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The Loft / EvoM Car Talk CornerThe landing pad for automotive discussions, news, articles, and opinions. A place for the community to kick back and chat.
This forum has been amazing and has helped me on my journey of Evo ownership since I first laid eyes on "Betty White", my 2006 WW Evo 9. I was the second owner and during the 11 years that I had her, I put almost 120k miles on her. She was my daily driver and was kept mostly stock, as the car always felt wonderful to me. During that time, I found some bad shops and then a GREAT one, met some awesome people, and had the opportunity to attend shows and talk to others about how special the Evo really was. (For anyone in the central/southern FL area, I suggest AG Autosports in Ft Laud, Anthony is a great guy and does his best to take care of you.)
While I loved the Evo, there comes a point where we're ready to take the next step and unfortunately, having two sporty cars in the garage isn't possible. For me, I'd been seriously looking at a Lotus for several years and it has always been a bucket list car. Last weekend I drove to to southern Florida and got a chance to take a beautiful 2008 60th anniversary supercharged Lotus Elise out for a spin. The offer was right and I picked up the Elise yesterday. So if you are driving in the central FL area and you see a black and silver Elise, you'll also see a friendly wave and a knowing smile as I see you in your Evo.
Have some pictures below of the new ride (sorry for the table breaking) and also the parting tweet about my Evo.
Nice ride congrats, how's she run compared to the Evo?
In a straight line, it feels just about as quick; with the power delivery linear due to the supercharger instead of coming on in a big kick from a turbo. In normal driving, it definitely requires more attention to drive than the Evo did and comes with a number of concessions (lack of power steering, the smaller footprint means you really fold in and out of it & the rear-ward visibility is like looking through a brick wall.) Additionally, it really wants to follow grooves and imperfections in the road surface. That being said, I love the way that it handles and as it feels more planted and willing to go where you point it.
Making the switch from the Evo to a Lotus definitely wouldn't be for everyone, and I can understand how some might feel that it is a step backwards from a daily driving perspective.
Aug 5, 2018, 05:29 AM
