The Evora 400 Diaries

[JayEmm]

[JayEmm]

Here's an interesting thing. At some point in time the buttons have completely moved around too. This is a shot from an early press car.

 

@Gm77 which way round are the buttons on yours? I wonder if they made the change before the full production cars started rolling out. Between the 400 owners I've met we've noticed some funny little changes that can date some of the cars (eg. what's written on the brake caliper)

[TheKevlarKid]

What is the button 2nd from the right? Heated/ folding mirrors??

Is it upside down?

I totally agree with you, the diagrams on the buttons should all sit level with each other, it would bug me also. Probably just need the facia removing and them turning to line up...

[JayEmm]

In the standard configuration the buttons are

left-right

passenger seat heating

sport mode

race mode

hazard lights

Door lock

Exhaust valve button

drivers seat heating

[Gm77]

The above list is the same order as mine James

Greg

On 8 June 2016 at 20:57, JayEmm said:

 

Between the 400 owners I've met we've noticed some funny little changes that can date some of the cars (eg. what's written on the brake caliper)

I think the writing absent on the calipers was an error. About 20 cars, from memory, were affected. Stuart's was one of them.

[JayEmm]

Interesting. Must be feedback received from press cars then. I don't know of any earlier customer cars than Greg's, although I imagine there must be a couple?

[Colin G]

Send me an address @JayEmm and I'll post you a bit of black tape to cover your start button with. Blinding? Who are you, Gizmo from the gremlins? 

[JayEmm]

Just don't fed me after midnight!

There will be a more elegant solution which, if the factory want to stick their fingers in their ears, I will look into

[C8RKH]

5 minutes ago, Colin G said:

Send me an address @JayEmm and I'll post you a bit of black tape to cover your start button with. Blinding? Who are you, Gizmo from the gremlins? 

I hope you have good door seals in that 400 - would be cataclysmic if you got wet!

3 minutes ago, JayEmm said:

Just don't fed me after midnight!

There will be a more elegant solution which, if the factory want to stick their fingers in their ears, I will look into

Ahh, Duck tape!  Good call

 

[Colin G]

5 minutes ago, JayEmm said:

Just don't fed me after midnight!

There will be a more elegant solution which, if the factory want to stick their fingers in their ears, I will look into

I would imagine there would be more eye rolling than fingers in ears involved, you must be a sensitive lot down south. 

[JayEmm]

If Lotus want a chance to become big players, they need to start paying attention to the little details. The silly thing is they get things so right that other manufacturers with budgets 100x larger get incredibly wrong. But it seems certain really easy things escape them. The odd thing about the start engine light is that I am told with Elise and Exige models, it does turn off when the engine is started. Which seems logical. But for whatever reason not on the Evora!

In any case I am getting it back tomorrow because crap stereo, creaky seat and wonky buttons can't stop my enjoyment of the thing - it's a superlative piece of work. They offered to keep it in while they got parts but I can't bear to be without it for any longer!

[Barrykearley]

It's exactly that - you now can't bear to be without......even with its faults...

 

I wonder if you would have been so tolerant with your prior German purchases ??

[Gm77]

1 hour ago, JayEmm said:

Interesting. Must be feedback received from press cars then. I don't know of any earlier customer cars than Greg's, although I imagine there must be a couple?

Blasphemy James! 

"I was number two, [Phil] was number one. [Phil] lost it—turned in his wings. [I'm] now number one." 

???

[Ccd]

Remember that this is a largely new model and some of these kinks will be worked out.  The promising part is that Lotus is generally listening to its customers (ie the removal of LOTUS on the dash).  Lotus will have to continue to listen to their customers and refine the car. They are playing in bigger leagues with the price increase and also the fact that you cannot grow in the car market in the US without taking sales from someone else since that segment of the market has been static in terms of growth

[Neal H]

Cars are like people. The ones with a few flaws are always more interesting.

[Bibs]

3 hours ago, JayEmm said:

If Lotus want a chance to become big players, they need to start paying attention to the little details

Said very few people.

Lotus are known for certain qualities, and they're very good at them. In my opinion, it's akin to mocking da Vinci for having not shaved in the morning he painted the Mona Lisa. It doesn't, in real terms, detract from what they're good at. 

I get where you're coming from, but let's not forget who Lotus are and especially where they are in the global automotive industry. Lotus would be a worse company if they were to become, for example, Porsche (although I'm sure the £ would be nice). The Evora was developed from paper to production on £58m, and still won 5 CoTY awards. Other manufacturers spent that on indicator stalk design but don't get those trophies to take home. 

[Ccd]

Bibs, this is a $100,000 car and Lotus will have to meet the expectations of cars costing that much.  It is also a car trying to establish itself in the sports car market and Lotus needs not to give reasons not to buy their cars (like no cup holders).  Mock me, but to appeal to a broader audience, Lotus will have to attend to the "little things" while maintaining the qualities unique to the brand.   That may be less true of the Elise and Exige, but the Evora is Lotus' GT car and the expectations are different.  And it will be even more true of their planned SUV.  

[Colin G]

I've owned Porsches, Audi RS's, Aston Martin's etc that also all had 'quirks' of their own and were all very expensive cars when new. Sometimes I think people believe brands outside of Lotus are on some higher level of excellence, when in my opinion they aren't. I doubt there's a car in existence that doesn't have its flaws. I read an ownership report regularly of a guy who now buys Mclarens, a brand who build their rep on allegedly anal attention to detail, yet he's often has had bits fall off/break etc, just like every other marque.

I'm not saying Lotus should be exempt from having flaws in their cars, far from it, but what they produce when you take in to account economy of scale is quite remarkable. Even in comparison to the brands with huge development budgets.

[CocoPops]

Often with issues, it's not why they happen... it's how they're dealt with...

[Colin G]

Exactly. And the tiny niggles with my car were resolved in the blink of an eye. The same can't be said about things like my RS4's engine management issues......

[JayEmm]

@CocoPops and @Colin G are absolutely correct, and if you watch my video on the topic I said exactly the same. Every car maker, even large volume ones, can have cars with little issues. Some can have cars with big issues (eg. Porsche and Ferrari catching fire!). Having the problems isn't important, it's dealing with them.

This is my first new car, but my dad has had several in the past of a similar price (Pork, Jag, etc) and they've all had issues. In fact his first brand new Porsche left us stranded on the motorway because the fuel gauge wasn't working properly!

I also know where @Bibs is coming from. I had the conversation with @Stuno1 the other day. I said that I think Lotus being a small company is probably a good thing - big stuff on the car, like the handling, is probably left down to very very few people. As long as they know what they're doing (and they generally do) then we get great cars. But cars from other, larger manufacturers have handling designed by committee and then it all starts to go a bit wrong.

That being said, I think the important thing to realise is that when some of these cars have issues, it is not a case of "they all do that sir" or "Well, it's a Lotus, sir". I remember years ago when I was looking at TVR Tuscans, I was really impressed with the panel fit and finish of the things - it was a pretty high standard. And I saw a few ropey ones where people tried to hide behind the excuse of "it's a TVR sir, they're like that" when more than likely it was a car which had been repaired badly from a crash.

I know on-paper Lotus' models seem to compete with Porsche, but I prefer to see them as a value Ferrari/Lamborghini/McLaren and to be honest, I think they are very nearly there when it comes to build quality. Sure the switchgear isn't bespoke but I know that costs a hideous amount of money and honestly, I don't care.

It should also be underlined like @Barrykearley said, I don't want to be without the thing. It's brilliant. And that can't be changed. It still confuses me how EVO really have an axe to grind with the new one, but give basically no reasoning (it lost a whole star because the gearshift isn't perfect???)

------------------------

Anyhow, here's a little update on another topic which may be of interest to you guys. It details my thoughts on the channel, why I started it, where it's going. My main promise, at no point will the words "true blood wrap" be uttered.

 

[CocoPops]

Nice Polo Shirt

Good Job @Bibs

[JayEmm]

I'm *trying* not to wear any Lotus branded stuff in the videos, or when I drive the car actually, but I thought I would make an exception for TLF merch, as the place has been so helpful to me - both before and after purchase.

[CocoPops]

"This episode was bought to you by the letters T, L and F"

 

[The Pits]

To anyone enduring niggles I say bear with your dealer who isn't getting the support they should from Lotus right now for reasons best understood in Malaysian. I had a few issues with my car, all minor thankfully and all sorted without fuss by Lotus, in the case of a haywire Stack dash, fixed free of charge outside of the Cup car's 12 month warranty. So in terms of how my issues were dealt with I have absolutely no complaint.

I was driving up to B&C for the annual service yesterday and was making a mental list of things that could be looked at while the car was there. I arrived at B&C without a single item on the list and I'm quite a fussy so and so. So bear with the early niggles, it really is possible to have a very sorted and reliable car when you come out the other side.

As I understand it there are serious delays with some parts at the moment which is making everything worse for everyone and I hope JMG gives this his full attention. I totally agree that things could and should be better, especially with regard to customer service. The frustrating part is that the 'little things' ought to be the easiest to get right. I say just employ someone with actual OCD as a final inspection man. Make that two, are you in JayEmm?