"What Car" tests the Europa Special JPS

[jbcollier]

From the August 1974 issue.  Pretty fair review from a non-specialist point-of-view.  Performance figures are quoted higher but mentions in the text that 0-60 in the 6s is possible if you thrash it.

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-VMc82tn/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-p4fN7rT/A

https://jbcollier.smugmug.com/Lotus-Europa/i-sSp4T3r/A

[Pfreen]

 I sure like the repair prices in 74

[BDA]

Thanks for the continued posting of the "historical documents", JB! It's always interesting to see what "the experts" thought about our car during their time. I couldn't argue with much of it but I disagreed with his condemnation of the pedals. I have to wear narrow driving shoes or moccasins, but after that, they are all in the right place for me and I have no trouble heel-and-toeing. For me they are the best pedals of any car I've owned.

I had to laugh that the reviewer thought the adjustable seats would accommodate anyone under 7 feet tall! It was also good fun to read about the 78° heatwave the tests were conducted in! If he thought the ventilation was substandard in that condition, he should stay in England. The Nevada desert and cities like Houston and New Orleans in the summer are obviously not going to agree with him!

The final thing I'll mention is that at the price of £3334 shows the change in exchange rate of £ vs $ since then!

Thanks for the review!

[jbcollier]

They were reviewing a RHD car.  A common complaint was nowhere for an idle left foot on a RHD Europa.  Perhaps owners of RHD Europas will comment on the heel and toeing.  Like you, I find the pedals on my LHD car great.  As long as I'm wearing shoes, that is.  The pedals are simply awful even in light hiking boots.

[4129R]

In 1978/9 when I drove my first RHD TCS 75032429P, I found the clutch pedal not easy to get a feel of the bight point, due to being cable operated. I had no issue with the pedals. Getting 5th gear and reverse could be a challenge.

When I drove LHD TCS 73104129R about 3 years ago, I found I had to wear narrow shoes so as not the hit one pedal when using another.

When converting LHD to RHD, I find the throttle pedal is very close to the carpet, and is slightly further towards me than the other two pedals.

As for heeling and toeing, to be honest, I cannot recall ever having to do this, but I cannot see that if I were wearing proper driving shoes/boots, that would be a problem.

I do own a pair of Sparco driving shoes, and for anyone having difficulty with the pedals being too close together, I would recommend getting a pair of racing boots such as Sparco make.

[BDA]

I didn't think about the potential differences between the L & RHD cars. That could certainly make a difference.

Your "boots" comment reminded me of when I took my car to be inspected for the first time. Apparently, part of the inspection required the "technician" to drive the car into the inspection bay - presumably to determine the braking ability. He was wearing work boots and I told him that he wasn't going to get far in those. He didn't. He relented and let me drive the car into the bay.

When I used to hang out at the Lotus distributor in New Orleans, they were selling "new" (actually unsed but "new" was sort of misleading) Europas at a pretty steep discount and a few people would fly in to buy them. One guy was from California. The poor guy had 12 1/2 size feet. He argued to the owner and the mechanic that an alternate pedal set for people with big feet. Of course, no pedal set existed. I had just learned about heel-toe downshifting and pestered him about utilizing that technique, but I should have known that the fabric of the universe was not disrupted in the foot box sufficiently to properly use those huge feet for efficient operation of the pedals. He had to drive it back to California somehow. Presumably, he was successful. I suspect he sold it as soon as he could upon getting home.

[BobW]

I wear a 12-1/2 or 13 shoe (a 46 across the water) but only some of my shoes are narrow enough at the sole to fit between the brake and accelerator. The pedal placement is ok for heel and toeing but I had a 98 Beetle whose pedal placement was better, as good as I've driven.

[EuropaTC]

(part quote)
Perhaps owners of RHD Europas will comment on the heel and toeing.  Like you, I find the pedals on my LHD car great.  As long as I'm wearing shoes, that is.  The pedals are simply awful even in light hiking boots.

I normally drive the Europa in trainers and for me (size 8's) the pedals are fine. We used to live outside of Huddersfield and my daily commute involved traffic & hill starts which would normally call for the handbrake if stopped for more than a few seconds. As you all know the handbrake position is far from ideal but I rapidly adopted holding the footbrake and being able to edge the throttle when it was time to move.

The other plus point for that method was that on some of the steeper hills the handbrake wasn't that good between MoT's......   

Brian