I4 Engine Cover Carbon Fiber

Tokion said:

Hi Lynne at Jagon

I have an i4 arriving (sooner, or most likely later) in Japan where I reside. What will my cost be for one of these including FedEx freight to Japan?

Another question is regarding some apparently open slits/holes in your I4 engine bay cover. Since no i4 has ever been present here in Japan for viewing or test-driving, I can only base my assumptions on what I have read. I have been under the impression that the original I4 engine bay cover is completely sealed (no openings, slits, holes). So may I ask if if your carbon I4 engine bay cover is identical to the original in that regard? Or have you added holes, slits and other openings?

Thank you! Your carbon I4 engine bay cover looks great

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Nova said:

I would be cautious about modifying the airflow of the engine bay without understanding the reasons behind the original design and testing that the modifications make things better. The added slits are at the front of the engine bay where the engine bay air is coldest. You'd want the air pressure in this area to be higher so that it pushes cold air to the rest of the engine bay. Given the expected low-pressure zone at the tail of the car created while driving, where the opening between the rear glass and trunk lid draws air out, the slits would reduce the air pressure at the front of the engine bay, thus decreasing the amount of cold air going to the rest of the engine. Even standing still, the forced air duct leading into the front of the engine bay would find a lower airflow resistance path through the slit and out the tail rather than washing over the hot engine/turbo.

Again, I'm just spitballing here, I'd love to see some technical justification for the slits. I recently saw a Chinese video on the I4 where the presenter also owns a car modification parts business and he was also talking about adding slits to the Emira I4's engine cover, but he was thinking of adding it at the rear edge of the cover. Even this design warrants caution because the turbo is right there at the back. I'm not sure if the rear glass and body panels can stand the heat flow that would result. Also, depending on how the airflow changes, the slits may cool the hot side of the turbo, lowering its efficiency. There is a reason why the turbo and exhaust manifold are swathed in heat shielding from all sides.

Edit: The above is pointless since the original engine cover also has slits at the same location.

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Tokion said:

Hi Nova:

I actually had extensive text exchange with Lynne, who is doing a great job communicating in English all over the world. However, she may not have the technical background to understand everything about Lotus Emira. (After I made it clear my car was an i4, I was asked if it is an AT or an MT) She also initially indicated that Jagon’s i4 cover had been equipped with MORE holes than the standard Lotus i4 cover.

I then specifically asked her to check with Jagon’s engineers whether their i4 engine cover has any more holes, slits, openings than the standard cover from Lotus?

After some pause she came back to confirm that every hole (slit, opening) in Jagon’s i4 engine cover anre identical to the original Lotus made i4 engine cover, and there are no additional holes in Jagon’s i4 cover.

Currently Jagon is offering six (6) different carbon parts that fit the i4. I have received a quote for buying the entire lot (one of each) which resulted in a discount of $200 on the total that came to less than $1600, and it also seems that the international freight (FedEx) is included in the price. Quite a deal as long as everything fits well, looks beautiful, and has been designed and finished to be durable.

The proof is of course in the pudding, and the fact is also that I won’t receive my i4 in many more months (supposedly it will be manufactured and shipped during January 2024 - keeping my fingers and everything else crossed )

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EMIRADILEMMA said:

Noticed

Nice purchase Tokion, congratulations! The set looks great and I'm definitely considering doing the same once my i4 arrives.
Noticed that the following 3-piece set for the centre console states "LHD" only. Is there a difference in button positioning between LHD and RHD? In my experience centre consoles have always been identical regardless of LHD or RHD, hence us in the RHD camp have always had to compromise with less ergonomic layouts.

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EMIRADILEMMA said:

Noticed

Nice purchase Tokion, congratulations! The set looks great and I'm definitely considering doing the same once my i4 arrives.
Noticed that the following 3-piece set for the centre console states "LHD" only. Is there a difference in button positioning between LHD and RHD? In my experience centre consoles have always been identical regardless of LHD or RHD, hence us in the RHD camp have always had to compromise with less ergonomic layouts.

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Tokion said:

Thanks EMIRADILEMMA. However, I have not purchased yet. I have only received a price quote. I wanted to give it a few days to research exactly the type of issues that you mentioned since the i4 delivered to Japan, and I believe also the version for Singapore, are LHD, just like those for the UK market.

I will have to find out if this means the carbon parts for this area needs to be different from the RHD cars in the Chinese market.

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JohnS said:

Hello Tokion, I thought a quick clarification is needed with regards LHD and RHD. As I understand LHD and RHD refers to the location of the steering wheel when facing forward. Cars driven on the left of the road have the steering wheel on the right, hence RHD (right hand drive), this being for cars driven in the UK, Australia etc. Cars driven on the right of the road require the steering wheel to be on the left of the vehicle, hence LHD (left hand drive), this being for cars driven in Europe, USA, China etc.

My apologies for the clarification if I have got this wrong or misunderstood your above text. Please continue your additions to this forum as I am enjoying reading your excellent submissions. I too have an I4 on order and I'm suffering the long wait for delivery, two promises for the build to start so far, both passed with no correspondence from Lotus as to when they are now planning to build.

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Tokion said:

Thanks for pointing out that I had mixed up RHD and LHD, JohnS.

Just like in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, we also drive on the left side here in Japan (although this was never a British Colony - ha ha ha). In other words we have RHD cars and drive on the left side. Interestingly it is legal to register and drive a LHD car here too (but you must ALWAYS drive on the left side, unless it is a dedicated one-way street.)

For many years (less so in recent years), it was popular to purchase luxurious imported cars here in Japan with the steering wheel on the left side (LHD) for everyone to see that you have an imported car. To me it is most amusing when I see someone with a UK made Bentley, Rolls Royce, or even Mini, with LHD since I know well that these were originally designed and sold in their UK home market with RHD configuration.

It seems that 65% of countries drive on the right side while 35% drive on the left.

Interestingly, in Sweden , the mother land of Volvo and Saab (and today Koenigsegg), used to drive on the left side until 1968 when they one day decided to switch to drive on the right Since Sweden is landlocked to next door Norway (my birth country where everyone at all times since the stone-age have driven on the right side), cars going across the Swedish-Norwegian boarder needed to cross from left to right (or right to left) at a designated area at the boarder

It would be interesting to see a statistical report of accidents resulting from this manouver However, from what I was told as a young man/boy (I was born in 1955 when the Mercedes Gullwing was created and James Dean died in his Porsche 356 accident.)

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eriegz said:

Haha! Guyana just doing its own thing over in South America, too.

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