REVIEW: 76907 Lotus Evija

[Oky]

This year, LEGO has added British car manufacturer Lotus to its roster of car brand licenses! The first car we get from this brand is the Evija, Lotus' first electric sports car. It's good to see TLG highlighting more eco-friendly vehicles such as this considering the state of the environment right now. It's quite ironic that they are doing so in a plastic toy, but the sentiment is still appreciated. Is this newcomer a worthy addition to the theme or will it be left in the dust by the other car brands? Buckle up and let's find out!

Set Number: 76907
Name: Lotus Evija
Theme: Speed Champions
Year of Release: 2022
Ages: 8+
Pieces: 247
Price: £17.99 / $19.99 / 19.99€
Online Shop description:

Quote

This LEGO® Speed Champions Lotus Evija (76907) captures the elegant simplicity and innovative design of the real-life all-electric hypercar. Perfect for kids and car enthusiasts of all ages, it provides an engaging building experience, is perfect for display and awesome for high-energy race action.

The Box

The box art on the front of the box shows the Evija driving away from the Goodwood House, an estate in England that serves as the venue for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. I can't think of a more fitting scene for a British Speed Champions car, so kudos to the box designer for this neat detail!

The back shows a lovely rear view of the car driving down a country road during fall (or should I say autumn?). There is also a close-up of one of the headlights and some concept art of the Evija that this set is based on.

The top, the bottom, and the sides of the box are similar to those on the Ferrari 512's box, so there is not much more to say about it. I'm not gonna deeplink all the pictures every time to avoid repetition and save time. These sets are all about speed after all!

Contents

Inside the box there are two numbered bags, a small bag with wheel covers, a loose car base, a sticker sheet, and one instruction booklet.

Instructions

Despite all the dark colored parts, the instructions are fairly easy to read. Like all instructions this year, they have the gray progress bar at the bottom and an explosion of stars at the end of the build of the minifig and the car. I'm beginning to wonder if LEGO hired Michael Bay to direct the instructions for this year.

Notable Parts

You may have wondered why they showed a close-up of a headlight on the back of the box. The reason for that is likely because not only are the headlights printed, but they are on a brand new mold! This wave of Speed Champions introduces 2x3x1 wedges which in this set come in dark green. The fact that the headlights are printed is both good and bad since it means that you don't have to apply more stickers, but it also means that it makes these cool new parts less versatile. The windscreens are also printed and the hexagonal windscreen that serves as the rear window comes in trans-black for only the second time. We get several parts in dark green for the first time here such as a snowboard, tall fenders, 3x4 wedges, 1x2 brackets, triangle tiles, as well as 1x2 tiles which haven't been seen in dark green since the Clone Turbo Tank in 2005/2006 and a Creator crocodile in 2010! There are other parts in rare colors like a 1x3 jumper plate and Mixel joint sockets in dark gray. The latter has appeared in several sets before, but compared to the hundreds of sets where it comes light gray, it's relatively uncommon. I really don't understand why they don't make these joints in more colors. The wheels and hubcaps in this set are also rare as they are the new style that was introduced last year with the tire molded onto the wheel and 9 spokes on the hubcaps. Both are pearl dark gray which is a color they only appeared in two other sets in.

Minifigs

As usual, there is one driver minifig included in the set. I like to call him Bob since he remind me of fellow EB reviewer @Bob De Quatre.  Bob sports an excellent new Lotus-branded racing suit. It is very nicely detailed with a Lotus logo on the chest and a silver spiderweb pattern going down all the way to his legs and onto his back. I did a Google search, but I couldn't find a suit that looks quite like it, so I'm not sure if it is based on any real suit. If you know if it is, let me know in the comments. It's a bit of a shame the helmet isn't dark green as well, but the black still fits with the Lotus color scheme. The head and hair are as generic as all Speed Champions heads, but that's more excusable here than in the Ferrari since this set isn't based on one particular car driven by a specific person. He comes with a wrench to help him change out the hubcaps if so desired.

The Build

The build of the Evija is a bit more standard than that of the Ferrari as it uses the usual Speed Champions car base, but that doesn't mean it's boring. In the contrary, the tail section especially has a lot of sideways and even upside down building techniques. The use of the snowboard as the spoiler is pretty clever, although Bob seems to prefer using it as an actual snowboard.

Spare Parts

At the end of the build, you are left with the usual small bits, plus the extra set of 5-spoke hubcaps.

The Complete Set

The finished hypercar looks great with its dark green and yellow color scheme and expertly shaped body.

I couldn't find the concept art with the green and yellow paint job that the designers were using as reference, so here is a yellow Evija for comparison. The car has a lot of curves and organic shapes and the designers did a reasonably good job of recreating them with bricks.

The new headlight wedges look great on the front of the car. The upside down bumper with the little 1x2 gap is also pretty cool.

The Lotus Evija has very unique taillights which are basically two giant holes in the back of the car with glowing outlines. Here is a reference image of the rear of the car with the spoiler retracted.

Huge props to the designers for taking on the ambitious task of trying to recreate such an organic shape using bricks instead of just using stickers. The result doesn't look quite accurate as the lights have a much more angular shape and don't go all the way around the holes which are represented by a dark gap, but I think it's about as good as they could make it and it exhibits some excellent shaping techniques. I love me a well-shaped rear. A car rear, I mean. Get your head out of the gutter!

The large air intakes on the doors of the Evija are recreated nicely using a variety of wedges and tiles.

While the use of the snowboard as the spoiler is NPU, having it upside down exposes the rough underside of the snowboard which doesn't look very good in my opinion. The exposed studs above the mudguards also ruin the the smooth look of the car a bit. Also, the dark green 1x2 tiles are a slightly darker shade of green than the other parts which is disappointing. Maybe that's why they haven't made that piece in this color in over a decade. On a brighter note, while the stickers were a pain to apply, the dynamic lines that they add to the top of the car look undeniably great.

You can seat the minifig inside by removing the windscreen. Bob can fit comfortably into the car and a sticker on the center console adds some nicely detailed button designs.

Ratings

Design: 8/10
A cool-looking and reasonably close recreation of an ambitious vehicle design with some great shaping. Only the spoiler and exposed studs make it look a bit rough.

Build: 8/10
The build starts out basic, but ends up having lots of interesting techniques.

Playability: 5/10
You can roll the car around and seat the minifig inside.

Figures: 8/10
A great new Lotus racing suit, but with the usual generic head.

Parts: 8/10
New wedge molds and several new and rare recolors, plus plenty of dark green! The color inconsistency on the latter is disappointing though.

Price: 9/10
Not as good of a value as the Ferrari, but 247 parts for 20 bucks is still a good deal!

Overall: 8/10
It is quickly becoming clear to me that the Speed Champions sets are not to be underestimated when it comes to the build. I never would have thought that an official set of a complexly shaped car such as the Evija would turn out looking this good at such a small scale! If you want to experience the advanced building techniques of the large 18+ sets in an affordable $20 set, this is one to pick up.

Thanks for reading and thanks to TLG for sending me this set for review. What do you think of the set? Let me know in the comments and in the poll above. The set will release on March 1, 2022: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/lotus-evija-76907

In my next Speed Champions review, we're going back to the groovy 70's again!

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

26 minutes ago, Oky said:

The use of car doors to represent the two thin walls in the grill is clever as well. It's a bit sad, though, how these parts which were very common in the 80's and 90's are rarely used as actual car doors anymore.

Have you confused this build with the Aston martin Valkyrie? The grille walls here are 1x2 wedge slopes.

What are your thoughts on the windscreen printing?

[Oky]

1 hour ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

Have you confused this build with the Aston martin Valkyrie? The grille walls here are 1x2 wedge slopes.

What are your thoughts on the windscreen printing?

Oops, yes, that was meant for that review.

As you can see in the pictures, the windscreen printing is quite good in this set, especially on the Nexo Knight's part. As for the printing in other sets... well, we'll get to that.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

1 hour ago, Oky said:

As you can see in the pictures, the windscreen printing is quite good in this set, especially on the Nexo Knight's part.

I meant the print design and placement rather than the quality of ink application.

Personally, I found this to be the weakest of the wave and I'm still working on improving the shaping.

I've added an engine block in the back and a brick-built diffuser. The side panels and front end can also be cleaned up.

Edited February 24, 2022 by BrickMonkeyMOCs

[Oky]

4 minutes ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

I meant the print design and placement rather than the quality of ink application.

Personally, I found this to be the weakest of the wave and I'm still working on improving the shaping.

I've dded an engine block in the back and a brick-built diffuser. The side panels and front end can also be cleaned up.

I see no real issues with the design or placement of the prints, but I also don't have any other SC sets to compare them with. Would love to see your mods.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

10 minutes ago, Oky said:

I see no real issues with the design or placement of the prints...

Compare with the real-car photo on the back of the box. The yellow line should mark the boundary between door panel and side window, but on the Lego model this yellow line is half-way up the side window. Doesn't work at all for me.

10 minutes ago, Oky said:

Would love to see your mods.

I'm out of daylight now, but can take some photos tomorrow. Nice review BTW. I'll be interested to see what you think of the double packs.

[Oky]

5 minutes ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

Compare with the real-car photo on the back of the box. The yellow line should mark the boundary between door panel and side window, but on the Lego model this yellow line is half-way up the side window. Doesn't work at all for me.

I'm out of daylight now, but can take some photos tomorrow. Nice review BTW. I'll be interested to see what you think of the double packs.

I see what you mean, but I think the designers were limited by the shape of the windscreen element. I think the idea is that the trans-black part below the yellow line is meant to be part of the door. It looks fine when you look at it from the top, but you're right that the line does seem too high when viewed from the side.

[M Jibril]

5 hours ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

I've added an engine block in the back and a brick-built diffuser. The side panels and front end can also be cleaned up.

I'm curious as to why you added an engine block as the Evija is an electric car.

 

@Oky Great review! Between this set and the Ferrari 512 M, which do you prefer? I'm only planning to pick up one SC set this year and I'm trying to decide between these two.

[MKJoshA]

Love this review! Your humor had me smiling all the way though. Especially the Michael Bay reference! I thought I might skip this car, but after seeing all the techniques I think I have to pick it up as well.

[Oky]

9 hours ago, M Jibril said:

@Oky Great review! Between this set and the Ferrari 512 M, which do you prefer? I'm only planning to pick up one SC set this year and I'm trying to decide between these two.

Thanks! That’s a tough call. They’re both great sets, so I think it just depends on what kind of vehicle you prefer. I think I like the color scheme and more modern look of the Evija better, but to each their own. 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Fantastic hipercar!

Thanks for the review!

[TheLegoDr]

Thanks for the review. I think the designer did a great job with what they had to work with. Very hard shapes to come up with. But they nailed it as far as I can tell. But I think I'll pass on the set for now. I like cars, but not a big enough car guy that I have to have all the SC sets. Just a select few.

[M Jibril]

2 hours ago, Oky said:

Thanks! That’s a tough call. They’re both great sets, so I think it just depends on what kind of vehicle you prefer. I think I like the color scheme and more modern look of the Evija better, but to each their own. 

Yeah fair enough. I think I'll go for the Evija as it will complement the Ferrari F8 that I already own.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

14 hours ago, M Jibril said:

I'm curious as to why you added an engine block as the Evija is an electric car.

A fair question! I just wanted something of visual interest under that cover, and figure the standard engine block can also be seen as a heat sink or battery pack or whatever is actually there in the real car. Also, the trapezoidal shape of the engine block top exactly matches the shape of the engine cover in a very satisfying way.

19 hours ago, Oky said:

Would love to see your mods.

Here's a comparison...

Changes include removal of all stickers and all prints (except for the black on the windscreen), yellow parts replaced with green, wider front splitter plate, 1x2 wedge slopes either side at the front replacing the double cheese slopes, 1x2 wedge slopes in front of the windscreen are moved half a stud forwards, new side panel shaping to remove exposed studs, and I've changed the attachment of the engine cover from 1x1 clips to a SNOT-mounted 1x2 clip plate so that it doesn't keep coming off.

At the back end I've used 1x2 panels for a non-sticker-reliant diffuser, and also raised the rear wing position by half a plate.

Edited February 25, 2022 by BrickMonkeyMOCs

[noahtheb]

26 minutes ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

A fair question! I just wanted something of visual interest under that cover, and figure the standard engine block can also be seen as a heat sink or battery pack or whatever is actually there in the real car. Also, the trapezoidal shape of the engine block top exactly matches the shape of the engine cover in a very satisfying way.

Here's a comparison...

Changes include removal of all stickers and all prints (except for the black on the windscreen), yellow parts replaced with green, wider front splitter plate, 1x2 wedge slopes either side at the front replacing the double cheese slopes, 1x2 wedge slopes in front of the windscreen are moved half a stud forwards, new side panel shaping to remove exposed studs, and I've changed the attachment of the engine cover from 1x1 clips to a SNOT-mounted 1x2 clip plate so that it doesn't keep coming off.

At the back end I've used 1x2 panels for a non-sticker-reliant diffuser, and also raised the rear wing position by half a plate.

Great mods! You might actually convince me to buy this set... One thing, one of my biggest issues with the Lego recreation of the Evija is how far back the front splitter is compared to the tip of the nose. Do you think you can move that splitter forward by a stud?

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

8 minutes ago, noahtheb said:

Great mods! You might actually convince me to buy this set... One thing, one of my biggest issues with the Lego recreation of the Evija is how far back the front splitter is compared to the tip of the nose. Do you think you can move that splitter forward by a stud? 

Thanks. A full extra stud for the splitter would be too much, and a half-plate is very difficult to achieve given the front construction. The nose overhang is unfortunate, but really only looks bad from the low side view, and using the 1x2 wedge slopes at the front sides helps a lot here, as does widening the black part of the splitter to the full width of the car.

[noahtheb]

23 minutes ago, BrickMonkeyMOCs said:

Thanks. A full extra stud for the splitter would be too much, and a half-plate is very difficult to achieve given the front construction. The nose overhang is unfortunate, but really only looks bad from the low side view, and using the 1x2 wedge slopes at the front sides helps a lot here, as does widening the black part of the splitter to the full width of the car.

That makes sense. After looking at the original model from many angles, I agree with you. Once again, great mods, I never thought this set could be improved so much.

[VBBN]

Great review! This one is decent, I think the misplacement of the yellow line really throws this one off for me, it completely changes the visual shaping of the vehicle - I know LEGO is obsessed with racing style liveries, but in this case I think it would have been much more beneficial to stick with a standard paint job for this car. 

In any event, great parts here and those new headlights look much nicer than previous solutions  huge kudos to the designers for actually making a valiant effort at that tailight design 

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

On 2/26/2022 at 3:39 PM, VBBN said:

Great review! This one is decent, I think the misplacement of the yellow line really throws this one off for me, it completely changes the visual shaping of the vehicle - I know LEGO is obsessed with racing style liveries, but in this case I think it would have been much more beneficial to stick with a standard paint job for this car. 

Agreed. Jang's review also focuses on the poor print layout for the yellow line:

 

[Ondra]

I choosed evija a 512 m from this wave, 512 m is perfect set without any problems but Im little dissapointed with evija.

Stickers of yellow line are really tricky, and they can be messed very easily. This model is good looker, but I will not trust it in play. There are few builds that are clunky and they can fall of easily . I get feel of some alternate mocs, that I build from rebrickable.

Im now in process of modding, getting rid of some stickers and adding some detalis and making this set sturdier.

Its first speed champions set, that Im not satisfied at all after build.

[Johnny1360]

12 hours ago, Ondra said:

his model is good looker, but I will not trust it in play. There are few builds that are clunky and they can fall of easily . 

I get that feeling from this entire SC wave.

I'm not really a car guy but they are cool, however I think this years sets offer some of the best building experiences to date, some very cool techniques going on in most every model and for me SC is more affordable than most other LEGO offerings.

Oky, very good review, I enjoyed reading it and found the information handy, thanks for taking the time.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Johnny1360

[Pato Sentado]

If I get this set is as as source of pieces for a Lotus/Aston Martin F1

[Rattlebricks]

Thanks for the review. I actually think it looks great overall.  In my opinion, I doesnt  needs to looks exactly like the real thing, afterall the brick-ish shape is what makes Lego unique. Otherwise, go for diecast model :D   , I also like the organic look of the rear tail lights. 

 

I finally decided to pick this one and I only have two speed champions  sets previously which are the Scuderia and Mustang from 4-5 years ago. Now I feels that  I need to get some more of the speed champions sets :D