The great big "all the customer test drives" thread

BSC · Oct 3, 2023

Drlonline said:
How did the manual shifting of the automatic feel? Some others were a little bothered by the feel of the paddles since there was no click when shifting.

I was worried about the paddle feel too. I managed to test drive an AT last week in Melbourne. Coming from a SC V6 Jag F type, the “click” feeling in the paddle was definitely less (not numbed out)
You still have that feeling of a gear change (up/down). The metal quality and position of the paddles were perfect, with your hands naturally at 9 and 3 o’clock position.

The steering wheel girth is not too thick for me and fingers within reach to the paddles. It’s definitely thicker than my BMW M-Sport steering. For those with smaller hands, you might find reaching for the paddle shifts in the 9 and 3 position challenging

EspritGuy · Oct 4, 2023

BSC said:
I was worried about the paddle feel too. I managed to test drive an AT last week in Melbourne. Coming from a SC V6 Jag F type, the “click” feeling in the paddle was definitely less (not numbed out)
You still have that feeling of a gear change (up/down). The metal quality and position of the paddles were perfect, with your hands naturally at 9 and 3 o’clock position.

The steering wheel girth is not too thick for me and fingers within reach to the paddles. It’s definitely thicker than my BMW M-Sport steering. For those with smaller hands, you might find reaching for the paddle shifts in the 9 and 3 position challenging

Based on the DNA, the Emira is a big feet versus small hands kind of car.
Just saying.

Pegasi · Oct 4, 2023

M3DOC said:
I assume you're also attending the Festival of Speed Sunday? I'm test driving next week as well.

Hopefully. I got my tickets!

Pegasi · Oct 4, 2023

DaaS said:
Comparison of Ice Grey to the white leather in Tesla or Silverstone in BMW (in case you have seen those).

I have seen the white leather in a Tesla so I will try and remember that or maybe even go by their lot to get a refresher.

Callabrator · Oct 11, 2023

I just had a chance to test drive a V6 Manual with Touring Suspension. Here’s my thoughts:

Pros:
+looks the business. Just stunning in person!
+sounds excellent, both inside and outside the car
+infotainment is totally fine and feels like a modern car
+stereo is surprisingly good (not that I really care)
+the power is sufficient, and feels about as fast as my Supra.
+the manual is great, although not one you can instantly snap into gear. No real complaints though.

Cons
-no other way to put it other than the seats suck! You sit WAY too high and there is basically 0 bolstering. Worst seats of any sports car I’ve ever sat in. I’d replace them immediately (I’m 6’0 185lbs)
-fit and finish is fine, but nowhere near Porsche. They had a 718 GT4 in their inventory and that feels like a full class up in terms of interior quality. Pushing on various parts of the interior doesn’t have the solid feel you get from a Porsche, or even a BMW.
-the redline is too low. Just as the car got on boil, I hit the limiter.
-shockingly, the steering is merely good, not spectacular. It’s very direct, and has some feel, but I recall the old Evora had better steering. Maybe I'm just expecting too much here?

So at this point, I’m glad that my position in line puts me still ~1 year out so I have time to think about it. I also feel like I’m getting old and opinionated…

EspritGuy · Oct 11, 2023

Callabrator said:
I just had a chance to test drive a V6 Manual with Touring Suspension. Here’s my thoughts:

Pros:
+looks the business. Just stunning in person!
+sounds excellent, both inside and outside the car
+infotainment is totally fine and feels like a modern car
+stereo is surprisingly good (not that I really care)
+the power is sufficient, and feels about as fast as my Supra.
+the manual is great, although not one you can instantly snap into gear. No real complaints though.

Cons
-no other way to put it other than the seats suck! You sit WAY too high and there is basically 0 bolstering. Worst seats of any sports car I’ve ever sat in. I’d replace them immediately
-fit and finish is fine, but nowhere near Porsche. They had a 718 GT4 in their inventory and that feels like a full class up in terms of interior quality. Pushing on various parts of the interior doesn’t have the solid feel you get from a Porsche, or even a BMW.
-the redline is too low. Just as the car got on boil, I hit the limiter.
-shockingly, the steering is merely good, not spectacular. It’s very direct, and has some feel, but I recall the old Evora had better steering. Maybe I'm just expecting too much here?

So at this point, I’m glad that my position in line puts me still ~1 year out so I have time to think about it. I also feel like I’m getting old and opinionated…

Splendid test drive of Nimbus MT sport chasis in track mode. Seats perfect for me (5'10) with cockpit feeling of well appointed interior.
Clutch quite sensitive/near instant grab and potent braking. Plenty fast. Grin got bigger with each gear change. Emira is glued to the road with very responsive steering allowing sharp turns/tight turning radius. Lotus of Dallas drive was too short. Have to console myself with absorbing the Lotus Type 66 CanAm racer.

Callabrator · Oct 11, 2023

EspritGuy said:
Splendid test drive of Nimbus MT sport chasis in track mode. Seats perfect for me (5'10) with cockpit feeling of well appointed interior.
Clutch quite sensitive/near instant grab and potent braking. Plenty fast. Grin got bigger with each gear change. Emira is glued to the road with very responsive steering allowing sharp turns/tight turning radius. Lotus of Dallas drive was too short. Have to console myself with absorbing the Lotus Type 66 CanAm racer.

FYI, the Nimbus car turned out to be on Touring Suspension, not Sport as they incorrectly stated to a few of the early morning drives. The specs were printed in a card in the glove box.

Adam Brouillard · Oct 12, 2023

Just did my test drive at Motorcars of Atlanta.

Exterior – It was in Hethel yellow with no black back, which is my spec so that was nice to see. Very warm yellow, which matches my company color almost exactly as I hoped. The dealership was full of supercars so it was nice to get immediate visual comparisons. The Emira has elegant supercar looks, and it’s one of the best-looking cars I’ve ever seen. I can’t really find any fault with the shape although I do plan to do some satin black vinyls to somewhat mimic the accent pack on the Evija. I thought the ride height/wheel gap looked basically the same as the other unmodified cars there.

Interior – It was the ice grey interior. A bit understated compared to most supercars (starter button cover aside), but good quality materials. No plastic looking surfaces to be found. I like the platform for the passenger’s feet to brace against as well. My spec is the alcantara/yellow stitch interior so hopefully that, along with a yellow seatbelt swap will spice up the interior some to try to match the gorgeous exterior.

Seats – Was worried about these after hearing all the complaints, but I thought they were great. I’m 6 ft with normally proportioned legs/torso and the seating position felt ideal for me at the lowest setting. My eye line was right at the bottom of the rear view mirror and I had several inches of headroom left. Only 1 in 6 US men is taller than I am so I would think the majority of people should be fine. Some people may prefer to sit really low in a car, which may explain the complaints. For comparison, they had a 2002 Esprit there as well which was super cool, but my head literally touched the roof, and my eye line was level with the top of the windshield. I’m not sure what kind of diminutive people that car was designed for. Seats were comfortable and plenty supportive for spirited regular driving. You would, of course, want a true race seat for serious track or autocross work though. For those interested, the ice grey leather was in good shape and it’s slightly on the greyer side compared to the tesla, but not by much.

Driving impressions – This car had the touring suspension, which is my spec, and I was quite pleased with it. Spring rate and damping felt about where I would want them for a car with this ride height. If you lower a car to improve underbody aero and reduce load transfer, you need higher rate springs and increased damping to match to prevent (too much) bottoming, but this is at the expense of bump absorption and so the driving surface determines how low you can go. Some people might prefer the sport suspension if they want this same firmly damped lowered car feeling, but without the lowered ride height, you aren’t getting the performance benefit to match. Not sure why Lotus didn’t lower the ride height and increase spring rate to match on the sport suspension or I might have gone with it. Here is an article about car setup if you wish to learn more about this kind of stuff.

Pic is of my son, who isn’t quite old enough to drive yet, but is at least as excited for our car to be delivered as I am.

Maurice R · Oct 12, 2023

Test drove the V6 auto yesterday. Magma Red
Arrived early and no one had that spot for the auto. I had driven the mt last year.
Hopefully not going to try make comparison about other sports cars.
Specifically wanted to drive the auto to see how it handled/drove. Did not pay attention to much except interior was imp really nice and well appointed. Did not listen to the radio.
Set seat at lowest level and this was perfect for me.
Had cat in track mode. and manual (not auto) Gear shifting was really good and impressive. its not a PDK but close.
Pushed the car in every gear to close to red line just fantastic.
The car is fast and quick. Handles like it is on rails. Cornering was just point and shoot, Rear end stepped out once or twice but easy to correct especially if you know what to do. Did a route that had some great curves, really impressed. Seats held me in place nicely. Not so sure about my passenger
At one point I was at 101 mph. (ok not legal anywhere) but what the heck there were no police around.
Breaking was superb.
When i finished the drive I was tempted to say I may consider the Auto but no still going with the manual I have coming.
My personal opinion is that anyone getting or ordering the auto you will be more than happy.
Car is loud but my Evora GT I think is on another level.

Pegasi · Oct 12, 2023

I had my second test drive as well in this same Hethel, Touring, Auto. I really tried to have a very critical mindset and not just be gushing like a kid like I was during my first test drive. That lasted about 3 seconds.

Exterior: The car is just absent of a bunch of slashes, gashes, swoops etc. I honestly think over time this will go down as one of the best looking sports cars of all time. It just works.

Interior: The Ice Grey interior is superb. Slightly, slightly darker than Tesla's white interior. Richer IMO. @DaaS My spec is DV with the Ice Grey. The black dashboard & other accents, the ICE Grey leather, and the KEF silver grill cover just looks so good. I believe the Lotus written on the seats looks best with Ice Grey. My opinion on interior is "less is better" and Lotus nailed it.

Auto Transmission: Comparing to a ZF 8HP, the paddles shifted nicely. Not really a "click" but definitively has feedback when shifting. However personally, I didn't like the steering wheel mounted paddles, I would much prefer column mounted. Maybe with time I would get used to them. They could be slightly bigger.

Sound: Switching from Touring to Sport noticeably changed the exhaust note. I paid attention to that this time and I like the fact we can quiet the exhaust note.

Driving: Touring is spongier than Sport. My previous test drive was Sport. I did notice a difference. My drive was on a very winding road and I was easily doing 60MPH. I was hitting the brakes at all the wrong times, on purpose, just to see if I could upset the car and I could not. I am not sure there is a better mountain carver on the market than this car. The visibility and ride quality will not wear you out on long drives. It's really really easy to drive.

Speed: I was able to go WOT twice and did not have to really give much input to the steering wheel. The steering felt medium/heavy with great feedback. As I mentioned before with the Evora, the car always feels like it is one solid piece during braking, turning, and accelerating.

The dealer said they would be getting a DV demo in December!

Touch screen was very fast and responsive in this car.

Green · Oct 12, 2023

Thank you for posting. I ordered the ice grey and I’m glad it looks good in person. Great pictures

Pegasi · Oct 12, 2023

Green said:
Thank you for posting. I ordered the ice grey and I’m glad it looks good in person. Great pictures

Somebody made this comment before in this forum about spec'ing the interior correctly because that's where you will spend most of your time. Dare I say the ICE Grey interior is now my favorite part about the car.

The salesperson mentioned that this test car has been moving constantly and that all he has done is wipe the interior down a couple of times. He said it's really easy to maintain and I could not find a blemish on it. The car has been on track and done dozens of test drives.

eriegz · Oct 12, 2023

Pegasi said:
Somebody made this comment before in this forum about spec'ing the interior correctly because that's where you will spend most of your time. Dare I say the ICE Grey interior is now my favorite part about the car.

The salesperson mentioned that this test car has been moving constantly and that all he has done is wipe the interior down a couple of times. He said it's really easy to maintain and I could not find a blemish on it. The car has been on track and done dozens of test drives.

I'll be honest, kinda wishing I chose ice grey for my Hethel Yellow now...

VL3X · Oct 12, 2023

Adam Brouillard said:
Just did my test drive at Motorcars of Atlanta.

Exterior – It was in Hethel yellow with no black back, which is my spec so that was nice to see. Very warm yellow, which matches my company color almost exactly as I hoped. The dealership was full of supercars so it was nice to get immediate visual comparisons. The Emira has elegant supercar looks, and it’s one of the best-looking cars I’ve ever seen. I can’t really find any fault with the shape although I do plan to do some satin black vinyls to somewhat mimic the accent pack on the Evija. I thought the ride height/wheel gap looked basically the same as the other unmodified cars there.

Interior – It was the ice grey interior. A bit understated compared to most supercars (starter button cover aside), but good quality materials. No plastic looking surfaces to be found. I like the platform for the passenger’s feet to brace against as well. My spec is the alcantara/yellow stitch interior so hopefully that, along with a yellow seatbelt swap will spice up the interior some to try to match the gorgeous exterior.

Seats – Was worried about these after hearing all the complaints, but I thought they were great. I’m 6 ft with normally proportioned legs/torso and the seating position felt ideal for me at the lowest setting. My eye line was right at the bottom of the rear view mirror and I had several inches of headroom left. Only 1 in 6 US men is taller than I am so I would think the majority of people should be fine. Some people may prefer to sit really low in a car, which may explain the complaints. For comparison, they had a 2002 Esprit there as well which was super cool, but my head literally touched the roof, and my eye line was level with the top of the windshield. I’m not sure what kind of diminutive people that car was designed for. Seats were comfortable and plenty supportive for spirited regular driving. You would, of course, want a true race seat for serious track or autocross work though. For those interested, the ice grey leather was in good shape and it’s slightly on the greyer side compared to the tesla, but not by much.

Driving impressions – This car had the touring suspension, which is my spec, and I was quite pleased with it. Spring rate and damping felt about where I would want them for a car with this ride height. If you lower a car to improve underbody aero and reduce load transfer, you need higher rate springs and increased damping to match to prevent (too much) bottoming, but this is at the expense of bump absorption and so the driving surface determines how low you can go. Some people might prefer the sport suspension if they want this same firmly damped lowered car feeling, but without the lowered ride height, you aren’t getting the performance benefit to match. Not sure why Lotus didn’t lower the ride height and increase spring rate to match on the sport suspension or I might have gone with it. Here is an article about car setup if you wish to learn more about this kind of stuff.

Pic is of my son, who isn’t quite old enough to drive yet, but is at least as excited for our car to be delivered as I am.

View attachment 32178

Glad you enjoyed the test drive Adam! I also checked out your Paradigm Shift site and really enjoyed reading through the racing basics blogs. Nice site! Reminded me I need more track time.

Cachaco131 · Oct 12, 2023

Maurice R said:
Test drove the V6 auto yesterday. Magma Red
Arrived early and no one had that spot for the auto. I had driven the mt last year.
Hopefully not going to try make comparison about other sports cars.
Specifically wanted to drive the auto to see how it handled/drove. Did not pay attention to much except interior was imp really nice and well appointed. Did not listen to the radio.
Set seat at lowest level and this was perfect for me.
Had cat in track mode. and manual (not auto) Gear shifting was really good and impressive. its not a PDK but close.
Pushed the car in every gear to close to red line just fantastic.
The car is fast and quick. Handles like it is on rails. Cornering was just point and shoot, Rear end stepped out once or twice but easy to correct especially if you know what to do. Did a route that had some great curves, really impressed. Seats held me in place nicely. Not so sure about my passenger
At one point I was at 101 mph. (ok not legal anywhere) but what the heck there were no police around.
Breaking was superb.
When i finished the drive I was tempted to say I may consider the Auto but no still going with the manual I have coming.
My personal opinion is that anyone getting or ordering the auto you will be more than happy.
Car is loud but my Evora GT I think is on another level.

And how does handling and rawness compare to the GT?

GetawayDriving · Oct 12, 2023

Pegasi said:
Somebody made this comment before in this forum about spec'ing the interior correctly because that's where you will spend most of your time. Dare I say the ICE Grey interior is now my favorite part about the car.

The salesperson mentioned that this test car has been moving constantly and that all he has done is wipe the interior down a couple of times. He said it's really easy to maintain and I could not find a blemish on it. The car has been on track and done dozens of test drives.

I’d just be careful of blue jeans. I was told the same thing about Tesla, even watched some videos where a guy poured hot sauce and wine all over the white seats and got it all out, but the white seats in my Tesla somehow developed these blue stains on the passenger seat that I could not remove with any cleaner or YouTube magic I tried.

M3DOC · Oct 12, 2023

Pegasi said:
I had my second test drive as well in this same Hethel, Touring, Auto. I really tried to have a very critical mindset and not just be gushing like a kid like I was during my first test drive. That lasted about 3 seconds.

Exterior: The car is just absent of a bunch of slashes, gashes, swoops etc. I honestly think over time this will go down as one of the best looking sports cars of all time. It just works.

Interior: The Ice Grey interior is superb. Slightly, slightly darker than Tesla's white interior. Richer IMO. @DaaS My spec is DV with the Ice Grey. The black dashboard & other accents, the ICE Grey leather, and the KEF silver grill cover just looks so good. I believe the Lotus written on the seats looks best with Ice Grey. My opinion on interior is "less is better" and Lotus nailed it.

Auto Transmission: Comparing to a ZF 8HP, the paddles shifted nicely. Not really a "click" but definitively has feedback when shifting. However personally, I didn't like the steering wheel mounted paddles, I would much prefer column mounted. Maybe with time I would get used to them. They could be slightly bigger.

Sound: Switching from Touring to Sport noticeably changed the exhaust note. I paid attention to that this time and I like the fact we can quiet the exhaust note.

Driving: Touring is spongier than Sport. My previous test drive was Sport. I did notice a difference. My drive was on a very winding road and I was easily doing 60MPH. I was hitting the brakes at all the wrong times, on purpose, just to see if I could upset the car and I could not. I am not sure there is a better mountain carver on the market than this car. The visibility and ride quality will not wear you out on long drives. It's really really easy to drive.

Speed: I was able to go WOT twice and did not have to really give much input to the steering wheel. The steering felt medium/heavy with great feedback. As I mentioned before with the Evora, the car always feels like it is one solid piece during braking, turning, and accelerating.

View attachment 32185
View attachment 32186

The dealer said they would be getting a DV demo in December!

I drove that same car Tuesday during Roswell's lunch hour traffic so I wasn't able to get the car up to speed. My salesman wouldn't allow me to put it in track mode so I have no idea how that increases throttle response. He actually drove the car harder before handing it over to me. The route he took had several nice curves and it did seem to handle like a go kart. Alcantara steering wheel seemed to slick, glad I opted for leather. Interior seemed quite roomy and very modern. I wish the center screen was tilted slightly to the driver. Boot was very hot so if you have anything slightly heat sensitive it's not going in there. I think Touring suspension is more than adequate. Paddle shift response was as good or better than most torque converter automatics. Engine and exhaust sounds very good, no need for a radio. Salesman told me they are sending their mechanics for additional training ASAP and that he expected their demo car to arrive in December. He said that my i4 build was still on track for December, although I fully expect that to get bumped to January. Really would feel better if I could drive an i4 to confirm I'll be happy with it. I certainly could live with the V6 also. Bottom line, the car is truly gorgeous in person.

Maurice R · Oct 13, 2023

Cachaco131 said:
And how does handling and rawness compare to the GT?

It’s definitely not as raw as the gt.
Handling is great I think maybe a little less twitchy and smoother but it was touring suspension
GT is much harder ride which I personally prefer. Steering input on gt is better for me but still great
The GT is also manual.

VL3X · Oct 13, 2023

Maurice R said:
It’s definitely not as raw as the gt.
Handling is great I think maybe a little less twitchy and smoother but it was touring suspension
GT is much harder ride which I personally prefer. Steering input on gt is better for me but still great
The GT is also manual.

Can confirm all this. My GT feels just a bit more raw. Could have a lot to do with my louder exhaust (3rd cat delete) and ~20 extra HP. The Emira I drove was Tour with Goodyear and my GT has the Cup2s. Big difference there. The Emira is no slouch though and you can hear the supercharger better with the quieter exhaust note. So there are trade-offs.

Lotus64 · Oct 16, 2023

Maurice R said:
It’s definitely not as raw as the gt.
Handling is great I think maybe a little less twitchy and smoother but it was touring suspension
GT is much harder ride which I personally prefer.

VL3X said:
Can confirm all this. My GT feels just a bit more raw. Could have a lot to do with my louder exhaust (3rd cat delete) and ~20 extra HP. The Emira I drove was Tour with Goodyear and my GT has the Cup2s. Big difference there.

A more fitting comparison to the rawness of the Evora GT would be the Emira sport, as the Emira sport is noticeably more raw / engaging than the Emira touring.

Also, the Emira has larger front wheels and a greater contact patch than the Evora, which would dilute the transient responses even if everything else stayed the same between the two models. An Evora GT on wider 20s would lose some rawness.

The great big "all the customer test drives" thread

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