I may have already mentioned my dislike for automatic transmissions in a previous update and I’ll maintain that dislike but with a 2 IPS based caveats, namely the steering wheel mounted paddles and ‘Sport’ mode!

Paddles are fun, they’re engaging and almost as enjoyable flipping up through the gears as dropping a clutch and feeling the power delivery in a manual car. It’s nice, it makes me feel like an F1 driver! Keeping 2 hands on the wheel makes a lovely change through demanding corners and left foot braking becomes a much easier and rewarding proposition too. This is only really something I do though when the car is in ‘Sport’ mode which makes the gear change noticeably quicker on the way up through the gears and adds an auto-heel/toe blip on the way down if required, clever enough in itself as the car uses it’s ‘intelligence’ (the I of IPS) to see if you’re braking heavily for a corner or slowing down as the lights are red and you don’t need to be hanging in the seatbelt! When not in ‘Sport’ there’s a solid chance you’re on a journey where the performance of the car isn’t required and leaving the car in normal automatic mode gives a very surprising fuel economy and easy, comfortable drive very much adding in my opinion to the appeal of the car as a GT cruiser across varied terrain with economy in mind. Yes, it’s a sports car but since the Evora fills the gap as a daily driver too, not everywhere you go is at ten tenths!

We’re nearly at the end of the 3 months with the IPS and are soon to ‘upgrade’ again to a Model Year 12 ‘S’ IPS so will be able to directly compare the car with it’s more powerful and updated successor. The experience with the naturally aspirated Evora has been great though. We’ve had very little in terms of trouble with the car, there was an early, single isolated blip with the gearbox which hasn’t returned since and the wiper jets have packed up although this is of course a warranty item and more than likely a fuse in truth, a very simple repair next time it’s back in the garage. The heated seats have been a welcome addition over the winter and are recommended if you’ve not got the Premium Pack which they are standard on, they are very effective and quick to warm up the cold leather of the Recaro’s.

Still on the Yokohama W-Drive winter tyres they are now at the point that they should go back into storage until later in the year although an early run in the cold and wet still shows the benefit of the different tyre. With the unpredictability of the weather in the UK I don’t think they’ve been on too long this year, it was 3C yesterday and colder is on the way this week. Remember it’s the cold and wet where you get the advantage, they really aren’t just snow tyres by a long shot.

As mentioned the Evora is a daily drive for TLF while were undertaking this long term test and so far, the IPS has properly excelled in this respect. Easy when you want it to be, ‘hang on to the steering wheel’ fast too when the mood takes you and on the alternative rubber, no weather has forced the car to remain off the road. Very impressed, a well priced, usable sports car and automatic gearboxes, they have their place!

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