Evora Mule spotted.

[Bibs]

400bhp Evora anyone? Brake, suspension, engine upgrades, GTE styling? Allegedly....

 

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

SOLD 

[diego]

is that big honcho dealer meeting over now? or is that next week ? 

[hedgerley]

400bhp Evora anyone? Brake, suspension, engine upgrades, GTE styling? Allegedly....

 

 

You are such a tease Bibs. Wishful thinking or inside track? We should be told!

 

When does the dealer briefing finish? Can we expect a press release from Hethel. Oh, the suspense...........

[chipp]

Local hotels are full of dealership reps from all over the world.

chipp

[hedgerley]

This is an interesting read, particularly the snippet about the Lotus F1 programme partners and the desire to make more of the F1 exposure. And of course the agenda for today's dealer conference......

 

http://issuu.com/lotuscars/docs/a4_newsletter-dealers_issuu

[TBD]

400bhp Evora anyone? Brake, suspension, engine upgrades, GTE styling? Allegedly....

 

Sounds good, but 400bhp would be  downgrade for me. Ah well, there is always Komotec 

I'd actually prefer a gearbox upgrade.

[mdavies]

And Exige S ditto ? Surely - for the Cup/R or whatever?   And Evora LF1s............hmmm

Edited September 11, 2014 by mdavies

[NedaSay]

400bhp Evora anyone? Brake, suspension, engine upgrades, GTE styling? Allegedly....

 

So hum, Evora R then?!   

[Bibs]

Well, Evora 400.

 

[NedaSay]

Evora 400 really! a number rather than a Letter! not 400R or R400 just 400? Limited edition model or new widely available  top spec?

Edited September 12, 2014 by NedaSay

[Luc2000]

Sounds great. Can we expect a press release soon, or do we have to wait untill paris or geneva for the announcement?

Also, I suppose they fixed the airbag issue?

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

More details please: it sounds fantastic. I hope they get the marketing right this time and get this extensively tested and publicised in all media around the world (inc, Top Gear test track!)

[saj]

Well, Evora 400.

 

 

Aww you're teasing us now - spill

[auRouge]

Shame I missed you at Spa, we had 4 Exige V6 Cups there.

I arranged a duel with that Komotec Exige, it was the full '430' kit. I'd like to get in touch with the owner to thank him, if you know him, pm me his details. I looked for him but couldn't find him. Maybe he went home or back to Komotec?

I have some video of our laps together that I will be posting up soon.

But having driven Bibs Evora yesterday I have to say there's really very little room for improvement as a package. It feels really well put together, seriously I was in two brand new Porsches over the weekend and the Evora is right up there, subjectively nicer inside in fact. They seemed to have nailed the whole package right when interest in the car has fizzled out. It's really unjust that they don't sell more and before anyone says they should've got it right first time, have a look at the 991 GT3. Even with all the resources in the world, shit happens with new cars. If a refresh will help generate a bit more interest in the car then so be it but I drove home thinking there's nothing wrong with the product, it simply needs to be promoted and have its capabilities demonstrated. And yes, even after an 1100kg V6 Cup it still felt seriously quick - because it is. Lotus have given it a more cultured, expensive sounding V6 bark, my V6 Cup is harsher, more metallic and more aggressive sounding but we were surprised how different they sound now, considering how much they have in common.

Thanks again by the way Bibs - stunning car in every way. Like everyone else who's driven it, I want one now!

That is a shame, I was in the grey Evora. I think we passed each other coming out of the tunnel at the end of the day? Once again I was waving the only Evora flag..

Lots of Exige's and a few Exige S2's, had a little blat with a Mettalic Blue one :-) Didn't bother trying to keep up with the V6 Cup's :-D Different league of speed.

Had a great ride in a 991 GT3 following the White Exige S K-Tech... Flipping fast. The Radical's (thank you to there team who lent me a compressor line at the end of the day) and 458's (especially the Blue Speciale doesn't get any better!!) and GT3's were incredibly quick too.

This was my 10th year at Spa and by far the best!

Lots of Lottie's there on Tuesday. Maybe see you next year ;-)

Were you guys at Hotel de la Source? Wasn't the car park epic?!?!

Back on topic - sounds like the perfect car. A 400bhp, 2+2 with quality interior... That will kick ass, motoring journalists will love it and put Lotus back on the front pages :-D

Very exciting!

Cheers,

A

P.S Not sure Mike is on TLF, yes he is part of my group. PM your email and I will send you his email address. Won't post on here for obvious reasons...

[hedgerley]

I don't understand why Lotus didn't get the GTE to market much sooner. Its over 2 years since Top Gear tested the 440bhp GTE and rated it highly - 

 

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/Lotus-Evora-GTE-vs-the-Stig-2012-07-12

 

With the bulk of the development done back then why didn't DRB get it out the door for a quick win and some much needed revenue?

[hedgerley]

Perhaps, but DRB bought Proton in Jan 2012. There followed the 3 month lock-down under the Malaysian Stock Market rules but the statements issued around that time indicated Proton would not/could not get rid of Lotus. Certainly DRB's statements talked Lotus up somewhat at the time and by the summer most commentators reckoned DRB were in for the long haul and wanted to help turn Lotus around (once they got rid of Dany)

 

Top Gear drove the GTE in July 2012, with some fine tuning still to be done. Under normal circumstances I guess it could have been released later that year as a MY13 model. But of course the elephant in the room, admittedly with great hair, was Dany. As we now know he had no love for the Evora so it was probably him who mothballed it.

 

But there are a couple of dozen GTEs sat at Hethel (or at least lookalikes) which I hope, being the subject of the current speculation, will emerge as the Evora 400/Evora R/Evora GTE/Evora GTE400 whatever shortly. Wouldn't that be cool.

 

But back on topic, I really hope the Evora mule spotted is testing the new Esprit V8 engine. That would be way, way cooler. But I am biased....

[Bibs]

No, those ones destined to be GTE's are pretty much all sold now. 

[hedgerley]

Cool.

 

Any feedback from yesterday's dealer conference yet? The suspense is killing me.

[NedaSay]

Next stop Geneva! It is going to be all speculations until then, unless Bibs decides to give us a bit more to chew on... The dealers have all signed NDAs ((( Pffff! March is a long way away when one is craving for news.

[TBD]

I don't understand why Lotus didn't get the GTE to market much sooner. Its over 2 years since Top Gear tested the 440bhp GTE and rated it highly - 

 

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/Lotus-Evora-GTE-vs-the-Stig-2012-07-12

 

With the bulk of the development done back then why didn't DRB get it out the door for a quick win and some much needed revenue?

It seems rather obvious why the GTE didn't go forward. Obviously the engine / gearbox had issues, as we can see by the sale-off of the 20 prototypes, which are now getting the stock engine. 

 

I was considering one of those seriously, but it seems they are just too late considering the near term developments.

[acchan]

It seems rather obvious why the GTE didn't go forward. Obviously the engine / gearbox had issues, as we can see by the sale-off of the 20 prototypes, which are now getting the stock engine. 

 

I was considering one of those seriously, but it seems they are just too late considering the near term developments.

So I'm not the only one who is considering an evora GTE... I've got a lot of doubts about it, price, warranty... and at last, if at geneve lotus will present an evora's facelift??? I'm going crazy!!!     

[Gabber]

Next stop Geneva! It is going to be all speculations until then, unless Bibs decides to give us a bit more to chew on... The dealers have all signed NDAs ((( Pffff! March is a long way away when one is craving for news.

I dont know of course but I think we will see the Evora before Geneve. Why I think that first Geneva is 6 months away so this will cost sales if people think I wait for the updated Evora. Second why invite every dealer for just a updated car ? My guess updated Evora soon and some updates for the Exige. At Geneva there will be shown a new car maybe a concept that will be in production end 2015 beginning 2016. New Elise anyone ? DRB said Lotus must grow to 5000 sales a year so only one car is needed to try to reach that figure. I could be completely wrong of course.

[TBD]

I could be completely wrong of course.

10:1 that you are wrong!

The objective of the dealer meeting is to gain commitment from these and motivate them to invest into the brand and support Lotus in the future. If Lotus presents an updated Evora in six months then the dealers have to start doing their homework today. There are still quite a few cars in stock at dealers that have to clear first (maybe less in Europe, but globally). 

[softlips]

I'd like to see a brand new Elise, something I can buy and retire with.