The much scooped, spied, rumored Lotus new 2+2 Coupe named Project Eagle could pick the name 'Evora' when it debuts at the 22nd July London Motor Show.Having had an utter failure on the Europa, which is Lotus' first attempt in creating a 2 seater 'luxury' sports car; very quickly, Lotus embarked on the Eagle project which was initially thought to be Esprit's replacement, further scoops confirms it being the Eagle, however this is the first time the name 'Evora' appeared.
The new Eagle or Evora, to us is an evolution of the Europa, attempting to create an Elise that includes all the user friendly, civilized bit and standard amenities commonly found in cars such as sat nav and cup holders - All in a package that could still bring out all of Lotus' magical handling prowess. Power should be 'enough' that's the word for a fun car, you don't need engines that could pull a Scania truck like those of Mercedes, and a sophisticated V10 or V8 engine with space age technology doesn't quite suit the image of Lotus sportscars not to say the cost and complexity of maintaining one. The decision? Simple, take something that never breaks and turbo-charged it; Toyota's 3.5 liter V6 engine.
Logically, it's hard to understand why do we even need explanations for such a combination. A fast, fun, reliable sports car with everyday amenities SHOULD spell success easily, look at Porsche, and Merc's SLK, CLK, SL are all doing just fine. Right?
What we fear then, is the very recipe that fails the Europa. The entire package just seems 'weird'. Sportscars rely alot on heritage, brand perception, its not just the mechanicals and engineering that comes into play.
Being an Elise, or driving an Elise always had the 'coolness' of driving a Lotus, which means not bothering with which road is jam, or whether you could drive into a Mcdonald's takeaway for your daily dose of morning coffee - or else you'll arrive in the meeting looking less than present.
Trying to satisfy this bunch, who not only wants a car that performs, but rather how well it functions when it's not performing puts Lotus directly into the target segment of Porsche Boxters or Cayman.
The question is this "Would you rather drive a Lotus Evora to the golf course meeting your client or the Porsche Boxster?" We'd guessed it's a 10/10 for the Porsche, yes of course the Lotus doesn't come with the price tag, of which is exactly what's required to come into play for this specific target market, however with the name Lotus, they can't charge Porsche money for it.
It's a bit like, say Suzuki. They make brilliant small cars, nifty handling, decent quality interiors and very nice engines. But if one day they decide to do a mid size Camry rival? Anyone's guess for it's success rate?
Or Volkswagen suddenly decides to hand-made each and every Phaeton to rival "those-machine-drilled-and-screwed-S-Class"?
Ok, so if the brand perception is a hindrance, then perhaps we could put some bet on the styling, which with correct executions, can make wonders in convincing them that this latest creation does belong to the ranks of established players. (Suzuki Vehicross? Audi R8?)
Immediately after the cameos were taken off spyshots, and the exact car was revealed; the anticipation dies off, and the automotive world moves on. This is the only way we could describe it's lack luster styling.
This puts the car again in a very peculiar yet familiar place. Yes, the exact spot where the Lotus Europa had left.
Check out other photos of the Eagle/Evora
Related post: Lotus Eagle Unvealed
2 comments:
Shouldn't your question be "would you rather POSE in a Lotus Evora or a Porsche Boxster"?
When it comes to driving we know Lotus make a better driver's car.
For people impression, Lotus is not prestage sport car manufacture, they just a sport car manufacture that produce cheap and fun sport car. The Europa S is too expensive as Boxter or Z4 which didn't suit the Lotus characteristic. And i foreseen this Evora will be expensive as 911.
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