Factory Tour Thread

[VTECMatt]

RHD or LHD cars?

 

[Hapkin]

RHD or LHD cars?

Rhd.

 

[Hapkin]

They were filming the yellow car with black pack on a nearby back road and drifting around the track so I imagine that film will come out this month or next.

Glad to see it. We all have been pining for more media content on the car.

 

[emiraspain]

Rhd.

makes sense...dealer cars promised over next 7 - 14 days and fits in with what someone @ lotus mentioned from the Sept build schedule (didnt have Oct schedule at the time).

Interested to see this other new and intriguing info you have...

Not sure why people are doubting the fact you bumped into these lotus guys.... I dont see it as a big deal, they have to get together sometime and for sure they will go through the factory. At Aston Martin we had a similar thing happen years ago on the production line of the "new" vantage. I'd almost be disappointed if the bosses didn't stop and say hello and then for that to develop it into a chat, knowing they have thousands, or hundreds of unhappy-ish customers... seems like the right thing / obvious thing to do.

Hope you learned something interesting....... like a new car that doesn't begin with E coming soon..... Glad you enjoyed the visit

 

[eriegz]

@Next Decade @Hapkin Come on guys, it doesn't have to be perfect, or a novel, just give us SOMETHING!

 

[TomE]

I had typed this up before Hapkin responded, but got on a plane...anyways, to add on.

As we first arrived, there were approximately 20-24 cars all wrapped up (plastic protection added) and ready to go outside the facility. This tells me that it's not a coincidence to have seen several trucks moving in and out the next day. I know they were the proper trucks because they had one outside next to them at the end of our tour. Nick confirmed it when asked how they were loaded. You've probably seen them; ones with the canvas (?) walls on both sides to easily display the cars and hold two a piece.

Side note, Even though I was told during the tour that the status board was not up to date, it showed 418 cars completed to date out of the planned 630? don't have the numbers in front of me at the moment but it seems about right. During the tour I was perusing the codes on each part and taking notes of the highest numbers I saw, which was around 556(?) while looking at the seats they had arranged and wrapped in plastic...don't quote me on that. Either way it all kinda makes sense. The biggest issue is supply chains causing 95% complete cars to sit due to single or minor components unavailable. I saw approximately 25 cars sitting in an "I'm missing X queue" per Nick. I'll have a nice writeup on the seats for you guys soon so people can stop bitching lol, I'm happy with them and honestly impressed.

Good news is that it looked like they had their final Customer QC/paint inspection line stacked to the brim with cars ready to be inspected, get prepped, and join the others I mentioned outside earlier. I'm unsure about their ability to move them (volume wise), but even if it were only 6 per day...I think we'll be seeing a bunch of content coming very very soon.

Sorry for the unorganized collection of thoughts in an attempt to answer your simple question lol. Best I can do on a plane. I hope that helps.

Thanks, that's useful info.

I wonder where the 418 (or whatever) completed cars all are? We know less than 50 have reached European dealers/customers so far and less than 10 were shipped to the US for the tour. Any fully-complete UK dealer cars might now have been shipped to BCA for delivery over the next two weeks - but would only be 20-30 cars (dealers will now only get one car initially). Sept build/Oct delivery customer cars might have gone to BCA too, but that's under 50. So that means 250 cars are somewhere else, most likely waiting for shortage parts and I'd assume they'd still be at Hethel so those can be fitted.

For the inspection station, the move up time is 17 minutes (as for every other station in the production process), so they should be able to clear 20-30 cars per day.

 

[DaaS]

@Next Decade @Hapkin Come on guys, it doesn't have to be perfect, or a novel, just give us SOMETHING!

Soon!

 

[Next Decade]

@Next Decade @Hapkin Come on guys, it doesn't have to be perfect, or a novel, just give us SOMETHING!

Hey, you have to cut some slack here lol. I was just up for about 30 hrs getting back, slept for 12 and have only been up for a few.

Maybe we were a bit premature in saying anything because now I feel it’s hyped up more than warranted . Either way, I’m working on it while trying to snap back into reality after being in Europe for 2 weeks.

 

[Leonard]

Hey, you have to cut some slack here lol. I was just up for about 30 hrs getting back, slept for 12 and have only been up for a few.

Maybe we were a bit premature in saying anything because now I feel it’s hyped up more than warranted . Either way, I’m working on it while trying to snap back into reality after being in Europe for 2 weeks.

You take all the time you need. Get some sleep.
You can share your knowledge sooooon.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Hey, you have to cut some slack here lol. I was just up for about 30 hrs getting back, slept for 12 and have only been up for a few.

Maybe we were a bit premature in saying anything because now I feel it’s hyped up more than warranted . Either way, I’m working on it while trying to snap back into reality after being in Europe for 2 weeks.

I’m convinced you live at the South Pole from the amount of travel you’ve done to get back lol

 

[Next Decade]

I’m convinced you live at the South Pole from the amount of travel you’ve done to get back lol

The logistics of it all were not great. I'll give you that.

I wasn't able to fly from London to the US because I couldn't change my flight out from Germany; this trip was impromptu in the purist sense. This plus other layovers and delays...yeah. I also stayed up after getting home cause a friend arrived in town.

The original purpose of my visit to Germany was work related. I just used vacation when that concluded.

The decision to take a factory tour was made while at a brew pup in Berlin 2 days prior. I initially had my sights set on Sweden for a Saab Museum visit and a few other items.

I chose correctly.

 

[Leonard]

The logistics of it all were not great. I'll give you that.

I wasn't able to fly from London to the US because I couldn't change my flight out from Germany; this trip was impromptu in the purist sense. This plus other layovers and delays...yeah. I also stayed up after getting home cause a friend arrived in town.

The decision to take a factory tour was made while at a brew pup in Berlin 2 days prior. I initially had my sights set on Sweden for a Saab Museum visit and a few other items.

I chose correctly.

All the best decisions are made in the pub

 

[Next Decade]

All the best decisions are made in the pub

Some of my best and equally worst decisions have been made in pubs.

 

[Leonard]

Some of my best and equally worst decisions have been made in pubs.

But still the best..

 

[RENDERMAN]

When I first saw this picture, the color reminded me of the first baseball mitt I got when I was a kid. It was a Rawlings and a Christmas present from my parents. Just seeing the color brought back the memories, especially the smell. That was about 60 years ago, but I can still remember the feel of it when I put my hand in it, how it squeaked, and of course the smell.

It looked somewhat like this except it had a deep web between the thumb and first finger.
View attachment 5288

If you still have the glove, you can match it with a car, I know when you get your Emira, you'll feel like a kid again...

 

[Next Decade]

RHD or LHD cars?

Which comment are you referring to?

There was definitely a mixture of both everywhere. I don’t know if the ones prepped for ship were though.

 

[eriegz]

Hey, you have to cut some slack here lol. I was just up for about 30 hrs getting back, slept for 12 and have only been up for a few.

Maybe we were a bit premature in saying anything because now I feel it’s hyped up more than warranted . Either way, I’m working on it while trying to snap back into reality after being in Europe for 2 weeks.

Haha, no problem at all, and forgive me my eagerness. Absolutely, take all the time you need to rest & recoup from your trip first!

In the meantime, maybe I should go hound that Belgian guy @NickyBuddy for some updates on his Emira ownership experience so far...

 

[Hapkin]

Squeak and Rattle track was cool to see. They have to go around twice on each. I saw one and it looked really composed despite the insane about of work the suspension was having to do. Yeah for double wishbones!

 

[JohnHoward]

@Hapkin @Next Decade Did you see any V6 autos on your factory tour? Lotus don't seem to have Type Approval yet for the auto as yet and I was wondering if they are building any at the moment. My auto is due to be built in Oct (along with others on here) and with Oct only a few days away there doesn't seem to be much time left to resolve the issue. Any info on the auto would be most welcomed.

 

[Next Decade]

@Hapkin @Next Decade Did you see any V6 autos on your factory tour? Lotus don't seem to have Type Approval yet for the auto as yet and I was wondering if they are building any at the moment. My auto is due to be built in Oct (along with others on here) and with Oct only a few days away there doesn't seem to be much time left to resolve the issue. Any info on the auto would be most welcomed.

Honestly, I didn't see a single V6 auto while on the tour. However, that is not indicative of much as there were not many chances to go inspect all the vehicles in the shop; especially without going to open doors on each. There's no good way to spot them from the outside.

I even asked about the type approval for the auto during our time there. The tour guide said he didn't know of any issues in that regard, but sounded like he might have been unaware more than confident.

Hapkin actually did the tour twice, he may have more info on the autos.