TLF Lotus Evora Long Term Test

[Neal H]

I also really enjoyed the video, and thought it summed up quite nicely the reasons why I bought an Evora 400. I replaced both my daily driver and my 'toy' car to just have an Evora.

[Bibs]

FYI, facts of the day...

• There was no script or notes, we just ad-lib discussed the car while watching the video through a couple of times.
• That 9 mins of video is what's to show from about 50 hours of work. 
• I'm driving in all the moving shots (bar Hethel footage which Lotus gave us to use).
• TLF'er @Andrew Waite was driving the chase car for many shots, and it's his caravan park where I meet Neil's Mum for shoe money... 
• "It's not a Lamborghini, it's a Lotus" was a genuine comment I shouted at some kids the other side of the road who needed educating. We were just setting up a camera at the time.
• People in Tenterden don't care for sports cars, unless they're ginger, then they love them! 
• The sign which said '40' that I passed at about 70 doesn't count, since it was a Saturday. I think. 
• The final fete was my local village fete a month or so back.
• The house we pull up to at the end is mine. Really. (May be a lie, or a dream or something). 

Much credit must go to @Neil Reed who did all the filming, editing and clever stuff. It's his video at the end of the day, he's brilliant at this kind of thing - I'm just awesome at turning up. 

 

[Ccd]

JayEmm:

All good points.  Before I began my search, I assumed there would be lots of enticing used alternatives to a new Evora in the 400's price range.  That has turned out not to be the case.  The R8 is a fail on luggage space and an interior that is just too "low rent" for such an expensive car.  I actually prefer the interior of the TT RS to the R8.  The new R8 is supposed to be quite nice and the interior does look much better, but it is nearly identical to the new TT which costs almost a third as much.

And the shelf behind the seats is the kind of detail that drives me nuts about car designers.  The idea of a shelf behind the seats is a great idea...except that they didn't make it deep enough to be really useful (paricularly for taller drivers who would have the seat all the way back).  The result is that you get the worst of both worlds, a shelf of very limited utility that still manages to rob the front seat passengers of leg room.   Brilliant!!! lol!  

[JayEmm]

@Ccd I agree. With the new R8 I had hoped Audi might take the opportunity to distance the R8 from the TT... but they look closer than ever. A real shame I think, given VAG's enormous resources. 

[Ccd]

JayEmm,

They distanced the R8 from the TT in terms of price as it appears there will be no V8 option.  This supports the rumor of a new model, the R6, which would slot between the TT and the R8.  With a V10 only R8, there is plenty of room to slot a car between the TT and the R8. Rumors suggest that a R6 would be based on the next generation Cayman/Boxster platform and would allow VAG to spread development costs across both Porsche and Audi.  But all of this is purely speculative at the moment.  And given Audi's direction on transmissions, highly unlikely the car would have a manual transmission option.

The R6, if it ever gets to market, would likely compete with the Evora, at least in terms of price.  

[C8RKH]

9 minutes ago, Ccd said:

 

The R6, if it ever gets to market, would likely compete with the Evora, at least in terms of price.  

Yup. But being an Oooodi it would look like sh!te, just like the R8 in my eyes, a TT that has been on mild steroids. It would never compete with an Evora for me.

It's already getting hard to tell the A3, A4, A5, A6, A7 and A8 saloons apart, so TT, R6, R8 - just more of the same. Literally. For that reason. I'm out.

 

[JayEmm]

@C8RKH's opinions I rarely agree with, but totally with him on this one. I think ditching the V8 and the manual from the R8 was a sad move, but perhaps necessary as the old TTRS I think was faster than the V8 R8 anyway?

I really don't see space for an "R6" myself, I know there's technically room, but personally there looks to be a fag-paper between the TTRS and R8 anyway. I would expect most people buying the V8 R8 either went back to Porsche, or perhaps got an Aston. I remember when you could have an R8 V8, a 911 or a V8 Vantage for under £80k. How times change.

[JAWS]

I must say, @Bibs and @Neil Reed that is a great video. I was expecting it to be a right nerdfest but was pleasantly surprised how humourous, informative and well presented it was. The hours you guys put in certainly show. 

[Bibs]

Very kind. Thanks mate

[Barrykearley]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Yup. But being an Oooodi it would look like sh!te, just like the R8 in my eyes, a TT that has been on mild steroids. It would never compete with an Evora for me.

It's already getting hard to tell the A3, A4, A5, A6, A7 and A8 saloons apart, so TT, R6, R8 - just more of the same. Literally. For that reason. I'm out.

 

Much prefer the ALDI tt to the oooodi offering

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, JayEmm said:

@C8RKH's opinions I rarely agree with

I'm gutted @JayEmm, I thought we agreed on everything 

Great video @Bibs. Loved it. Specially the bit where you parked it up in Tenderton right outside the place with the 2 for 1 Pizza offer. No guessing where you had lunch?

The orange looks fantastic on a drab day - really sparks out. Super stuff.

 

[Bibs]

10 hours ago, blindside said:

Although not sure how you will ever get anywhere near 40 miles to the gallon during even mildly energetic driving.

Never has the internet phrase "YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary" been more appropriate. You'll see in the vid, the instant does dip to 4.8 and we do have footage of sub 3mpg but when you're reviewing the car you try all extremes of performance as well as the middle ground, including MPG, so you can have a balanced opinion of all aspects of the car. In my experience, driving on cruise, I saw an average of over 40mpg a few times on a journey. Other times, not so high...

 

[JayEmm]

I have to say I haven't seen anywhere close to 40mpg except on the "instant" counter. A high realistic average seems to me to be 33, but really I'd probably quote people "25-30". 

[CocoPops]

So far I'm at 150miles (from zero) and have used just over half tank... BUT...

Noise is addictive

Engine is tight

Limited to 4K rpm

Lots of gear changes

 

[JayEmm]

@CocoPops don't forget once you've got about 300-400 miles on it to start using the full rev range, briefly. It's actually recommended!

[Hawks]

Great video guys @Bibs.

I have been reading this forum for months with great interest, but joined today just so that I could comment on the Video. - As the other guys said, great style of delivery with the humour and detailed commentary.

I am hoping to be a Evora owner soon; after months of research, so I hope to add more comments later this year!

[Bibs]

Thanks Shaun and welcome! Happy shopping mate

[Bibs]

More than 17,000 views in just over a week between fb & yt!

[JayEmm]

52 minutes ago, Bibs said:

More than 17,000 views in just over a week between fb & yt!

Git

[Bibs]

12 years of hard work mate.

[JayEmm]

For which we are all eternally grateful! The factory don't exactly make life easy...