Autocar - First for car news and reviews

A supercharged version of the new Lotus Evora 2+2 is planned – and the blown version will have at least 350bhp.

The normally aspirated 276bhp version of the Lotus Evora is on target for launch in May 2009 and, although official performance figures on that car have yet to be revealed, company sources have confirmed that it will be capable of cracking 60mph in around 5.5sec and hitting 160mph.

The supercharged Lotus Evora should cut the former figure to comfortably below 5.0sec and b...Read the full article

This is going to be an excellent car. Finally something new and exciting from Hethel. Well done Lotus! However, with the Evora priced at around £55k it will mean that the new Esprit will be pushed into the 911 territory, perhaps even the 911 Turbo. Lotus will have to make sure it'll be a much faster, more polished car than the 911.

I am sure that the Evora will be excellent, but as for the new Esprit, Lotus will be more worried by the GT-R at 70k than the 911 Turbo at 100k.

I struggle to work out what the Evora is pitched towards.   It's a fat Elise with a bog standard Toyota engine priced to compete with, well, Porshe and BMW Z4 Coupes.   But those competitors are very well polished cars, which even though the Evora looks much better inside than other Lotuses it simply can't do.   Even on the outside it looks like a kit car.   For sure it's far superior looking than the Europa, who's designers never met.

As much as I'd like to see Lotus do well, this isn't the product.   The Europa hasn't sold, and the Evora is pitched the same but with an extra two unuseable seats.   Performance is good, but not great and for the price they're asking it should be outstanding.

I wish Lotus all the best with this. The Elise won many awards when it came out. It was a very desireable niche vehicle. The Evora, is in another segment.

The Evora is pivotal for the future of Lotus cars. Lets see how it sells both in the UK, and perhaps more importantly abroad.

Good luck guys!

John Mansfield  http://myvision.iuplog.com

Symanski:

I struggle to work out what the Evora is pitched towards.

It's aimed at every customer who bought an Elise but for what ever reasons wants or needs something a little more refined without loosing the driving intimacy.

It is also aimed at people like me who considered the Elise just a little too compromised for every day use, but still want the Lotus experience.

This is the first car in a long time that I have actively felt an aching to buy.

TegTypeR:

It's aimed at every customer who bought an Elise but for what ever reasons wants or needs something a little more refined without loosing the driving intimacy.

It is also aimed at people like me who considered the Elise just a little too compromised for every day use, but still want the Lotus experience.

I did buy an Elise in 1997, and now run a Cayman S so I suppose I might be that potential customer, but I so am not.  Perhaps it will be better looking in the flesh, but I fear it has been fatally compromised by the ridiculous +2 seating facility that nobody will use.  Young families want estate cars and people carriers with lots of airbags, and if they have more disposable income they might have a two seater as well.  Interesting that at 1350kg with 286bhp they claim better acceleration than the original Cayman S, but the figures don't stack up to me, and I look forward to the indie road tests.  I reckon they've made the first Lotus bloater, which as a Lotus fan saddens me.

TegTypeR:

wants or needs something a little more refined

This is what the Europa's remit was.   It didn't sell, partly because it was priced too high, partly because it looked like a dogs dinner.

Already before the car is available Lotus are sending out signals that they know it's a damp squib.   They're already saying "wait, the supercharged one will be better!".   What this says to me is that pre-orders haven't been anywhere near what they're looking for, or need to survive.   Big mistake as the few who would have bought are now holding off waiting to see what the next one will be like.   And for that.....

Lotus is finished.

If you're looking for a better way to spend 45k then have a look at the Z4M Coupe.

Symanski:

Already before the car is available Lotus are sending out signals that they know it's a damp squib.   They're already saying "wait, the supercharged one will be better!".  

Where have they said "the supercharged on will be better"?  That is quite simply untrue.

I agree with you on the Europa, it was probably a good idea on paper, it just didn't work out that way. 

Lotus is far from finished though, and that's not me being patriotic.  They are probably one of the better placed small scale manufacturers at the moment be that in production flexibility, development or consultancy.

Paul J:

I did buy an Elise in 1997, and now run a Cayman S so I suppose I might be that potential customer, but I so am not.  Perhaps it will be better looking in the flesh, but I fear it has been fatally compromised by the ridiculous +2 seating facility that nobody will use.  Young families want estate cars and people carriers with lots of airbags, and if they have more disposable income they might have a two seater as well.  Interesting that at 1350kg with 286bhp they claim better acceleration than the original Cayman S, but the figures don't stack up to me, and I look forward to the indie road tests.  I reckon they've made the first Lotus bloater, which as a Lotus fan saddens me.

Oh you are, as you put it, so wrong. I have a young family, the wife drives the bus and I want a 911 layout but don't want to drive a modern 911 (ie 996 or 997) because they are too common. I do like the Cayman S, a very nice car, but I occasionally want to take my young kids to school and out & about so the Cayman S is out, the 911 is out but very much in is a brand new British designed British built Lotus that will handle better than previously mentioned cars and can accomodate my kids. As for your mention of Lotus bloater, fear not, perhaps what you do not know is that different car makers have different ways of weighing the cars. ie Porsche measure the weight with one driver and half a tank of fuel. Lotus weigh with driver passenger and a full tank, putting the Evora 100kilos lighter than said competition, with the benifit of the 911 style rear seats (and if the seats work for the 911 who's to argue).

I have ordered one of these cars and am very confident the independent road test will confirm everything the Lotus team have said... and more.

TegTypeR:

one of the better placed small scale manufacturers

I used to joke with a friend over coffee with Evo magazine that every month Lotus had another special edition of the Elise out.   With the recent sales figures each customer is about to get a unique car!   Sales are dropping drastically, it's down 22 car sales for December (38 December 2007) and that is not enough to sustain Lotus.

History is littered with many companies who went to the wall because just as they were launching a new product the sales team started boasting how good the next one would be, how it would have so many new features.   Customers decided to wait.   That's what I meant by my fictious quote, and that's the message that Lotus are giving out, intended or not.

 

Fasteddie71:

Lotus weigh with driver passenger and a full tank, putting the Evora 100kilos lighter than said competition, with the benifit of the 911 style rear seats (and if the seats work for the 911 who's to argue).

Porsche quote weights including a 68kg driver and 7kg of luggage, as per the relevant EC directive.  I suspect the 'Lotus method' might be factory spin given out for the dealers to explain an above target weight.  Having said that I hope I'm wrong about it and the car is a great success.  I bet your kids are looking forward to the school run.