Test Drove A Gt86 Today

[chrislane]

Agreed, it certainly doesn't seem to be the quickest round the track, but the conclusion that i drew from that evo test was that it would be far more fun on a trackday, albeit slightly frustrating if you were looking to get a good laptime. And to be fair, the fiesta st has been widely touted as one of the best new cars of 2013.

[DanP]

Stick a turbo in it, and it will give a maclaren mp4 a run for its money.

 

 

Evo have always had it in for the gt86. The ford has been taken to the limit of its tuning. The gt86 has not.

[chrislane]

Today was Evora day:

 

Part 1 - Stratstone in Leicester to try the kids and car seats for size in their 13 plate Evore S. Now there is no way that i can afford this particular car and despite them not having a suitable car at the moment the guys at Stratstone were great in allowing us to have a good poke around to assess space and let SWMBO make up her mind on safety (i felt a bit guilty about the footprints left all over it by my daughter). There isn't as much space as i was expecting to be honest. The only way we could get both kids in was the youngest on the passenger seat and the oldest behind him. So in reality i'm not sure all 4 of us will be able to go out in it. That said, i think it will be better if the oldest was just on a booster cushion rather than a full seat, and we could probably find a slightly more compact seat for the youngest. And the boss gave it the thumbs up (i think - need to speak to her when she gets in after a few glasses of wine tonight ;-) ). Most of all though i would like to say what a good bunch of guys they are at Stratstone - the Lotus badge may have come down outside but it is still very much in their blood.

 

Part 2 - Lotus Silverstone to test drive their Storm Titanium 10 plate Evora. WOW - what a car! I'm not sure i would have paid whatever it cost new (quality isn't as bad as some of the internet threads would lead you to believe but it really isn't in the same league as a Porsche in my opinion) but as a second hand proposition it is pretty special, and it is sooooooooo much better to drive than the GT86 (and anything else i have ever driven for that matter). I haven't driven an Elise newer than an 07 car, but this just felt like a grown up version of the Elise. And the ride was just phenomenal - how they have maintained the accuracy and stiffness in the bends whilst making it so compliant over the typical British B road is amazing. There were a couple of times that i clenched my teeth over potholes based on what it would have been like in my Elise and it just floated over them. The sport button is very addictive as well, really makes a difference to the throttle response. My only hesitation was the 2bular exhaust fitted to the car - most of the time it sounded sensational, but there was a small patch of the rev range around 2.5k where it makes a certain pitch that goes right through me. A good excuse to keep the revs up, but i think i may end up dreading hitting that spot every time i accelerate. Also, given this was a n/a car (as they all will be in the price range i am looking at) you do need to keep the revs up to maintain pace (I'm sure the S would be better from this perspective) but that is one of the things i really enjoy about the Elise, and it never felt nearly as flat as the GT86 at low revs. Certainly provided some food for thought. Would also say that Aimee at Lotus Silverstone was very good and very knowledgable about these cars - from my experience Lotus salespeople know far more than the more mainstream manufacturers, makes a real difference to the whole experience (I hate it when i know more than the salesperson trying to sell me the car, as was the case with the GT86).

[Eric]

So glad you enjoyed the Evora - it really is a car that you could use every day; exciting when you want it to be but with an amazing abillity to consume huge distances with ease.

 

The only down side (and this is being really picky) is the fuel consumption, especially in the S. But maybe that was just my enormous right hoof!!