure measured and correct. So much for build quality.

Ironically, when people hear road noise in a GT3 RS they think it's cool cos it's a stripped out racer for the road. When they hear the same road noise in an Exige it's because Lotus cheaped out. This is what irks me. Its the perception that Porsche can do no wrong. They're great cars, but they don't seem to come up against the same criticisms of other manufacturers when it comes to journalist write ups, which then influence the weak minded who just buy the latest cool thing.

[Kimbers]

Chris Harris is a classic with that. porker and Ferrari can do no wrong.

[TdM]

I think the fact that a lot of us have cross-shopped with a Porsche and then bought a Lotus probably suggests we aren't huge fans... But for me I don't like the looks that much of any of them (except the true classic cars) and I don't really like the interiors of them either, even if they are better bolted (glued/velcroed in the Lotus case) together. They also don't ride as nicely.

However, if I was a sensible minded person, I'd probably buy the Porsche as well. It's more practical, easier to live with, parts are more available, easy to sell and less attention-worthy which means you don't get stared at everywhere you go... But I'm not very sensible so...

 

[Doug Ashley]

6 hours ago, C8RKH said:

The second, is that there is now a sufficient body of evidence out there to prove (in my very humble opinion) that journalists/magazines are perpetuating a myth around Porsche superiority/total dominance and that this is further strengthened by the brand disengaging with journalists/publications that deviate from a defined line.

This is the only thing which irks me about Porsche, seemingly every Lotus review sings the praises of the Lotus, but includes some kind of caveat steering the reader toward a Porsche.  I find it very hard to believe most motoring journalists are impartial.

The defining factor for me is that I've driven two 911s in the last decade (a 993 and a 997), and I can barely remember them.  Capable cars though I'm sure, and in a way I'm glad the masses largely go for them because I now have a rare beast indeed 😎

[EGTE]

What gets my goat is that all the Porsches I've had (996 C2, 996 Turbo, 944 Turbo and Panamera Turbo) all turned out to be way less reliable and far costlier to run than the Evora has been; all quite significantly so, in fact.  Only just dodged a 10K gearbox replacement on the Panamera because the immobiliser cut in, stopping the car before the gearbox oil leaked to zero from a failed oil cooler!

Yet the Porsches are the "better made" cars?  Hmmm, superficially maybe, but not mechanically. 

[PaulCP]

I know 2 people in the VX community who both have Caymans and have attended local P meets etc. 
Their verdict, “the car is good & happy with it but most of the owners are knobs”

[Kimbers]

For me it's all about that word "Charisma".

I look at the Evora and Smile. Lets face it McLaren Copied the design so it must be good!

I sit in the Evora and that view, engine behind me and in the mirrors, that flaired wing...oh lordy.

I turn the key and she burbles into life and I smile

I warm her up and talk to her, stroking the soft Alcantara and I grin

Then I press that little Sport button and ............ I can't stop grinning.

For me Lotus has never been about the best finish or the best ride and handling. Its not about the Price or the innovation or design. Its not even the fact that my Dad had a hand in her design and that I have felt that Lotus is Home since I was 5 years old. 

It's that indefinable "Charisma". Its just the way it makes me feel. The way it smells. The way I have given her a personality. It's a mix of everything. And it makes me smile every time I get in her no matter how long I have had her!

[Bruss]

I hate to disagree with the Kimber heritage but the ride and handling is THE reason I continually drive Lotus. It is simply what I judge all others by.

 

[mg4lotus]

Just had to re-read that and make sure you were talking about the car and not the mrs.

[C8RKH]

1 minute ago, Bruss said:

I hate to disagree with the Kimber heritage but the ride and handling is THE reason I continually drive Lotus. It is simply what I judge all others by.

 

I don't think you are disagreeing, just embellishing in a positive way.