📓 Journals Diaries of the first Lotus Emira picked up from Hethel - V6 FE - yellow / ice / silver / sport

[Captain.Kirk]

Awesome shots there. What drone are you using?

Ya, shots look great. Nice locations too.

For those considering a drone the one I’ll probably get is called Skydio Autonomous Drone. You have a tracker/beacon that you throw in the car (or carry with you on a bike or whatever) and the drone follows wherever the tracker and car drive. I know a guy who has one and it’s bulletproof and very configurable as to flight pattern, etc.. Also, they shoot in 4K and can be controlled by a remote controller like traditional drones.

Skydio Autonomous Drones

 

[shaank]

Thanks Jim

I've never seen those drones before, had a wee look they are smart! I used a DJI Air 2S - it's my second drone but usually just do castles and landscapes, so cars is a totally different ball game! Learning / practicing. Emira happens to be good looking enough to look decent even if I'm not doing too much haha.

 

[KAR120C]

Ya, shots look great. Nice locations too.

For those considering a drone the one I’ll probably get is called Skydio Autonomous Drone. You have a tracker/beacon that you throw in the car (or carry with you on a bike or whatever) and the drone follows wherever the tracker and car drive. I know a guy who has one and it’s bulletproof and very configurable as to flight pattern, etc.. Also, they shoot in 4K and can be controlled by a remote controller like traditional drones.

Skydio Autonomous Drones

Wow, I need one of those. I don't know why I need it, but I feel like I should have one.

 

[shaank]

Enjoy!!!

Thanks to @JayEmm

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

I really enjoyed this review. Spot on!

Thanks @shaank for sharing your car.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Thanks @shaank - your Emira looked great! One of the best Emira reviews as well!

 

[Concept24]

Yes, I saw that video, this morning. It is excellent. The first time I drove a Lotus was just a couple of weeks ago. It was a 2021 Evora GT. And as someone who has driven many new/newer sportscars, I was very impressed with that Lotus. Hopefully, I will drive a dealership test-drive Emira, soon.

 

[shaank]

Dropped the Emira off at Lotus Glasgow. Ross and Gavin providing great service as always, courtesy car ready for me and quickly reviewed the snagging list of things to check out / resolve.

1) SOS system error
2) ESC system requires a service appears occassionally
3) Handbrake wouldn't release once when the above error was on
4) couple of items of trim to be refitted better
5) brake discs to be checked - prob no issue, just for re-assurance

And a quick check of the car's alignment to ensure all good.


None of the above (ok point 3 was annoying but an off/on sorted at the time) are preventing enjoyment of the car. Love this thing

 

[freefall_junkie]

Good to hear about the service from Lotus Glasgow as I will be using them. Any issues or delays with them getting warranty work approved by Lotus?

 

[shaank]

2 weeks while the lotus has been away - should hopefully be back this week.

In the meantime, some non Lotus adventures to keep me entertained.
ASOT 1000 in Utrecht, NL.

 

[eriegz]

2 weeks while the lotus has been away - should hopefully be back this week.

In the meantime, some non Lotus adventures to keep me entertained.
ASOT 1000 in Utrecht, NL.

Awesome!! Funny enough, last year I decided to marathon the entire ASOT back catalogue, starting at episode 1 (I'm currently at episode 500).

Looks like an amazing party! His episode 1,000 DJ mix was really good.

 

[shaank]

Ok 2 weeks on, I've picked up the Emira again.

It was in for the following 5 things to be looked at. Some sorted, some outstanding with agreed actions:


1) SOS system error - FIXED with Software update.
2) ESC system requires a service appears occassionally - ACTION - requires a new patch that is being worked on
3) Handbrake wouldn't release once when the above error was on - Seems FIXED but can be related to 2.
4) couple of items of trim to be refitted better - ACTION - Parts are ordered, so agreed to be fitted later once they have the,
5) brake discs to be checked - prob no issue, just for re-assurance - FIXED, well, a non issue basically, it's the balancing cut outs.

So progress

However, as fate would have it, as soon as I got it back home I've got a new error - ABS and ESC systems unavailable. Obviously related to point 2 in the list, just never had this one before.

 

[Drlonline]

@shaank Have really enjoyed your posts. Just spent the last hour+ going through all 13 pages. We U.S. buyers-to-be live vicariously through the posts of our U.K. brethren. Hopefully the repair pain early buyers are experiencing will be to the benefit of later deliveries. Our pain is enduring the years long wait until our cars arrive. Keep up the good work.

 

[shaank]

Thank you @Drlonline I appreciate that It really is an amazingly fun car to own, both to drive, the reactions of other people to it and just generally! Don't ever be put off by the delays or the odd issue folk have, these things are all overcome.

On that, a worthwhile update on my issue list from above.

The ESC warning light still comes on from time to time - awaiting a software update. But it has no impact.
The two bits of trim I mentioned are still on back order - awaiting arrival at local dealership to be refitted.

Car has been re-polished and re-ceramic coated after all the dealership work, at lotus' expense also.


Can't fault the service one bit. Another photoshoot carried out last night also, pics to follow

 

[shaank]

I need to upload those night time shots I mentioned from a photoshoot.... a few on my instagram already for those that follow. Went well!

Also had an amazing shoot over the weekend with two local FPV drone guys, absolutely awesome fun, and the footage will be unreal! A couple weeks away till they edit it all though. Stay tuned!


In the meantime, another issue. I've updated the issues thread, but putting here for completeness.

When idling for any extended period of time, the car starts to overheat quickly, like 116+ degrees, throwing up red warnings and a mini-limp mode of sorts. Driving quickly cools it back down. Coolant levels look correct, so it's thermostat, a sensor, or air in the system most likely.

Unfortunately Lotus can't look at it for 3-4 weeks, they are rammed busy, not their fault but not ideal for me as I want to be using the car as we enter spring and nicer weather. So a local Porsche specialist will be taking a look later this week for me to determine what's what. I'll report back.

Yup, Porsche guys are having to look at the Lotus ! (they look after my Porsche so not entirely random I might add)

 

[shaank]

Good to hear about the service from Lotus Glasgow as I will be using them. Any issues or delays with them getting warranty work approved by Lotus?

Apologies mate I missed your question. They are great, Ross is the service manager and he's really on the ball. However parts take a while to get from HQ, I'd say that, and some things like software updates for certain fixes aren't made yet so there's some back and forth before you know what's what, can't be helped being an early adopter I guess! No complaints though.

 

[kitkat]

When idling for any extended period of time, the car starts to overheat quickly, like 116+ degrees, throwing up red warnings and a mini-limp mode of sorts. Driving quickly cools it back down. Coolant levels look correct, so it's thermostat, a sensor, or air in the system most likely.

That's scary -- first thing I'd check here is radiator fans -- making sure they come on while idling, would be pretty easy to check yourself too.

 

[kitkat]

No documentation exists for the Emira yet but this is for the Evora:

And some additional logic after the car has been switched off:

I can't imagine the Emira is considerably different than the Evora when it comes to cooling logic.

 

[shaank]

So....

Independent garage checked over the entire cooling system today. The fans work (when powered independently) but something is up with the control unit for them, it works sometimes, fans come on when idle etc, at other times they don't come on at all and the car overheats. Not ideal. I realise the car is under warranty and this work cost me, but I wanted to know what was wrong, get a written report and in my next booked Lotus visit in a few weeks will have it addressed under warranty - I'll be messaging them first thing tomorrow with the report and list of required parts.

Annoying but realistically I don't sit idle for 5+ minutes for it to be much of a problem often. Still needs resolved of course.

 

[kitkat]

So....

Independent garage checked over the entire cooling system today. The fans work (when powered independently) but something is up with the control unit for them, it works sometimes, fans come on when idle etc, at other times they don't come on at all and the car overheats. Not ideal. I realise the car is under warranty and this work cost me, but I wanted to know what was wrong, get a written report and in my next booked Lotus visit in a few weeks will have it addressed under warranty - I'll be messaging them first thing tomorrow with the report and list of required parts.

Annoying but realistically I don't sit idle for 5+ minutes for it to be much of a problem often. Still needs resolved of course.

I hope Lotus gets that sorted out quickly friend -- 116C is hottttt.