Eric

Yep, I'd be up for this, having missed out on the LiTP run this year (for reasons that are too traumatic to go into here). Do you have any more info on possible dates? Cheers, Eric

Brilliant day last Saturday at the Lotus Festival - yay! Highlights included: - that gorgeous September Evora (mine - ) - lots of Lotii - a stunning Evora GTE - my old Exige S240PP (sporting its original number plate - FJ11 EVF) - yet another stunning Evora GTE in JPS colours - a totally pornographic Exige 380 Cup (plus a signature low level shot) - lots of carbon on an Exige 380 Sport - some very special two wheeled Lotiii (and riders with sore bums - not entirely surprising with those razor sharp saddles!) - even more Lotii - tons of variety in a single shot :-) - and a couple of action shots - that guy in the 211 was on fire (not literally, obviously!

Wow, September in the MLOC Calendar (at last) .

Chaps, Just gauging interest at the mo. I have a pair of S2 Exige rears in normal satin black Y spoke design with part worn A048 tyres. Before I bring them out of the garage for a photo shoot, would anyone be interested in purchasing? Pristine condition (what else could they be - they were spares from my Exige S240!!), so was thinking around three hundred notes for the pair. Just reply here (or PM me) if you'd like me to post the photos in this thread - or I could post them in a classifieds if you'd prefer. Cheers, Eric

Love my N/A Evora! Did well over 300 miles over the weekend - up to Lincoln for Pistons in the Park on Saturday, and then in and around Silverstone on Sunday. Every mile feels special though, even when doing battle with Sunday drivers (there were loads out there on Sunday - grrrr). I've said it before (and I'll say it again - ha) - the sound and grunt of that V6 produces goose bumps like nothing else. It is also a genuine head turner and didn't feel the slightest bit out-classed in the supercar parking area down at this year's Goodwood FOS!!! Brilliant - thank you Lotus (and special thanks to Russell Carr for his great design work). PS Evora GT430 - wow - bloody superb - the best yet (imho). PPS Erm, I also love my Elise S - supercharged 2ZR - slightly unhinged but completely and utterly addictive. Longer geared than the 2ZZ screamers but with a fair bit more mid-range torque, so can do the motorway thing (if absolutely necessary) but is also damn quick and loves to play!

Can't wait to see how the new Elise is shapng up. Who knows, new investment from Geeley might just help accelerate (or at least solidify) the new model programme. And, if the new Elise is half as desirable as the 2010 Donato Coco mock-up, it'll be ultra desirable!

Anyone else heading down south for the Goodwood FOS? We're going on Sunday 2nd July this year after discovering (shock, horror) that all the Saturday tickets had already sold out weeks ago. I also made the rash decision to buy a SuperCar parking pass too - yehaaa. Only trouble is, I'm not sure the Evora will enjoy being surrounded by filthy McLarens, Lambos, Porkas and Ferraris..... but, I guess we can give it a try and see how she gets on . Stand by for the photo diary!

I reckon that the back end of the Evora 400 reminds them so much of their beloved Volvo V40 that they just had to buy the company . Lets just hope that its a "hand off" majority stake and they'll let Lotus get on with it.

Hello Benny1235, Take a quick look at this recent MLOC thread for opinions on Evoras in general (including my own!). Evora NA vs S Unfortunately, I really don't rate the 400 at all, having driven one for a day, and needing back surgery afterwards (ahem, slight exaggeration). But those Sparcos really are hopeless, and I can't think of any reasonable justification for ditching those ergonomically perfect Recaros. Saves weight I hear you shout! I say you'll never notice the difference, except when it comes to booking your next chiropractor appointment (for Sparco spine correction therapy). So, the vital man-machine interface (seats) - ruined. Then there's the gearshift action - every Evora 400 comes with a free weight lifting course to build up your biceps - ruined. Then there's the noise - christ, why is it so loud? - ruined. Then there's the dashboard - from pure and simple, to lego land - ruined. Then there's the styling - that front end (what front end, it only has holes), and that back end (erm, Volvo 40 anyone) - ruined. I think its fair to say that Lotus have ruined the Evora! Such a shame because I love my N/A Sports Racer and will never, ever part with it (not even if you offered me a huge bag of gold..... ooooh, well I might stop and think about it for a while - ha).

What a dumb comment. Diesels always were, and still are, the selfish choice. Folks buy them because they're only thinking about their back pocket and not about the harm they're doing to everyone else, and the planet. Where do all those minute particulates go? Into your sodding lungs that's where - and they aint coming out again.

I wouldn't let a few dodgy diesel fuel figures cloud your thinking. No-one should be buying sh1tty diesels any more anyway. On individual merit, VW's petrol engined performance cars are now brilliant, and setting the standards by which all other (hot hatches) are measured.

Definitely going down again - brilliant day out for the previous two years. You get to "fly" on Concorde if you want (for small fee). And you get free entry into MB World. And you get to see pretty much every model of Lotus ever produced... plus a few ultra rare Evora GTEs - ooooooh! I'm already booked in as Ericski on the TLF attendance ticker. Evora now freshly detailed and chomping at the bit :-).

Speaking of Q cars and daily drivers, I bought a brand new Polo GTI last August after getting a bit fed up with my Corsa VXR daily driver. Its Flash Red (what else :-) ) with a huge panoramic sunroof accompanied by gloss black surround, and decent sound system. Ok, 189bhp from a 1.8-litre turbo motor might not sound much, but it also shoves out 236lb ft from just 1450 rpm! I have to admit that the standard GTI seats (hmmmm, seats - my favourite moaning subject!!!) are pretty crap with poor support and poor damping, sooooooooo, I bought and fitted a pair of (wait for it.....) Recaro Sportster CS seats - yay - and........ wow, what a transformation. So, now, rather than feeling like I'm perched on the car (old seats), I now feel like an integral part of the car and able to really feel everything that its doing (new seats). That, coupled with flat, grippy cornering, a zingy turbine smooth engine with loads of low down grunt that still loves to be revved out, a slick gearbox, and perfect pedal spacing for heel-and-toe shifts, means that for me, this is the perfect daily excitement (erm, daily driver I mean) that is also descrete enough to qualify as a Q car (the GTI badging is reasonably descrete too - ha). Yep, at long last, VW is making damn good cars again!

I see that the latest facelift has also discarded the signature quad tailights in favour of big twins with tiny cousins . Well, at least they're now consistent with the rest of the range . Still not sure about that front end though. Not as successful as the Exige S facelift in 2010.