The bottom line is that after having driven the Evora every day since I've had it I started enjoying and appreciating the car much more as each day of driving it passed by. I did test drive the Evora and the Evora S when I did my test drives of the pre-prod Exige and the MMC Demo Exige too but each time thought no it has to be the Exige.
However now that the Evora is in my possession and I've had time to drive it in all sorts of conditions it's got under my skin and I can truly say that I've really began to appreciate what this car is all about which I didn't get from the 20 - 30 minute test drives I had before (it takes me about that long just to get use to a new car).
My original thoughts on the Evora were that it was significantly more refined than any other Lotus I'd driven before but just not as focused on the handling front. I thought it was closer to my Audi S5 than my Europa in terms of ride/handling feel except for the steering which had the usual Lotus feel to it just not as direct as the Elise/Exige but that was always going to happen due to the power steering, also probably the best power steering setup I've experienced too.
So what is it that is so good about the Evora that has moved me away from the Exige after a few days of driving it?
Well my everyday commute to work is from Bathgate to Linlithgow over the hills on a typical A-road which has a few nice corners with varying degrees of road surface imperfections. The Evora just felt so fluent on this road, and none of the road imperfections caused it to get flustered in anyway.
I can drive the car slowly at 30mph and relax, or I can get on it for a good blast down the same road and the character of the car will just transform, all of a sudden when your going quickly it begins to get that focused Lotus feel, the steering starts to weight up nicely, you can feel exactly what's going on. Point the car into the
corner and it just glides round in a very satisfying manner, hit a bump or road imperfection mid corner and it magically keeps gliding over it. Do that in the Exige (not the V6)/Elise/Europa and it can upset the rear end and sap confidence. There is a tiny bit of body roll that can be felt but the grip is there and if I'm honest given the ride quality it's a very very small price to play.
Pottering about town at 30 mph also feels quite satisfying too, I don't think I've ever taken junctions in 4th gear before but it seems to just go without stuttering. I'm also able to just leave the car in 6th around town most the time as it'll happily sit at 30mph in 6th and not struggle along, even over the roundabouts I don't really down shift if I don't have to stop at the exit.
Muneeba also prefers the Evora (she always did from a looks perspective) but after driving it her comments were it just feels a lot more solid and you feel much more confident at speed than when driving the Europa. Also she likes the fact it is much more comfortable and of course the most important point is it has a mirror for doing her make-up
I'd love to have the Exige as well but unless my salary doubles that's just not going to happen. Don't get me wrong the Exige is an immense car it's just I fell for the charms of the Evora. I think the Evora is kind of like the Europa in the way that it hasn't been appreciated early on (yes pre-2012 quality isn't great) but with the MY12 changes I think most of its short comings have been addressed and I can see a lot more people buying them going forward. I also think that now the market has warmed up to the car used prices will be a lot more stable and it will be a while before you see a MY12+ Evora below 30k and the MY12+ Evora S below 40k these will be well sort after cars on the used market.
So last Friday it was a quick e-mail to Brandon with a request to buy the Red Evora S Sports Racer sitting in the show room instead of the Exige. Brandon was happy to accommodate, I signed all the paper work on the Saturday and I pick the car up this Friday.
Also a quick thank you again to Brandon for accommodating the change at such short notice.
I don't have any pics yet, I'll put actual pics up on Friday when I get it but the car looks exactly the same as this:
Also watch this space, I have some very special upgrades planned for the car in the coming months
I also prefer the looks of that red Evora over the new Exige. Must admit when I was at MMC to collect some parts yesterday I was more interested in the new Camaro sitting outside than the V6 Exige 
Weve driven round the Bathgate sports centre car park a few times looking for the chrome beastie.