Please help! (personal note)
Please help! (personal note) was created by Ozzy
Posted 13 years 3 months ago
I am down to the last 50 to win a Lotus Evora S for a year...
I did my test drive of a Cayman R and Evora S yesterday and have written a 200 word review
I need people to vote for me! 5 star ratings and facebook likes!
please help me win!
http://lotusdiaries.evo.co.uk/profile/ozzyuk
i have written a full review just for you guys to also give you petrol heads something to enjoy!
Sorry thought this needed its own thread.
So basically here is my head to head of the Porsche Cayman R PDK (auto) and the Lotus Evora S...
Below are my bullet point highlights from my experience with the dealerships, websites and test drives.
Porsche Experience
- Phone call to book test drive – flawless
- Website – excellent, easy to navigate and download brochure
- Arrival at dealership – no hand over of test drive as salesman who took call away
- New sales man takes over no questions, very helpful
- Nice walk around of the car explaining options
- Didn’t have all the answers but went out of their way to find them and get them to me before I left
- Nice waiting area, with hot and cold drinks available
- Friendly and professional staff
- Test drive was about 30 mins, 5 mins salesman driving, 25 mins me driving
- Friendly chat during test drive
- Left with the car for 10 mins on return to have a play with the car static
- Given a bit wedge of literature upon leaving, on beautifully printed booklets which looked more like artistic works than a car brochure...
Driving Experience
- Lovely ride, a little on the stiffer side, but suits how i like my cars to handle
- Back roads and A and M roads are handled well, undulating surfaces are delt with in a very german no-fuss way. A little more feel on the front end would be nice, but the back end felt very planted at all times.
- Sports mode improves shifts and throttle response noticeably but doesn’t make a massive difference to the way the car handles “normal” driving
- B-roads are good, but the car feels as if it needs a wider road to enjoy it properly
- Brakes are good, but lack initial bite, and fairly easy to lock up on an undulating surface
- Turn in is positive and accurate felt at home immediately
- Steering seemed to lose feel at the apex, and wash out as you came out of the corner, perhaps i wasn’t pushing hard enough but it felt a bit fuzzy mid corner...
- Power delivery is beautifully linear and pulls fantastically above 5000rpm...
- The down change blip on the PDK box was lovely, and sounded fantastic
- The flappy paddles are great, very easy to use, and with the sport button engaged seemed to react quicker (or with less input).
- The full auto mode on the PDK is sublime, I literally could not tell when the car was changing gear, which is both good and bad, as it meant i found myself looking down at the dash to see which gear i was in before being able to think about making manual changes in normal driving (say to overtake)
Tested Car:
Porsche Cayman R PDK (auto)
Lotus Experience
- Phone call to dealership – great
- Website difficult to navigate, and download any information at all about the car your after.
- Arrival at dealership – Sales man waiting, knew who I was when I walked in, and immediately offered tea/coffee
- small waiting area, but plenty of attention paid to customers, staff very friendly and professional
- No walk around of the car
- Straight into the test drive demo from salesman (about 3 minutes)
- Test drive was about 30 minutes, not left with car after test drive
- Friendly chat during test drive, but also advice on route and gear selection/corner speed which was very good, salesman obviously had used the car to its potential and was very good at demonstrating the cars potential
- Given a small price list on leaving, no brochures
Driving Experience
- The ride is incredible. It is soft enough that you can drive through a national trust car park hitting bumps and pot holes without really noticing them, and firm enough that on tarmac you can push the car to its limits and it still feels totally planted and flat, Lotus have very much got the handling of this car spot on for a fast road car that is usable.
- Back roads are eaten up too fast, just as your really starting to enjoy the car you arrive at your destination eager to leave just to get back into the car again. The way the car handle undulating surfaces is 2nd to none, and the lateral and braking forces this car can great are just astounding. It really has that “Lotus feel” about it.
- Sports mode doesn’t seem to do that much other than reduce the amount of input on the loud pedal needed for 100% throttle, it does sound nicer though.
- My initial feelings where that the car felt quite wide, but as i got used to my surroundings I realised it is certainly no where near as wide as the old esprits or excel’s of the 80’s/90’s albeit wider than the elise/exige varients of more recent years. You could still throw the car around very easily and the steering is incredible.
- The amount of feedback you get through the steering wheel is just fantastic, you feel as if your hands are connected to the wheels directly and you can sence how much the tyre wall is deflecting as you turn in to the apex and as you open your arms up again you feel as if the tyre is straightening back up under the wheel, the level of feel is immense. It really inspires confidence to push the car from the outset.
- It feels that the faster you go the more confidence you have to go faster, until you need those brakes which frankly if you buried your foot into it would just rip your head clean from your shoulders. The brakes are brilliant, with good initial bite that doesn’t let up for a moment.
- Power delivery is sublime. Totally linear, and feels like its got a V8 behind you there is so much torque available from such little rpm, I found myself pottering around at car park in 3rd gear at 1100rpm, and able to just pull away without juddering, then plant your foot in 2nd and rev it to 7200rpm and feel it pull like a train all the way through the range, the supercharger really does make this car very easy to drive, and live with day to day.
- The gearbox was possibly a little noisey at low speed, others have commented on this however I didn’t feel this was noticeable. The gear change is at a slight angle, the idea being that its a more natural direction than straight up and down, and I liked it. It took a bit of getting used to but gear changes are snappy and clean and you are rewarded when you get them just right. The 3 shift lights in the tacho also help to ensure you change at just the right moment, and work very nicely.
- Overtaking in this car is totally effortless, and you can be quite lazy, with so much instant power and torque available from this wonderful little V6 you can just roll your foot over the throttle in almost any gear and just watch the scenery turn into a blur as it throws you at the horizon.
The Review:
Having driven a Cayman R 3 hours earlier I was apprehensive about the Evora S. The 2 cars have about 340bhp, 1400kgs, cost £60,000, 2 seats, and mid mounted engines.
I was relishing the chance to compare the Evora S to its main rival. On getting into the Evora S the first thing you realise is what a nice place to be it is. Everything is easy to get to, it’s laid out well, and there is sufficient adjustment for both the seat, steering wheel, and mirrors. The visibility is far greater than I had expected, albeit not quite as good as the Germans efforts, there is something special about looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a supercharger!
The first sensation to hit you is the incredible feel from the steering; the rack has been tweaked over the standard Evora, turning into a corners you can almost feel the tyre wall flex. It inspires massive confidence. You just want to push it from the get go. The feeling as you hit the apex and start to leave the corner is one in which the car is egging you on to burry your right foot again. It’s a dangerous feeling as when you do endless torque appears from almost no rpm’s to hurl you at the horizon in any gear... you can very quickly be doing VERY illegal speeds on public roads. On the track this car must be fantastic. The work lotus has put into making it feel like an Elise but have the power that they always should have had is just brilliant. I was very sceptical that this car would handle as well as it does, but the steering is the thing I cannot get my head around, only in driving a 340R have I felt so connected to the front wheels before. Throwing this car around roundabouts is all too easy, and a very childish thing to do... but you almost can’t help yourself. It begs to be pushed, and driven hard.
Cornering has that typical Lotus feeling. Its flat at almost any speed with endless grip. The back end feels so planted compared to the Cayman R, and oddly the Cayman feels more diluted and disconnected. The feel you get from the Evora S is just unreal. You have so much feeding back what the car is doing under you if you listen and feel for it you could drive this car blindfolded at the limit. It really gives you so much information.
The Cayman R is undoubtedly a good car, it is fast, revs very well, and pulls nicely. The PDK gearbox is excellent, but it has no connection, it feels numb compared to the Evora S. The change in the PDK is so subtle I found myself having to look down to see which gear I was in, as I wanted to overtake some traffic but had no idea how many down changes to make. I would almost welcome some feedback from the car to tell you what gear your in without having to look down, be it an engineered jolt on change, or a vibration through the steering wheel.
At one point I found myself driving through a national trust car park in 3rd gear doing 1100rpm with the engine just ticking over nicely pulling the car along. I could have sworn I was in 1st. The engine is so well set up it pulls beautifully right from the get go. The tacho has 3 shift lights that illuminate in order, and the gearbox feels great, the change is positive and rewards well timed gear changes, which is made all the more easier thanks to the shift lights.
One of the biggest surprises for me was the brakes, Porsche have always had a reputation for stopping well. The Cayman R managed to lock both its front wheels at one point on a B-road when I hit the brakes hard, the Evora S had better initial bite, and felt more progressive through the braking, no doubt on track the Cayman R would be fantastic, but the Evora felt better. Again communicating back to you the grip levels enabling you to brake as hard as you felt was required without locking a wheel up.
If I had one criticism of the Evora it was that the buttons on the right of the dash are not easy to see, although you would lean which was which, it was not immediately accessible. I honestly cannot find anything else I dislike about this car. It really does anything you ask of it and more. The Cayman R, shockingly felt of worse build quality than the Evora S, however it had more available space for storage, particularly having 2 storage areas (front and rear bonnets), but the cubby hole storage in there felt tacky and plastic. The Evora’s Glove box even has a dash button to open it to keep the lines clean on the glove box it’s self. It really is very well built.
Overall the Evora S is a brilliant car, and if it was my money, I would take the Evora S over a Cayman R every time. Whoever’s idea it was to do a supercharged version of this car, thank you! Lotus you have done an amazing job again.
PS: please vote for me!
:up http://lotusdiaries.evo.co.uk/profile/ozzyuk
I did my test drive of a Cayman R and Evora S yesterday and have written a 200 word review
I need people to vote for me! 5 star ratings and facebook likes!
please help me win!
http://lotusdiaries.evo.co.uk/profile/ozzyuk
i have written a full review just for you guys to also give you petrol heads something to enjoy!
Sorry thought this needed its own thread.
So basically here is my head to head of the Porsche Cayman R PDK (auto) and the Lotus Evora S...
Below are my bullet point highlights from my experience with the dealerships, websites and test drives.
Porsche Experience
- Phone call to book test drive – flawless
- Website – excellent, easy to navigate and download brochure
- Arrival at dealership – no hand over of test drive as salesman who took call away
- New sales man takes over no questions, very helpful
- Nice walk around of the car explaining options
- Didn’t have all the answers but went out of their way to find them and get them to me before I left
- Nice waiting area, with hot and cold drinks available
- Friendly and professional staff
- Test drive was about 30 mins, 5 mins salesman driving, 25 mins me driving
- Friendly chat during test drive
- Left with the car for 10 mins on return to have a play with the car static
- Given a bit wedge of literature upon leaving, on beautifully printed booklets which looked more like artistic works than a car brochure...
Driving Experience
- Lovely ride, a little on the stiffer side, but suits how i like my cars to handle
- Back roads and A and M roads are handled well, undulating surfaces are delt with in a very german no-fuss way. A little more feel on the front end would be nice, but the back end felt very planted at all times.
- Sports mode improves shifts and throttle response noticeably but doesn’t make a massive difference to the way the car handles “normal” driving
- B-roads are good, but the car feels as if it needs a wider road to enjoy it properly
- Brakes are good, but lack initial bite, and fairly easy to lock up on an undulating surface
- Turn in is positive and accurate felt at home immediately
- Steering seemed to lose feel at the apex, and wash out as you came out of the corner, perhaps i wasn’t pushing hard enough but it felt a bit fuzzy mid corner...
- Power delivery is beautifully linear and pulls fantastically above 5000rpm...
- The down change blip on the PDK box was lovely, and sounded fantastic
- The flappy paddles are great, very easy to use, and with the sport button engaged seemed to react quicker (or with less input).
- The full auto mode on the PDK is sublime, I literally could not tell when the car was changing gear, which is both good and bad, as it meant i found myself looking down at the dash to see which gear i was in before being able to think about making manual changes in normal driving (say to overtake)
Tested Car:
Porsche Cayman R PDK (auto)
Lotus Experience
- Phone call to dealership – great
- Website difficult to navigate, and download any information at all about the car your after.
- Arrival at dealership – Sales man waiting, knew who I was when I walked in, and immediately offered tea/coffee
- small waiting area, but plenty of attention paid to customers, staff very friendly and professional
- No walk around of the car
- Straight into the test drive demo from salesman (about 3 minutes)
- Test drive was about 30 minutes, not left with car after test drive
- Friendly chat during test drive, but also advice on route and gear selection/corner speed which was very good, salesman obviously had used the car to its potential and was very good at demonstrating the cars potential
- Given a small price list on leaving, no brochures
Driving Experience
- The ride is incredible. It is soft enough that you can drive through a national trust car park hitting bumps and pot holes without really noticing them, and firm enough that on tarmac you can push the car to its limits and it still feels totally planted and flat, Lotus have very much got the handling of this car spot on for a fast road car that is usable.
- Back roads are eaten up too fast, just as your really starting to enjoy the car you arrive at your destination eager to leave just to get back into the car again. The way the car handle undulating surfaces is 2nd to none, and the lateral and braking forces this car can great are just astounding. It really has that “Lotus feel” about it.
- Sports mode doesn’t seem to do that much other than reduce the amount of input on the loud pedal needed for 100% throttle, it does sound nicer though.
- My initial feelings where that the car felt quite wide, but as i got used to my surroundings I realised it is certainly no where near as wide as the old esprits or excel’s of the 80’s/90’s albeit wider than the elise/exige varients of more recent years. You could still throw the car around very easily and the steering is incredible.
- The amount of feedback you get through the steering wheel is just fantastic, you feel as if your hands are connected to the wheels directly and you can sence how much the tyre wall is deflecting as you turn in to the apex and as you open your arms up again you feel as if the tyre is straightening back up under the wheel, the level of feel is immense. It really inspires confidence to push the car from the outset.
- It feels that the faster you go the more confidence you have to go faster, until you need those brakes which frankly if you buried your foot into it would just rip your head clean from your shoulders. The brakes are brilliant, with good initial bite that doesn’t let up for a moment.
- Power delivery is sublime. Totally linear, and feels like its got a V8 behind you there is so much torque available from such little rpm, I found myself pottering around at car park in 3rd gear at 1100rpm, and able to just pull away without juddering, then plant your foot in 2nd and rev it to 7200rpm and feel it pull like a train all the way through the range, the supercharger really does make this car very easy to drive, and live with day to day.
- The gearbox was possibly a little noisey at low speed, others have commented on this however I didn’t feel this was noticeable. The gear change is at a slight angle, the idea being that its a more natural direction than straight up and down, and I liked it. It took a bit of getting used to but gear changes are snappy and clean and you are rewarded when you get them just right. The 3 shift lights in the tacho also help to ensure you change at just the right moment, and work very nicely.
- Overtaking in this car is totally effortless, and you can be quite lazy, with so much instant power and torque available from this wonderful little V6 you can just roll your foot over the throttle in almost any gear and just watch the scenery turn into a blur as it throws you at the horizon.
The Review:
Having driven a Cayman R 3 hours earlier I was apprehensive about the Evora S. The 2 cars have about 340bhp, 1400kgs, cost £60,000, 2 seats, and mid mounted engines.
I was relishing the chance to compare the Evora S to its main rival. On getting into the Evora S the first thing you realise is what a nice place to be it is. Everything is easy to get to, it’s laid out well, and there is sufficient adjustment for both the seat, steering wheel, and mirrors. The visibility is far greater than I had expected, albeit not quite as good as the Germans efforts, there is something special about looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a supercharger!
The first sensation to hit you is the incredible feel from the steering; the rack has been tweaked over the standard Evora, turning into a corners you can almost feel the tyre wall flex. It inspires massive confidence. You just want to push it from the get go. The feeling as you hit the apex and start to leave the corner is one in which the car is egging you on to burry your right foot again. It’s a dangerous feeling as when you do endless torque appears from almost no rpm’s to hurl you at the horizon in any gear... you can very quickly be doing VERY illegal speeds on public roads. On the track this car must be fantastic. The work lotus has put into making it feel like an Elise but have the power that they always should have had is just brilliant. I was very sceptical that this car would handle as well as it does, but the steering is the thing I cannot get my head around, only in driving a 340R have I felt so connected to the front wheels before. Throwing this car around roundabouts is all too easy, and a very childish thing to do... but you almost can’t help yourself. It begs to be pushed, and driven hard.
Cornering has that typical Lotus feeling. Its flat at almost any speed with endless grip. The back end feels so planted compared to the Cayman R, and oddly the Cayman feels more diluted and disconnected. The feel you get from the Evora S is just unreal. You have so much feeding back what the car is doing under you if you listen and feel for it you could drive this car blindfolded at the limit. It really gives you so much information.
The Cayman R is undoubtedly a good car, it is fast, revs very well, and pulls nicely. The PDK gearbox is excellent, but it has no connection, it feels numb compared to the Evora S. The change in the PDK is so subtle I found myself having to look down to see which gear I was in, as I wanted to overtake some traffic but had no idea how many down changes to make. I would almost welcome some feedback from the car to tell you what gear your in without having to look down, be it an engineered jolt on change, or a vibration through the steering wheel.
At one point I found myself driving through a national trust car park in 3rd gear doing 1100rpm with the engine just ticking over nicely pulling the car along. I could have sworn I was in 1st. The engine is so well set up it pulls beautifully right from the get go. The tacho has 3 shift lights that illuminate in order, and the gearbox feels great, the change is positive and rewards well timed gear changes, which is made all the more easier thanks to the shift lights.
One of the biggest surprises for me was the brakes, Porsche have always had a reputation for stopping well. The Cayman R managed to lock both its front wheels at one point on a B-road when I hit the brakes hard, the Evora S had better initial bite, and felt more progressive through the braking, no doubt on track the Cayman R would be fantastic, but the Evora felt better. Again communicating back to you the grip levels enabling you to brake as hard as you felt was required without locking a wheel up.
If I had one criticism of the Evora it was that the buttons on the right of the dash are not easy to see, although you would lean which was which, it was not immediately accessible. I honestly cannot find anything else I dislike about this car. It really does anything you ask of it and more. The Cayman R, shockingly felt of worse build quality than the Evora S, however it had more available space for storage, particularly having 2 storage areas (front and rear bonnets), but the cubby hole storage in there felt tacky and plastic. The Evora’s Glove box even has a dash button to open it to keep the lines clean on the glove box it’s self. It really is very well built.
Overall the Evora S is a brilliant car, and if it was my money, I would take the Evora S over a Cayman R every time. Whoever’s idea it was to do a supercharged version of this car, thank you! Lotus you have done an amazing job again.
PS: please vote for me!
:up http://lotusdiaries.evo.co.uk/profile/ozzyuk
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Replied by psymon on topic Re: Please help! (personal note)
Posted 13 years 3 months ago
:broon: tweeted it as well 
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