I would definately buy one if they sold these in the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENtOVCVO884
wonder how these updated exiges would compare to alfa 4c. lotus has much more power but is almost 20 yr old design by now
There are a couple manuals for sale in the US but are track only. Cannot be registered to drive on public roads.
Harry Metcalfe did a review of a new Aston recently (DB11). Opined the ZF torque converter (which can be manually shifted) is now so good he sees DCT as a dying breed. Separately, there's a cool YouTube video of a Dutch guy flinging an Evora 410 around Hethel and he seems to be having a great time. Wortt watching. Philip
You can try mine sometime this summer. Think 997Gt3 performance, I dont think the alfalfa is anywhere near, but he Alfa looks great and is street legal..
thank you since yours is street legal in Europe, I imagine alfa wouldn't do so well there in comparison
The 6MT's have been arriving now. I test drove an auto 400 and I was amazed at how well it drove. Definitely faster and the auto worked really good. I can't justify the price difference between mine and a 400 manual but when they start hitting the used market in a couple of years I will start looking at them a bit more seriously.
Im loving mine! Amazing car! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have sat in an Elise and an Evora. The Elise wasn't as easy to get in and out of, but once I was in it, everything felt very comfortable and fit me quite well. The Evora (regular, pre-2017 model, not the 400) was a lot easier to get in and out of and felt much more luxurious inside than I was inspecting. I don't think it would be unreasonable as a daily driver.
I've had the car for a few weeks now and finally passed the break-in period. Here's my initial writeup on the car. First, i'd like to say that i'm a HUGE Lotus fan. I've been driving Lotus' for over 10 years now and this is my third car. My first Lotus, a 2005 Elise, was bought when I was 23. After 6 years it was unfortunately involved in an accident that saw me upgrade to a 2010 Exige. I have since traded the Exige in for the Evora 400 and haven't looked back. Both of my previous Lotus' were well modified from stock to include custom interiors, exhaust work, retuning, etc.. I'm not one to leave well enough alone with a car. I've also been fortunate enough to drive several "nice" cars over my lifetime to include a decent assortment of cars from M3's to the F Type R, 991.1 Porsche 911 Turbo S, Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Huracan, Gen5 Viper, Alfa 4C, and a decent amount of others. I first heard about the 400 about a year before the unveiling in Geneva. At the time I was contemplating trading my Exige S240 in for an Evora S. I ended up deciding not to for several reasons. First, there were rumors of an upgraded Evora coming "soon". Second, I've never really been a fan of the Evora's styling. The big smiley face in the front never appealed to me and I always felt the S lacked power, and didn't have the super-lightweight factors of the Elise and Exige to make up for it. When the 400 was unveiled in Geneva 2 years ago I was on the phone with the local dealership that day asking if they had any info on pricing, options, release date to the USA, etc.. There wasn't much info at the time. Since then I have spent over a year trying to drive every competitor to compare it to including: Alfa Romeo 4c, Gallardo, F430, Jag F-Type R, Aston Martin Vantage, GTR, Gen5 Viper, or a used Audi R8. My budget was around $100k if I made the jump from my Exige. I wanted an exotic car that I could near-daily drive, that handled extremely well and would be good to take on vacation. I had been driving the Elise/Exige for about 10 years and wanted something I could toss a suitcase in and take across the country, but still retained the handling characteristics and fun of the Lotus'. Here's how each car stacked up and what prevented me from choosing each: Alfa Romeo 4C: Great handling, lots of fun. Exotic looks. VERY small and almost harder to get in and out of than the Exige. The lack of a 6 speed manual hurt this vehicle and the lack of creature comforts as well. This would be a great competitor to an Exige, but wasn't quite what I was looking for. It's also very wide and driving/parking could be annoying with the hard ingress/egress. I look forward to picking up a used one for $30k down the road somewhere. Lamborghini Gallardo: My budget meant I was likely looking at a 2004-2008 Gallardo. The biggest downside to this option was the age of the vehicles. The interiors appeared a bit dated, and at over 10 years old maintenance, upkeep and overall reliability was a very real concern. Manuals command a premium and i'm not a fan of single clutch paddle shift transmissions for near-daily driving. Ferrari F430: Better handling and "atmosphere" to the Gallardo, but I was looking at vehicles around 2007 build. This meant little to no warranty and lots of possibility for things to go wrong. The high price of manuals also reflected from the Gallardo in that I would be looking at a paddle shift transmission with a single clutch. Jaguar F-Type R and Aston Martin Vantage: The F-Type was amazing to drive and fun to listen to. It had a lot of the creature comforts I wanted and a much more modern interior than the Italian options. The downside was it was very heavy, handled a little sluggish, and had basically zero storage space. It's a wonderful car to drive but I couldn't imagine living with one. The other downside is the appeal of a used Aston Martin Vantage. Though slower, a Vantage has always been on my bucket list. Ultimately, I wasn't happy with how the Vantage drove and decided neither would fit the bill. Nissan GTR: On paper this seemed like a close contender, but I've never really been a fan of the styling or interior. I respect the engineering that went in to designing this car but ultimately decided it wasn't right for me. Gen 5 Viper: This car was awesome, had tons of power and is very fast, handles well (though different from what i'm used to, being front engined), and came with a 6 speed transmission. It was a bit limited on storage and the interior felt very cramped. I also have had poor experiences with the local Dodge dealerships and really didn't want to have to deal with them for warranty work. The engine note was also very disappointing. Audi R8: I considered this option as well but it basically had all the downsides of the Lamborghini with the addition of the lack of exotic styling that the Lambo has. Now, on to the Lotus: I first saw the Evora 400 a year ago. Lotus had a couple cars doing high altitude testing here in Colorado and there were a couple unfinished test mules I got to look at. The cars were rough but I was immediately hooked on the updated styling from the old Evoras. Ultimately, I decided to trade in my Exige and opt for the Evora 400. The vehicle was ordered in August of 2016 and finally built in December. The European cars have been on the road for about a year now and I am told they were released first to weed out the bugs and any issues that cropped up. Apparently the American market is much more picky than the Euro market and they wanted the cars "right" when they came here. My car seems to reflect this as the build quality is a HUGE step above any Lotus i've ever seen or been in. The Evora 400 has the benefit of being new, with a new car 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. It comes with all the features I wanted. 6 speed manual transmission, rear wheel drive, mid-engined. It has back seats that, while nearly useless for hauling people, can be used very well for tossing a backpack or bag behind the seats and being able to access the contents quickly during road trips. It also has room in the trunk for a couple additional small bags. It has cruise control, heated mirrors, navigation, rearview camera with park sensors, bluetooth, a decent stereo, and the ability to select standard, sport or race modes with the ability to adjust whether the exhaust is quiet or loud. I can drive up to the mountains, have fun with the exhaust valves open, and then quietly cruise home with the stereo turned up. The car can be loud and ferocious when I want it to be but when I want to just relax and go home the car can quiet down and be very comfortable. The Engine: The Evora 400 puts out around 400hp (Duh, it's in the name). I am told the cars are known to dyno up to 410-420hp. As most people know it's a 3.5l Toyota V6 with a Supercharger and Intercooler added. When Lotus released the lighter, stripped out "track" version, the 410, they apparently did nothing to the build or tuning of the engine. It's already a 410 but with more comforts. The performance specs on the vehicle show 0-60 in about 4 seconds with a top speed of about 185mph. Now, I'm not one to get hung up on 0-60 stats like a lot of people are. I have driven a few cars that were extremely fast and had 0-60 times in under 3 seconds. They pulled very hard but lacked other qualities like steering feel and feedback, throttle response, brake feel, firmness and responsiveness of the chassis, etc. All of these things are very important to me in a car. I've driven fast cars that felt slow and boring and slow cars that felt fast and exciting. One thing I like about this car is its quickness off the line. It pulls hard, sucks you back into the seat, and launches very quickly. I'd be willing to bet this car is faster or at least very close to an F430 initially off the line, which is plenty fast enough for me. My previous Lotus, the Exige S240, had been retuned modestly. Though I never dyno'd it I figure it was putting out between 260-280hp. The 0-60 time was also around 4 seconds, but very different. The Exige was a high revving engine and required a hard launch to achieve a good takeoff. The Evora 400 has much more noticeable torque available from the start, and doesn't require you to rev it and drop the clutch to takeoff fast. Another thing I like about the Evora 400 is that the amount of power seems appropriate for the car. Many high hp cars putting out 600-800hp either can't put the power down well or use computers to dial back the power. Not so with the Evora 400. Exterior: I love the new exterior. I've heard some people complain about the plastic grilles but I really don't have a problem at all with them. They look very similar to the grilles fitted on an Aventador or Huracan and those cars cost many times what the Evora 400 does. The Evora 400 comes standard with HID's, LED driving lights, heated power folding mirrors, heated rear window, and HUGE AP Racing brakes. It is also fitted with Michelin Pilot SuperSport tires. My Exige usually got 4-5000 miles out of a set of Toyo R888's. I look forward to these new tires being less irritating to my wallet. The ground clearance isn't bad either. There are some very aggressive speed bumps at my work and the Evora 400 takes them like a champ with no scraping. Most steep driveways can be easily taken if you approach at 45 degrees with no need for a front lift system. The car is also fairly narrow compared to things like Lambos, Alfa 4C, or F430, so parking is pretty easy too. The car very much looks the part of a $300,000 supercar now. It can park right next to Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Mclarens and not look out of place at all. Interior: The interior has had a complete overhaul from the previous Evora and Evora S. The dash, seats, backseats, instrument cluster, center console, etc.. are all different. The chassis is even different to make for much easier ingress/egress. The shifter has been vastly improved. Shifts are much shorter and very crisp. I can easily shift into any gear with one finger. The clutch is also very easy to work and the pedals are spaced out better than the Elise/Exige. In the Elise/Exige my size 13 feet always had to wear thinner shoes to work the pedals. Not so with the Evora 400. I can drive this car with boots on if I want. The throttle response is excellent and the brakes are very progressive. 20% of brake pedal travel results in 20% braking. 50% in 50% braking, etc.. I have noticed a trend in modern cars that like to apply most of their braking force with the lightest of inputs, resulting in a false feeling of braking power. The Evora 400 brakes feel perfectly linear. Visibility is also surprisingly good. I originally thought I might need small spot mirrors to help with blind spots but it hasn't been necessary at all. Console and head unit: The head unit is well done. It includes a navigation system that's pretty easy to use. It has bluetooth syncing and, unlike some cars, with my iPhone 6+ I can navigate through my music library and change artists or albums without having to pull my phone out of my pocket. The buttons to change volume, mute volume, or change between stereo and nav are hard buttons, not on the touchscreen. This means you can feel for them much easier when driving to adjust them. The volume and mute buttons are very close to the natural position of my right hand at 3 o-clock, making it easy to adjust without looking. The backup camera is extremely clear and crisp as well. It's easy to make out what is behind you and the markers on the screen and distance sensors make it easy to backup out of parking spaces. Exhaust: This is probably my favorite part of the car. I think between the Jag F-Type R, Lamborghini Huracan, and Evora 400 I have to give the nod to the Lotus. It has about the best sounding exhaust out of any car i've driven so far and I never thought i'd say that about any V6 and I am amazed that Lotus made an exhaust I love more than the F-Type's. Oh, and the handling. It's a Lotus. It handles better than anything i've ever driven. Period. I'll try to think of more and post updates. Let me know if anyone has any questions about the car or any features in it.
Exactly what's wrong with Mercedes et al these days with drive by wire everything: super fast, no feeling.
The Evora 400 seems like a really good car, and all of the reviews I have seen have been very, very good. Lotus just needs some publicity and a better dealer network to get the word out. Everyone knows what a Porsche or Corvette is, but sadly Lotus is largely unknown among most people. About the exhaust: I'm a big British car fan and have watched a few reviews of the 400, and I was blown away by the exhaust note. I mean seriously, amazing is not a strong enough word to describe its sound. It's so good I'm half tempted to set a clip of Evora 400 downshifts as my ringtone. I can't believe a V6 from a Camry (or any V6, for that matter, but especially from a Toyota) can sound so good.
I have a 2006 exige - its a cool car, but its tough to use day to day. The evora is a big step up in practicality, but still retains the its "lotusness". A mid engined, manual transmission 400hp car - whats not to like. Congrats on the car and enjoy.
Was in LA for work so stopped into Lotus of West Covina. They had at least 9 new cars on the floor - all 2017. Nice looking stuff. The manager was very nice in answering questions. The exhaust note was very very nice. Robb Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great write-up on the Evora 400, thank you. My wife has a 2006 Lotus Elise, and we both love the car. A simple, fun, go-cart.... We would love an Evora S or even a 400, but we'll probably wait a bit longer to see how prices settle out. Oh, and the 400 exhaust sounds amazing.....
I like it, and it has been almost a month since I bought a car. I think it is time to have a look at these. Enjoy!
Okay I am now more than looking. I have decided I like cars that seem to have limited appeal, i8, 4C, RF, and now I want to add the 400 (manual). I have started to see them more of them at dealers, the one in Vegas seems to have quite a few. I am looking (as most of us are) for a deal (20% of sticker would be nice) and if anyone knows of a car that a dealer really wants to unload let me know.
back in the 90's Lotus couldn't make the Esprit fast enough. every one was sold before it left the factory.. shame how all that has changed. now the standard Evora's all sit outside at the docks in Savannah in the hot sun waiting to be sent to the dealers.. apparently Lotus only makes around $3 grand on each car sold.. I don't know how they hang on. Brian Esprit Turbo / Lotus Elan M100
I know the dealer in West Covina I visited had some ordered before a price increase so I would call them first. Robb
