Evora on Track

[Bibs]

I saw your car! I was there with a friend in his 911 GT3, amazing experience!

The S2000 looked like a write off, the damage went to the a-pillars and on an S2000 that's a lot of the car. Another pal in his Z4M caught him on video at the side of the track, any accident near the foxhole is going to be serious.

[MB1]

Wasn't a big guy with a white GT3 was it??

I saw the guy with the red Z4M, he was chatting to my mate Jonny (very modified NA Exige)

[Bibs]

That was me chatting to Jonny having just had a few passenger laps in the Z4M! Jonny has joined up on here now, his car is lovely and I thought very tastefully modded although he did sound like he'd have liked a supercharger!

http://www.thelotusf...se-at-the-ring/

[Mykadams]

;-)

[MB1]

Very nice!

Did your roof come in that colour or did you have it painted afterwards? Looke better now.

Bibs, I know who you are now

[Bibs]

I asked about what I posted above to Lotus, this is their response.

"This sheet only applies to Elise/Exige only and should not havebeen placed in the Evora handbook pack. To confirm, any track use willinvalidate the new vehicle warranty.We have addressed this error with immediate effect on all newEvora leaving the Factory and we can only sincerely apologise for any confusioncaused by this mis-communication."

From what I've heard however Lotus are pretty good with warranties so long as you are not taking the pee there's a solid chance that they'll be interested in talking to you should you have a problem even if you do take the car on track and the problem isn't directly related to being driven too hard/too often kinda idea. That quote is the official company line, real life experience seems to differ and Lotus are keen to look after their customers.

[MB1]

Unlike Nissan and the GTR!

I'm even surprised to hear Lotus mentioning track inspections though, and denying warranty on the Evora is a big thumbs down. Like Porsche, they sell cars on the basis that they should be good for track use out of the box.

Edited July 26, 2010 by MB1

[S7 EXG]

"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...........

Edited July 26, 2010 by S7 EXG

[Justin182]

What a disgrace. I'm going to speak to my dealer tomorrow.

[Mykadams]

My dealer invites me every year for the Lotus Day on Spa that he organize. I'll be there for the next edition... Why does he invite all his customers every year if they loose the warranty with trackdays?

Edited July 27, 2010 by Mykadams

[Tim Raven]

I'm really sad to read this, I've been hovering on purchasing a used Evora for many months, keeping a constant vigil on the web to try to pick up a balanced picture of what they are really like. I'm retired, and a really enthusiastic track driver, I too was at the 'Ring last Monday in an old and rather lightened 944. Loss of warrantee, kills the car stone dead for me, I wonder if its the Avensis Diesel gearbox that causes the problem, I noticed that on the Motor Trend website, that they broke the gearbox doing performance runs, and I believe the car had to be retired after lapping the 'Ring at the Lotus Day last year with gearbox problems ?

I was at the BRDC Silverstone event yesterday, and Lotus Silverstone had some cars running on track during the afternoon, and some static display cars. I have to say the static cars interiors didn't look awfully well made, the leatherwork is really not a £50K car quality, and I noticed that the rear footwell carpets were very damp, and musty. I guess this is why there are so many nearly new ones for sale on Pistonheads ?

Sorry,

Tim

[Bibs]

I too was at the 'Ring last Monday in an old and rather lightened 944.

A blue one on slicks? If so, that's a ridiculously fast car!

As I mentioned, if you track the car and that's all it's used for and then expect engine/gearbox replacements under warranty I think you'll struggle, it's hard to think of a car with such a generous warranty. If your stereo stops working (very likely!) or the windows play up, Lotus will more than likely still talk to you about this.

[bingoking]

......and I believe the car had to be retired after lapping the 'Ring at the Lotus Day last year with gearbox problems ?

Tim

I had forgotten that.

The car had done approximately 20 laps in the hands of Matt Becker, and he wasn't hanging around. He only slowed down and stopped to change passengers and to refuel. My wife was the last person to get the Taxi ride before the car retired unable to select first gear.

There were still a few people waiting for taxi laps so Matt jumped into the Exige 260Cup from the factory and did a number of laps in that. After the event when the Evora gearbox had cooled down both cars left to head back to the Factory.

[Tim Raven]

Thank you for your kind comments toward my old 944, it was actually on very worn Toyo 888's. It has 199bhp at the wheels, but the chassis is so amazing I can exploit all of the horsepower most of the time, in the true Lotus tradition ! I have also wasted many years driving around and around in circles on that magic road in the Eiffel, and now race there in the VLN Series.

I've been lucky enough to own a number of new Lotus, but the Evora, I just don't know. The massive press adulation raised serious questions for me, particularly the rave reviews in Autocar, the lap time at Goodwood in the Track Car of the year was really poor, little better than a standard Porsche 968 had managed on the same track to win the Track Car title back in 1992, it just doesn't make any sense to me !

[Justin182]

I've emailed my dealer to clarify. I won't be happy if we're not allowed on track.

[S7 EXG]

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.

Edited July 28, 2010 by S7 EXG

[Justin182]

I've mailed the dealer. Good point about the factory aswell. Have not heard back yet

[guillaume92]

A lap at Haute Saintonge in France :

http://guillaumelecerf.free.fr/Evora/Evora/Film_1.html

http://guillaumelecerf.free.fr/Evora/Evora/Film_2.html

About work on track with the Evora, no problem with brakes but gearbox is too long and bad staged.

It's a GT, not a race car but it's funny to test limits with it

[Justin182]

Not heard back from my dealer yet...

Also, superb vid^

Edited August 11, 2010 by Justin182

[MB1]

Tim, did I meet you at Spa a couple of weeks back? I was in the S2000 again!

[Justin182]

Finally got an email back from the factory...

---

Gents,

 

Evora handbook is very clear.

 

Nothing to stop you using the car on track, but if it breaks, it will NOT be covered.

 

A4 advisory sheet only applicable to 'small car', placed in handbook pack in error by Vehicle Despatch. Now corrected.

 

Printed handbook overrules, poorly photocopied A4 sheet that isn't even on headed paper.

 

Thanks

 

Neil.

---

[Beady]

Disgraceful is the only word i can come up with.

The odd track day should not invalidate a warranty on a car such as this.

perhaps we (all purchasers) should all write in to lotus to express our disappointment.....

[Bibs]

Printed handbook overrules, poorly photocopied A4 sheet that isn't even on headed paper.

That would make a judge chuckle if someone takes Lotus to court over a warranty claim!

[Justin182]

Disgraceful is the only word i can come up with.

The odd track day should not invalidate a warranty on a car such as this.

perhaps we (all purchasers) should all write in to lotus to express our disappointment.....

Paul, not sure if you seen the reply I got from the factory. It won't void the warranty

[Beady]

Justin

the reply said if you use it on track and it breaks it will not be covered.

Thats what i was referring to.

My view is that a car like this should be perfectly ok for use on 'ocassional' trackdays and the manufacturer should cover this