Lotus Evora 400

[FGA]

Very true JayEmm. His point of reference is an old sofa so the 400 will feel raw.  A year ago when I was looking to get out of my 997.2C2S, I drove the F type V6S and the R on a 24 hour test.  I Can't argue with the exterior styling and GT credentials but in my opinion the interior materials, fit and finish did not match the asking price given my point of reference. I guess it boils down to what one is looking for in a car. The 400 for me ( after 1 month's ownership and 1300 miles) is a fantastic and relatively light sports car which does GT better than you'd expect. The Jag is a fantastic but heavy GT car which does sport less well than you'd expect.

[FGA]

Looking forward to your video JayEmm about the Elise stereotype. It's so true. When I told a friend of mine I was considering the Evora 400, The first thing he said was "Ah! hard core track day toy right?"

[Colin P]

Interesting comments about the steering wheel. I nearly asked for my MY12 wheel to be swapped on to the 400 from my old car. Same wheel, but the leather feels much nicer on the MY12 wheel and, not being a track legend, I'd rather not have the red stripe.

 

[CocoPops]

2 minutes ago, Colin P said:

not being a track legend, I'd rather not have the red stripe.

 

It's an M25 lane indicator!

 

[JayEmm]

Or in my case, indicator of when my tracking goes out of whack!

Once I have something approaching disposable income again, a retrim of the steering wheel is very much due.

[brightoncorgi]

Is the upgraded leather option on the 400 better or the same leather that previously offered on the '12+ models?

[Gm77]

What have you done to your steering wheel James?!? Mine is almost 12,000 miles old and is fresh as a daisy!

[JayEmm]

I find it gets mucky, quickly and I think the leather they use is really not suitable. It certainly hasn't gone shiny or anything, like many Audi wheels I know, but it's not a particular pleasant thing to hold. I like what @C8RKH did with his. Royal's work is well respected in BMW circles.

I have some big upgrades coming re my car anyway.

[mawheele]

On 02/01/2017 at 21:09, JayEmm said:

@PaulCP have you driven an XKR? I ask only because I drove an XKR-S when trying out other possibilties, car felt very much "old man" - all the controls were far too light, no feedback at all.

I didn't know how much the F-Type moved the game on. I know it looks much sharper, sportier, but I also know it isn't that different from the XKR underneath

You're right. F-Type and XK literally came off the same production line until the later came to the end of its run. Although the F-Type suspension is entirely different and next-gen + shared with XE. The V8 engine is identical. The V6 is also the same with literally two-cylinders chopped off. The 8-speed ZF gearbox was also new.  F-type doesn't have as good a build quality in my opinion. Lot of common peeling paint, engine failure, exhaust sensor and audio issues. Ownership experience is sub-standard for the cost. I owned two.

[brightoncorgi]

I recently leased an V6 XE R Sport AWD.  Handling is much better than previous Jag's I've owned.  Not as stiff sprung and doesn't buck on uneven pavement like my XK did.  They seem to have figured out their suspension tuning pretty recently.  Ice mode worked well the other day!  8 Speed transmission is annoying; it's constantly changing gears.

[DJW]

Bought an F Type V6S convertible  back in early 2016.  Sold it 3 weeks later and bought a Lotus 

Dont get me wrong the Jag is a nice car, just felt a bit too lardy for me. 

Edited January 4, 2017 by DJW

[Cypriot]

at least lotus will still have an engine to in the evora for a few years yet... https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/auto/2018-toyota-camry/preview/?ftag=COS-05-10-aa0a&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral

[hyteck9]

I have good news...   and bad news....

Good news.  After years of waiting, my Lotus Evora 400 order just arrived in the USA at my local dealer!

Bad news.  I can not buy it.  I was notified at work about a month ago that my services are no longer required.

 

Thanks Life.  You are just the best.  :-\

 

[Guest hosscartwri]

How utterly gut wrenching on both counts.

Do hope that you find suitable employment very soon and that your dealer will not have managed to sell "your" car in the meantime! As I am sure you are fed up with hearing, redundancy feels like the end of the world at the time but has a habit of leading you to find something better. 

Keep faith with the Lotus dream and good fortune in your job search

[brightoncorgi]

Maybe you'll find employment soon and someone else will be selling the same car or ordering again won't be so painful?  Best of luck!!!

[AndyP]

On 02/01/2017 at 21:19, JayEmm said:

@FGAOne of my next videos is going to be along the lines of why the Elise is the worst car Lotus have ever made. Not as a car, but for the company. They made it for so long and they've become synonymous with it, now people think all Lotus have ever made it tiny uncompromising little cars with no creature comforts. So many people - both keyboard warriors and genuine enthusiasts - don't really understand how a Lotus could be anything else.

@JayEmm - I think you have a very good point there and this perception is not helped at all by Lotus' inability to do effective marketing, promotion in the press or their product manamgemt philosophy of seemingly bringing out endless special editions and appearing to just tinker with the specs. It's not like I wasn't familiar with the marque, having had an Elise S1 and an Elise S2 135R many moons ago, I'd drifted away from the marque but the odd snipped and review I read never really piqued my interest.

I'm not a Social Media regular, but STG's video actually turned back to looking at Lotus again. He seemed to be genuinely enthusiastic about the car, but at the end of the day it was not quite what he was looking for. I think he ended up buying a McLaren - so I can understand why the Evora didn't really hit the mark; but it obviously ticked a lot of boxes!

I'm still lurking at the moment - a combination of no time to test drive anything yet and my other cars to tinker with. But I hope to find time soon and maybe meet up with some Evora owners in the East Mids to find out more about their experiences. The Evora may be a much more grown up car than the Elise's I've had in the past, but at anywhere between £60k-£80k to buy one I'm not so sure I'd be so tolerant with some of the issues that some of you guys seem to have suffered 2 be still suffering! To be honest the dubious customer service that Lotus provides to fix what would seem to be warranty issues still worries me a bit. 

Andy

 

 

Edited January 31, 2017 by AndyP

[JayEmm]

@AndyP I'll swap you a go in my Evora for a go in the CSL

[AndyP]

1 minute ago, JayEmm said:

@AndyP I'll swap you a go in my Evora for a go in the CSL

Err yeah, that's one of my projects that need me a bit of TLC!

[Neal H]

14 hours ago, AndyP said:

'm still lurking at the moment - a combination of no time to test drive anything yet and my other cars to tinker with. But I hope to find time soon and maybe meet up with some Evora owners in the East Mids to find out more about their experiences. The Evora may be a much more grown up car than the Elise's I've had in the past, but at anywhere between £60k-£80k to buy one I'm not so sure I'd be so tolerant with some of the issues that some of you guys seem to have suffered 2 be still suffering! To be honest the dubious customer service that Lotus provides to fix what would seem to be warranty issues still worries me a bit. 

Andy

It certainly is a more grown up car than an Elise or even a V6 Exige, but it still retains all that is best about Lotus. It's still hand-built in Hethel though, so it's never going to have the levels of consistency you'll get in robotised mass-produced cars which themselves are not always trouble free!

I believe customer service is down to your dealer more than the manufacturer, if you buy from the right one you'll have no complaints. I've purchased my last three Lotuses from Lotus Silverstone, and I've never had cause for complaint. Sometimes the dealers hands are tied by parts supply lead times, which is the only thing I'd like to see improved!

[nerobi]

 

[auRouge]

@nerobi bit cheesy but in a good way I guess and the cars look amazing. Great choice of colours to show of the looks and differences to the S1.

Good publicity, the 400 in White really does look stunning. I really want one!!

[Neal H]

I really liked that video. It was professionally done and I thought it showed off the cars really well. They looked great! Made me think - Wow - I own one of those

 

[100th_Idiot]

I thought the music was up too high so drowned out the lovely engine noise. Other than that it was OK.

[chylld]

Leaps and bounds better than their horrifyingly pathetic 410 video

[The Pits]

Sounds amazing and looks hellish fast!