Emira Issues - from final production cars

[Speedluvver]

Probably won’t make a difference to those who have had issues, but was talking to a couple of folks at breakfast this morning, both Porsche owners… one has a taycan that has been back multiple times due to software issues, the other has a panamera that has had to be towed from his house 3 times due to a software issue and the car won’t move… seems it’s all manufacturers with issues

 

[Magma]

Probably won’t make a difference to those who have had issues, but was talking to a couple of folks at breakfast this morning, both Porsche owners… one has a taycan that has been back multiple times due to software issues, the other has a panamera that has had to be towed from his house 3 times due to a software issue and the car won’t move… seems it’s all manufacturers with issues

I always love it when these posts happen. Is this really a fair comparison?

Here's a data point for you. I've had 2 911's. Never had one issue. I guess that means 2-2=0?

Of course all manufacturers have issues with their cars. It's the percentages and the repetition we need to look at. So how many Panameras did Porsche build and how many owners had to have them towed 3 times? Same for the Taycan? We really need the same info from Lotus.

Porsche makes many different models and some very complicated ones at that. As do most manufacturers these days.
How many does Lotus have to get right these days? You'd think a manufacturer with 3 vehicles in their line up (one isn't even obtainable and the other is really a parts bin car) could spend a little more time on quality control. Maybe I'm just naive. I dunno....

 

[Speedluvver]

And your probably right… hence my first comment.. but we’ve been comparing the Emira to GT4 and Vantage etc for a year now, I don’t think that’s a good comparison tbh…

Edit - I’ve had an exige S2 for 17 years, most reliable car I’ve owned…

 

[Magma]

And your probably right… hence my first comment.. but we’ve been comparing the Emira to GT4 and Vantage etc for a year now, I don’t think that’s a good comparison tbh…

It's not...I agree. But then there's weirdos like me who love a wide range of vehicles and and not really brand loyal so if it's just a fun weekend car, I may be comparing an apple to a goat!

 

[scoates]

Had a couple of wee issues recently.

First was the Auto Hold failure which corrected itself after leaving the car off and locked for a few hours. I think it was caused by leaving the car in gear with no handbrake and then once the car turned off it rolled slightly, not tried to replicate yet though.

Second is I now have an "ABS and ESC temporarily unavailable" error which is a bit more worrying. It has stayed on for a couple of days now although the car is driving fine. I tried connecting a cheapo OBD2 connector but it didn't show anything and selecting "clear codes" did nothing. Probably just because it is a rubbish connector! Might try disconnecting the battery and see if that resets things...

 

[Ceejay]

Doctors don’t tend to see well patients. Happy owners are likely to be silent whilst those with issues quite rightly tend to make them public knowledge. Whilst there are clearly some issues not every car has problems. Maybe we should start a ‘who’s had no issues or anything significant to report thread for balance’ I’ll start 680 miles so far, all good, collected 16th March from hethel.

 

[Ftype]

Doctors don’t tend to see well patients. Happy owners are likely to be silent whilst those with issues quite rightly tend to make them public knowledge. Whilst there are clearly some issues not every car has problems. Maybe we should start a ‘who’s had no issues or anything significant to report thread for balance’ I’ll start 680 miles so far, all good, collected 16th March from hethel.

Thread 'Anyone got an Emira with zero issues?!'
https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/anyone-got-an-emira-with-zero-issues.2573/

 

[Ceejay]

Thread 'Anyone got an Emira with zero issues?!'
https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/anyone-got-an-emira-with-zero-issues.2573/

Thanks, I’ve voted.

 

[M100man]

400 miles in and proper faults have started
1. The gearbox at motorway speeds cannot change down from 6th to 5th and in to 4th smoothly when slowing down at a junction .Wants to go in to 2nd and over rev the engine . Tried many times to get it to behave today but it won’t .Obviously a very close ratio gearbox thought it was me to start with even though I have another manual lotus . Double declutching makes no difference.
2. The air conditioning is not working

 

[Ftype]

400 miles in and proper faults have started
1. The gearbox at motorway speeds cannot change down from 6th to 5th and in to 4th smoothly when slowing down at a junction .Wants to go in to 2nd and over rev the engine . Tried many times to get it to behave today but it won’t .Obviously a very close ratio gearbox thought it was me to start with even though I have another manual lotus . Double declutching makes no difference.
2. The air conditioning is not working

I was told on the factory tour that they modify the Toyota gear box at Hethel once it arrives to suit the Emira which did concern me at the time.

 

[TomE]

I could understand some of these issues if this was a whole new engine and transmission setup that they had never used before, but this has been in the Evora since 2011, and has had extensive use and testing in that car and in this one. How are these major problems happening so often?!!

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the new car.

Since 2009 in the Evora, and also in the V6 Exige. In a range of setups including NA, supercharged and charge cooled from 276hp to 430hp. So it should be a well-proven transmission setup.

I'm surprised to have now heard of a couple of total seizures of Emira gearboxes within the first few 100s of miles. As far as I'm aware, none of the parts have been changed since the final Evora/Exige variants so it would seem these are either supplier problems (Toyota or their sub-contractors - seems unlikely) or assembly issues. There have been a handful of reports of Emiras getting stuck in gear or not being able to select some gears, which may be a linkage/selector issue. Very strange.

 

[TomE]

I was told on the factory tour that they modify the Toyota gear box at Hethel once it arrives to suit the Emira which did concern me at the time.

They did that for all the Evoras and V6 Exiges too, it shouldn't be a problem. It's swapping out a few cogs and bolting it back together.

 

[DaveR]

I was told on the factory tour that they modify the Toyota gear box at Hethel once it arrives to suit the Emira which did concern me at the time.

Is the box the same as they used on the exige / evora. So lot’s of experience. My box is broken but had other lotus’s for 25 years with no problems (well very minor ones - who would put electric windows in an elise- what’s the point). I accept things go wrong but the car is much more complicated, I just wish it wasn’t mine!!! Can’t wait to get it back.

 

[Concept24]

Since 2009 in the Evora, and also in the V6 Exige. In a range of setups including NA, supercharged and charge cooled from 276hp to 430hp. So it should be a well-proven transmission setup.

I'm surprised to have now heard of a couple of total seizures of Emira gearboxes within the first few 100s of miles. As far as I'm aware, none of the parts have been changed since the final Evora/Exige variants so it would seem these are either supplier problems (Toyota or their sub-contractors - seems unlikely) or assembly issues. There have been a handful of reports of Emiras getting stuck in gear or not being able to select some gears, which may be a linkage/selector issue. Very strange.

From what I understand, there are many new workers in the Emira factory. If so, proper training is extremely important. The most important outcome from this failure is:
"What is the root cause of it?"
Will Lotus immediately make effort to prevent this from happening again.
At my last employer, once a solution to fixing the problem is determined and a solution created, the change notice with photos was posted on the production or test floor, and a mini-class was conducted with all relevant personnel.

 

[NeilS]

400 miles in and proper faults have started
1. The gearbox at motorway speeds cannot change down from 6th to 5th and in to 4th smoothly when slowing down at a junction .Wants to go in to 2nd and over rev the engine . Tried many times to get it to behave today but it won’t .Obviously a very close ratio gearbox thought it was me to start with even though I have another manual lotus . Double declutching makes no difference.
2. The air conditioning is not working

Out of interest, now it's getting warmer, does anyone's air conditioning work?

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Out of interest, now it's getting warmer, does anyone's air conditioning work?

mine is working perfectly so far, 1500kms

 

[Citizen]

Mine also , and here in dubai I used the car with AC on 99% of 1800km already done

 

[Pugwash]

Mine works. If I turn it to Low cold air comes out. I did think the AC is a bit slow to respond but I have discovered there is a fan intensity setting for auto mode. Mine is set for medium. I keep meaning to turn it to High and see what difference it makes. I am guessing it will push through changes in temp more quickly.

 

[shaank]

Update on my overheating when idle issues - checked over by an independent garage locally, it's the fans under the front bonnet... they aren't coming on when they should. Wiring checked ok, fans checked ok (the motors work, give them power independently and they do come on and work) - so it's the control unit for them.

Booked in with Lotus dealership in a few weeks for other stuff, so will be calling them in the morning and giving them the independent garage's report and list of required parts. Waste of money perhaps, but at least I know the issue now.

 

[TomE]

Thanks for the update. Do you mean the thermostat or some sort of fan control unit?