I’ve got to admit I’m not 100% sure about the looks of the Evora – I haven’t seen one in the flesh yet – it’s probably more of an impact in real life.

I bet the Evora can take much more power than it currently has – it would be nice if they used an engine with a bit more pedigree. There’s nothing wrong with Toyota – they produce very high quality products (I’ve actually visited various factories including the one in Kentucky USA – about 10 years ago), but it doesn’t seem right having Toyota engines in a Lotus?

Having said that I used to have a Series 1 Elise many moons ago and that had a Rover 16V engine which again didn’t seem right – it went quite well though – but that was more down to the light weight of the car and me! (It was always noticeably slower with a passenger – no one believed me but I could really tell the difference).

What intrigues me about the Evora is the Handling – Lotus are one of the best companies for setting up suspension anyway so when you hear such great praise about a new car it makes you wonder how good it is – how can it be better than the Elise? But it sounds like it could be.

The Elise was amazing in terms of RIDE and HANDLING. You could flick the steering wheel at 70mph on the motorway and change lane precisely without and fuss or drama whatsoever – i.e. no loss of grip, control – no pendulum effect etc – just planted solid to the road. Yet it had the best ride of nearly any car that I’ve owned? The seats in the S1 were very thin but yet it was strangely comfortable. At the time I had the Elise my other half had a Mini Cooper with Sports suspension and fair enough it handled pretty well – like a go-kart – but it would also knock your fillings out around town.

The Credit Crunch is slowing me down at the moment – but when things pick up I’ll go down to my Lotus Dealer and try out the Evora – I can’t go now in our old Fiesta (too embarrassed!) and they’ve probably forgotten me by now as I’ve not owned a Lotus for about 5 years!

Thanks for the “Welcome Back” – the last few months have been pretty strange with Credit Crunch pressures – I’ve been working hard on producing some Video Tutorials for another blog so I’ve neglected my interest in Cars – however I intend to get Love-Driving up and running again with regular content and videos. My true passion is Driving and Cars in general and I would really love this blog to become something that is worthwhile where like-minded “petrol heads” can contribute their own thoughts, experiences and views on Driving.

Best wishes – Dave

While the rear looks reminiscent of the Elise, the front looks like a blunt mixing of later Esprit with NSX. Beyond that, the fact that it’s powered by a Camry engine is a bit hard to swallow.

Maybe, when Toyota rolls out the new Supra replacement, Lotus will have a larger engine for an Esprit replacement?

(Welcome back, Dave.)