Any Evora 400 owners?

I have a 400 but its in Australia and I think we have more here than the US

The main gripe from the US is cup holder as there are none and the ALPINE head unit and the sparsity of dealers which will change with the money being invested at the moment.

As for the car, the best drivers car for the money you can buy and even the auto version is good

I am sure the 410 has made it to the US and some high spec 400's with more carbon,
There are a number of dedicated LOTUS websites to help you learn.
https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/
https://www.seloc.org/

 

im a huge lotus fan. had my elise for 6 yrs and its probably a forever car. tested out the original Evora but was not a fan. new version 400 is a different proposition. its a great car. much better drivers car than cayman and much more exotic than corvette. well worth the risk if you have a local dealership.

 

A little late to the party here, actually just registered and came across this thread. I've had my Evora 400 for about a year now, so I thought I might offer my $.02. Keep in mind, my only other exotic car was a v8 R8. The Evora is a lot of fun to drive and is actually really comfortable (on par with the R8 on the street, maybe actually a bit better). It doesn't offer any handling modes, but it honestly doesn't need them. It handles amazingly when driven aggressively and isn't rough during normal driving. It is a bit loud (you won't believe a Camry engine could sound like this...if you're in the U.S. make the GRP decat pipe your first mod), but that's partially due to lack of sound deadening.

Your standard amenities are all there and work well..but they aren't fancy. You have ice cold a/c (no climate control). You have heated seats (one setting). You have a stereo with a sub (it's sound that is on par with an entry level Kia, I'd imagine). You have navigation (built into the Alpine head unit the car comes with that looks very aftermarket). You have cruise control, ABS, and four airbags. I think that rounds out the amenities list.

It has a surprising amount of room in the front (the rear seats are for toddlers, or for extra storage, which is nice). I've had friends that ar 6'5" be comfortable in the (manual) drivers seat.

The interior smells like...a Lotus. Even after a year. The best I can explain it, is that after sitting for a few days, when you first get in you smell glue/adhesive. It's actually kind of grown on me, reminds me of the way this car was built.

The battery will die after a week, maybe ten days, if you don't drive it or put it on the trickle charger. If the key fob battery dies while the car is immobilized, you'll have an archaic 4 digit code you have to put in via a blinking LED light on the dash by initializing the sequence, and then turning the key (not keyless, but it is push button) on and off each time the LED blinks the number of times to represent your code (all while the car alarm is going off).

The car is darn near silent in "Street" mode (until about 4K RPMS when the exhaust opens up), which is nice if you have neighbors. But you can make it sound angry anytime by putting it in "Sport" or "Race" mode. I really enjoy this because my straight piped R8 had no such option, and I think my neighborhood didn't appreciate that so much!

It's rare. Really rare. I've never seen another one on the street in the U.S. (I think Lotus sold about 400 units here from 17-19).

As far as built quality, it's pretty good, but not great. If you wash the car with anything but a garden hose, some water will leak in the windows. The interior looks very nice, but there is a lot of plastic where you might be used to aluminum or carbon. The turn signal, power mirror adjustment, and headlight dial are all from a European Ford Focus...and it's obvious.

Mine has been extremely reliable. My only issue has been an airbag light on the dash, which is apparently a common problem (maybe just on U.S. Evoras, as I don't think the European spec cars have side airbags).

Overall, I'd say buying a used 17/18 Evora 400 is a great bang for the buck (probably somewhere in the $75K range depending on miles and spec). I bought mine that way. I wouldn't pay $105K for this car though. You'd really, really have to want to be different in order to justify over $100K for an Evora 400 in my opinion (or honestly, even a 410).

Oh one more thing...the three most common questions you will get from the general public...

1. What is that? Followed by, "who makes Lotus?"
2. Is that a Ferrari? (and more specifically, "is that a 488?").
3. Is that a Corvette?

Not kidding.

Feel free to PM with questions. Good luck, and great forum!

 

Which would you buy used Evora 400 manual or Audi R8 V10 manual ?

 

Evora probably better driver overall but not enough of a difference to make up for the na v10 stickshift combo. regardless, I would take a new c8 over both unless I absolutely had to have a stick

 

I absolutely need to have a stick.

 

The Audi v10 stick will hold value much longer than the evora which like all lotusxare always in depreciation free fall.

But the lighter evora would be more fun to drive.

Robb

 

Guy at work had one. Liked the car - swapped an early NSX and a modded 997 TT for it.
Written off when he was rear ended at a traffic light. Which is probably for the best - I’m sure the market for crashed ones isn’t strong given how weak the market for unmolested ones is.

IIRC getting a decent settlement out of the insurance company wasn’t quick.
Doesn’t tell you how it drives, but it’s another consideration.

 

Gordon Murray listed evora as bench mark for driving feel when planning his $3m hypercar. Then switched to alpine but says a lot for evora.

 

That's a tough question. My R8 was a v8 and I've never driven the v10. If creature comforts are important, definitely the R8. If you do a lot of track time, definitely the Evora. If you want rear seats (my daughter loves going for rides in the "vroom vroom"), obviously the Evora. Straight line speed, R8 for sure.

The dealer network is a big thing you shouldn't overlook. I had to ship the darn thing to another state to get an airbag light turned off because hardly any independent mechanics have the tech for Lotus (why bother with so few cars on the road). Audi, no problem.

Both cars will put a smile on your face and be show stoppers at most cars & coffee type events. Just depends what you value most.

I can tell you this also...depending on the year of the R8, the price to buy might be similar. But I can already tell...the Evora is going to be a major pain to unload. I looked an NSX when they had the $20K rebate, and the Acura dealer offered me $45K on a trade (on a two year old car that stickered for $105K). They said they knew the offer was insulting, but honestly they really didn't want the car because it would just sit around or they'd auction it.

Which I don't think was b.s., since you can still find brand new Evora 400's on dealer lots from 2018. I do enjoy the car though and am happy to own it. Same for the R8.

 

Thread bump.

I'm trying real hard to like the Evora. Currently priced out of the 400/GT versions. I just can't warm up to the styling.

The '89-91 Esprit is to me, the most beautiful car ever produced.

The Elise is gorgeous. Not as dramatic as the Esprit, but pretty in so many ways.

Hell, the '91 Elan even looked good in yellow.

Am I missing something here?

Joe

 

hard to want evora over a c8 imo and im huge lotus fan. had elise 7 yrs and still not tired of it. evora is another story though

 

I test drove the Evora 400 and really liked it but they are so over priced when you look at what you are getting.
The Evora GT 400's are all running $100k -$120k and when you compare them to the new C8 it makes the Lotus look even more over priced and then you have the lack of service locations and it just makes it hard to justify unless you are just a hardcore Lotus fan.
It's why I ended up going with the new C8 instead.

 

Yep, I agree with this completely. I've actually seen a few 2020 Evora GT's in the $130K+ MSRP range. That's just insane to me. The used ones are a steal (17-19) at $65 - $75K though.

By the way, in case anyone is still reading this thread and picks up a used Evora 400, you can purchase an extended warranty from Fidelity. Any dealership that sells Fidelity can get you one (I bought mine from Audi of Fort Lauderdale because they were great on the R8 and shot me straight). I got 4 years and 48,000 miles (from the date of the warranty purchase, not the actual mileage on the car) with a $250 deductible, Platinum coverage (which is exclusionary coverage) for $3,650. After my car had been in service for 35 months and had nearly 20k miles on it.

I don't think you can buy a more exotic experience for less money with that kind of peace of mind.

 

I would take the 400 manual over the R8 (boring) the C8 and a few others. I owned mine at the same time as the 4C (and a lot of other cars) so it did not get driven as much as I wanted. I agree it is not cheap for that you get (but either is a Cayman GTS), but it is a great drivers car. I had to do a few things to mine (like fix the rear hatch), but in the year I owned it it never went to the dealer for anything. Then again my cars rarely go back to the dealer. I would own another gearshift car, it impressed me that much.

 

I had to do the rear hatch fix also (under factory warranty). Also had an airbag light and a recall to do (both under factory warranty as well).

One use of the aftermarket warranty since factory expired for a check engine light. It was a sensor, total cost for the repair was $600 (I paid $250 deductible).

I'm thinking my warranty purchase will probably pay off in the end.