Collection Day Nightmare - 6 mile review

[Escape]

I always had a thing for the 928 growing up. Then I did some work on one, a 1985 I think. So naturally took it for a test drive. It was quite a disappointment, feeling heavy and cumbersome, certainly compared to a Lotus but also no better than my XJS. And the cabin felt cluttered, not special. I did like the rear hatch and practical boot. And of course the V8 was nice, as they always are. 8-) The transaxle is well thought-out and build as well. Certainly not a bad car, just not my cup of tea.

[Bruss]

12 hours ago, jep said:

Good stuff @Whitey. Lotus is the plural of Lotus ☺️

Evora NA is a true great.

Justin 

Lotus' surely.

 

 

[jep]

Absolutely not. 

[Escape]

[exeterjeep]

31 minutes ago, Bruss said:

Lotus' surely.

 

 

Letter I got from Lotus in the 90's had Loti as the plural.

 

[jep]

GM madness. M for modified probably 

[Bruss]

2 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

Letter I got from Lotus in the 90's had Loti as the plural.

 

The 90's, Loti.  😃

 

 

[fflyingdog]

All you need now is a CAI and decat pipe and sports exhaust system.....it unleashes alot of smiles. 

[Bruss]

Ok I have to admit I was wrong with my 'S.

Apparently The letter you got from Lotus was Lotus' letter or Lotus's letter. Either can be correct.

The two or more Lotus were in fact two Lotuses.

[Phaeton91]

23 hours ago, Rambo said:

It would be the Evora, or any other Lotus I have at the time (currently 2x M100 Elan's) anyday of the week.

And I guarantee that would apply to the majority of Lotus lovers on TLF. Why have champagne and drink prosecco?

 

I get that and yes, why have champagne and drink prosecco, but as someone else mentioned in this thread too much of a good thing (popularity of Porsches) diminishes the sense of occasion. Maybe I’m a little too stoic, but would definitely prefer to “drive” the car than use it as mere transport.

On the Porsche debate, my son works for them and always suggested I got one.  Friends of mine have them too, and I don’t think it’s reasonable to say they are bad cars.  There are plenty of 996’s that were poser cars, but my friend’s 996 turbo is still a phenomenal car and can eat the Nurburgring.  Two friends have the GT3 and GTS.  In one case, a 9000 red line and the other 7500, both manuals.  I honestly can’t say they are boring cars - competent yes, but not boring.  

I still love my Evora more  and there’s the beauty of cars; something for everyone.

For the shops though, I choose my Suzuki swift. I don’t mind parking it in a tight spot and the stereo’s better!

Edited February 20, 2023 by Phaeton91
Grammar!

[Barrykearley]

I’d recommend avoiding Prosecco. It’s a slippy slope

[hamza]

On 19/02/2023 at 19:51, Rambo said:

It would be the Evora, or any other Lotus I have at the time (currently 2x M100 Elan's) anyday of the week.

And I guarantee that would apply to the majority of Lotus lovers on TLF. Why have champagne and drink prosecco?

 

So I literally make that choice quite frequently. I have a 2010 Evora NA and we also have X5 4.8is and Mini Cooper S parked up easily accessible. 

In the above scenario, I very rarely choose the Evora. I love driving it, it is my "daily" car... but... for that 2 min trip where I need to be sure I can park up somewhere where it won't get dinged... where it won't take twice as long to find a parking space I feel happy leaving it in, where I can park it and actually open the door wide enough to get out (and as my short trips often involve taking my kids somewhere, where they can get out too)... its just not worth the hassle.

The Mini is much more practical, heck even the X5 is easier to park.

Having said that, even if its a 2 min drive (well more like 10 usually) but I know the parking is not an issue at the other end (like dropping the kids to scouts/ weekend activities quite often)... then absolutely its the Lotus that comes out to play and even the kids prefer it.

[Escape]

8 hours ago, Bruss said:

Ok I have to admit I was wrong with my 'S.

Apparently The letter you got from Lotus was Lotus' letter or Lotus's letter. Either can be correct.

The two or more Lotus were in fact two Lotuses.

Ermm, no. Read the official bulletin I posted, from when Colin was still in charge no less. No point in debating things or trying to apply general grammar, the man's word has to be final when it comes to his life's work.

[Bruss]

Err Just because CC didn't follow English as she is spoken doesn't make his every word right. His final word on many subjects outside of engineering could be challenged I think.

 

[Escape]

Lotus with a capital L is not a regular noun, but a name. "the semantic distinctiveness of names is matched by a syntax distinct from that of nouns;" (Oxford Academy)

I'm not saying Colin's ideas should never be challenged. Even about engineering as our knowledge advances and brings new insights. I just think we should respect his wishes when it comes to the name of his brainchild. Personally I prefer the Latin inspired 'Loti', but I've never used it after reading the official statements.

[Rambo]

18 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

I’d recommend avoiding Prosecco. It’s a slippy slope

OMG, was the rubber glove needed to find the other end of the Prosecco bottle? 💩

[C8RKH]

16 hours ago, Bruss said:

Err Just because CC didn't follow English as she is spoken doesn't make his every word right

Language is gender neutral - so "as it is spoken" please. Thank you.

[Rambo]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Language is gender neutral.

A bit like all of us living in Scotland these days 🤔

[Barrykearley]

4 hours ago, Rambo said:

OMG, was the rubber glove needed to find the other end of the Prosecco bottle? 💩

That’s 10-11 days worth of empties that I never saw the wife drink 

[andydclements]

4 hours ago, Rambo said:

OMG, was the rubber glove needed to find the other end of the Prosecco bottle? 💩

That assumes it was a bottle, not magnum, Jeroboam, Methuselah...  the list goes on

Just now, Barrykearley said:

That’s 10-11 days worth of empties that I never saw the wife drink 

All I can say to that  is, Wow. 

I am glad for your sake and that of your kids that you're out of that situation. But, there's a whole discussion on that and we're not going to blur the topics.

[Niffty951]

I feel like this is the place to put in my 500+ mile review. Now I've got more accustomed to the car and annoyingly made the nice silver brakes it came with go blue.

The Evora has really thrown me. I've driven and owned many cars: Japanese, German and English. I feel like I've honed my tastes, moulded and sculpted over time to come to the conclusion that Porsche make the greatest cars that balance all the important elements. They are built to be driven, they are tough and put up with the punishment and they are rewarding in the feedback they give to the driver.

Of all those cars, the 996 C2 gave me some of the most memorable drives, it could really get on song, in tune with the road, moving around yet stable and reassuring. Now, each time I drive the Lotus, in so many ways it feels like it's surpassing those fond memories. The suspension is so soft and flowing, even better than non-m030. It makes light work over broken surfaces. Yet when you throw it into a turn at speed, it feels even sharper that my 996 turbo on Ohlins. It surpasses at both ends of the scale on suspension. Then the engine, the performance is so taught, free of any slack. You ask it to go and it leaps to your command like a whip crack! The performance is noticably stronger than a C2, you 'just' get that slight feeling of fury you get from a proper fast car, but it doesn't eat gears in single mouthfuls like a turbo. You still get the time to enjoy each gear. The acceleration performance can't match a 996 turbo either, but under braking it'd kill it. It stops with actual brutality, scrubs off lumps of speed faster than you can process, you can always brake later!

To start with I was picturing it as a solid 996/997 C2 rival for pace, but once you start to get confident it's not going to let go and build the speed, then the aerodynamics start coming into play, pulling the car down too and you realise you were driving it at about 3/10ths of what it can actually do. The harder you push the Evora, the deeper you find it's talents. At low speeds the way it deals with rapid left-right turns feels like a 1970's rally car it feels like it's lifting the front inside wheel on every bend. Nimble, flexible and light. At high speed it feels heavy, solid, sucked down onto to the road. A 996 C4S has a Scaletrix, in a groove feel at speed. This feels closer to how I imagine a GT1 car might feel, the steering feels quite heavy, and the car resistant to changing line, yet intuitive and confidence inspiring. You still know where the limit is. It's bloody genius.

It feels like I've bought a racing car but slowly I think I'm realising I prefer this car for the joy of driving to a 996 and that's a real BIG problem. To come across this now, so late in my car journey. It makes me wonder, what else have I missed!

Edited March 3, 2023 by Niffty951

[MrBlueSky]

Very eloquent. 

I'm just going to have to get out there in my 410 tomorrow and remind myself.

[jerzybondov]

I completely agree Nifty. I had a 996 40 Jahre for 7 years (for those unfamiliar, it used to get described as half way from a Carrera to a GT3 - more power, MO30, LSD etc. Very close comparison to Evora S, same power (345bhp), 2+2, low-mid 30ks entry price)

Got it in 2015 - lovely car, drove brilliantly (once I’d had coffin arms, top mounts and full geo done). X51 engine and PSE properly raspy at the top end. Quick, too.

Then I got my Evora S and the Porsche suddenly felt very different. The Lotus made the 911’s steering feel wooden, ride rigid, brakes numb. And the Evora had way more torque too - more useful power more of the time.

I think driven with equal vigour on a bumpy British B-road, the Lotus would be disappearing out of sight after a couple of corners. The combination of steering feel, ride compliance and chassis stiffness means you intuitively have more confidence in the car and the grip you’ve got, as well as the superior brakes and shove out of corners.

I know this is a Lotus forum, but it wasn’t all one way traffic. Porsche more practical, more economical, better built. Perhaps a better daily? 😱 But as something that makes every drive special - the Lotus has got it every time. 

Which is why I’ve still got it and the Porsche got sold last year!

As an aside, I think you can see the difference in focus and purpose between the two cars when you see them side by side like this. 

 

[EGTE]

I too came from a 996 C2. The chocolate-engine stories eventually put me off it, but not before I'd put a second-hand set of Exe-TC 3-way-adjustable dampers on it, which many in the Porsche world considered the pinnacle of suspension available. My car was reviewed (twice) by the infamous CMoose in Pistonheads; he was staggered how good it was.

Like you Nifty, I had had many German performance cars.

Within a few hundred yards the Evora was just miles and miles ahead of them all.

I actually feel sorry for all the Porsche nuts out there that haven't/won't try an Evora (or any other Lotus), because they are definitely missing out!

[jep]

12 hours ago, Niffty951 said:

To come across this now, so late in my car journey. It makes me wonder, what else have I missed!

I was fortunate to discover Lotus road cars when I was 24 years old, a S1 Esprit. I haven't been without a Lotus since. 

I was also very fortunate that Lotus rediscovered entry level sports cars with the Elise S1 in 1996, at a time when I could indulge the genius that is that aluminium architecture. 

I've introduced Lotus to three chaps recently, formerly Porsche, Mercedes or BMW fans. Certainly from a driving point of view, they would all rather be in a Lotus now.

I hope you continue to enjoy your Lotus, the Evora will one day be widely recognised for the genius sports car it is.

Justin