Emira Test Drive by Forum Member

[TomE]

Here's a thought: since Lotus staff are monitoring this forum, wouldn't it be great if there was a Ask the Tech Q&A about these things.
They have the answers and we have the questions. An interaction would keep us engaged while we wait (and ease the speculation).

Sadly they won't, not on here or the various other Lotus forums. Sometimes a forum member or admin might be given information unofficially and be able to publish it, like some of the suspension info I included in my Touring vs Sports thread. Other times I've been able to get answers via Customer Care which can be published, for example from the ADAS team.

TheLotusForums did a video Q&A with Matt Windle in July 2021, just before the Emira reveal, which included a number of questions from forum members. Maybe we'll get a chance to do something similar.

 

[Leonard]

Here's a thought: since Lotus staff are monitoring this forum, wouldn't it be great if there was a Ask the Tech Q&A about these things.
They have the answers and we have the questions. An interaction would keep us engaged while we wait (and ease the speculation).

Now now don't talk sense

 

[Leonard]

Sadly they won't, not on here or the various other Lotus forums. Sometimes a forum member or admin might be given information unofficially and be able to publish it, like some of the suspension info I included in my Touring vs Sports thread. Other times I've been able to get answers via Customer Care which can be published, for example from the ADAS team.

TheLotusForums did a video Q&A with Matt Windle in July 2021, just before the Emira reveal, which included a number of questions from forum members. Maybe we'll get a chance to do something similar.

It really is unbelievable
They have a chance to engage and proactively educate, inform and breed brand loyalty yet choose not to.

 

[Crown]

Opinion’s on ice grey with Seneca, black pack, dimond cut wheels and black calipers?

I’ve just changed from ice grey to alcantara with grey stitch on Seneca with black pack , black wheels and black calipers. My reason is I think the alcantara looks really good on the dash as well as seats and worry ice grey would reflect in windscreen . originally had DC wheels but having seen black gloss , I think they go well with black pack .

 

[Johnson]

I’ve just changed from ice grey to alcantara with grey stitch on Seneca with black pack , black wheels and black calipers. My reason is I think the alcantara looks really good on the dash as well as seats and worry ice grey would reflect in windscreen . originally had DC wheels but having seen black gloss , I think they go well with black pack .

Good choice. White leather in a blue car seems a bit odd.

Ive gone with Alcantara in a Magma car, but I keep looking at the tan leather… I love the way it looks across the dash. Too late for me to change though — all Aussie orders were locked in in January.

 

[ADC]

One with LEDs in it so we can all pretend we are David Hasselhoff

View attachment 7644

Wait... Are you trying to imply I'm not David Hasslehoff!?!

 

[TomE]

It really is unbelievable
They have a chance to engage and proactively educate, inform and breed brand loyalty yet choose not to.

There are all kinds of issues with Lotus participating in a forum they don't own and control. Even the ones they've sanctioned as official community partners only get the official press releases, publications and the odd interview.

I'm curious which manufacturers do participate officially in enthusiast forums? I've not seen it, but apart from Lotus forums I am only registered with 3 others (VW, Audi, Volvo), which are mainstream rather than enthusiast.

 

[Scruff111S]

Now now don't talk sense

I agree, it is as if logical thinking is band in some parts of the company.

 

[3MIRA]

I think lots of people not going to be happy with dv.
I'm locked in that colour which I thought had the most promise but in reality not the best.
Nimbus is the best colour I have seen so far.

I will be very happy in the brutal Perth sunshine it will look green enough!

 

[Scruff111S]

I will be very happy in the brutal Perth sunshine it will look green enough!

Agreed, I think that very bright sunshine is the only way DV is going to look green and not black. So, for the most part, DV and GB are not compatible.

 

[Leonard]

There are all kinds of issues with Lotus participating in a forum they don't own and control. Even the ones they've sanctioned as official community partners only get the official press releases, publications and the odd interview.

I'm curious which manufacturers do participate officially in enthusiast forums? I've not seen it, but apart from Lotus forums I am only registered with 3 others (VW, Audi, Volvo), which are mainstream rather than enthusiast.

No you are correct it's certainly not commonplace.
But it's certainly not unheard of either. Especially when there is known to be significant discontent and conjecture.
I've done it myself in the past and it helps diffuse a poor brand experience pretty quickly and is normally seen in a positive way by consumers.

 

[Magicman]

Cue the "I'm so glad I chose the sport suspension" comments

But that's the point exactly, he's driven on track, it should feel the right choice. The issue will be when it hits a bumpy British cart track, as Harry M found out.

 

[emiraspain]

No you are correct it's certainly not commonplace.
But it's certainly not unheard of either. Especially when there is known to be significant discontent and conjecture.
I've done it myself in the past and it helps diffuse a poor brand experience pretty quickly and is normally seen in a positive way by consumers.

Not quite in the same league, but on the Ariel Atom / Ace / Nomad facebook group and their forum also, the creator of the Nomad, ie one of the two sons of the guy who started the company, did participate in the group, mainly to answer technical questions and stop false information from flowing around, which often happens, you see it here all the time. People repeat what they have heard, even from Lotus themselves, but it then turns out to be untrue as Lotus change their minds or cant fulful etc etc. so we get even more frustrated. 2nd hand info soon gets out of hand, with people like myself making assumptions which may be "logical" but can be incorrect and then they slowly get altered and then get taken to be fact instead of fantasy.
However, Ariel are in the 100 cars a year bracket and Lotus are aiming for 5 - 20 to 50k to who knows how many a year including Ev's of course, so its not feasible for them to do this and its also very dangerous as one wrong word on these places can lead to widespread condemnation! One bad review in google on a hotel website has disastrous effects for the hotel for example, so why risk it? It easy to say they dont need to say much, but what they say can change due to the unforeseen etc.
Also, we on this forum represent a very small % of their customers and as we have said many times, we are not in the majority of their typical customer profile for the Emira in general, so why should they think about us more than the others who represent maybe 90% of their audience.
Hence, while it would be unfair to say they dont care about us, it would be very fair to say it makes no business sense to be feeding info and adding flames to the fires here with the lotus gurus , rather than doing what they should be doing, which is providing timely and accurate information / updates through their various media outlets.... something they are falling down on, day after day, after week after month. But answering us here isn't a realistic solution and I wouldnt like it personally as its not professional and Lotus need to be professional, they need to address all their customers, not a chosen few who shout loudest.
I agree, I think an interview, although with a professional journalist interested in the car, I would say Harry, speaking about the issues currently faced, delays, customer service improvements planned, errors made, the future, realistic expectations, changes between prototypes and final cars, rubber strips, wheel gaps, dates...all these things, this is what the vast majority of customers would appreciate, rather than specific suspension set ups, and very technical things that some of just us care about. These questions need a technical channel on the website perhaps.
Still, I am afraid that is clearly not going to happen either. They are simply holding out for people to get their cars over the next 5-10 weeks and let the car do the talking, rather than invest any more time/effort in communications. Maybe their comms department is going through an upheaval (or on holiday) and they feel it's best not to do anything, who knows, but it is what it is.
Everything we talk and complain about here I am sure happened/happens with Alpine also for example, originally a similar size company to where Lotus was before 5-10,000 orders. They have forums of many frustrated customers where apple car play for example was an afterthought on the original cars etc.... "Why no manual gear box?" "Why only 3 release colours!!!!!?" "why one 4 cyl engine?" "Why only 2xx HP?" etc etc, imagine, we have 6 colours, 400 HP and people still complain haha.
Think of their first release car and you will see many similarities in what they did, marketing wise, extras wise, communication wise.... Lotus made many of the same mistakes. And unfortunately, although the Alpine drives well, it was IMO a failure in terms of numbers and thats with the VERY VERY high praise of James May and just about every jounalist out there. In the end, the public decide and looks are key, whether you/we like it or not. An actress's ability is clearly important, but name me 3 unattractive actresses under the age of 40 who get the big bucks..... Not one can I come up with. Sex sells... and boy is the Emira a symbol !

 

[MCS]

The only thing I’d add is that I suspect that the vast majority of deposit holders don’t care about many of the things that are discussed on here. Heck I’m not bothered about most of things that are worried about on this forum either. If they then release a video discussing these ‘issues’ then they could just be drawing attention to things that many people had never considered before. Could be a shot in the foot.

I do agree that comms could have been better and more proactive but just giving another perspective

 

[Tailslides]

My impression as a first time buyer of a Lotus product may be different to many enthusiasts on here.

My introduction to the marque was back in the sixties, a family friend bought many early Lotus models and they all looked wonderful to me as a child, the fit and finish was something akin to a current homebuild kit project but our friend Bob, loved each of them.

Although the panel fit and trim quality could not be described as excellent, neither were other cars rolling off production lines of motor manufacturers, the Lotus products were always great drivers cars.

Production facilities have moved on, computer designed and robot assembled cars that all have outstanding build quality, monitored at all stages of production with laser accuracy are the norm and Lotus have embraced that technology to bring us Emira.

Judging by the response from potential customers, the design has met with approval, seeing cars that are close to production standard, I would say the overall perception of quality is not to the level of target manufacturer Porsche, but then the production volume levels, design and development budget are on a completely different level, the initial impression however is that the quality is excellent, much closer to that of a volume manufacturer than previous models.

Slipping into the comfortable cabin feels good, a degree in Yoga is not essential to gain access and once settled in, a prod on the starter button, engaging a gear and setting off are all exactly as you would expect of a car for today, no creaks, rattles or quirks of a small volume manufacturer.

This appears to be a quality product, despite the fact that the cars I have seen at the Lotus driving academy are still preproduction and as such, they exhibit some exterior panel blemishes and slight panel misalignments, the overall package still looks very good.

What remains to be seen is if the quality moves up the final notch for customer cars, the team at Lotus certainly give the impression that it will. I for one, look forward to seeing cars that leave Hethel for their new owners and eventually the arrival of my own Emira.

 

[Leonard]

The only thing I’d add is that I suspect that the vast majority of deposit holders don’t care about many of the things that are discussed on here. Heck I’m not bothered about most of things that are worried about on this forum either. If they then release a video discussing these ‘issues’ then they could just be drawing attention to things that many people had never considered before. Could be a shot in the foot.

I do agree that comms could have been better and more proactive but just giving another perspective

All that is really required is what Tom and others were pushing for from the start and that was a list of FAQs that could be substantiated by Lotus and listed on here for everyone to see. That way all the conjecture stops and we no longer have anything to talk about
There probably aren't even that many anymore. We are definitely getting bogged down in the miniature now....
Bring on some final production cars and test drives. Exciting times

 

[emiraspain]

The only thing I’d add is that I suspect that the vast majority of deposit holders don’t care about many of the things that are discussed on here. Heck I’m not bothered about most of things that are worried about on this forum either. If they then release a video discussing these ‘issues’ then they could just be drawing attention to things that many people had never considered before. Could be a shot in the foot.

I do agree that comms could have been better and more proactive but just giving another perspective

yes my point exactly
"Also, we on this forum represent a very small % of their customers and as we have said many times, we are not in the majority of their typical customer profile for the Emira in general"
And I too dont care about 90% of the things that appear, wheel gap, steering wheel thickness, tone of green etc, but I do care about the way the seats looked at different times, ie crumpled or loose leather and of course the delays, but its good to have a forum as it gives everyone the chance to share their worries and experience, but you are totally correct, Lotus will never say something on here as they would commit commercial suicide..... by giving any attention to the issues mentioned, in what so far have not even been fully complete customer cars.
Although we know they will of course have their own issues too, there has never been a car released that doesnt have some customers upset somewhere and I am sure they will post on hear, just as they should

 

[Mctaff]

The only thing I’d add is that I suspect that the vast majority of deposit holders don’t care about many of the things that are discussed on here. Heck I’m not bothered about most of things that are worried about on this forum either.

I’m not even bothered about most of the things I post about! Just bored waiting and need something to occupy me

 

[emiraspain]

I’m not even bothered about most of the things I post about! Just bored waiting

likewise, I am not bothered about anything you post about either.. haha...
no, your right, if we had the cars arriving, the whole subject content of the forum would change and the mood also.. Its quite grim right now....

 

[Leonard]

I’m not even bothered about most of the things I post about! Just bored waiting and need something to occupy me

Indeed. Forums are for letting off steam, sharing insights and general banter.
We all obviously care, but not at the scale in which it probably comes accross on here
#fortheboredom