Evora 400 review

As a Lotus owner also, car looks like it has great potential. Looking forward to seeing one in person.

 

Eleven inches wider in the rear seat? That must be some engineering tour de force.

 

More US press on the new Evora 400. Sounds quite impressive. I miss all 3 of my Esprits that I had in the past. Always superb fun machines.

The Lotus Evora 400 Is The Best Track Car I Have Ever Driven

 

Car has some teething pains...

https://youtu.be/rd4Re8dHrAo

Robb

 

Good grief!
I loved driving my Evora (not 400 to be clear) but sold it out of fear of dealing with it out of warranty.

 

I like resurrecting existing threads.
OK it’s two years since the 400 was released, and I just bought a MY16 White with all options except titanium exhaust and forged wheels. What is going surprise guys on Fchat, is its to replace a Ferrari V12, to be fair I would have kept it if I had the toy account finances but now I retired to afford it’s possible issues I no longer have the budget for, and I have other toys which are in need of TLC.
Back to the 400, buying it was a head decision not a heart one, I really wanted an other Italian exotic like a Gallardo but in the end they have just as many potential budget busting issues like a clutch replacement for one. Small Aston didn’t do it for me, had 2 Porsche’s, had Classic Maseratis , new ones are boring and too big.
A friend reminded me of the Evora and the styling change of the 400 alone got me interested and to find all the improvements and the reviews were glowing. But the new price was out of my league then a heavily discounted demo appeared on the market. A test drive in the city was fun so I bought it.
It’s a 2.5 hour drive home and 3 seasons and bad traffic didn’t deter my enjoyment. I am astounded as to how well they cope with back country roads and that they are so confidence inspiring it’s spooky, and I haven’t tried the other driving modes yet.

 

I love mine, I have had almost a year, for me that is a very long time. Pretty soon (if me can start seeing some decent weather around here), it will be coming out of storage.

 

Keep us updated.

To me, Porsche is dead and Ferrari will soon be on life support (thank you, Sergeio) I've always loved Lotus as they are for now, the only sports car manufacture that still offers a manual transmission and doesn't build a four door.

Joe

 

I will admit this is my 4th Lotus ,I owned an S2 for 7 years, a Sprint for a bit over a year, Last year I bought an 1985 Caterham with Live axle and a Twin Cam which is registered as a Lotus. So I am no stranger to the Marque.
One thing that spooks me about lots of new cars is the reliance on electrics for every thing.
The other part I like is the engine, if you forget the fact that its a Toyota and just read the engine tech specs its equal to the Italian engines.The saddle block with 4 bolt mains cross bolted. Not that long ago that was the stuff of F1 engines. Cast in iron liners no nikasil coated bores with their issues, forged rods, no timing belts and I'm told the engines have been tested by lotus to 550HP.
Yes i will miss the kudos of owning a V12 Ferrari, my retirement finance wont, and the need for resale to very low mileage and to have the paper work match the weight of the car.

 

If only they would make evora targa already

 

Apparently there is a soft top coming??? year... apparently
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/lotus-evora-400-roadster-launch-2017

 

They've been promising an open top version since initial release yet its still 'almost ready'. Makes me think there's some sort of structural or manufacturing issue that's not easily solved.

 

Expense and I recon it goes against the new bosses reduced weight drive, however a targa would work, but what to do with the roof

 

same as with elise. targa top is manual soft top that folds up and goes into trunk. hard top can be optional and kept in garage for summer then put on car for winter

 

I’m not sure that a life style version of the Evora is really what Lotus buyers want, however Im sure the marketing people are pushing for it along with a cash cow SUV.

To me Lotus seem to have taken on a new positive momentum.
The 400 410 and 430 series have all received High accolades from all the journalist, but it’s just a shame there seems to be dissmissive undertone

 

Im a lotus guy. But one of the brit mags did a test with a evora 430 and Gt3 manual. Brit mags usualy fly the home flag, but the evora was clearly not in the same league as the Gt3, especialy according to the mag when it came to steering.
One area where the 430 was neck and neck with the Gt3 was price.

Great car thta it is, the evora is not hugely light nor is it inexpensive in 430 guise.

An evora 400 though is the choice over a Cayman Gts.

 

Definitely evora over cayman esp since cayman went turbo 4 and sounds like a subaru. Really have to be a lotus fan to spend 150k gt3 money on evora 430 though

 

I much prefer the simplicity and uniqueness of the 400 and the sheer fact its an amazing drive. I have owned other rare and some unique cars and the Evora fits the bill exceedingly well and it gets attention because its different. The people who own the cars also make it special. Lotus are also the envy of other Marques as they they have a 30% purchase rate post a test drive.

 

I agree the people who own the cars really make the whole lotus thing special. Its the last sportscar car company where people buy the product for what it is rather than the badge.

The 400 makes sense compared to a cayman, the 430 picewise compared to the Gt3 not so much. Since I spent my $$ on a exige v6 probably I would buy a 430, but that wont keep lotus in buisness.

 

Your comments made me think of this review by STG, where I struggle with these guys is that they only own the cars for a very short time on lease i think. There reaction to how good it is typifies the badge thing


Where as this result from 2017 Road and Track performance car of the year was one that helped cemented my decision
https://www.roadandtrack.com/pcoty-2017/

 

Even more so than the R&T COTY story and result is there article, The Lotus Evora Is the Antidote to Bloat
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a31370/the-lotus-evora-is-the-antidote-to-bloat/

 

Yep great articles, and Jack Baruth is a steller reporter. Too true that people buy cars based on numbers for bragging rights at bars. And its also true that the porche 991 series of cars has bolated, to where they are essentialy rear engined 928's, well the 928 is svelte in comparison.

Still imo two big things hold lotus back. Nice as the toyota engine is, its still not the same thing as a Gt3 engine, and the evora great as it is to drive compared to anythign else in its class, is still on the heavyish side.

I cant even begin to tell you how odious the modern eps systems are in other cars. Yes theyre accurate, and probably make a suv drive better, but a recent romp in friends new cayman revealed degrees of inconsistentcy and isolation in the steering which is the antithesis to what you get in a lotus.

The thing is the game moves on fast. Todays evora 400 would have knocked it all out the park for lotus at the time the origional evora was launched. Whatever lotus comes up with going forwards needs to start with the level of performance and lowish weight we see in todays 430 and improve form there.

I actualy think lotus has a bright future. Its true 99% of car buyers dont favor virtue as a performance factor and are happy to buy bloat if it comes with greta paper numbers and comfort. But as the miata proves in each market segement there is a dedicated core of drivers. In todays world its miata, lotus and then if your lucky soemhtign like a Gt3 or 488 pista and the last 2 are not quite the thing. Lotus occupies a rare niche with little competition, they just need to serve it more comprehensively. Witness the new alpine.

 

bingo. Evora was a good car, now it's a great Evora, but still only a good car

Evora S or 400 with a manual is a tempting car, but not sure I could be swayed when 3 year old Caymans and 911s at 50% off MSRP exist.

 

Personaly I would take an evora 400 over any of the used proches, in fact I woudl take it over any non Gt proche, to me they dont compare if your talkign driving,.

However if I were comparing an evora 400 to a new Gt3, well thats a far tougher choice and there it would be new porche for me, or course the porche costs way more so not directly comparable.

Next year if we see the rumored cayman Gt4 Rs sub 3000lbs with real 475hp Gt3 motor, well it would take somehtinn like a evora 430 with a really nice upgraded motor to sway me. As it is the 430 is not avialable in the USA.

But let me back track. If like me you like going to the track ands track prowess durability as well as road feel is the priority, well then, it pretty much takes a Gt3 or Gt4 to compare.compete with a lotus, even then Im not sure the recent Gt4 qualifies.

Compared to my exige v6 the curent/prior GT4 is a notch or two down the performance scale on track, and a new Gt3 is a notch higher. The lotus probably cost significantly less to run and is easily upgradeabale to GT3 and better performance., although by then youre approaching Gt3 money but still at lower running costs.

The Gt3 is of course street legal whereas the exige is not in the USA. The Gt3 is a big computerised car, whereas the lotus well it feels like something you wear, reacts as a race car should and requires much from you as it rewards comensuratly, a car you can grow with for years.
Two different things.

What lotus really needs more than anything is a premium motor, both in 4cyl and 6 cyl. IMo the volvo turbosupercharged motor is not it. Frankly in the new volovos I have driven that motor sucked. It was neither fast reving nor consistent in power, slow off the line, then torquey then flat then a little urge up top. But hey maybe there are different specs.

Thing is Loti Evora are now 100k cars, if youre playing in the premium segment, powerplant is key, they need a lighter more powerful 6, or a small v8..