First Editions Options vs Base Spec - What options do you consider essential?

[TomE]

Thanks. What's the FE or Base pricing in the UK? Trying to compare with US

V6 is £66k Base and £79k First, plus on the road costs on both of about £3k.

Edit: my mistake, FE with no options is £76k as pointed out below. £79k is my spec.

 

[Magicman]

V6 is £66k Base and £79k First, plus on the road costs on both of about £3k.

Has FE gone up? It was only 76k plus 3k otr?

 

[TomE]

What's your reasoning for touring over sport?

My use case is weekend fun car and road trips plus 1-2 track days per year. Roads in the UK and particularly round me are poor quality. Touring gives a bit more compliance and maintains better traction on poor quality surfaces. There’s slightly less steering feel than Sports but it’s less jiggly on smooth surfaces.

The slight loss of road feedback is offset by the slightly greater initial body roll which gives you a little more feedback about weight transfer. After initial roll, both suspensions weight up very similarly so on high speed corners and on track there is very little difference.

For occasional track use, Touring with Track drive mode plus driver training will be great. You can swap in some Cup2s if required.

 

[TomE]

OK yes, but leaving everything else stock - just an ECU tune would be max 430 BHP, no?

That’s right, tune will get 430 but then 450 is some modest hardware changes.

 

[TomE]

Has FE gone up? It was only 76k plus 3k otr?

Sorry my mistake, I’m looking at my spec with full black pack, tracker and Homelink . V6 FE with no options is £76k.

 

[teamvxracing]

Sorry my mistake, I’m looking at my spec with full black pack, tracker and Homelink . V6 FE with no options is £76k.

Price excludes:

• Number plates
• Delivery
• Road fund licence

 

[lion shf]

The issue is not with Lotus offering these things. The issue is that the people are considering heated seats equally as important as forged wheels (about 50% for each). Hello, but you're still buying a Lotus and you should ABSOLUTELY require forged wheels since it makes the car lighter, and if you're buying a Lotus a lightweight car should be very important to you.

The other issue is that MORE people consider the Convivence package a requirement over the Drivers pack. Think about that for a second.

Maybe it's just me, but I want my sports cars to be sports cars, not a commuter.

The results of the poll doesn't say anything about Lotus...it says everything about today's buyers.

I’m on my 7th set of wheels since 17 on my TT. I’ll choose my own lightweight wheels thank you, and a snow set to boot. If I buy a car without heated seats I got big problems with my girl

 

[Lotus64]

The issue is not with Lotus offering these things. The issue is that the people are considering heated seats equally as important as forged wheels (about 50% for each). Hello, but you're still buying a Lotus and you should ABSOLUTELY require forged wheels since it makes the car lighter, and if you're buying a Lotus a lightweight car should be very important to you.

The other issue is that MORE people consider the Convivence package a requirement over the Drivers pack. Think about that for a second.

Maybe it's just me, but I want my sports cars to be sports cars, not a commuter.

The results of the poll doesn't say anything about Lotus...it says everything about today's buyers.

I understand your frustration over the amount of potential buyers who prefer comfort / amenities over feedback; however buyers have high expectations and want to be able to use their sports cars often, not occasionally, meaning the car still has to offer a reasonable amount of basic comfort / amenities.

I asked my friend / former Elise owner how the Emira compared to the Elise after his Emira test drive. The first thing he said was that the Elise was uncomfortable around town.

Except for the most hardcore enthusiasts / masochists, people genuinely don't want to sacrifice their comfort for a good driving experience, and quite frankly, they shouldn't have to.

 

[lion shf]

I understand your frustration over the amount of potential buyers who prefer comfort / amenities over feedback; however buyers have high expectations and want to be able to use their sports cars often, not occasionally, meaning the car still has to offer a reasonable amount of basic comfort / amenities.

I asked my friend / former Elise owner how the Emira compared to the Elise after his Emira test drive. The first thing he said was that the Elise was uncomfortable around town.

Except for the most hardcore enthusiasts / masochists, people genuinely don't want to sacrifice their comfort for a good driving experience, and quite frankly, they shouldn't have to.

And of course we can have heated seats AND feedback. Comfort and feedback aren’t mutually exclusive on this car cause lotus offered it up oem 3200lbs. out of the gate.

 

[GetawayDriving]

I struggled with this, because the purist in me is like "I don't need any of this!" and "I'm not one of these Porsche guys who needs all this comfort!" but then if I don't need this stuff, I've overpaid for an FE. Advanced Early Adopter Syndrome strikes again.

Some of these I'd need to know more about the base alternative before saying for sure. Like what are the seats if not 12-way? or not leather/alcantara? Just basic cloth? I don't really want civic seats in the thing. Did Evora come with cloth seats?

Chose KEF because upgraded audio is important to me, but if it sucks maybe I wouldn't - unless the alternative REALLY sucks, which it might. So yes.

The only thing I need in convenience back is the backup cam and that's a standard feature by regulation in the USA.

 

[GetawayDriving]

We know very little at the moment. I suspect a full hardcore GT version will be above £100k and will have carbon seats plus carbon roof and other panels, Ohlins adjustable suspension, titanium sports exhaust, lithium battery etc. I expect that would be a limited edition run.

They might do a less hardcore S without all the carbon but an engine upgrade and exhaust. Maybe £95k for that. But all guesswork on my part.

Damnit this is the one I want lol. Exactly why I placed a 2nd deposit.

 

[Lotus64]

My use case is weekend fun car and road trips plus 1-2 track days per year. Roads in the UK and particularly round me are poor quality. Touring gives a bit more compliance and maintains better traction on poor quality surfaces. There’s slightly less steering feel than Sports but it’s less jiggly on smooth surfaces.

The slight loss of road feedback is offset by the slightly greater initial body roll which gives you a little more feedback about weight transfer. After initial roll, both suspensions weight up very similarly so on high speed corners and on track there is very little difference.

For occasional track use, Touring with Track drive mode plus driver training will be great. You can swap in some Cup2s if required.

Thank you for the detailed response. Sport vs. Touring continues to be a tough decision for me, as they both have advantages.

Can you help me understand the justification for getting touring with the drivers pack? Of course you get the cool screen. What else makes it worth it in your eyes?

Yes, you don't get the special the ESC system; but with a driver mod I'm failing to see why sport / full off wouldn't be sufficient? Track mode slots right in between the two.

 

[Porter]

Thank you for the detailed response. Sport vs. Touring continues to be a tough decision for me, as they both have advantages.

Can you help me understand the justification for getting touring with the drivers pack? Of course you get the cool screen. What else makes it worth it in your eyes?

Yes, you don't get the special the ESC system; but with a driver mod I'm failing to see why sport / full off wouldn't be sufficient? Track mode slots right in between the two.

The Driver's Pack also gives the exhaust mode changes. It's not just the ESC track mode. I believe also the LSD only comes equipped on Driver's Pack cars with the 6MT. That's "included" on the FE but not sure it will be on the Base V6.

 

[Lotus64]

The Driver's Pack also gives the exhaust mode changes. It's not just the ESC track mode. I believe also the LSD only comes equipped on Driver's Pack cars with the 6MT.

I believe those exhaust changes are also apparent in Sport and full off, although it does raise the idle. Also, i'm only referring to manual equipped Emira's, so they should all have LSDs.

 

[Porter]

I believe those exhaust changes are also apparent in Sport and full off, although it does raise the idle. Also, i'm only referring to manual equipped Emira's, so they should all have LSDs.

No I mean that cars without the Driver's Pack don't have any exhaust noise change at all with the Sport mode change. They are quiet all the time. They might not even have the flap hardware in the exhaust.

Regarding the LSD... we know that manual-equipped FE cars have the LSD, but they also all have the Driver's Pack by default. We don't know whether non-FE cars with the 6MT will have the LSD. I suspect they may not.

 

[Magicman]

No I mean that cars without the Driver's Pack don't have any exhaust noise change at all with the Sport mode change. They are quiet all the time. They might not even have the flap hardware in the exhaust.

Regarding the LSD... we know that manual-equipped FE cars have the LSD, but they also all have the Driver's Pack by default. We don't know whether non-FE cars with the 6MT will have the LSD. I suspect they may not.

I thought it had been official that the base would not get the LSD. Can't see many base leaving the factory without drivers pack. Or below £70k for that matter

 

[teamvxracing]

I can't see Lotus keeping two versions of the 6MT lying around and then having to build them up to order.

 

[Lotus64]

I assumed switchable exhaust and LSD would be standard on the base V6 MT. If not, then Drivers pack is a must have.

 

[Nova]

I’m on my 7th set of wheels since 17 on my TT. I’ll choose my own lightweight wheels thank you, and a snow set to boot. If I buy a car without heated seats I got big problems with my girl

Heck yea! Wheels, I can change at any time, and I have usually run on replacement wheels while storing the OEM wheels away for the time I resell the car - shiny brand new wheels add a sparkle to the car. I've learned that no matter how nice the aftermarket wheels are, they don't get additional value on resale - it's better to sell them separately to an enthusiast who knows their worth. Similarly, upper black pack, brake disks, suspension setup, all of these things are not "essential" to me.

But nice leather, heated seats, etc, this stuff I can't add later. Through the years, we have grown to be accustomed to these things. My wife would kill me if the car doesn't have heated seats.

 

[lion shf]

word