Verdant Green Emira now showing on Lotus Driving Academy website!

And do we know the sidewall widths of the Cups and Goodyears? When I run two sets of tires on a car sometimes one tire, even though it's the same size tire, has a smaller sidewall and therefore has a noticeably larger wheel gap.

Eagle7 said:

Also, DV is GORGEOUS. It shows off the body lines much more than I expected it would since it's a dark color.

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That was the biggest & nicest surprise for me when seeing DV outdoors at Hethel. I was fully expecting it to hide the lines but it really enhances them somehow.

NicolasB said:

For this reason, I am wondering if I should spec Sport suspension. I have 2 days left to change it, but really don't want that because it will be 99% driven on regular roads that are not in great condition.

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Stick with Touring. Trust me on this

freefall_junkie said:

Makes sense really. Stiffer springs = less suspension travel. However I am pretty sure Gavan has said in the past they have the same ride height.

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Multiple times. You can have stiffer springs and the same static ride height, you just have to design it that way.

Flash said:

Wallstbear - Thanks for the actual measurements.

The pontification from a handful of members on here speaking as if they know what they're talking about is tiring. The yellow car is clearly sitting lower than the DV.

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I’m more inclined to trust the statements from the head of ride and handling at Lotus, but if you want to base it off measurements from a PR photo that’s fine

wallstbear said:

Well, as demanding potential Emira owners, we are compelled to analyze this issue properly.

Here is a quick measurement and the difference is a whopping 17 millimeters (two thirds of an inch; i.e., 66.9%). IMHO that's a VERY significant difference. BTW, the horizontal red line is the height of the lens, so the angle could not have been that different.

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The viewing angle depends on how close you are to an object. You're talking about viewing height which is not the same thing. Things at a distance look smaller than things close up. If you're standing 20 feet away and I take a picture of you, you'll look different than if you're standing 2 feet away from me. They also appear to flatten out at a distance, whereas up close they are more 3 dimensional.

You're even seeing this effect on the yellow car. Look at the gap at the front side of the tire versus the back. The back appears to be slightly wider because the car is at an angle, and you're seeing the added distance of the wheel offset. The wheels aren't flush to the outside of the wheel well, they sit to the inside a small amount.

If I pull up the shadows to brighten the image, the gap on the DV car is actually pretty much the same all around. You can also see the top part of the tire is in shadow, which shows about how far the wheel is sitting inward. The camera is also only about 12 inches above the ground, a viewing angle you're not going to have normally. From a distance, the wheel gap should look pretty much the same as the yellow car.

The colours in these pictures are so messed about that I'm not sure it says much about them at all. And I'm mostly with Eagle7 - it's all about the angles. You're looking up at the closest wheel arch much more than the distant one.

I think there's some understandable frustration that the previous car rode like this vs. what we're getting ride height wise. Will it change my decision? Heck no.

With that said, I find it hard to believe that more people are happy with the ride height than are disappointed.

Flash said:

I think there's some understandable frustration that the previous car rode like this vs. what we're getting ride height wise. Will it change my decision? Heck no.

With that said, I find it hard to believe that more people are happy with the ride height than are disappointed.

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Since we haven't seen final production cars yet, I suppose that's still up in the air at this point (no pun intended) but I'm just the opposite of you; I find it hard to believe that people are so obsessed with ride height. How does it ride and drive are my concern.

I guess that's the difference of being old school versus new school.

I'm plenty 'old school'. I daily an older 911 and bought an LE Alfa 4C when they came out that I still own. But thanks for blindly categorizing me!

From reading some of your posts, Lotus could smack you across the face and you would post here how they stirred your emotions and gave you an experience you will never forget.

Same way you don't get the 'obsession' with ride height, people like me don't understand why you've been such an apologist for the inexcusable treatment of early adopters, and now Lotus changing things up on us. Did any of us expect the show car height? No. But this is a HUGE difference.

The ride height is disappointing. You don't care, that's awesome for you. Seriously. But for the rest of us that care about aesthetics, you shouldn't pigeon hole us into being 'new school', or make us feel dumb for caring about what the car looks like. That's ridiculous.

That second photo has officially put Dark Verdant back on my consideration list (and I'm also now considering a natty green tartan suit to go with it) ... £$@^!! When will it end!?!

Flash said:

I'm plenty 'old school'. I daily an older 911 and bought an LE Alfa 4C when they came out that I still own. But thanks for blindly categorizing me!

From reading some of your posts, Lotus could smack you across the face and you would post here how they stirred your emotions and gave you an experience you will never forget.

Same way you don't get the 'obsession' with ride height, people like me don't understand why you've been such an apologist for the inexcusable treatment of early adopters, and now Lotus changing things up on us. Did any of us expect the show car height? No. But this is a HUGE difference.

The ride height is disappointing. You don't care, that's awesome for you. Seriously. But for the rest of us that care about aesthetics, you shouldn't pigeon hole us into being 'new school', or make us feel dumb for caring about what the car looks like. That's ridiculous.

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So you don't mind castigating me, but if I say something contrary to what you like, I'm the bad guy?

I didn't expect the show car height because I know the difference between show cars and production cars. They're never exactly the same.

I chalk up your notion that what you call "inexcusable treatment" is the result of not having enough experience of life, and how things go in an imperfect world. That also accounts for the idea that a company "changing things up on us" is somehow underhanded when in fact, that's standard practice for any company that shows a concept product, and then moves to finally producing something based on it. That's how it works in the real world. 'Pricing, specifications and features are subject to change without notice' is pretty much the standard disclaimer when going from concept, to pre-production, to final production and delivery. There's nothing unusual about that, but if it seems that way to you, to me that says you don't have much experience with this sort of thing, so your expectations are different. Driving an older car doesn't count.

When I say "old school", I mean decades, as in you've lived long enough and experienced enough to not be like today's current generations. You have different values, and grew up in a different world. Being old or young is not a crime, and it's not something to be offended about or feel you need to defend. I'm 70, so anyone up to 40 is new school to me. I grew up with pencils and paper. New school people grew up with personal computers. I grew up when Star Trek was wildly futuristic, and having a personal communication device was 300 years in the future. That was 50 years ago. Now we have devices that we never even imagined we would have in only 50 years, and they far far exceed what Star Trek envisioned.

I didn't say I don't care about ride height, just that it doesn't bother me to the extent it does others. It's not why I buy or don't buy a car. It's something that can be adjusted later. I buy on the basis of the things I can't change later, like the car itself.

You just joined in March this year so you don't know that I spent months last year doing custom renders for people on this forum because the factory configurator at that time was not representing the colors very well. I bought a 3D model from online, and spend many many hours setting it up with textures and colors, and then changing those for people's requests here on the forum, because they wanted to see what their choices would look like with a photo-realistic render. So yes, I do care about aesthetics, but I have a balanced view about things, especially with a mass-produced car versus a custom car.

Here's what the original configurator showed for Dark Verdant:



Here's what I started doing for people:




If you like the car, want it and can afford it, buy it. Things like wheels, wheel gap, etc. can be changed later to suit your tastes. It's the car itself that you can't make, so base your buying decision on that instead of the things you can change later yourself.

ADC said:

That second photo has officially put Dark Verdant back on my consideration list (and I'm also now considering a natty green tartan suit to go with it) ... £$@^!! When will it end!?!

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Lol. Yeah, I was already locked in for DV but seeing it out in the wild like that just makes me all the more exciting to get it. I totally understand how you feel... I may have to look into getting a tweed coat. I already got a pair of Jim Clark driving gloves. Just need the car now.....

Flash said:

I'm plenty 'old school'. I daily an older 911 and bought an LE Alfa 4C when they came out that I still own. But thanks for blindly categorizing me!

From reading some of your posts, Lotus could smack you across the face and you would post here how they stirred your emotions and gave you an experience you will never forget.

Same way you don't get the 'obsession' with ride height, people like me don't understand why you've been such an apologist for the inexcusable treatment of early adopters, and now Lotus changing things up on us. Did any of us expect the show car height? No. But this is a HUGE difference.

The ride height is disappointing. You don't care, that's awesome for you. Seriously. But for the rest of us that care about aesthetics, you shouldn't pigeon hole us into being 'new school', or make us feel dumb for caring about what the car looks like. That's ridiculous.

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Lotus has shied away from releasing a stack of info they should and could have done. It’s bloody frustrating.

But so too is the hyper-analysis of every piece of unofficial information that comes with limited context on what spec car it relates to. Every photo is being dissected about this ride height point, for example. But the Lotus people at various events where these cars are shown have said these aren’t finalised production cars.

We’ve been given some definitive pieces of info, including the ride height offsets of the Seneca Blue show car and Shadow Grey dynamic prototype.

I think we’ve got enough info to have a good idea what the ride height will look like. If that height doesn’t suit you then there are a few options on modifying it after you take delivery.

I’m happy with what I think the ride height will be - within 5mm of this.



Maybe I’m weird, but the wheel gap on my Evora has never bothered me, I’ve never given it any thought and no one has ever commented on it.

Anyhoo.......

I went ahead and Photoshopped this photo (seen below) to have black wheels, and then black wheels with yellow calipers (and even black exhaust tips too). Think it looks nice with black wheels, and my editing isn't great, so they aren't "gloss black", but helps visualize.

Eagle, you've been called out here many times before, maybe it's you?

PS - I love your renders. They all have the proper ride height.

NicolasB said:

Anyhoo.......

I went ahead and Photoshopped this photo (seen below) to have black wheels, and then black wheels with yellow calipers (and even black exhaust tips too). Think it looks nice with black wheels, and my editing isn't great, so they aren't "gloss black", but helps visualize.

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The black wheels give it a more mysterious, almost sinister look. I originally wanted black wheels, but at the time I thought the car was going to look almost black outside, but it's so reflective it looks more lively than I thought it would. That's not a bad thing, I actually like it this way. I'm in for silver wheels because I want to do my black-out thing of blacking out the barrel and inside areas, while leaving the front surfaces silver.

I do like it better with the yellow calipers though.

Flash said:

Eagle, you've been called out here many times before, maybe it's you?

PS - I love your renders. They all have the proper ride height.

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I've been "called out" by very few, and received a few 'silent' encouragements in private messages to the contrary of those 'calling me out'. I'm not naive enough to expect everyone is going to like me or the things I say; that's life. I used to worry about that when I was younger, but after awhile I realized maybe it's not me, maybe it's "them" lol. Especially since there has always seemed to be those few, who for whatever reason, decide they don't like me and need to make it their mission to demonstrate that in various ways. This has happened ever since I was in grade school. There was one kid who was always wanting to physically attack me and I could never understand why. I never did or said anything against him, so his animosity was a complete mystery. It wasn't until later that my mom told me she had talked to his mom, and she said her son hated me because he said I was the teacher's pet because she would call on me in class, and he resented that. This began in 3rd grade. His animosity continued for years, even up to 8th grade in junior high when I was sitting in class, and he came up behind me and slammed a book down on my head. I spun around in my chair and gut punched him, and the fight took off from there. We were both hauled off to the principal's office, but when they asked the other students in the class what happened, they all said I hadn't said or done a thing. He just decided to attack me without provocation. There are those people in life. We moved to a different city so I never saw him again, but I've had somewhat similar experiences with certain individuals (not physical necessarily) all the way up through the decades.

So that's life in the real world. I know I'm not perfect, and I make the effort to recognize and acknowledge the flaws I have when they surface, and I actively seek to improve and become better. This includes not automatically having animosity towards those who have animosity towards me for whatever reason. I seek the center line in life; the balance line. It's the most peaceful place to be, but it's not without it's hazards because there are always those few who just can't stand it for whatever reason, and have to attack. Not saying that's you, just a general comment.

The wheel gap came with the 3D model, and I believe it was released by Lotus for a gaming company, probably Assetto Corsa.