Rate this article:
IndyCar Vintage White Logo Tee
100% washed cotton. Features Indy wings and wheel logo printed with special distressed look. Cool vintage tees!
Our Price: $22.00 ($19.80 Member)
Ferrari Red Classic Hat
Ferrari racing shield embroidered on front and Ferrari branding on back adjuster strap with shield embossed metal closure.
Our Price: $29.00 ($26.10 Member)
Formula 1 2009 Calendar
Every month is accompanied by a superb action shot from the 2008 season, with essential information about the sport.
Our Price: $16.95 ($15.26 Member)
Written by:
Autocar staff
http://www.autocar.co.uk
07/25/2008 - 01:56 PM
Duns, Scotland
Jim Clark country brings out the best in Lotus' revised Europa. (Autocar photo) » More Photos
Sitting in the new Lotus Europa, my backside less than a foot off the road as the Scottish scenery blurred towards me, I enjoyed chewing on the notion that Jim Clark, the Scottish double F1 World Champion (who remains one of my greatest heroes 40 years after his death), must have traversed these roads countless times. Even at the height of his fame, Clark was fastidious about maintaining his Scottish roots, and he drove frequently back and forth from Lotus’s base in Norfolk to the family farm near Duns in the Scottish borders.
To tell the truth, this imagined relationship to Clark was the reason I was on these roads at all. The task at hand was to evaluate a lightly (but cleverly) improved version of the Lotus Europa, the Elise-based, glass-backed coupe powered by a turbocharged Vauxhall engine from the VX220. Since the car was always intended to be better at long distances than its Elise and Exige siblings, what better way to evaluate it than on the heritage trail from Hethel to Duns?
The Europa has been around since 2006, but despite its impressive pedigree and power, we found that the original S-model did not match Lotus’s usual standards as a driver’s car. Since then, however, Roger Becker, Lotus’s hugely experienced engineering director (who learned much of his trade directly from Colin Chapman), has devised a number of strategic updates for the car. Our test vehicle was the first fully finished prototype.
Instead of the old Europa S, we now have a two-tier Europa range: Europa and Europa SE. Both get revised suspension rates and wheel/tire sizes, recalibrated (Lotus-spec) engine management that delivers both more grunt and zestier response, a program to reduce wind and road noise, an optional all-leather interior, minor changes to the exterior (including adjustment of the all-important ‘stance’) and a big rethink on pricing. The entry-level Europa now looks decent value at £27,950 ($55,589), but the one you’ll want is the comprehensively equipped SE we tested; it gets lightweight wheels, wider tires, an all-hide interior, bigger AP Racing brakes, a more powerful hi-fi and sets you back a still respectable £32,995 ($65,624).
Crisp steering makes revamped Europa a delight to drive. (Autocar photo) » More Photos
For me, these things change the Europa equation, which is why I chose it for my Jim Clark journey close to the 40th anniversary of his sad demise. The Europa S struck trouble largely because of the way it was described, but let’s ignore the claims and weigh up the ingredients instead.
You get a sophisticated car of the finest sporting pedigree – more comfortable and quieter
Google Maps reckoned my trip would be 365 miles long and take between six and seven hours. Since at the other end I was planning to meet Ian Scott-Watson, Jimmy Clark’s legendary friend and mentor, for a convivial dinner with some of his (and JC’s) friends, I presented myself at Hethel bright and early. I chatted for a few minutes with Becker and CEO Mike Kimberley about the Europa’s improvements, prospects and objectives (the company wants to sell 500 Europas a year, a sensible objective) and then it was time to go.
If you judge a car of Europa format against conventional long-distance cruisers, it will always come off second best. Yet I found it brilliant. It’s all about your mindset. First off, there’s excitement in sliding your rump across the wide still and down into the thinly padded, leather bucket seat. It’s so much better than tamely opening a door and getting in. So what if you have to duck your head and wriggle about a bit? Once you’re installed the car fits like a glove, compact wheel in your lap, longish gear lever right beside it.
Push the starter button and you’ll discover a throaty engine that seems a little more remote than an Elise’s, and as soon as you’re off the mark you’re conscious that the Europa is much longer-geared, yet stronger in the mid-range. Such things make progress effortless.
By the time we were established on the freeway, 100 miles from Hethel, I had constructed a list of advantages of day-long journeys in a car like this. First, the firm and body-fitting seats, devoid of “springing”, are fundamentally comfortable. Second, a seating position down among the wheels means that body motions don’t move you about as they do in a higher sedan or especially an SUV.
Your race-bred steering, brakes and chassis grip have such huge reserves in ordinary open-road driving that you need barely half their reserve. And the torquey turbo engine has so much low-rev grunt that on back roads you can easily slingshot past slow traffic three at a time, often without even changing down.
Page 1 of 2
View All Comments
