Lotus upgrades Europa S
Europa S with added luxury: a real GT now?
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Lotus has a new Luxury Touring Pack Option for the Europa S, aimed at answering criticism that the GT was too sparsely specified to the deserve the GT moniker.
The option dresses the interior in saddle tan leather, chocolate coloured leather and brown carpets.
The touring pack components such as the steering column shroud, dash top, instrument and ventilation binnacles, and sill covers with four hides of soft high-grade saddle tan coloured and chocolate coloured leather, compared to the standard Europa S which uses lightweight composite components. Supportive sports seats are fitted -- also clad in saddle tan and chocolate coloured leather in a stripe pattern. Safety critical composite components such as the passenger airbag door are coated in a high-tech soft-to-the-touch material. An engine start button and a solid Walnut and Tulip wood gearknob finish off the interior package.
The touring pack covers the boot with brown carpet covering the whole of the boot area including the battery cover, a saddle tan coloured leather trimmed tailgate inner, luggage straps to prevent luggage from moving in the boot -- Lotus said it still expects a laden Europa S to be driven hard -- and a saddle tan coloured leather oddment bag which is fixed to the boot compartment.
Exterior additions include tinted rear and rear three-quarter glass, body coloured front driving lamp surrounds, side air-intake surrounds and roof air-outlet grill. All other exterior grilles such as the front radiator grilles and the rear light grille surrounds are coloured silver.
The Norfolk company said the added luxuries add little weight to the Europa S so the effect on performance is minimal.
The Luxury Touring Pack Option is available on the Lotus Europa S from April 2007, costing £1,250.
...I'm only too well aware of how they drive though! 
I agree. I wasn't sure about it when it came out, but its definitely grown on me. I wonder how you'd feel after an three hours drive in it though. Anybody got one?
I agree. I wasn't sure about it when it came out, but its definitely grown on me. I wonder how you'd feel after an three hours drive in it though. Anybody got one?
I quite liked its look before launch but, oddly, I am going off it now. Looks OK in this spec and colour as said, but that isn't how most of them look.
For the money I have to say I am not sure I would be tempted when there is stuff like the 350Z and Cayman around.
I agree. I wasn't sure about it when it came out, but its definitely grown on me. I wonder how you'd feel after an three hours drive in it though. Anybody got one?
My first drive in one was a two trek up to Silverstone for the 24hr Britcar race and I have to say that the more I piled on the miles the more I liked it. I currently avearge approx 2k miles per month in various Loti and the Europa really stood up to the task very well indeed.
The mid-range grunt was a lot more effortless than the Elise and Exige's that I run and it was a little bit more comfortable too. I think that with this new interior and the increase in power it will be a really great car.
And yes I am trying to be unbiased!
I agree. I wasn't sure about it when it came out, but its definitely grown on me. I wonder how you'd feel after an three hours drive in it though. Anybody got one?
My first drive in one was a two trek up to Silverstone for the 24hr Britcar race and I have to say that the more I piled on the miles the more I liked it. I currently avearge approx 2k miles per month in various Loti and the Europa really stood up to the task very well indeed.
The mid-range grunt was a lot more effortless than the Elise and Exige's that I run and it was a little bit more comfortable too. I think that with this new interior and the increase in power it will be a really great car.
And yes I am trying to be unbiased!
Ah but dear Looner,
Would it be as comfortable a snotter as the 350z, Cayman, Z4Coupe et al?
So to answer your question, I don't know!!
Seriously though, I would probably find it more comfortable than many GT's but the main thing for me was that it felt like a proper Lotus when the roads got a tad more sinewy and interesting.
...I'm only too well aware of how they drive though! Where do you get reliability issues from?
I agree. I wasn't sure about it when it came out, but its definitely grown on me. I wonder how you'd feel after an three hours drive in it though. Anybody got one?
I quite liked its look before launch but, oddly, I am going off it now. Looks OK in this spec and colour as said, but that isn't how most of them look.
For the money I have to say I am not sure I would be tempted when there is stuff like the 350Z and Cayman around.
350Z I'd agree with, but the Cayman is at least 10K more expensive surely.
...I'm only too well aware of how they drive though! Where do you get reliability issues from?
the 1970s i expect along with that other throwback to decades gone by "lots of trouble usually serious"
Anyone with half a brain can see it's an Elise with a much uglier and hardly any bigger shell stuck over it. The worst bit of all is that terrible roofline where the side windows still don't match the curve of the roof properly, (as has always been the case with the S2 Elise Hardtop and the S2 Exige) so it still looks like a badly designed & fitted removable roof. Excusable on the Elise, since it is removable, but not on a £35K 'GT' surely.
How anyone would pay what Lotus are asking for one of these when you compare to a 350Z, Z4, SLK or Boxster I really can't imagine.
I'd be very interested to know how many Lotus have sold so far????
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