Here's the car:
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What an interesting experience, but first some information for those unfamiliar with the evora. This is Lotus' first new car in almost a decade and designed to basically compete with the 911 and similar cars. It has back seats unlike the Elise/Exige, but they will be most useful for people without legs. The engine is a midmounted toyota V6 motor making ~270hp. Lotus USA was offering test drives of a euro-spec model as the US models have not been released. This event was associated with the Evora release party, which occurs in the East and West coast. I went to a dealer outside of philly for this event.

I spend about 15 minutes driving the car on suburban roads, so I was unable to really wind it out. It was quite Lotus-like--rather raw in some aspects, but overall a nice vehicle. The brakes were super touchy and the shifter was horrible. The steering however was the best I ever experienced, though I couldn't really experience the handling. It did have a decent ride though, just a little better than the crossfire, IMO. The engine was interesting. Around town and below 4k rpms, it was rather weak. The crossfire has more pep around town. However, I did a 2nd gear romp up to 6k rpms and so after 4k rpms, the car really took off. It felt great and sounded exotic. More like an NSX and less like a camry. All in all, around town the car was ok. I was definitely not in love with it after the drive. But I suspect driving the car in an environoment where I could really push it would likely really wake the car up.

 

beautiful car, i would trade my srt6 for it any day.

 

Completely agree...


The Celica GTS engine that Lotus has used for years in the Lotus' is a great engine and has a lot of potential. Unfortunately with the mid-engine placement...Tubochargin it becomes an issue... Can't wait to see the 330hp SC version... Fan-freakin-tastic.

 

You know, if you are talking about fun on the street, the crossfire isn't much worse. If the srt6 was available in a manual, I'd have a hard time choosing between the two. The evora is a much purer driving experience, but the srt6 would likely be much faster in street driving. On the track or technical back road driving, I'd most likely choose the evora over any XF. However for normal street driving, I think the crossfire is a bit more fun.

If the srt6 was available with a manual and had steering that was a fair amount more communicative than it is now, I'd likely rather have it over the evora for almost any situation. I found the z4 coupe to be vastly more fun to drive on the street than the evora. Of course, my tune would likely tune when the evora is really pushed towards its limits compared with the other cars mentioned.

 

The Evora looks amazing.

 

Googled on the net. Lotus Evora pricing not released yet, but base price anticipated to be around $75k.

 

It is a great looking car...the wheels look vaguely familiar too(with less spokes).... I'll keep the SRT6's..

 

that's great, i am dating double-amputee twins and if i trade the SRT-6 for this now we can all go in one car!

 

75K for this Bland Rubbish.......psst. Give me Z06 and a BMW 135i....ooooor GT-R

 

I always like to try new cars, or bikes for that matter. But to tell the truth, I saw the black Cross in the background and I'm saying to myself "no way would I trade the Cross for this". to me the Cross is one of the prettiest cars on the road today, and since you can only have so much performance to use, then anything more than that is really a waste. the price, the looks, the preformance and there is no way I would trade to this, or almost anything else in exchange for the Cross.

 

I have been debating getting a BMW 745 Li ,,,,,,,,I know I wanted something else last Month sure it will change next month too lol!! Always wanted one when they were $70K now some are reasonable. I have been looking and reviewing cars lately but everytime I accelerate in the 6......I say no way man! Oh yeah was looking at some Pontiac G8 GT 395tq 365hp

 

I've always been a huge Lotus fan, and this Evora is gorgeous in the flesh. At the LA Auto Show my wife even said it was her favorite car there. Lotus is all about handling; if that isn't something that carries weight with you, then you won't be happy with a Lotus. They're pretty spartan on the inside, but they're all about the driving experience. Spartan though they may be, at least they have some style. It's pretty sad when the interior of a VW GTI, Buick Lucerne or even the new Suzuki Kazashi is more interesting and inviting than that of a new Corvette. Seriously, the 'Vette interior is boring and uninspired. Maybe it's because it's got the same steering wheel as my wife's Cobalt!

 

Lucky guy!! Thanks for the test drive and review...not many people will be able to experience this, I'm sure!

 

Atleast they keep it in the family eh!! LMAO!!