Now that's a co-incidence.
Discussion
C 'mon it didn't happen, there's hundreds of concept cars to mourn. Besides I keep hearing better and better things about the Europa. Give it a test drive then judge it when it's out - looking like September according to one dealer.kevin ritson said:
jnboult said:
Don't dis the M250, we all love it. The Europa is shite though.
Get over it, it was a load of sh*te in reality, it looks horribly dated now, the best bits were designed into the S2 body, where it's aged much better. Why do you think Lotus pulled it?
Nice to see the experts are in early :-)
The M250 had some very nice touches, but was apparently binned largely because of packaging problems - there was no chance of it being legal in America where legislation is geared towards great big barges. Aerodynamically it was excellent, and it was a very coherent and bold design (which 'dates' it - though there has been nothing like it on the road before or since. You might as well say that the Gallardo is dated). It was a step up from the Elise with a 3 litre V6 and designed for high speed cruising (which the Elise makes quite tiring). In person it had real presence and was a lot less 'fiddly' than the Elise S2 is.
The Europa on the other hand is an end of line special. That's not to diss it, but don't for one moment think that this is a ground up redesign - it's a styling exercise based on the VX220/Elise platform and won't behave much differently to either of those. From what I've seen it works, though there are a few slightly jarring elements. It'll sell to people who'd otherwise buy an Audi TT, but not to people who'd buy a Porsche - which was what the M250 was aimed at.
Hey, 5USA, do your homework before posting, The M250 & the Europa are VERY different vehicles, the only similarity is that they bear a Lotus Badge. (Oh and they have 4 wheels headlights windscreen etc.....)
Size of vehicle is different, vents different, door openings different, Grilles different, the list could go on & on.
Size of vehicle is different, vents different, door openings different, Grilles different, the list could go on & on.
Edited by monkey boy 1 on Friday 30th June 14:30
5 USA said:
Tuna said:
there was no chance of it being legal in America where legislation is geared towards great big barges....
....like the Elise and Exige which are now on sale stateside. It's a whacky world!I knew someone would pick up on that.
Until the series II was developed, the Elise also failed the import restrictions, hence the redesign (and the expected changes for the series III). The M250 A pillar was relatively close to the driver's head which would mean it would not be able to be sold freely in the US. It made developing the M250 as an entirely new platform too expensive as it could not be sold as a 'world car' at a time when Lotus were planning major expansion into the US. The Elise Series II on the other hand was a different matter as it was a lower cost evolution of an existing platform.
So - not a wacky world at all, just a depressing one.
The differences between Euro and Federal cars never cease to amaze me. I think even the early Esprits switched to fuel injection for USA long before UK and had a heavier bumper structure etc. (US cars are similarly affected whrn officially imported to Europe. Rear fog lamps, wheel offsets etc etc)
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