Peoples’ reaction to your Evora

[Spinney]

58 minutes ago, Relic222 said:

I definitely feel it when I drive my wife's Mazda 3 - obviously it's not trying to be a sports car, but you instantly feel detached from the road, and what the car is actually doing. 

I agree wholeheartedly. My wife runs a Mercedes SLK which to many folk has the appearance of a sports car. I can assure them it most definitely is not. The steering is slow witted, handling very poor  and the brakes aren’t great either. It goes well in a straight line, but sports car it most certainly ain’t. 

When she first bought it, I joined an SLK specialist forum just to learn a bit more about the car. It was an American forum as it happens and I particularly recall one thread where they were all discussing what a great sports car they are and how theirs would have the beating of anything on the roads! 🤷‍♂️

I was feeling in a mischievous mood and, if I’m honest, probably had a few glasses of something, so immediately tore into the thread making fun of their assertion at what a great sports car the SLK is. Naturally enough I told them how the car couldn’t hold a candle to proper sports cars like Lotus etc etc including the reasons why. 

Funnily enough they took exception to that and banned me for life! 😂🤣

[electro_boy]

What a great anecdote@Relic222! Something I can relate to as well with my experience of mates having a test drive in my car.  

I'm always banging on about how most cars don't have any character to them anymore and my mates don't really understand what I'm on about.  Sure these cars go fast, some go fast in a straight line some go fast round bends but there is always something missing from the equation.  

Then you jump into an Evora and it be might slower than the other cars but it just puts a smile on your face and you get a real sense of emotion and drama from it.  Something that the other cars can't offer, even the ones that go round the bends quicker than the Evora.  I drive my car for pleasure not lap times (event when I'm on the track) so for me the sign of a good car is one that puts a smile on my face and stirs up emotion rather than a car than gets me round a lap quicker.

My mates get in for a ride and almost instantly they suddenly... "get it"!  A few times even from the passenger seat they can feel there is something different about a Lotus compared to other cars but certainly when they take it for a quick spin and hold the steering wheel.

I find it funny that petrol heads or car nuts are buying cars that give little feedback or emotion with so much popularity that car makers keeping giving them more of the same.  And then when these same car nuts do drive a car that lights up the synapses start praising it like it was the best thing ever! 

[Relic222]

@Spinney I used to own an Audi TTS and it was much the same on the forums - everyone was aware it wasn't 'the best sports car' but there was a lot of talk about how they could beat anything on the road etc - usually by re-mapped TTRS owners, who no doubt could beat many things in a straight line, but as soon as they get to a corner...

I do remember saying to my cousin at one point that there aren't many things faster on a B road, because of the size of the car and the torque, and the quattro system etc, and I believed it. Then I bought the Evora and after taking it out for the first 'proper' drive I realised just how wrong I was. What I realised was that my limit of how fast I'm prepared to go on a road was just about the same point that the Audi would start to understeer, so I was maxing out the potential of the car. When I pushed the Evora it kept going quicker and quicker to the point where I had to back off because my abilities were nowhere near the car's. It's very easy to be naive to these things - if you've never driven anything 'better' then it's easy to assume that what you have is the top. I remember as a student a friend claimed that her Daewoo Matiz was 'really fast' because it could go 70mph... I guess compared to her walking pace that is pretty fast...

@electro_boy What I found really interesting, was when I got back with the second guy one of the other directors who hadn't yet driven the car asked how it was. His response was 'you need to try it, you can't really explain it, you just have to try it.' Which sums it up perfectly. It's very hard to explain to someone who's never experienced proper feedback from a car what it actually feels like to know what the car is doing. I guess an open wheeled racing driver could read all of this and laugh at the hypocrisy of all of this, but for a road car, there aren't many that give the same amount of feeling, and it gives the driver so much more confidence in the car.

As for the lack of emotion of modern cars, I blame the internet for some of this. You cannot quantify driver enjoyment or feedback in the same way you can 0-60 or bhp figures. The internet has turned the car industry into one big game of Top Trumps, where the only thing that matters is beating your competitors on paper. That's the reason that all of the new BMW M cars are now 4 wheel drive, turbo charged and automatic. They used to pride themselves on being the 'Ultimate Driving Machine', but now they've lowered themselves to the same place as everyone else - rear wheel drive can't easily beat four wheel drive in a 1/4 mile drag race, and that's all that seems to matter... All normal car buyers can only really rely on reviews, videos or stat sheets to base their opinion - there aren't many people who will test drive 5 or 6 different cars to compare how they drive, they'll just choose the one they like the look of, that also compares favourably on paper. 

[Cdm2018]

I drove Audi TTRS it was my ex wife’s and it was PINK ! 😳 enough said 

it was a very un-involving car not a patch on my Impreza Sti of years back 

however the Evora is such a special car the position and presence the manners on the road etc 

not driven these electric cars but my hybrid in electric mode is fun but soon wanes after a bit and you ride the car not drive it 

[Spinney]

In some ways I’m almost glad I won’t be around once true drivers cars are no longer available. I guess as our roads become ever more congested and the surfaces poorly maintained, drivers cars per se will become anathema to most people. 

I’m glad to have had the opportunity to enjoy some of the best fun cars around since I started driving back in the ‘60’s and think I’ve lived through a golden era of proper driving just for the pure joy it brings. You can still find some roads where you can do this, even in the U.K., but for the most part I think those days are gone. I still enjoy driving in France and Spain and there are some epic roads to be found, especially in the mountains. 

I think it’s interesting how electric cars are developing, with most manufacturers emphasising just how quick the cars are from 0-60.  I can only assume this is to make potential owners think they are still producing cars for the driver. With the possible exception of cars like the Evija and Rimac etc, I’m afraid they are not. I’ve driven a Tesla S and the Polestar 2 in recent times and apart from the electrifying (pun intended😁) acceleration, my god they are deadly dull and soulless. But, hey, I guess that’s what young drivers today are being conditioned to accept. They can still boast bhp and acceleration figures down the pub whilst believing they are doing their bit for the climate. 

So, dragging this thread back on topic, I’m definitely remaining very smug about the abilities of my Lotus and which, mostly, attracts admiring glances from all those who see it! 😁 I will be keeping a Lotus around me for as long as I’m able to make that decision for myself. 👌

[richhickey]

I pulled up behind an AMG C-coupe at a red light in my Evora GT. Then their rear logo tilted up - they were checking out the Evora in their rear camera 😀 After the light changed they drove really slowly in front of us trying to get a cell-cam shot.

[Cdm2018]

So Halloween evening has come to end I hope ? 👻

this year in my village it’s been busiest I have seen for many years and as my kids bar one are adults I don’t get too caught up in the whole thing anymore

however this year so many kids knocked on door and I was greeted with “love your car” instead of trick or treats ! Lol 

[Alfa2Evora]

On 31/10/2021 at 19:44, Cdm2018 said:

...........this year so many kids knocked on door and I was greeted with “love your car” instead of trick or treats !

Ah, the joys of living in a civilized community. Round here, you'd more likely be greeted by a sneering "nice car" comment accompanied by the sight of one of their number standing next to it with a can of petrol and a box of matches to encourage your generosity during the treat dispensing process, .

[EGTE]

Yikes!

[C8RKH]

On 02/11/2021 at 09:03, Alfa2Evora said:

Ah, the joys of living in a civilized community. Round here, you'd more likely be greeted by a sneering "nice car" comment accompanied by the sight of one of their number standing next to it with a can of petrol and a box of matches to encourage your generosity during the treat dispensing process, .

You do know that Musk sells flame throwers on the internet?

And I am more than happy to lend you may large, fully fuelled up chainsaw, if you fancy putting a white T-shirt on, some denim dungarees and a carved out pumpkin for a helmet.  Oh yes, that would scare the living daylight out of the little shits and if you did manage to severe the odd appendage on them you can always claim it was self defence or a hormone imbalance due to your age!

Haven't had any kids round in years and wife can't understand why they don't come to our door! 

 

[Spinney]

I was just about to climb back in my car after filling up with Shell’s finest go-juice yesterday, when a young teenage lad on a BMX skidded to a halt on the other side of the car. He just stared at the car open mouthed and finally said I’ve never seen one of these on the road before. 

I started by telling him it is a Lotus when he stopped me by saying yes, I know, I’d love a Lotus one day. He then went on to say he wishes he could have shaken Colin Chapmans hand!

I was taken aback that such a young lad would even know who Chapman was and the only thing I could think to say was, yes, so do I. He wanted to look around the car, so I showed him everything and told him all about the specs. I could see he was longing to sit in it, but didn’t like to ask. He looked clean 😆 so of course I let him jump behind the wheel and the look of shear joy on his face as he gently stroked various surfaces was great to watch. 

Seems there is hope for the younger generation after all! 👌😁

 

 

[windymiller]

dug this pic out from the wifes phone as it is my reaction to the evora we then purchased !!

[andydclements]

@windymiller what's that in front of the Evora? I was guessing Mini clubman estate or similar.

[windymiller]

actually i think it was a renault 5 gt turbo the chap was restoring

[AdeMorton]

Stopped at my local Shell garage yesterday , guy on the opposite pump shouted over, "you're brave, aren't you?" "Why?",  I replied. "Driving a Lotus in the winter, they are rear wheel drive aren't they!" Granted its November, but it was 14 degrees yesterday... anyway, he took a pic of the car before driving off....!

[Spinney]

I must be super brave, all our cars are rear wheel drive, even mine and the wife’s Mercs which are driven throughout the winter! 🙄

 

[C8RKH]

Nope, just the rest of the world are pussies!  The best car I have had in the snow was back in 1985 when I had a lowly Ford Escort popular plus. I remember one particularly bad winter, snow everywhere and that car never failed to get me where I need to get to, snow or not, uphill or down.

The problem these days is the big wide, low profile tyres they seem to fit on every car now, they just sit on top of the snow and don't dig in.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Bravo73

[Spinney]

Whaaat, you’re suggesting I’m not brave? How very dare you sir, I once  accidentally walked into a gay bar so I could use the loo. How brave was that eh??? 😏😂

Joking aside, I know what you mean about wide tyres. When I started driving back in the 60’s,  if we had a snowfall, I would often take my car to a deserted supermarket car park on a Sunday (you could do that then) just to practice skid control. Even my Lotus Cortina which had, what were regarded as wide tyres back in the day, could find enough grip not to be stranded. 

Having said that, fitting the right tyres makes a huge difference to a cars grip in difficult situations, even todays rwd cars with a wide footprint. That is something we generally just don’t do in this country, but the additional grip afforded by proper winter tyres can be quite astonishing. 

[phil flash]

1 hour ago, Spinney said:

Having said that, fitting the right tyres makes a huge difference to a cars grip in difficult situations, even todays rwd cars with a wide footprint. That is something we generally just don’t do in this country, but the additional grip afforded by proper winter tyres can be quite astonishing. 

I agree entirely - winter tyres have higher natural rubber content that makes them softer and keeps them flexible to much lower temperatures - that clears the snow from the tread, which is also a purpose designed tread pattern. They are much better at clearing water in heavy rain too.  For this reason I have a set of Anthracite winter wheels with Yoko' W.drive tyres as Lotus specify in the Evora Handbook. On many roads in Europe it is illegal to have summer tyres on in winter.

My village is on a plateau that involves climbing a steep and winding hill to get home and in deep snow there are usually 4x4's on summer tyres making 'a dog's breakfast' of it.  I tend to leave the Evora at home because of the risk from those idiots so I use the best 'snowmobile' that Lotus has so far produced - which gets fitted with a set of Pirelli Sottozero, a fabulous snow-tyre, when I take it out to play in the snow.

[exeterjeep]

Took the Evora out today to get some petrol, when I came back, the new lodger next door, who had just got up as he works nights, came over in just a tee shirt and pyjama type trousers and slippers to see my car. Showed him round, he had just moved in, so had not seen it before, but in the past he had a Lotus Sunbeam, so was interested. He must have got darned cold, I had my thick Lotus jacket on and I was still cold!

[fflyingdog]

I live in a small fishing town on the south coast of Dorset and I've nothing negative at all , it's British, people like that ,it's cool and unusual and quite understated. Kids point and adults try to work out what it is you don't see many (if any) Evoras down my way. I drive  courteously ,let people out of junctions etc ,I'll engage with people who ask questions, kids are a great leveller at this .Even the local kids in exhaust noisey cars are interested and will ask questions , I generally don't get buzzed and never respond to kids getting to close to the rear ,overtake I don't care ,I have nothing to prove . It's such a small town and everyone does know everyone. I'm also a biker and ex instructor and have similar conversations with kids on smaller bikes, and again they are generally courteous ,I'll help them answer questions,and ask about taking their test and further training, although I have to admit I do have a prod about wearing the correct kit , track suit bottoms and trainers not being that good when using your body as a brake . I think as you get older of you can advise without being an absolute prick it's a good thing .We've all been there and by the grace of God etc , I absolutely loved doing CBT and advanced riding teaching , if I saved one life I'd be happy.  Driving and riding is a state of mind , a skill that you learn , having a nice car is a privilege. 

[C8RKH]

Great post that @fflyingdog. Spot on.

[Cdm2018]

Just back from my Monday night footy with mates from Mercedes’ and Porsche 

On way home stopped off at a local Aldi didn’t realise it was shut and one of the staff came out to tell me , my Evora was parked in an empty car park the young staff member shouted to me wow is that a McLaren ! 😱

bloody pagan ! I shouted back No it’s a lotus 

    

[TomE]

Surely they would know:

Aldi = Lotus

Waitrose = McLaren

 

[fflyingdog]

I normally leave Aldi with a Tig welder 😬