I’m well overdue doing this as I had the car home delivered 8th February but that has at least given me time to do 2600 miles and make sure it’s a keeper.
For context I bought this to be a daily driver, to replace a BMW M5 which I had for two years, and only sold a couple of weeks ago to be sure I could live with the Emira – so that’s as big of a vote of confidence I could give the Lotus. I usually do 15k miles a year. It’s as much the change to manual than anything as I’ve had auto/dct for as long as I can remember. It’s my first Lotus, and when I saw the launch, I was sold.
Spec is DV, Full Black Pack, Diamond Cut Wheels, Tour, Privacy Glass, Alcantara wheel and interior (yellow stitching) + Red Callipers
So, let’s get the issues out of the way first.
Cosmetically, with home delivery, it’s clear this was below par. As a result, there were several what I’d call minor issues to sort out. A scratched offside rear air vent and a mark on the rear diffuser being the most obvious. Some other marks were sorted by a detailer and the PPF co. ( I had Partial PPF done in Week 2 of ownership, followed by ceramic coating in Week 3). Then the SOS alert started up.
To sort the minor issues took two dealer visits to JCT600 – the first to assess, the second to sort. No bother was loaned an Exige then a Levante. The second visit ended up providing 4 software updates, one of which was designed to sort the SOS alert out – it’s only partially sorted. Not sure what the other updates were for.
Otherwise, all good
What I’ve enjoyed most about the car then, obviously the looks, but the way it drives just puts a smile on my face, sure it’s not as brutally quick as the M5 but that’s probably a license saver. It steers, stops, brakes, and feels just great. The tech is just fine (esp. the dash widgets) , the stereo decent, visibility good, refinement okay, sounds good especially in Sport, my go to mode. MPG averaged around 24 so far. Driving position is top notch and the cabin quality is decent – not quite as ‘hewn from rock’ as the M5 feels but certainly good enough.
What annoys me seems to be common to most here – the rear hatch dripping water in after it rains if you lift it without thinking, it gets dirty quickly on the sills and rear, it does need quite a few revs to avoid stalling in first. On first drive I thought aw bollocks it’s too noisy at motorway speeds, but I’ve soon got used to that and if I’m not careful it’s too easy to hit the rev limiter. I’ve not yet driven it in torrential rain so I don’t know how the wipers will perform either. Weirdly when very cold temps in Feb it felt like there were a few creaks from somewhere, but I’ve not noticed these at all in recent weeks.
Practically wise it will soon be put to the test with a Euro Road Trip towards the end of the month, I’ll report back when back home, I expect it will be well over 5000 miles by then.
For context I bought this to be a daily driver, to replace a BMW M5 which I had for two years, and only sold a couple of weeks ago to be sure I could live with the Emira – so that’s as big of a vote of confidence I could give the Lotus. I usually do 15k miles a year. It’s as much the change to manual than anything as I’ve had auto/dct for as long as I can remember. It’s my first Lotus, and when I saw the launch, I was sold.
Spec is DV, Full Black Pack, Diamond Cut Wheels, Tour, Privacy Glass, Alcantara wheel and interior (yellow stitching) + Red Callipers
So, let’s get the issues out of the way first.
Cosmetically, with home delivery, it’s clear this was below par. As a result, there were several what I’d call minor issues to sort out. A scratched offside rear air vent and a mark on the rear diffuser being the most obvious. Some other marks were sorted by a detailer and the PPF co. ( I had Partial PPF done in Week 2 of ownership, followed by ceramic coating in Week 3). Then the SOS alert started up.
To sort the minor issues took two dealer visits to JCT600 – the first to assess, the second to sort. No bother was loaned an Exige then a Levante. The second visit ended up providing 4 software updates, one of which was designed to sort the SOS alert out – it’s only partially sorted. Not sure what the other updates were for.
Otherwise, all good
What I’ve enjoyed most about the car then, obviously the looks, but the way it drives just puts a smile on my face, sure it’s not as brutally quick as the M5 but that’s probably a license saver. It steers, stops, brakes, and feels just great. The tech is just fine (esp. the dash widgets) , the stereo decent, visibility good, refinement okay, sounds good especially in Sport, my go to mode. MPG averaged around 24 so far. Driving position is top notch and the cabin quality is decent – not quite as ‘hewn from rock’ as the M5 feels but certainly good enough.
What annoys me seems to be common to most here – the rear hatch dripping water in after it rains if you lift it without thinking, it gets dirty quickly on the sills and rear, it does need quite a few revs to avoid stalling in first. On first drive I thought aw bollocks it’s too noisy at motorway speeds, but I’ve soon got used to that and if I’m not careful it’s too easy to hit the rev limiter. I’ve not yet driven it in torrential rain so I don’t know how the wipers will perform either. Weirdly when very cold temps in Feb it felt like there were a few creaks from somewhere, but I’ve not noticed these at all in recent weeks.
Practically wise it will soon be put to the test with a Euro Road Trip towards the end of the month, I’ll report back when back home, I expect it will be well over 5000 miles by then.
