Evora Sport 410

[mawheele]

Any chance of a look at the battery and wiring?

[blindside]

No problem; car has been put to bed but I'll fire a pic of the battery & trickle charger up over the next day or so.

[The Pits]

Bloody hell! What a thing! Must be neck strain all over in NI I would imagine.

[blindside]

Cheers Jonny,

Yes there have been a few passing glances. I parked it outside the local Halfrauds earlier while they wired in my dashcam and came back an hour later to find a small crowd around the car. The guy doing the wiring was lapping it up and the store manager asked if I could park out front more often as it was good for generating business.

Fast cars, bikes and any form of motorsport is massively popular in this part of the world. People love to see something that is out of the ordinary and a few of the young guys who spoke to me knew exactly what they were looking at (spec etc), which is encouraging for Lotus & their somewhat random & erratic social media marketing effort.  

[Neal H]

The black & yellow combo looks fantastic. Looking forward to your thoughts on how the 410 differs to the 400.

[Stubox]

Fab looking car and colour combo ?, enjoy it on your roads Jimmy.

[blindside]

15 hours ago, Neal H said:

The black & yellow combo looks fantastic. Looking forward to your thoughts on how the 410 differs to the 400.

Neal, my first impression is that they are quite different cars in terms of approach if that makes sense (400 more GT  but I want to try to be as objective as possible. I will live with the 410

[blindside]

16 hours ago, Neal H said:

The black & yellow combo looks fantastic. Looking forward to your thoughts on how the 410 differs to the 400.

Neal, my overriding first impression is that they are quite different cars in terms of approach and resulting appeal if that makes sense. The 400 is definitely more GT oriented, comfortable & easier to use on a regular basis. Although I loved the 400 I really wanted something more uncompromising and performance focused. No back seats, no heated seats, no cupholders. Also more evident use of tech to reduce weight, as the 400 is not fat, but not particularly thin either!

With the 410 Lotus have really pushed it more towards the Exige Sport & Cup cars. It is not quite full-on enough to be an out & out track car like the prepped Exiges, but definitely the initial driving feel is its more in that direction. The bucket seats are lower in the car improving the driving position. The suspension & damper settings are much firmer. There appears to be a shorter gearbox throw, which is really sweet and the engine map, even at low revs, has been noticeably tweaked. However, that said I'm still running the 410 in and want to try to be as objective as possible, so will not comment further until it is. But based on early indications I do not expect to be disappointed. 

Both cars are really great to look at. I am a carbon fibre nut so the outstanding quality of the carbon parts on the 410, (I believe Prodrive are producing it for Lotus), made it impossible for me to ignore. The louvred ducktail engine cover in particular is an engineering work of art. (Absolutely no exaggeration here). Whether it is worth the extra £15-20k overall cost from new and more if you are trading-in is a personal judgement & decision. I will try to post something a little more objective and better considered as a side by side comparison in a few months time.

[blindside]

21 hours ago, mawheele said:

Any chance of a look at the battery and wiring?

[Bravo73]

21 minutes ago, blindside said:

(I believe Prodrive are producing it for Lotus)

Polar (in Wymondham) produce some of the cf bits: http://www.polar-manufacturing.com/

I don't think that Prodrive are involved. 

[blindside]

Thanks for the correction @Bravo73. I misread the only makers mark I could find which is tucked under the rear diffuser surround.

[mawheele]

Thanks for taking the time to do that. Really helpful!! 

[scotty435]

On 29/04/2017 at 16:34, blindside said:

Some pics taken when changing plates earlier:

Great looking car and from a good new dealership 

[pickle]

The car looks stunning. Those wheels are calling out for some black bolts to replace the original silver though

[CocoPops]

My imagination, or have they stopped painting the lower part of the charge cooler setup?

[C8RKH]

It saves yet more weight Lee.

[JayEmm]

Not your imagination. Another slightly odd weight saving choice. Like the removal of the plaque from the Exige's supercharger, or the engine cover in the Elise. Not sure anyone notices the weight removal, but they look cheaper for it

 

[Breeze]

IMO that is one of the pitfalls of 'Weight Saving'. It's very easy for the car to start looking cheap which is a bad idea in the price bracket of an Evora.  We all marvel at how light cars were in the 1960's and 70's. it was because they were cheap ( Cortinas, Minis, Imps, Marinas, Avengers et al..... all light weight, all crap attention to detail or finish ). I'm still in two minds whether to change my Evora S Sr for a 400 or not. Whilst I like the idea of the 400 mechanically, I think the 400 interior looks cheap in comparison to the car I have.  Ok, so I like the car as a GT, not a balls out track car, but I do think the 400 looks a bit ordinary inside TBH. It's subjective I know.

[C8RKH]

I agree @Breeze re the 400 interior. It just does not look as good to me as the S1 Evora and it does look a lot more mass produced / main stream. But then I was not a fan of the painted / plastic SR interior bits either - I liked the brush metal of the originals much much better and would kill for the original metal interior door handles. Literally!

Oddly, I think for some reason it looks OK in the 410 (yes, I am an odd one!)

However, I do think the 400 is a very accomplished car as a whole package. If you don't mind spending the money you should get one. I could imagine a 400, with a KT 430/460 conversion would be truly immense in your part of the world, easily capable of holding on to Marranelo's finest etc.

[The Pits]

On 4/29/2017 at 16:44, mawheele said:

Any chance of a look at the battery and wiring?

A good look here on video at 2.29

 

[Danelaw]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

and would kill for the original metal interior door handles. Literally!

I have a new pair which I have not got round to fitting yet. You've made me feel both guilty and a little afraid...

[C8RKH]

Good job I don't know where you live @Danelaw. Yet!

If you ever want to sell them give me a shout.

[Danelaw]

I think I'd need a hand-crafted carbon fibre or titanium alternative before selling them. I was thinking I'd look at fitting them this week as it's the first quiet work week I've had for some time, but then my wife hit a deer with her hatchback and I'm having to replace the front grilles and a light fitting as the priority job.

I do agree with you on the original brushed metal finish and I've never understood the level of criticism for the S1 interior. I love it and feel it is special. I don't want my Lotus interior to be like a focus, golf or any other mainstream car. Those who have a  400/410 seem to like the interior, so i'm sure it's fine, but the S1 has a purity of design that they seem to have moved away from due, I believe, to some petty criticism's by journalists.

The carbon fibre and those wheels on the 410 are fantastic - they get full marks from me for those parts.

What I want to know now from a 410 owner daft enough to investigate is have Lotus changed the battery tray spacers from heavy steel items to something lighter?

[Cypriot]

There seem to be a few more 410s on the market now. Out of interest, can anyone comment on how the 410 rides/handles/steers compared to a 911 GT3? I have never been in a GT3, but they always seem to get praise for their handling and steering. The 400 absolutely demolishes a cayman/boxster/911, so just intrigued what happens when you start comparing the 410 to cars higher up the food chain.

[pickle]

I can't comment on the GT3 comparison, but having spent the day in Central's demonstrator yesterday I can confirm that the 410 is a considerable step up over the 400. Much firmer ride but never harsh, you could feel everything going on but with the edges smoothed off. I found myself traveling much faster over familiar roads purely because of the confidence it gives.  Steering was so direct and instant that it made the 400 seem almost slow witted (which it isn't!)

I absolutely loved it. It's much more than the sum of its parts.