‘For how fast it is, it’s not expensive to run’
He likes cars that are good to drive and good to look at, so the Evora tempted Andrew Aylesbury. But should he have resisted?
AN UNPREDICTABLE CV
I choose cars for how they look and how they drive rather than if they’re reliable. I had a Renault Avantime for a couple of years, I’ve had TVRs, a Peugeot 205 GTi and a Fiat Coupe, which I loved – and then it started to fall apart. I had a Citroën Cactus for a year and was desperate to get out of that. I wanted to get a sports car but I wanted it to be my only car, which was optimistic. It was a BMW M2 or a Lotus Evora. The M2’s ride was rock solid. It’s a much better car in many ways, but numb. The Lotus felt better.
A BIT OF A BARGAIN
There weren’t that many around, but I really liked the look of this one, a 2012 model. It was on 29,000 miles for £32,000, with a warranty, from a prestige sports car dealer on the south coast. It’s a naturally-aspirated one rather than a supercharged model. It sneaks under the top tax bracket and will easily do about 30mpg. For how fast it is, it’s actually not that expensive to run. Servicing, fuel, tax – none of them are bad. Mine’s got the Tech and Sport pack options. Comfort pack was an armrest and a net in the boot, and I wasn’t too fussed about that. It’s got great seats, the ride is really comfortable, the driving position is spot-on, it’s got cruise control and it’s got a stereo, although I’m not bothered about infotainment.
AT ITS BEST, IT’S GENIUS
The handling, the steering and the ride are unlike anything I’ve ever driven. You know how you keep reading about the way the Alpine A110 drives? That’s how I would describe the Evora. It flows down the road. You’re not fighting it. There aren’t lots of di erent ride settings. The one it has just works. It’s completely unintimidating to drive. I don’t know how you would crash it, because you can tell exactly what it’s doing all the time. It’s a very torquey, unstressed engine. The mechanics of it are the bit I trust the most. What lets it down is the quality of the trim and how well it’s been put together. It’s the silly niggly things like doors and windows. It’s so obvious that they had very little money at the time they made this car. Later ones got much better. The trim and finish is a long way behind Porsches and BMWs of that age. You can see why people look at it and end up with a Cayman instead.
IT’S NO ALL ROUNDER
I’ve done a few long journeys, been into Wales a few times, but it turned out not to be all that practical as an everyday car. I had to do more work miles than I expected, and take people and things with me, so after a while I got an Alfa 159 estate, which I really like – and works, most of the time. At least one of them is usually working. I never keep cars that long. There are so many cars I want to own. I’ll probably get something completely di erent next time. If I could find one – but I can’t – I’d probably swap it for a Renault Sport Spider, or an original Dodge Viper, even though they’re probably crap. The other car I’m interested in is a BMW i8. They’re incredibly cheap for what you get.