Known Issues - Evora

Please fill this entry with known issues that are occurring with the Lotus Evora.

These are not necessarily common or guaranteed issues, just ones which have been reported by some owners.

Interior

Interior Build Quality

Some reports of poor build quality on the interior, particularly in early cars.

Poor fitting passenger airbag lid

The clips which hold down the passenger side airbag lid can sometimes fail, causing the lid to no longer sit flush over the airbag module. These clips are designed to break when the airbag is deployed, and so the failure should not a safety issue and should not affect the operation of the airbag.

These clips can be replaced to remedy the issue, however doing so involves removing some parts of the dash and given the implications of working around the airbag are best carried out by an approved Lotus Service Centre.

Recaro seat wear

The Evora comes equipped with Recaro Sportster CS seats as standard and there has been a report of these showing signs of wear even early in the cars life.

These seats are also used in other cars such as the Mk2 Ford Focus RS where they have exhibited similar issues, suggesting this is a quality control issue for Recaro.

Lotus appear to be willing to replace seats that have shown excessive wear under warranty, however this is not guaranteed.

Others have reported positive results using Gliptone Liquid Leather Scuffmaster to dye the seats where they have worn.

Mechanical

Gear Cables

See forum threads:
http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=338898
http://forums.seloc.org/p/5776122

Some earlier cars were reported to have less than accurate shifting, so the gear shifts were changed in the second half of 2010. However, increasing it's accuracy resulted in reports of some, over time suffering stiff or obstructive gear shifts, making some gears difficult to select.

If customers complain of poor gear shift quality then the cables can be adjusted both at the gearbox and gear linkage ends to improve gear selection, or replaced entirely. This is a 5 hour job as it involves removing parts of the interior.

For MY12 cars the cable set up was changed albeit at a cost to try and improve the consistancy of accurate and smooth gearchanges. However, a well set up/adjusted pre MY12 will provide a similar feel.

Transmission Noise

Some Evoras are reported as having higher than expected transmission noise at low speed in the lower gears, characterised by the sound of 'a rotating component binding on a metal casing'. Some owners have managed to get Lotus to address the issue under warranty, and others report that the noise is down to poor quality throwout bearings in the clutch.

http://forums.seloc.org/p/5767842 http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f170/supercharging-my-na-evora-116587/index4.html#post1758551

Rear Tyre Wear

Rear tyre wear has been reported to be fairly high on many cars, even when driven conservatively. In general owners have reported rear tyres can need replacing after around 10k miles, although this obviously is affected by usage and driving style.