S vs. NA running costs?

[Frimley111R]

How different are they? From what I know, the S has higher fuel consumption, higher road tax, higher insurance and possibly tyres will be bigger(?) and so more expensive. And what about servicing? How big are these differences?

[BibsTLF]

Servicing will be a small amount more, you'll need to change the supercharger belts every other service and you'll be getting through brakes, tyres etc more. They do get through a lot more petrol in my experience too but it depends on how often you'll be using it etc.

[CTE]

Bibs....I see you have two lovely cars...how does the Evora compare to the Esprit dynamically?

[Frimley111R]

CTE- is yours N/A?

[BibsTLF]

CTE said:

Bibs....I see you have two lovely cars...how does the Evora compare to the Esprit dynamically?

Sadly that picture is about a year ago now but as a comparison, the Evora really showed me how time has moved on in terms of chassis dynamics. With Lotus's new Bilstein/Eibach suspension package on my Esprit you could feel the backbone chassis flex compared to the inherent rigidity of the Evora tub. That said, my Esprit Turbo SE was quicker, or certainly felt quicker to accelerate than an NA Evora, but the S took that to a new level. With the brakes, steering, damping, everything about the Evora it did make the Esprit feel all of it's years. That said, the Esprit felt more dramatic to drive, it's more of an event with the Evora being an much easier car to live with so it's not all one-sided!

[CTE]

Mine is an S and I think its bloody marvellous! Running costs are obviously higher than the N/A and if it were an everyday car I `d probably run an N/A, but this would depend upon the journey length...the S is definitely ok on a run, but does guzzle when cold and in Sport mode.

[Frimley111R]

I did a quick/rough cost comparison of the running costs over 4 years and it was about £1000 a year assuming higher fuel consumption, tax, insurance, tyres and servicing.

Ended up with the dilemma that a 2011 'S' would cost me about £8000 (£2k a year) less than buying a new SR N/A over 4yrs. So, new vs. slightly less new, upgraded interior etc vs. slightly less upgraded interior, S vs. N/A, second hand desirability?, etc..

I can see me struggling with this one for a good while yet...

[Nightmare]

Bibs.....when it left your care did the front bump fit properly?....looking at those gorgeous pics you took with the tubby white dog it looks like it did then (when were they taken?). Whereas now it has a gap at either end of the headlight....which might be sortable but might not.

Also....what was the paint like cos it now looks like its been clearned with a scourer - not even grit caught in sponge bad, but proper wire-wool bad. It's even got swirls over all the amour fend!!

[BibsTLF]

The bumper was spot on and in my care is was always spotless under a layer or two of Zymol's finest, as you can see from the pics.

A few more here to give you an idea of how good that car looked, it was stunner...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151537...

[Nightmare]

BibsTLF said:

The bumper was spot on and in my care is was always spotless under a layer or two of Zymol's finest, as you can see from the pics.

A few more here to give you an idea of how good that car looked, it was stunner...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151537...

nice one - thanks...yes I suspected that was the case....hopefully the paint will come back to perfect again then cos you honestly would feel sad to see it at the moment! need to decide whether to do it myself or find a good detailer

[BibsTLF]

If it's that bad, a good detailing will be worth their weight in gold bringing the shine back. Here's my mate's Vantage, as done by Rob @ Supercar Detailing close to me in Tonbridge. Years of 'hand car wash for a fiver' removed in 2 days work.

[BibsTLF]

PS You've seen Jean with the car I assume

[Nightmare]

Fair play sir - you do take some superb car photos! Thanks

Ace picture with Mr Alessi......should probably be concerned he's driven it though!!