Lotus Evora Driving Experience Day
Discussion
Today, I was lucky enough to be invited to a Lotus Evora experience track day at Silverstone.
As I parted the curtains at 7am in my Holiday Inn Northampton West hotel room, I was pretty unimpressed with the heavy rain and the temperature barely touching 4 degrees C.
Arriving at Silverstone, I was giving my itinerary which started with a product briefing on the Evora highlighting the technical features of Lotus’s newest entry into the £50K sports tourer market. It sounded like a massive amount of work had gone into the suspension, crash structures, braking/traction systems and environmental aspects (199g/ co2).
Next I was straight out on to the track in the 345bhp supercharged model, the Evora S. I donned a helmet and posted myself through the narrow slot that Lotus refer to as the driver’s door, but the rain was still bucketing down and much of the newly-resurfaced (i.e. oily) Silverstone South circuit was covered in standing water. This severely compromised the racing line as the instructor pointed out the best line around the puddles, turning the hangar straight into a slalom course. Despite the conditions, the Evora performed superbly with far more grip than I could reasonably expect around the corners. It only lost traction under heavy braking through standing water but then I could feel the braking systems keeping the car straight. I was on circuit for 30 minutes by which time I had found the fastest lines and got into a rhythm.
The next activity was road driving in the standard, 276bhp, model and I was very impressed with the everyday usability of the car at motorway speeds and around town. The only negative points were the rear visibility, which was basically a view of the engine and the tight pedal spacing which caused my size 11 feet to catch each other. If you still think of Lotus as “Lots Of Trouble…” then the build quality of this model would surely change your mind.
Back at the track, it was time to take out the standard Evora out for 30 minutes, accompanied by a very good instructor named Gary Palmer. The lower power of this car was much easier to handle on the still-soaking track and with Gary’s tuition I learnt trail-braking and gained a much better understanding of the weight transfer process through braking and cornering.
Finally, I was given a couple of passenger laps with a pro race driver. As we started our second lap, two other cars came out of the pits in front of us and suddenly drenched us in a wall of spray. The view ahead just became a thick fog with four points of red light ahead. My right foot tried to punch a hole in the footwell to slow the car down but the driver just continued to accelerate towards the now invisible turn-in point at Abbey. Jesus knows how these guys race in such conditions. The car seemed to be on a knife edge of grip all the way round but he was only 10mph faster than me at the end of the Hangar straight which I’m quite proud of.
At the hospitality centre I collected a goodie bag and had a 2 hour drive home in my 135,000 mile WRX to wonder how I could raise £55K to buy the incredible Lotus.
Opened my subscription copy of Evo to find an 'invite' a month or so ago for this event. It said I'd been 'selected' to try the car as a 'VIP' and thought the supercharged model would really float my boat. Loved Elise and Exige models I've driven and identify with the target segment this car seemed to be targetted at.
How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
StuB said:
Opened my subscription copy of Evo to find an 'invite' a month or so ago for this event. It said I'd been 'selected' to try the car as a 'VIP' and thought the supercharged model would really float my boat. Loved Elise and Exige models I've driven and identify with the target segment this car seemed to be targetted at.
How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
Has anyone ever accused you of being precious?How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
You can get an Evora second hand for 40 K or a bit more. I was very tempted by one last year, but bought two classics instead (one a mid engined Lotus). Celia Walden's article in GQ about how to drive an Evora whilst wearing your best hooker boots was memorable, not least for the photograph of her standing next to the car wearing the boots.
Yeah the Cayman is the main competitor in the market but I'd definitely consider the Lotus if I was in the market as the build quality now seems to be up there with the Porsches etc. It was also compared with the Nissan 370Z, but the price is closer to the GTR which has it comprehensively beaten in performance terms.
I didn't get the name of the hot lap driver.
I didn't get the name of the hot lap driver.
Jasandjules said:
They are very interesting looking machines. I can't wait to see one in the flesh.
Good write up though OP!
Even in the grey and dull red I've saw, they look as cracking as you expect on the road Good write up though OP!
things like the brakes make them look far more expensive than they are, too.I was there on the Friday, again through Evo.
The instructors were all the usual Silverstone race school lot - recognised a couple of them.
Nice enough cars, but as mentioned the gearchange is notchy, and 5th to 4th isn't the most positive action. They're also so linear in their power delivery to not feel all that fast.
Still, for half a day driving someone else's car at their expense, can't moan too much, eh
The instructors were all the usual Silverstone race school lot - recognised a couple of them.
Nice enough cars, but as mentioned the gearchange is notchy, and 5th to 4th isn't the most positive action. They're also so linear in their power delivery to not feel all that fast.
Still, for half a day driving someone else's car at their expense, can't moan too much, eh
StuB said:
Opened my subscription copy of Evo to find an 'invite' a month or so ago for this event. It said I'd been 'selected' to try the car as a 'VIP' and thought the supercharged model would really float my boat. Loved Elise and Exige models I've driven and identify with the target segment this car seemed to be targetted at.
How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
Evo phoned me and asked if I wanted a test drive, I declined as I would have to go to the local jct600 and it would literally be a test drive. How disappointed was I to find that somehow I'd been de-selected. No explanation, just an e-mail saying "sorry sucker". I treated this by Evo and Lotus as a cynical & cheap marketting ploy to obtain details of potential clients 'by deception' and have un-subscribed (physically and mentally) from Lotus and from anything else Evo stick in my mag.
Great write up from the OP and sounds like the £50k 'opportunity' for my business might have passed Lotus by. I am certainly not going out of my way to try one now even if it is as good as you say.
Who was the instructor for your Hot Laps BTW?
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