The Europa S is touted as the brand's foray into the world of GTs, or Grand Tourers, cars that are equipped and fettled to effortlessly conquer continents in sublime comfort. In fact a quick peek into the cabin reveals leather door inserts, carpets (!!) and some perforated plastic cladding the passenger console.
crappy interior shot, cant imagine where the phone was focusing *sigh*
there's even decent boot space (154L) in a storage area that's separated from the mid-mounted engine.
And 2 AIRBAGS! *gasp* Say good-bye to the small and great to hold steering wheels found in the Elise and Exige, cos the one in the Europa S is a little too ungainly for comfort, especially with the huge air-bag hub.
Inside, the seating position is pretty faultless for drivers of modest heights (ahem) and the car is easy to place and judge. Brakes, clutch and steering weighting don't make it a pain to drive around town, although parking in tighter confines that require lots of steering wheel twirling could prove tiring.
The car runs on the same turbocharged engine found at the heart of the Vauxhall (Opel) VX220 Turbo, a Elise-type roadster that offered similar levels of race-track-for-road thrills, even if it was never available here.
Just a smidgen of turbo lag up to the 2200rpm mark before the car gets into its stride. this isnt a crazy-revving unit like the Toyota engines in the Elise and Exige so there's no high-rpm mayhem. but the car's flyweight sub1000kg kerbweight means the century sprint is dispatched in under 6 seconds.
In fact, with the amount of mid-range grunt available, changing past 6000rpm is pretty pointless. once you get over the looks of the stubby gear-knob (feels great though), the shifts are direct enough and not nearly as notchy as its racier siblings.
whilst it's always good to break into a new segment (like porsche did with the cayenne SUV) sometimes, it may be a better idea to stick to what one does best. The Europa S isn't quite focused enough, yet not comfortable enough to really rumble with cars like the Porsche Cayman or BMW Z4 Coupe, especially since its price ($80k omv?) puts it right smack in Teutonic performance territory.
Even if you could accept the 'compromises' to both comfort and performance, you'll still have to get over the looks. The rear has a lean, chiselled treatment that is nicely topped-off by the centre-exit tail-pipes, but the front doesn't have the 'face' to go with the car's pace. not to be mean, but these jaded eyes see hints of Proton in the shape of the nose and head-light clusters...
...More pix and short clip to follow...when i get off my lazy ass and post them lol
Fast Facts: Lotus Europa S
Engine: 1998cc, 16-valves, turbocharged
Max. Power: 197bhp at 5400rpm
Max. Torque: 272Nm at 5000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Dimensions (LxBxH)mm: 3900x1850x1120
Wheelbase: 2330mm
Kerb-weight: 995kg
0-100km/h: 5.8 seconds
Top speed: 230km/h
Estimated price: $278,000
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