Europa - did anyone NOT like it ?

[Esprit V8]

The test drive organized by the factory was a great possibility for many of us to become acquainted with the Europa S. It is a good looking car, easy to handle and a Lotus for every day use. Thats what missed in the Lotus product types.

But I never would change it for an Esprit!!!!!!!!!

[MPx]

Oh dear...another padding...from the AOL motoring section this time. Hopefully they wont reach anyone that might actually buy it. See

http://motoring.aol.co.uk/quickspin-lotus-...006052009990001

[Kimbers]

I have always said, and continue to stick by it, that you should never bother reading reviews, sticking to your own opinion.

I went to see Lost in Translation becuase everyone said it was brilliant, but fell asleep 30 minutes into it. It was pants, yet everyone said it was brilliant.

My point? Take one out and make your own mind up.

Anyone for whiskey? only I got bought a shed load and feel bad if I don't drink it real quiCK!

[USAndretti42]

Had a look at the current issue of EVO today and they liked it.

[Paul C]

I went to see Lost in Translation becuase everyone said it was brilliant,

but fell asleep 30 minutes into it. It was pants, yet everyone said it was brilliant.

Good film

Plays out to the jesus and mary chain too!

Pulp Fiction was the one for me, everyone

said it was superb, watched it twice to be

sure it sucked, people still say it's great.

In books? The Diceman. The single most

overrated and unduely praised 'cult' book ever.

Have mates that still think it's a masterpiece mind.

No-one 'into cars' will take any notice of that AOL article,

The author does not bother to sign it and it's not well written

or very accurate. When he/she is waiting outside the dealer

in 2007 to buy the new Esprit, i'll nip by with a thermos of

tea and tell them they've got a two year wait still...

[Jonathan]

I have always said, and continue to stick by it, that you should never bother reading reviews, sticking to your own opinion.

Without a doubt - I'd read about 4 revfiews of the car before and was really thinking it was going to be lame but it really came out swinging which completely took me by suprise.

I was talking to a Lotus Employee the other day about it - their opinion was the marketing could have been better with the car (Fishys gonna love this) in that they should have just called it the Elise GT instead of trying to brag it was a new car. I still think the secret of this car is in the drive, once you experience it you can work around the other negative points of the car just as you do an Elise.

As for the AOL motoring - I did about 90mph in the Europa and the co-pilot and I were talking normally - I thought it was whisper quiet, no real engine noise (could hear the turbo) or road noise from those skinny tyres.

Again full of contradictions and inaccuracies as you'd expect

'if you really must have a Lotus why not make do with a Porsche Cayman'

Make do.....Cus it's slower bar top end and more expensive (haven't driven one yet) but more interestingly.....if they're so good......why dont you see them !?

[SwissV8]

'if you really must have a Lotus why not make do with a Porsche Cayman'

Make do.....Cus it's slower bar top end and more expensive (haven't driven one yet) but more interestingly.....if they're so good......why dont you see them !? :blink:/quote]

I went to a Porsche track day in France earlier this year. The Cayman S had just been launched, so Porsche had 10 Caymans in different specs available to play with on the race track. Funny thing was, only two weeks earlier I'd been at Hethel on the driver experience day, blasting around in a 111R.

I can honestly tell you, there really was no comparison on the track - the Elise just seemed 100 times better! When the Lotus guys took me 'round Hethel in the passenger seat, I was blown away by the capability of the Elise. When a Porsche test driver took me 'round the track in France, it was fun, but not special like the Elise. Weight difference was so obvious through the bends.

The bit that really surprised me though was that out of the 10 Caymans, about 4 had to retire due to various problems (mainly clutch & brakes)... not really the best advert for their new car! Also, the cars were massively inconsistent - some were really very good, handled/went well, and others were a complete mess in the bends One of them was so bad, I took it straight back into the pits after 1 lap and swapped for another. Strangely though, there didn't seem to be any obvious correlation between the cars that handled well, and the spec of the cars... some with sports suspension were good, some not... couldn't work that one out!

Anyway, enough about Porsche - gimme a Europa

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I totally agree with Kimbers... Lost in Translation was the most tedious, overrated, pile of "emperor's new clothes" dog sh1t I had seen in years and I left thinking "I want my £15 back (me AND missus at the time!) and more importantly I want my last 2 hours (which felt like an interminable lifetime) back

As for the car...... ( ) LOL @ Elise GT! :PHahaha. I have seen quite a lot of Caymans about. VERY interesting that they had reliability issues.

"an unpleasantly loud exhaust note and lots of drone at cruising speed" WTF I think she'd be more at home in a Prius. If this is her priority then who the flock thought she'd be a good choice to review the Europa S? fff-ing journos ...mutter mutter... "First against the wall"... mumble...

I just had a b100dy hard time trying to keep up with an awesome Exige this morning (and it wasn't even an 'S'! ) I wantee!

[Jonathan]

"an unpleasantly loud exhaust note and lots of drone at cruising speed"

Almost died with laughter reading that - I thought for a sports car it was whisper quiet, the Elise must be defening to them. Infact I was taken back by how civilised it was, hard coming from the S1 upto the Europa, you can appreciate how much effort has gone into it.

As Rob mentioned the "scare yourself" deal at the factory was incredible - erase ALL notions of speed and drivng fast until you've sat with these guy on that circuit in an Elise, I was convinced we were on 2 wheels on Clark Corner into Champan, I was actually looking DOWN onto the driver....in an ELISE

[WayneB]

As one of the ones who got to drive the Europa , I guess I had better chip in my 10c worth on this thread

First impressions were I thought it looked better in silver, grey and especially white (saw a white one being built),liked the roofline and wheel design , but wasnt really bowled over by its styling on the whole.

The interior was too narrow (for me) , and whilst that wouldnt be a problem with an attractive female passenger, thought it was a bit too familiar with Keith my Lotus chapparone

The dash plastics and finish were horribly cheap looking , and the interior door panels were all lumpy around the door pulls (but I liked the seats, pedals steering wheel, driving position etc.)

I must admit , I drove the sh*t out of it, was surprised by the engines breathless nature higher up the rev range , and by its understeer (admittedly at the limit) , liked the gearshift and control weights

Keith suggested it would be an excellent car to tide us Esprit owners over whilst we are patiently waiting for the new Esprit, but on the whole its not what I want in a car.

I hope they do well with it, but it obviously wasnt targetted at me! ( but I think my daughter would like it , especially in purple)

[nello]

We did warm to the Europa on the day - Definately looks better in the flesh.

I was quite suprised by the car. The reports I'd read stated it was less Hardcore than the Elise and more a civilised GT to rival the Boxster. I still found it quite 'hardcore' with its sparcity and noise level quite high.

Great handling - styling looked great in real life and engine 'note.' The engine pulled well with not as much Turbo lag was I was expecting after what had been written.

Got to say the price tag is a concern with so closely matching the Boxster but I really hope its a success......until the new Esprit arrives!!!!

Edited January 25, 2010 by USAndretti42

[Paul C]

...more a civilised GT to rival the Boxster...

Got to say the price tag is a concern with so closely

matching the Boxster but I really hope its a success...

...until the new Esprit arrives!!!!

In truth thats probably why it's not for me. I followed a Boxter in traffic

last night for about thirty minutes, i let a citroen sara pull out just so i had

to look at it no more. The boxter embarrass's me as a car lover, and i dream

of being in an accident with one just so i can say to the driver "Blimey mate,

your missus will go nuts when she see's what you've done to her car!".

i've got my Van whenever i need it, We've got Vicki's saxo for practicality

and the Esprit for fun and impracticality. An 'in-between' car is as useless

to me as a van with no roofrack, or a saxo with no back seats and a small

boot. As a low volume car maker i fully understand why lotus need this car,

and i also fully understand that there would seem to be a very good market

for it, so i hope it sells superbly and gives Lotus all the finance and success

it needs to build a relatively low profit making supercar.

The fact it competes with the Boxter/MR2 class for me puts it about a million

miles away from anything i consider my Esprit to be, or would hope the next one

to be. I just hope its good enough to make the next Lotus Supercar a reality!

Buy ten of them!!!!

[Red]

i dream

of being in an accident with one just so i can say to the driver "Blimey mate,

your missus will go nuts when she see's what you've done to her car!"

Classic!

[Jonathan]

The best one was when I was in traffic, sunny day - some guy in a 4x4 pulls up (this is gods honest truth) and puts down his window and shouts at the driver

"Ere Mate, can you do me for Saturday - need a little off the back and sides"

f'kin creased me up

[Kimbers]

I really never have understood the Boxster thing!

"Its more useable day to day" OK. What does that mean? Ermm, OK i get in my Europa.....you can get in your VW sorry Porsche, I start mine....what do you do? OK I put mine in gear and drive to work....You do to? Wow ok, So then I get out.....you do too?

OK so whats the difference?

1. When I got out of the house I was all excited about once again getting in a real British Sports car, U see it as a posh mode of transport.

2. I listened to Radio 1, U listen to Classic FM

3. When I call my mate up I shout "Listen to this" and floor it (Bibsy), U call a mate and say oh yes it is quiet isn't it how marvelous!

4. I get out of the other side with a huge grin on my face, you get out with your nose in the air and ponce off to work.

5. I buy British cause it's got character and a real charisma, U buy German because everyone tells you that German is the best, and because your hairdresser drives a BMW and aspires to a Porsche.

6. I see it as F U N and a great drive and use it properly, U see it as a status symbol and the only person you've ever seen drive it like I drive my Lotus is "That Ghastly Clarkson person"

And Lastly: I know and love cars and I buy them for them. U know knowt or else you wouldn't be driving what you drive and have no passion. U buy a car to go from A to B and yours does it better...........But does it??????

GOD! I shoulda been a car Journo!

[esprit350]

GOD! I shoulda been a car Journo!

er no, stick to the day job lol

[TSD]

CAR magazine November edition has a review of AUO6 KHE (the purple beast) vs Cayman & Z4. Some nice photos which really set the Europa off nicely. Looks very lithe compared to the porker and BMW.

They like the handling, but apparently the cupholders in the Caymen are much better... Interior not upto porsche standards. Rest of the magazine is pants so don't bother.

what really sticks out is that both cars are 400KG heavier than the Europa - that's like me + 4 passengers! Looks are beginning to grow on me - it has good proportions, just needs a nose job

[DarrylV8]

Audi must be feeling the heat, the 3.2 TT Quattro has now got a little cousin 2.0T FSI engine from VW 0-60 (in wait for it) 6.4 seconds. It has the same bhp as the Europa S yet slower? Stuggart getting worried?

Darryl

[Loteuk]

I liked the Europa but it was focused.

It has similarities to the Elan (Isuzu), with little feedback until it was pushed. The ride was great as is the Exige-compared to most handling saloon type's like my itchipussy Evo8 which is like driving seated on a sheet of hardboard-how Lotus manage to get such a composed ride without being firm is testomony for other manufacturers to emulate.........the steering has the feel of the Exige but slightly damped (no unecessary information), the sound inside the car was involving but outside dull (needs sporting)........the passenger seating position is compromised by the deep door threshold - I'm average build but this was noticeable.

My opinion tbo- the wife would love it, I would 'drive' it B)

[WayneB]

This is what the Sniff Petrol Guys think of it

[slade]

I still think it's more than a bit ineffective for its purpose...

And now everyone in the press seems to hate it so... *ducks* it's... kind of growing on me now.

[USAndretti42]

Saw the Autocar road test the other day. It was a bit confusing. It said it wasn't necessarily aimed at Elise drivers but more at the Boxster customer. Then it marked the Europa down because it didn't handle as well as an Elise, even though they said if you had never driven an Elise, you would think it was fantastic. Then they marked it down because it wasn't practical enough.

So they compared it with the Elise when it didn't compare well but compared it against other cars where it was better than the Elise. I just wish they had been more consistent.

[Kimbers]

Yes Wayne, but look what they also said! Talk about insulting and generally in bad taste..........

"Things are going from bad to frankly cack for beleaguered Lotus with news that the cash-strapped company is to hold a jumble sale. The sale, to be held next month in an unspecified location in Norfolk, is the sportscar maker's lamest attempt yet to raise a few quid. However, a Hethel spokesman denied they were getting desperate. 'This is perfectly normal,' he insisted, 'we've been thinking of getting rid of some of this clutter with a good old jumble sale. In fact, we might sell an entire rear section for an M100 Elan, so I suppose you could say it's a car boot sale!' he quipped, crappily.

The jumble sale could be just the tip of the iceberg, however. Having already ditched its Coventry engineering facility, rumours suggest Lotus may now have to sell its main base at Hethel near Norwich and move back in with its parents.

'I can't comment on that,' said their spokesman, 'but I will confirm that a feasibilty study has been conducted and we are satisfied that we could continue to build the Vauxhall VX220 in Dad's shed. Under such circumstances production rate would naturally slow, probably to around one car a month which means supply would continue to outstrip demand.'

Sniff Petrol called Colin Chapman in Brazil to get his reaction but he demanded to know how we got the number and then claimed to be dead, again."

[WayneB]

Oh come on Tony dont get all bent out of shape, it is a automotive comedy web site!

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

I seem to recall the only time I'd ever looked at their site, I thought they were a bunch of rude and negative tossers who had nothing good to say about anything and represented everything that was bad about the British people...

I wonder if it's run by SELOC?!

...The so called "Jumble sale" they refer to - is that the Bristol 'event' that's referred to in Bibs' post in the other thread?