Thank you for the video! I’m a recent Emira owner.. purchased in September and really like the car! I just passed 1000 miles on the car and it’s definitely an engaging back road drive. I had an 18 gt350r prior which was fun too. It sounds like you are really enjoying the Evora which is great to hear! I’m in the Philly area so maybe in the Spring I’ll see ya around. Good luck and happy holidays!
Great to hear about your Emira! Congrats on getting past the break in period so you can open it up! I have 29k miles on my Evora GT and it is going strong. The GT350R is a beast! The Lotus is a different animal with mid engine agility and exotic looks. I plan to attend the C&C at Mainline and McLaren. I'll see you around. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the excellent review! I love my Evora GT. I did the 3rd Cat delete and cold air intake (from GRP), but the biggest performance improvement was from having it tuned on a dyno. Now mine has 504BHP and 403RWT. The only shift that challenges me is first to second. As you I've learned to be more patient. I'm in Florida. I also have a 2022 Porsche 718 Spyder.
Thanks! That is impressive power and torque gains! That sounds perfect. Awesome to hear about your 718 Spyder! I had considered replacing the Evora with one this summer but after contemplating it for a while I decided that prefer the practicality of the Evora because of the back seats. It would be ideal to have both! Between your Evora GT and 718 Spyder, which one do you drive more?
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I drive them both about the same. Unless it's really cold, lol They're fun in different ways. The Evora is supercharged faster and a screamer. The Porsche is a flat six, so it has a deeper sound and with the titanium OA PF delete sounds great. I did a Softronic tune on it, so it has pops and crackles with HP up to about 450 with more torque. If I had to pick one, I'm team Lotus. Just wish the roof was removable. If you look into it, the long gearing is very different on the Porsche.
Great update Joe! I'm still enjoying mine as well! For insurance, look into Hagerty. I put my Evora in my Hagerty policy which I had for my 1974 Celica vs my Geico for my other cars and saved A LOT. Im paying about 1600 per year for both cars.
I test drove a lotus GT last year I owned a mclaren gt at the time I could not believe how good the lotus gt was so fun to drive First car I drove that I thought was more fun to drive then my mclaren gt . The steering was amazing even compared to my McLaren gt which has amazing steering Definitely on my list to get now hopefully by end of this year
Thanks for sharing your experience! The timing of your comment is good as I'm considering trading my Lotus for a 650s Spyder for the top down and super car experience. I think the Evora GT with the manual is more fun to drive than the 650s, but the 650s is a different experience. How do you like McLaren ownership? The dealership near me (McLaren Philadelphia) has been great to work with.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I actually had a great experience with my 2020 Mclaren Gt. I had the car for 3 years total. I am all about going fast so I immediately installed downpipes and stage 2 DME tune. I test drove a 650s prior to getting the Mclaren GT the 650s is a great car. The only reason I did not buy it is I could not get a aggregable finance terms I ended up getting a brand new Mclaren Gt lease with a great rate and buy out lease end option. My Real Estate sales slow lately so a Mclaren is not in the budget temporarily until things pick up or I pay off all my other cars. I still have my 2021 Challenger Superstock about 1150hp and a 2021 Audi RS5 with a stage 2 E85 tune to hold me over until I can get another Mclaren. I think your Mclaren experience will be great. Mclaren is basically a bigger more powerful lotus with better build quality and tuning potential to go faster. I actually might consider a new 2025 Emira now . The i4 with automatic transmission resent testing netted 11.7@119 with the Mercedes 4cyl turbo and 8spd double clutch tranny . There is another 200hp left on the table with tuning and pure turbos upgrade which will put the lotus on par with the Mclaren performance for less then 1/2 the money. Lotus already has the super car looks so that part is fulfilled. You should really look into a used Mclaren GT very reliable and has a lot less things that can fail. I had zero issues with mine in 3 years.
Nice collection of cars! Great to hear about your experience with McLaren! I'm going to consider the McLaren GT before making a move. Shopping for McLaren has been tough in that I've thinking what if I wait and move up to the next one (e.g., 675 LT). The Evora and Emira have a different feel so I think it would be good to drive an Emira before pulling the trigger.
Great video Joe! Love to see more of your Evora GT content, nice color choice btw. Just one thing I would like to know more about, some other reviewers did mention the heavy clutch and the somewhat inconsistent blip response, do you think that's an issue that bothered you personally?
Thanks! Yes, the clutch is heavy relative to a 981, 781 GT4, and BMW M2. I personally like a heavy clutch - for a car like this, it feels like I need to work to drive it. I've learned to live with the inconsistent throttle response / blip. In most manual cars that I've driven, I blip the throttle on the downshift using the ball of my foot. In this car, the brake pedal travel and proximity to the gas pedal makes that nearly impossible as I would step hard on the gas pedal rather than blip it and get the revs much higher than necessary. If I do a traditional heal toe, I typically don't hit the throttle hard enough to do a proper rev match. I blamed myself for being a bad driver but I suppose the car contributes to it, lol.
Dang, That a ton for the first service. I know many people who went to change the baffles and there is nothing wrong with them. IMO no need to replace them in the first 5 years. I have a 2020 myself. Enjoy!
Good to meet another 2020 Evora GT owner! I was surprised by the service cost. It would have been even more if I had done everything they recommend (e.g., changing out the TPMS sensors). The dealership didn't charge me labor for some of the easy stuff that I told them I was going to do myself (air filter and cabin filter). Knowing that the oil pans in the Evora 400 and Emira do not have baffles, I would just remove them altogether at the 8 year service interval.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I think they would help on track quite a bit. Many people including myself swapped them out for Moroso oil pans on Elise and Exige. I did on my Exige because I got oil starvation out on the track and blew my motor because of it.
Wow, good to know about the oil starvation that you experienced on your Exige. I had assumed that the baffles in the oil pan of the Evora GT were overkill, but perhaps not.
2014 is a good year! The Evora received significant improvements in 2012 and in 2014, a revised wiring harness was used. The IPS doesn't seem to have any significant mechanical problems, just some quirky characteristics so make sure you are good with it during the test drive. Other things to factor into the cost: the headlights have peeling issues that can be fixed by a body shop, the serpentine belt can be expensive to replace given the limited access to it, so inspect the condition of it. If the side windows rattle or let in excessive wind noise, the window guides can be replaced to fix that - it is an easy fix.
If the evora ever had a roof off available it would be perfect. Currently I think the elige siblings are still the right car for me. Sadly I'm outta the car game for a while. Sold my 8th gen si to my brother and bought a minivan to prep for my third kid. I'm hoping in a few years to pick up something... I'm thinking of getting a c5 or c6 corvette for now depending on budget. They drive so much worse than any lotus ever, but the nd2 Miata which is the closest thing to the Elise I had, but let's face it, a downgrade. At least the vettes have more power. I drove a C5 z06 and it was fun but the first initial inch or so of vagueness on changes in direction make the decision harder
Congrats on the growing family! I agree that a roof off Evora (removable targa top) would be perfect. I still like the styling of the C5 and C6 but haven't driven one in years. I owned an ND1 RF and considered it to be more fun than my old S2000 CR and 2006 Carrera S. I had it lowered on H&R springs and had a Borla muffler on it - it was a riot. I impulse traded it on an MK5 Supra. I'm curious to revisit the Miata now that I've owned the Evora GT and a Model S Plaid. I think looking at and shopping for cars is more fun than buying.
Yes, the Evora has a 3.5L V6 from Toyota. It is derived from the engine that is in the Camry and Lexus RX350, just tuned and supercharged to 416 hp, 317 lb-ft of torque. The Exige and Elise also have a Toyota engine. I was surprised to hear that the oil pan had to be removed for the 4 year service - that is one the Lotus specific parts of the engine. The oil pan has baffles to prevent oil starvation under aggressive cornering.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee Just knowing that Toyota is a part of the platform would give me more confidence in buying one as I know the older Lotus models had reliability issues.
@@powerboatguy2308 Those are the really old lotuses. The Elise's and Exiges all have the toyota 2zz-GE and the early elise' had the 1zz-fe which are corolla/celica engines haha.
@powerboatguy2308 I am not an experienced owner of a Lotus car. I believe reliability was down to the low production, hand-built nature of the cars, like panel fitting and things like water leaks. Maybe someone who has owned one would confirm. I just want you to buy one if that is what you want. There is nothing reliable about Porsche, and definitely not Ferrari. These I know from experience. For some reason, some brands escape their faults. Accept that cars break and dealers are disappointing. Make good friends with a good specialist and be prepared to spend some 1000s each year. That is car ownership.
I'm not sure why that reply is not showing. I see in Studio. I replied to that comment with your quote: "@voxx8281 Olympic Motorsports, Boca Raton, FL"
Hello, "The Life of Joe" I saw your channel and saw that in your channel have some problems, not many. For these problems your channel is not growing. If you can solve these problems, Your channel will grow like a storm. Do you want to know these problem? If you Want to know, I can only tell to you. Can I tell here or email?
Thank you for the video! I’m a recent Emira owner.. purchased in September and really like the car! I just passed 1000 miles on the car and it’s definitely an engaging back road drive. I had an 18 gt350r prior which was fun too. It sounds like you are really enjoying the Evora which is great to hear! I’m in the Philly area so maybe in the Spring I’ll see ya around. Good luck and happy holidays!
Great to hear about your Emira! Congrats on getting past the break in period so you can open it up! I have 29k miles on my Evora GT and it is going strong. The GT350R is a beast! The Lotus is a different animal with mid engine agility and exotic looks. I plan to attend the C&C at Mainline and McLaren. I'll see you around. Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the excellent review! I love my Evora GT. I did the 3rd Cat delete and cold air intake (from GRP), but the biggest performance improvement was from having it tuned on a dyno. Now mine has 504BHP and 403RWT. The only shift that challenges me is first to second. As you I've learned to be more patient. I'm in Florida. I also have a 2022 Porsche 718 Spyder.
Who did your tune ?
@@voxx8281 Olympic Motorsports, Boca Raton, FL
Thanks! That is impressive power and torque gains! That sounds perfect. Awesome to hear about your 718 Spyder! I had considered replacing the Evora with one this summer but after contemplating it for a while I decided that prefer the practicality of the Evora because of the back seats. It would be ideal to have both! Between your Evora GT and 718 Spyder, which one do you drive more?
@@voxx8281 Olympic Motorsports in Boca Raton FL
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I drive them both about the same. Unless it's really cold, lol They're fun in different ways. The Evora is supercharged faster and a screamer. The Porsche is a flat six, so it has a deeper sound and with the titanium OA PF delete sounds great. I did a Softronic tune on it, so it has pops and crackles with HP up to about 450 with more torque. If I had to pick one, I'm team Lotus. Just wish the roof was removable. If you look into it, the long gearing is very different on the Porsche.
Great update Joe! I'm still enjoying mine as well! For insurance, look into Hagerty. I put my Evora in my Hagerty policy which I had for my 1974 Celica vs my Geico for my other cars and saved A LOT. Im paying about 1600 per year for both cars.
Thanks! Great to hear about your Evora! I'll look into Hagerty. Thanks for the tip!
I just went to Hagerty and had a big savings over what I had been paying for my Evora GT.
I opted for Collector car insurance through Grundy. Around $1000 per year. Check them out as well. Its a bit of a process but worth it.
@@jerusdc thanks for the recommendation!
Love the video Joe!
Thanks for watching!
Great video Joe!
@@automagni Thanks for watching!
I test drove a lotus GT last year
I owned a mclaren gt at the time
I could not believe how good the lotus gt was so fun to drive
First car I drove that I thought was more fun to drive then my mclaren gt . The steering was amazing even compared to my McLaren gt which has amazing steering
Definitely on my list to get now
hopefully by end of this year
Thanks for sharing your experience! The timing of your comment is good as I'm considering trading my Lotus for a 650s Spyder for the top down and super car experience. I think the Evora GT with the manual is more fun to drive than the 650s, but the 650s is a different experience. How do you like McLaren ownership? The dealership near me (McLaren Philadelphia) has been great to work with.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I actually had a great experience with my 2020 Mclaren Gt. I had the car for 3 years total. I am all about going fast so I immediately installed downpipes and stage 2 DME tune. I test drove a 650s prior to getting the Mclaren GT the 650s is a great car. The only reason I did not buy it is I could not get a aggregable finance terms I ended up getting a brand new Mclaren Gt lease with a great rate and buy out lease end option. My Real Estate sales slow lately so a Mclaren is not in the budget temporarily until things pick up or I pay off all my other cars. I still have my 2021 Challenger Superstock about 1150hp and a 2021 Audi RS5 with a stage 2 E85 tune to hold me over until I can get another Mclaren. I think your Mclaren experience will be great. Mclaren is basically a bigger more powerful lotus with better build quality and tuning potential to go faster. I actually might consider a new 2025 Emira now . The i4 with automatic transmission resent testing netted 11.7@119 with the Mercedes 4cyl turbo and 8spd double clutch tranny . There is another 200hp left on the table with tuning and pure turbos upgrade which will put the lotus on par with the Mclaren performance for less then 1/2 the money. Lotus already has the super car looks so that part is fulfilled. You should really look into a used Mclaren GT very reliable and has a lot less things that can fail. I had zero issues with mine in 3 years.
Nice collection of cars! Great to hear about your experience with McLaren! I'm going to consider the McLaren GT before making a move. Shopping for McLaren has been tough in that I've thinking what if I wait and move up to the next one (e.g., 675 LT). The Evora and Emira have a different feel so I think it would be good to drive an Emira before pulling the trigger.
Great video Joe! Love to see more of your Evora GT content, nice color choice btw. Just one thing I would like to know more about, some other reviewers did mention the heavy clutch and the somewhat inconsistent blip response, do you think that's an issue that bothered you personally?
Thanks! Yes, the clutch is heavy relative to a 981, 781 GT4, and BMW M2. I personally like a heavy clutch - for a car like this, it feels like I need to work to drive it. I've learned to live with the inconsistent throttle response / blip. In most manual cars that I've driven, I blip the throttle on the downshift using the ball of my foot. In this car, the brake pedal travel and proximity to the gas pedal makes that nearly impossible as I would step hard on the gas pedal rather than blip it and get the revs much higher than necessary. If I do a traditional heal toe, I typically don't hit the throttle hard enough to do a proper rev match. I blamed myself for being a bad driver but I suppose the car contributes to it, lol.
Dang, That a ton for the first service. I know many people who went to change the baffles and there is nothing wrong with them. IMO no need to replace them in the first 5 years. I have a 2020 myself. Enjoy!
Good to meet another 2020 Evora GT owner! I was surprised by the service cost. It would have been even more if I had done everything they recommend (e.g., changing out the TPMS sensors). The dealership didn't charge me labor for some of the easy stuff that I told them I was going to do myself (air filter and cabin filter). Knowing that the oil pans in the Evora 400 and Emira do not have baffles, I would just remove them altogether at the 8 year service interval.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee I think they would help on track quite a bit. Many people including myself swapped them out for Moroso oil pans on Elise and Exige. I did on my Exige because I got oil starvation out on the track and blew my motor because of it.
Wow, good to know about the oil starvation that you experienced on your Exige. I had assumed that the baffles in the oil pan of the Evora GT were overkill, but perhaps not.
Hi Joe...looking at a 2014 evora s with IPS. It seems you have done your research. Any thoughts on this year of the evora?
2014 is a good year! The Evora received significant improvements in 2012 and in 2014, a revised wiring harness was used. The IPS doesn't seem to have any significant mechanical problems, just some quirky characteristics so make sure you are good with it during the test drive. Other things to factor into the cost: the headlights have peeling issues that can be fixed by a body shop, the serpentine belt can be expensive to replace given the limited access to it, so inspect the condition of it. If the side windows rattle or let in excessive wind noise, the window guides can be replaced to fix that - it is an easy fix.
If the evora ever had a roof off available it would be perfect. Currently I think the elige siblings are still the right car for me.
Sadly I'm outta the car game for a while. Sold my 8th gen si to my brother and bought a minivan to prep for my third kid. I'm hoping in a few years to pick up something... I'm thinking of getting a c5 or c6 corvette for now depending on budget. They drive so much worse than any lotus ever, but the nd2 Miata which is the closest thing to the Elise I had, but let's face it, a downgrade. At least the vettes have more power. I drove a C5 z06 and it was fun but the first initial inch or so of vagueness on changes in direction make the decision harder
Congrats on the growing family! I agree that a roof off Evora (removable targa top) would be perfect. I still like the styling of the C5 and C6 but haven't driven one in years. I owned an ND1 RF and considered it to be more fun than my old S2000 CR and 2006 Carrera S. I had it lowered on H&R springs and had a Borla muffler on it - it was a riot. I impulse traded it on an MK5 Supra. I'm curious to revisit the Miata now that I've owned the Evora GT and a Model S Plaid. I think looking at and shopping for cars is more fun than buying.
At this point I might just scrape the bottom of the barrel and pick up a Chrysler crossfire roadster... They're dirt cheap
Didn't Toyota build some of the engines for Lotus?
Yes, the Evora has a 3.5L V6 from Toyota. It is derived from the engine that is in the Camry and Lexus RX350, just tuned and supercharged to 416 hp, 317 lb-ft of torque. The Exige and Elise also have a Toyota engine. I was surprised to hear that the oil pan had to be removed for the 4 year service - that is one the Lotus specific parts of the engine. The oil pan has baffles to prevent oil starvation under aggressive cornering.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee Just knowing that Toyota is a part of the platform would give me more confidence in buying one as I know the older Lotus models had reliability issues.
@@powerboatguy2308 Those are the really old lotuses. The Elise's and Exiges all have the toyota 2zz-GE and the early elise' had the 1zz-fe which are corolla/celica engines haha.
@powerboatguy2308 I am not an experienced owner of a Lotus car. I believe reliability was down to the low production, hand-built nature of the cars, like panel fitting and things like water leaks. Maybe someone who has owned one would confirm. I just want you to buy one if that is what you want. There is nothing reliable about Porsche, and definitely not Ferrari. These I know from experience. For some reason, some brands escape their faults. Accept that cars break and dealers are disappointing. Make good friends with a good specialist and be prepared to spend some 1000s each year. That is car ownership.
Someone asked me where I got the tune. Why can't I see my reply on your site? Thx
I'm not sure why that reply is not showing. I see in Studio. I replied to that comment with your quote: "@voxx8281 Olympic Motorsports, Boca Raton, FL"
Hello, "The Life of Joe" I saw your channel and saw that in your channel have some problems, not many. For these problems your channel is not growing. If you can solve these problems, Your channel will grow like a storm. Do you want to know these problem? If you Want to know, I can only tell to you. Can I tell here or email?
Thanks for offering your help. I'm all ears.
@@TheLifeofJoeLee you got an email?
@@TheLifeofJoeLee you got?