Evora 400 first pictures

[j2 lot]

£50,000, 20 years ago (in 1995) = £86,000 now

[tenkfeet]

Can someone do an inflation reversal to see how the Evora 400 compares to late Esprit v8 or 350 models from 15 years ago?

If I am correct Espirit Sport 350 asking price was £64995 in 1999 which is now £99871
2002 v8 was 49,995 RRP Now £72,182

So really the Evora 400 is a bargain.

[campbell]

And there we have it.

Also, for ref, an Elise was £20k in 1999. I think they are £28k now. Surely a bargain too?

[scott_e]

I take the point ... if i want a Lotus that performs like this 15 years ago it would be more expensive than a lotus with the superior performance these days. What about factoring in technology changes, mass production of purchased components. Or is that offset by rising labour costs and raw materials. Is it cheaper to build a performance car in general these days ? has legislation impacted production costs in major way ?

[j2 lot]

And there we have it.

Also, for ref, an Elise was £20k in 1999. I think they are £28k now. Surely a bargain too?

I reckon Elises were closer to 24k in 1999,as they were £20k basic at launch in 1996 but for the record:
£20,000 in 1996 = £33,548 now
£20,000 in 1999 = £30,732 now
£24,000 in 1999 = £36,878 now

[campbell]

Mine cost £25k with nearly every option except leather, in 1999.

I think the base car was still £20k then.

[Jeremy]

Did you think it would be cheaper?!

Given the price of a GT4 then yes, I expected it to be considerably cheaper. Cancel my order.

I think the styling tweaks work well, but I wish they had done something with the headlights, which date the car in my opinion.

Regards,

Jeremy

[GraemeLotus]

Did you think it would be cheaper?!

Given the price of a GT4 then yes, I expected it to be considerably cheaper. Cancel my order.

I think the styling tweaks work well, but I wish they had done something with the headlights, which date the car in my opinion.

Regards,

Jeremy

The car has to be seen overall in the flesh; works very well. And impossible to price the car until you know the standard spec....

[SAJ]

Did you think it would be cheaper?!

Given the price of a GT4 then yes, I expected it to be considerably cheaper. Cancel my order.

I think the styling tweaks work well, but I wish they had done something with the headlights, which date the car in my opinion.

Regards,

Jeremy

The car has to be seen overall in the flesh; works very well. And impossible to price the car until you know the standard spec....

Graeme,

How come every time Lotus launches a car they put it in the dullest colour possible. The colour is actually fin, but it is just kind of dull for a lanuch - IMO Lotus should be trying to make a song and dance about the car and that includes sticking it out there in a bright colour.

I don't know the full spec but from everything |I've read so far I think a lot of the weakness of the current car seem to have been addressed and if it handles our Scottish B roads the way the current car does then it will be a dream. I think the Evora is one of the best balanced ride/handling cars in the world especially when it doesn't have trick electronic dampers.

One GT-R owner that was behind me on a run not long ago commented on how well the car had traction exiting out of the corners, something he was able to tell from driving behind me

I also think the price is fine - just need to work out if I can step up to it myself. Final decision will be after 9th March when I see the car in the flesh at Geneva. Bring one in red, yellow or orange please

[Corranga]

Did you think it would be cheaper?!

Given the price of a GT4 then yes, I expected it to be considerably cheaper.

I don't understand this, SELOC is full of people comparing it to a Cayman GT4 too.

Now, I'm no £70k car customer, so maybe I'm missing the point somewhere, but I really don't understand how a track focused 2 seated Porsche with scaffolding in the back can compare to a 4 seat would probably be a GT car if it didn't have that Lotus handling experience.
Surely the GT4 is more comparable to a Exige V6, and this is more 911 territory, which actually makes it look rather cheap?

The nice thing of course is that Lotus have mastered the act of retaining value for their current (old) models.

This car will sell, and by cutting out the cheaper N/A Evora, and even the current S, prices will be nice and steady, much like had already happened with the late model Exige, the original N/A S2 Exige, and a few others. The problem is, how many more expensive models can Lotus keep introducing at the cost of cutting the cheaper options?
I guess what they need to do at some point is introduce something somewhere in the middle..

[GregR]

It doesn't look pricey at all when you consider what a 991 costs, or for another matter, look what's happened to R35 list prices since launch.

[SAJ]

Did you think it would be cheaper?!

Given the price of a GT4 then yes, I expected it to be considerably cheaper.

I don't understand this, SELOC is full of people comparing it to a Cayman GT4 too.

Now, I'm no £70k car customer, so maybe I'm missing the point somewhere, but I really don't understand how a track focused 2 seated Porsche with scaffolding in the back can compare to a 4 seat would probably be a GT car if it didn't have that Lotus handling experience.
Surely the GT4 is more comparable to a Exige V6, and this is more 911 territory, which actually makes it look rather cheap?

The nice thing of course is that Lotus have mastered the act of retaining value for their current (old) models.

This car will sell, and by cutting out the cheaper N/A Evora, and even the current S, prices will be nice and steady, much like had already happened with the late model Exige, the original N/A S2 Exige, and a few others. The problem is, how many more expensive models can Lotus keep introducing at the cost of cutting the cheaper options?
I guess what they need to do at some point is introduce something somewhere in the middle..

For me I think seloc is just full of a bunch of tossers. It's supposed to be a Lotus forum fir lotus enthusiasts but instead 90% just bash Lotus because lotus is doing something different from the S1 Elise and because a new Lotus isn't the price of an S1 it is automatically too expensive.

[ryallm]

For me I think seloc is just full of a bunch of tossers. It's supposed to be a Lotus forum fir lotus enthusiasts but instead 90% just bash Lotus because lotus is doing something different from the S1 Elise and because a new Lotus isn't the price of an S1 it is automatically too expensive.

Sadly I agree. The Seloc thread on the Evora 400 is incredibly negative. The one post I thought summed it all up rather well is this one:

"Jeez there are some picky buggers around.

Is it lighter? Yes
Is it more powerful? Yes
Is it faster? Yes
Have they addressed the front and rear end styling? Yes
Have they remodelled the interior? Yes
Have they improved the packaging? Yes
Have they made it easier to get in and out of? Yes

So they've done something about pretty much every area that people criticised and still it's not enough.

I hope Lotus is very successful in attracting new customers with this car. It needs to because its existing ones are a an impossible bunch!"

[douglasgdmw]

Definitely the right direction for Lotus. Would I have preferred the Bahar "Elan" look for the Evora - yes but given the investment that would have had to be sunk into that, this is the right course for Lotus.

Having come from an Evora to the Porsche Spyder I very quickly noticed the shortcomings/differences of both manufacturers products. The good thing for Lotus was these were mainly due to the interior/switches that was inferior.

If I had to choose the GT4 vs Evora 400 as a car to purchase (i.e. you were lucky enough to have a GT4 allocated) then it would have to be the GT4 - mostly due to the long term desirability/residuals given the way the Porsche limited edition cars have been going (i.e. GT2/GT3 etc).

However the real life comparison is between the Cayman GTS & Evora 400. In that comparison the Evora 400 would win hands down for me.

George

[Kelvin]

I've never been too keen on the old Evora as all the large slabs of plastic made it look very long, big and a bit ungainly (and it is quite a big car in reality) However, the SR tweaks improved that quite a bit and the looks have grown on me. This new car looks more aggressive. I especially like the rear. Some cars don't photograph well and I reckon it will look far nicer in the 'metal'. The pics of it in the brighter colours make it look just wow.

I agree that comparing it to the GT4 or the Cayman is daft. If anything, this car offers GT4 like performance with 911 like practicality for reasonable money given the performance.

Anyway, I really love it.



Given how they've achieved the 400bhp do you think it seems unlikely it will be offered as a kit for the current cars?