📓 Journals Borders Seneca Emira

[freefall_junkie]

Pilgrimage to Duns this morning. Lovely little racing Elan in the background - er, shame about the Merc shitbox in the photo

In case any of our overseas friends might not be aware, Duns was home to Jim Clark, one of Scotland's finest sons, one of the most naturally talented racing drivers of all time, and of course twice F1 world champ driving a Lotus.

Really bonded with the car today over another 200 miles. The sport chassis was just sensational over the twisty Borders roads. Firm certainly, but never crashy or harsh, and the feedback, steering feel and grip are superb. It feels so sharp and pointy on turn in to a corner, I do wonder if Lotus made further tweaks to the chassis after early press reviews. Anyway, I absolutely love it

 

[TomE]

A lovely part of the country and some great roads for a Lotus.

Jim Clark was also importantly a winner of the Indy 500 in a Lotus. The museum at Duns is well worth a visit.

Jim Clark Motorsport Museum - The Jim Clark Trust

jimclarktrust.com

 

[VL3X]

Pilgrimage to Duns this morning. Lovely little racing Elan in the background - er, shame about the Merc shitbox in the photo

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In case any of our overseas friends might not be aware, Duns was home to Jim Clark, one of Scotland's finest sons, one of the most naturally talented racing drivers of all time, and of course twice F1 world champ driving a Lotus.

Really bonded with the car today over another 200 miles. The sport chassis was just sensational over the twisty Borders roads. Firm certainly, but never crashy or harsh, and the feedback, steering feel and grip are superb. It feels so sharp and pointy on turn in to a corner, I do wonder if Lotus made further tweaks to the chassis after early press reviews. Anyway, I absolutely love it

A lovely part of the country and some great roads for a Lotus.

Jim Clark was also importantly a winner of the Indy 500 in a Lotus. The museum at Duns is well worth a visit.

Jim Clark Motorsport Museum - The Jim Clark Trust

jimclarktrust.com

Related:

 

[freefall_junkie]

As if I hadn't photo bombed the forum enough with my Emira Nirvana thread, some more photos of my car. These were taken by Jordan Clayton of Clayton's Car Capture. Jordan is a 19 year old budding car photographer and kindly offered to shoot my car for free to expand his portfolio. I think he has done a superb job. These were taken on Monday just along the road from my home in the Scottish Borders.

 

[VL3X]

As if I hadn't photo bombed the forum enough with my Emira Nirvana thread, some more photos of my car. These were taken by Jordan Clayton of Clayton's Car Capture. Jordan is a 19 year old budding car photographer and kindly offered to shoot my car for free to expand his portfolio. I think he has done a superb job. These were taken on Monday just along the road from my home in the Scottish Borders.

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Photo bomb away! That's what these journals are for and these photos are epic! Keep em coming.

 

[freefall_junkie]

A few random thoughts as my Emira passes 2000 miles:

The car continues to be pretty well flawless and has yet to go anywhere near a dealer since it was delivered to my home. Am I one of the lucky few or one of the silent majority with no serious issues? Given that Emiras have been getting delivered at quite a rate in the UK over the last few months, I suspect the latter. I have had the recall letter for the seat belts jamming, but I haven’t had the issue myself, and Lotus Glasgow don’t yet have the parts to change the belts.

A few months ago I exchanged posts on Pistonheads with an Emira owner who is also an ex-Lotus engineer. He advised that the suspension would get more supple over the first 2 or 3k miles as the springs and especially the dampers bed in. I was a bit sceptical about this, but it turns out he was absolutely right. The Sport suspension is noticeably more comfortable now than it was at the start and generally feels perfect for how I use the car (driving for fun only and almost entirely on rural roads).

It is the warmest day of the year so far where I live. Only 23C but this is Scotland! The climate control is superb, keeping the car nicely chilled at a constant temperature. Better than the CC in my Beemer which insists on running the fan too fast.

Overall I still absolutely love the car. It feels special on every drive and to my eyes it still looks drop dead gorgeous.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Met up with @eclat2emira (aka Gavin) yesterday. First I had a chance to see Gavin's Emira paintings first hand, and they are even more impressive up close than you may have seen in the photos on here. Then off for a run from Edinburgh down the A701 to a scorching hot Moffat, stopping at the Devil’s Beeftub for a couple of photos.

This is a brilliant driver’s road, with some wonderful flowing S bends, but also some very uneven surfaces with humps and compressions which provide a stern test of any car’s body control. The Emira’s chassis was superb throughout. We swapped cars for a few miles to compare my Sport with Gavin’s Touring set up. The difference was very noticeable straight away. The Sport chassis feels sharper and more tied down on turn-in to a corner, but the Touring chassis counters with more composure and comfort over bad surfaces. No right or wrong choice here: you could make a strong case for either set up depending on personal preference and how you will use the car.

Looking at the photos above it occurs to me that our cars are at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how you can specify your Emira. Gavin’s DV car: classy, elegant, understated. My Seneca car: modern, sporty, bold. As with the chassis choice, vive la différence!

 

[eclat2emira]

Met up with @eclat2emira (aka Gavin) yesterday. First I had a chance to see Gavin's Emira paintings first hand, and they are even more impressive up close than you may have seen in the photos on here. Then off for a run from Edinburgh down the A701 to a scorching hot Moffat, stopping at the Devil’s Beeftub for a couple of photos.
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This is a brilliant driver’s road, with some wonderful flowing S bends, but also some very uneven surfaces with humps and compressions which provide a stern test of any car’s body control. The Emira’s chassis was superb throughout. We swapped cars for a few miles to compare my Sport with Gavin’s Touring set up. The difference was very noticeable straight away. The Sport chassis feels sharper and more tied down on turn-in to a corner, but the Touring chassis counters with more composure and comfort over bad surfaces. No right or wrong choice here: you could make a strong case for either set up depending on personal preference and how you will use the car.

Looking at the photos above it occurs to me that our cars are at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how you can specify your Emira. Gavin’s DV car: classy, elegant, understated. My Seneca car: modern, sporty, bold. As with the chassis choice, vive la différence!

It was great fun @freefall_junkie - aka Mark!

Couldn't agree more with the sentiments and observations. Sport does have sharper turn-in but on the same tyres I don't believe there is any difference in grip, certainly on road rather than track.

We also noticed quite different brake feel between the two (mine more immediate and more grabby, making them sometimes harder to modulate) and Mark's gearknob was different - much shinier finsh. His Emira was Feb delivery versus my April delivery.

Mark's black leather and alcantara spec does more than you might imagine to lend some extra form and interest to the interior.

 

[TomE]

Fantastic roads and scenery there. Interesting to read your comparisons of each other's cars. I bet a pair of Emiras caused quite a stir in the towns and villages.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Great to get back behind the wheel of my Emira today after an enforced layoff of several weeks due to injuring myself falling off my bike. The thing which stood out coming back to the car is the steering feel - it really is pretty special. That and the looks of course

 

[freefall_junkie]

Nice run this afternoon among some beautiful autumn colours. Making the most of it before winter sets in and the car is tucked away until spring.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Today I have this sultry DV Emira as a loaner while mine is at the dealer. It has Sports + Cup 2s, so an interesting comparison with my Sports + Goodyears. Cup 2s have a reputation for a stiffer ride and more road roar, but surprisingly I didn't feel there was that much difference. Steering feels much the same too, but boy oh boy, do you have to be careful in the rain. The roads were streaming wet for much of the drive home and even at moderate pace the car felt very twitchy at times. I have no doubt that the Cup2s would be brilliant on a dry track, but for road use I'm happy with my choice of Goodyears.

One other observation with this car: the gear change feels a bit sweeter than mine, particularly in the cross gate action. The change in my car has always been pretty good, but it makes me think there is room for improvement with a bit of tweaking of the cable adjustment.

 

[eclat2emira]

Today I have this sultry DV Emira as a loaner while mine is at the dealer. It has Sports + Cup 2s, so an interesting comparison with my Sports + Goodyears. Cup 2s have a reputation for a stiffer ride and more road roar, but surprisingly I didn't feel there was that much difference. Steering feels much the same too, but boy oh boy, do you have to be careful in the rain. The roads were streaming wet for much of the drive home and even at moderate pace the car felt very twitchy at times. I have no doubt that the Cup2s would be brilliant on a dry track, but for road use I'm happy with my choice of Goodyears.

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One other observation with this car: the gear change feels a bit sweeter than mine, particularly in the cross gate action. The change in my car has always been pretty good, but it makes me think there is room for improvement with a bit of tweaking of the cable adjustment.

The second DV you've driven Mark, very different spec to mine though! The goodyears are great, although I'd be interested to try PS4s which are what I have on my 911 - incredible all rounder.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Out for a blast today in glorious Indian Summer weather. With the supercharger issue I had now resolved and the second service done (including a 4 hour software update!) the car feels fitter and stronger than ever.