New Lotus Owner

[chobbs]

New to Lotus and just purchased my first baby ... a new Black '12 Evora S. No pics yet. I am hoping to pick it up by the end of the week (the car needed to get detailed and have a few cosmetic things squared away). Will have some pics and more details up after I get it home and appropriately babied with a layer of the Klasse Twins.

I have been wanting a Lotus for many years now and had my eyes on an Exige specifically. But the Evora is amazing to drive, blends in some of the creature comforts I have grown accustomed to, and thus seems a better fit for my daily commute so I pulled the trigger this last Monday the 31st - could there be any better way to ring in the new year?!?

Background:

My family moved out to the Santa Cruz mountain area of the Bay Area early last year and the commute to Campbell every day (~45 minutes each way) has been slowly driving me mad. I have an F-150 currently and needless to say, the truck isn't much fun on the back roads - very comfy, but no fun. Driving freeway is boring and congested. So I needed to get something to make my daily drive bearable.

Among my 15 previous vehicles, I owned a Mini Cooper S that I had ordered just the way I wanted. Great little car, and up until now the most fun I have had driving, but the car started having issues as the warranty was about up - quality seems to be really down these days. I thought about another one, but just wasn't happy enough with the quality of what I got previously (especially for 35k). Interestingly, in that car I had some custom sound dampening installed and the thing still had more road noise than the Evora ... I was quite surprised.

There were a few other cars in the running for my new toy, but it was always my head trying to rationalize them ... a Mini Countryman (because it has AWD for the mountains and I have points on my MINI VISA to knock down the price), an Audi TT RS (because it has AWD and is rather rare), or a Cayman S (because I could get a better deal for more features). In the end, my heart won out and I went with the brand I have been itching to get my hands on for the last six years.

I am really looking forward to learning all that this Evora has to offer. I have a feeling it will be a long, fun process.

- Chris

[Heavyweight]

Originally Posted by chobbs

so I pulled the trigger this last Monday the 31st - could there be any better way to ring in the new year?!?

nope! congrats! looking forward to pictures

[alp]

Frequent on SR 17 much?

[chobbs]

Originally Posted by alp

Frequent on SR 17 much?

Yup, it is my standard path to work. Tried taking the 9 once, but although I only encountered a half dozen cars I was more aggravated arriving to work from those few cars than sitting on the 17 in a bunch of traffic.

- Chris

[chobbs]

Got her home safely - was a bit concerned about scraping the front end with how steep our driveway is, but no problems thus far.

Overall it is pretty pristine. I do need to take it back in and get the Starshield re-done ... the current installation has a ton of bubbles, as well as some folds. The only other thing I noted was the headlight assemblies look foggy along with some cobwebs in one, so they are checking on that for me. Doesn't seem like it should be a "normal" thing though.

Because of having to get the Starshield re-done I decided to wait on putting the Klasse on the exterior paint. The spray-on Malco wax the dealership used should suffice for now. I did get all of the Glass coated with some All-In-One though and most of the interior trim parts too. Need to revisit tomorrow and see what I missed.

Attached are some quick pics I snapped with my cell phone once I got home.

[Little Lotus Flower]

Nice!

[shay2nak]

awesome

[darcivic00si]

Wow! That is one beautiful car! The all black looks pretty mean.

[Lckitty]

Gorgeous and congrats! I LOVE the seats. Yes, you will have a much better commute. They are just so great to drive.

Note; my headlights fogged up too after sitting in the rain a few days and then a drive. I took photos (a must) and the dealer is attempting to get approval for warranty replacement. You may want to inquire with yours.

[| D |]

That is a beautiful car! I absolutely love the black on black. You'll be looking forward to the commute now. Congratulations!


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[chobbs]

Originally Posted by Lckitty

Note; my headlights fogged up too after sitting in the rain a few days and then a drive. I took photos (a must) and the dealer is attempting to get approval for warranty replacement. You may want to inquire with yours.

Got pics with the sales guy and the service advisor and they are already inquiring about it - should hear back about it soon.

[GuppyCaptain]

Wow, that's really "black"

I LOVE the red piping and stitching. It makes the car look even more exotic!

[khearon23]

Congrats on the new ride. This is the first black Evora that I've seen and actually liked. Get a cover!


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[sturgeongeneral]

Congradiulations! Sweet ride!
!

[pax]

Beautiful I might be biased, but you picked the best color :P

[GuppyCaptain]

Originally Posted by pax

Beautiful I might be biased, but you picked the best color :P

cough cough.....chrome orange.....cough cough

[pax]

Originally Posted by GuppyCaptain

cough cough.....chrome orange.....cough cough

You got a nasty cough there...seems it's making you tell lies too

[chobbs]

Thanks for the well wishes everybody! I definitely get enjoyment out of just looking at her, but driving her is something special.

I am up in the air on the cover. Have seen lots of people stating it might ruin the paint job from either trapping moisture (it is very wet around here), or by grinding dirt into the paint job when it is windy. Where I am at the car is very well sheltered - even in summer we only get a few hours of sun in the driveway. There are huge redwoods all around, but none directly overhead so it is pretty well tucked away. Given that, is a cover still worth the possible risk? If so any brand recommendations?

Took her for a quick spin tonight ... down the road to Masood's (best tri-tip sandwiches in the area!). It was raining and dark and holy crap was I not expecting such limited visibility from the oncoming traffic. Is it something you get used to over time or are there other things I can do to offset being down so low and having other car's lights shine right in?

The Klasse I put on didn't work as well as it usually does. I may have to revisit. Not sure if the stuff ever goes bad, or if it just really didn't like being applied in the cold but it typically does a much better job sheeting off the rain. Because of that I had to use the wiper - which brings up my next question: does the wiper motor make a lot of noise on all of the Evora's? Mine seems exceptionally loud and I was curious whether it was typical or something I needed to bring up with the dealer.

- Chris

[Plackslayer]

Love the car! Enjoy and drive!

[Lckitty]

Originally Posted by chobbs

I am up in the air on the cover.......

question: does the wiper motor make a lot of noise on all of the Evora's? Mine seems exceptionally loud and I was curious whether it was typical or something I needed to bring up with the dealer.

- Chris

For the cover... I simply got 2 king sized microfiber blankets (actually extras around the house. I ONLY use them when the car is clean!

Nope, my MY11 wiper motor is very nice and quiet. Ask 'em at the dealer.