It was quite unreliable. When driven hard for any length of time the head gasket would go. However it was one of the most tunable engines of recent decades with many different applications. The engine was very powerful for it's size even with no adjustments. Even the 1.4 had 102bhp as standard which isn't really seen very often. I also like the sound it makes. Some 4cyl engines are extremely smooth at idle but I always thought the K series made a nice "burbley" sound where you could hear every cylinder firing.
Fiat has a 1.4 liter engine which produce 101 bhp since qutie some years.
Daihatsu has a 1.3 good for 108 bhp in standard trim, and 120 bhp in Sport trim.
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A well made K is reliable. It's when it was made a tuned by people that didn't really understand that it got the head gasket problems. The engine was designed so the block could be made from plastic! The 1.8 VVC K was the engine of choice in the Libra way back when, lots of those saw a very hard life at the UK tracks and never went pop.
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in the large Camry , that engine doesnt feel anything special (although i havent driven the TRD version) , but in a lightweight thing like the Evora the torque should feel great
First the actual kerb wight of the Evora i s1.350 kg, which may seem still absolutely a lot, but if you consider how much all cars averagely weights, and how much such kind of cars weight, it ain't that much.
Just consider a Porsche Carrera GT weights that much.
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From the same source, the kerb wieght of the Cayman is the same, 1.350 kg, while the Cayman S weights 1.330 kg.
The restyled models that is, otherwise the repleaced Cayman weights 1.300 kg and the old Cayman S weights 1.415 kg.
Not that bad I think, even if people won't never accepted just because it's a Lotus.
There is a point in that of course, but also in those 1.350 kg.
KFL Racing Enterprises - Kicking your ass since 2008
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I can understand that, but I'm afraid people expect from Lotus something that no one can build anymore.
Even the old Esprit, in its V8 variant had a kerb weight of 1.380 kg, 13 years ago. The year before Ferrari unveiled the F355, which has a kerb weight of 1.350 kg, but no one dares to argue if the Esprit was a pure Lotus or not. For the record, the last Esprit I could track under the 1.300 kg mark, was the 1992 2.0 Turbo model, weighting 1.228 kg.
The Evora may be less exotic, for sure, but I don't even know how many times it's safer, and perhaps faster too.
Now we are used to call whatever they bring us as an elephant, it is never light enough.
Perhaps the Evora could be 100 kg lighter, I'm pretty sure it could and possibly it could be even far more lighter. While costing twice as much as now.
Would we still consider it as a new drive? I don't think so. Perhaps it isn't the best product for Lotus right now, but I wonder if it's a matter of the car or of the market.
People asked for a more usable Lotus, they made the not exactly good looking Europa, and no one bought it. They made the more comfortable Evora, and now it's too much.
They also made something extremer, the 2-Eleven, but while I saw a few Caterhams, I doubt I'll ever see one of them.
KFL Racing Enterprises - Kicking your ass since 2008
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Well I'm not discussing what the market demands or not. In my mind Lotus was always been the maker of simple, lightweight, four cylinder engined sportscars. Sevens, Elites, Elans, Europas, Elises, Exiges are all part of this mantra. Of course there have been exceptions. But even the early Esprits wieghted under the ton.
But as you say time will tell if it was a good decision.
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