Lotus Evora 400

[auRouge]

Nooooooooo, Aurouge - the clue is in your forum name - ROUGE = RED. The world definitely does not need yet another Grey or Silver car anywhere.........

I like red but they remind me of an emotionally charged Italian marque... I also like to go under the radar!

Evora's look great in any colour

[Guest hosscartwri]

Great Piston Heads review in terms of driving dynamics. Perhaps, for whatever reason, having found that they had to heap high praise on the Lotus for performance and handling etc, they felt the need go over the top

on panning the quality aspect - terrible journalism if that is the case but then there is quite a lot of

that around these days as has been mentioned.

If they are not exaggerating the quality deficiencies and the flexing of trim materials etc. really is

apparent then what a terrible shame to spoil the ship for a hap'orth of tar - would it really have cost

significantly more/eaten into profit margins that much to have gone that step further to ensure that the

trim etc. matches the quality of the driving experience?

I had heard that there were a limited number of press cars being produced so perhaps the customer cars will

have had these issues addressed. I have not seen an Evora 400 close up (did see a couple from a distance at Hethel just over a week ago) and obviously have not driven one so comments here can only be based on the

reports that have been published but heaven knows what Lotus employees must feel like when they appear to

have produced another brilliant sports car but one which is having it's brilliance detracted from by

things as silly as trim etc. quality. Hopefully Lotus can address this area and finally knock the negative

comparisons with P - - - - - - on the head!

Bibs- did you notice any of the negative aspects that P H have picked up on?

[Bibs]

Alcantara is alcantara, they stuff Lotus use is no different to Porsche etc. The leather is very expensive stuff from Scotland, it's very, very high quality.

 

What they're doing watching the heater controls as they exit a corner I don't know and if it's something they've picked up from their video, perhaps they may want to consider it was the camera mount and not the car?

 

PH are talking shit IMO&E. 

[Guest hosscartwri]

Great to hear Bibs - thanks for the comments

[Bibs]

I've just rewatched their video and the whole car shakes all the time, perhaps they forgot to mention all 4 tyres were flat spotted and ignore the mount! This is the same PH that has stated the Evora 400 comes with 406hp (it's only 406 if you convert it to German PS)! Clues in the name...

[Guest hosscartwri]

Pretty irresponsible/incompetent journalism then from P H.

The 'victims' of this sort of lousy reporting have no real come back despite the perpetrators potentially

costing the business hundreds of thousand if not millions of pounds but I don't suppose the journos even

think of this.

True that we should all judge for ourselves but people less well informed about Lotus who may be compiling

a list of possible candidate cars could be put off from including the car on their short list.

[Stuno1]

Don't think the PH review is that bad to be honest. Still not sure why my 2008 auto shifts on 0.2 seconds and the latest evora box can't match that. Maybe my isf box is too big? Too heavy?

[Gm77]

Anyone know if EVO were invited to the launch?

I'm not overly excited by their review of the new Golf R Estate which seems to have taken precedence on their website!

[NedaSay]

TBH I can follow their review. Lotus shifters and the Toyota gearbox remain far below state of the art (to avoid mentioning the "P-word"). And, the Alpine ICE is equally not even the best of the aftermarket units. Why didn't they at  least talk to Parrot to port an OEM-version of the RNB6 (like Volvo did)?

 

 

 

Of course, that won't stop a Lotus enthusiast from buying the Evora 400, but it may still keep potential new buyers from doing so.

 

 

I agree with your statement as we've talked about the Lotus shifters at length in other thread. Even though they are always finding improvement somewhere the Aisin gearbox is still not as good as a Getrag unit. Truth of the matter is it was not designed to be a sport car gearbox but an utilitarian diesel friendly gearbox able to cope with a lot of torque and to be fitted to small SUV's and front wheel drive Toyotas in Europe while also being fitted to light utilitarian pick up truck in south east Asia. 

 

As to the ICE I think JMG and the crew are working on their new ICE right now but it may not come before the SUV prototype is released...  I still find a bit sad that Lotus are not willing or able to get Alpine to at least do a logo delete on the thing. This unit, the INE-W960BT,  is actually Alpine's top of the line and their top of the line are actually pretty good but they unfortunately look and feel very aftermarket...  I'm not sure somebody who buys a 72k+ car, cares that he can watch a dvd or divx on his 6.2" screen when he probably has at least à 50" at home ; he doesn't really care about the Dolby digital or the bluetooth logo ; he just expects the head unit to have these feature and they better just work. Pretty sure buyers would rather have  ILX-007 it looks much better despite its lower spec.

 

I do think Evora would deserve a better head unit and speakers at least as an optional upgrade. Maybe Lotus could get Aisin to provide an IS-F head unit with matching Mark-Levinson audio from Harman after all they have worked with them on projects in the past.

Edited July 27, 2015 by NedaSay

[NedaSay]

I've just rewatched their video and the whole car shakes all the time, perhaps they forgot to mention all 4 tyres were flat spotted and ignore the mount! This is the same PH that has stated the Evora 400 comes with 406hp (it's only 406 if you convert it to German PS)! Clues in the name...

 

 

Uh were you not supposed to have a look at the configurator today... I'm sure you signed and NDA but... Yeah I just don't care that much please do dish a bit ... ok I don't want you to go to jail... just a bit.

[NedaSay]

First US Review from Road & Track, it is very positve one.

Edited July 27, 2015 by NedaSay

[Bibs]

Cracking shot! 

 

[Mark Blanchard]

That's the sort of review it deserves.  Watch and learn Porschedenheads!

[brightoncorgi]

Any pictures of the base interior; leather with tech fabric inserts?

[Vulcan Grey]

Bibs,

 

Any chance you working your magic touch with Lotus PR?

 

We are hosting the Lotus LTD national Lotus Owners Gathering (LOG35) in Colorado  (AUG 21-24, 2015), we have over 700 room nights rented in the official hotel (full) and an overflow hotel... So several hundred Lotus owners will be here for the 4 day event!

 

We saw that 2 of the Evora 400 prototypes were in Colorado for high altitude testing, but were told that Lotus USA has no power to have them diverted for a quick appearance at the Lotus Gathering!

 

Any chance you can whisper in JMG's ear?  Also ask him about the 3-Eleven

 

BTW Clive Chapman, Bob Dance, and Richard Parrimint  are going to be here!

[DaveC72]

Anyone know if EVO were invited to the launch?

I'm not overly excited by their review of the new Golf R Estate which seems to have taken precedence on their website!

To be fair, Evo typically launch their on-line reviews at the same time as their print.

[kokostrollet]

My issue with the front is that the strakes either side of the cooling appature (beneath the lights) head almost vertically down, giving it an aftermarket feel - they should slant in, asin forwards or out a la GTE front above... at present they just dont sit right. - not very cohesive or flowing in my view.

 

I really like the front of the 400 and have much more problems with the hips and rear. Especially the rear which is way too cluttered. The almost vertical strakes and the very aggressive air intake in the front overall reminds me a bit of the Ruf characteristic air intakes and I guess that´s why I kind of like that. Especially as Ruf is also a manufacturer that focuses on function before form which is the right priority imo.

 

But overall I agree with you that the GTE overall is a better looking car. 

[atlasapl]

OK, just how many twitter notifications on Evora 400 reviews can you get in one morning. I think my phone is going to have a stroke.

 

The MSN Cars review was pretty good.

[Gravel]

I wonder if part of the reason that the 400's styling isn't as flamboyant as the GTE is that the target market is people who'd usually buy a dull looking 911.

As much as I like the Nissan GTR I'd feel a bit of a plank turning up anywhere 'polite' in it. Not many people would take a race-car for lunch with the inlaws and the GTE, like the GTR is a bit racy for most IMHO.

I don't think the 400 or 'classic' Evora have that problem - Lotus even had a trip to the opera advert to drive home that image.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

The GTE's also too wide for a mainstream model.

[NedaSay]

I never found the comparison between GTE and 400 appropriate. 400 should only be compared to the initial N/A.

 

The GTE came with larger wheel arches, front splitter, huge air intake, very big wing at the back providing downforce, it was a thing of beauty but a top of the line version.

 

The 400 is the new entry level, it does't have the larger wheel arches, the front splitter, the very big wing for a simple reason... it's for all intent and purposes an entry model and yet some will judge to be less graceful than the GTE, well if you take away the front splitter, the side skirt the bulging rear wheel arches, the carbon side air scoops... You're just left with the "Mansory" Evora which is not bad, far from it, it's just not GTE:

 

 

 

The Mansory big mouth still needs a front splitter to work.  And as for the rear it was all carbon ok and still seems pretty much non descriptive in my opinion.

 

As a full cohesive package the 400 looks better in my opinion as it was designed to look like an entry model that will in due time make room for the bits that more powerful variants will require. All the while being aggressive enough 

Edited July 28, 2015 by NedaSay

[C8RKH]

^^^^ Great post NedaSay and a good point made well. Like how you think

[Al]

 Hi Bibs, any chance of answers to Post 893 on p45 of this thread  :

 

A couple of questions that spring to mind from the article:

What is the standard interior finish if you don't specify one of the packs?

Any colour choice with that?

What are the standard wheels? Is it those gloss back ones in the photos or are they the upgrade ones? They look at first glance to be very similar to the original wheel which I've always liked but text says lighter so unlikely.

Are they always black?

Still no remote volume control on the wheel then?

 

Cheers, 

[FredP]

I like this green

 

 

Source Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyrussellauto

[Al]

The front looks better in that colour than most.  Anybody know what colour that is?  Not sure I have ever sen one of any age that colour.