First viewing at Bell & Covill

[Leonard]

My excitement is dwindling based on the feedback from most of you guys.. The paint samples look boring compared to the configurator, the ride height is higher than the promo pics, lots of complaints about the seat height and interior material samples... And why the hell is the digital gauge screen still so washed out? Just not the positive feedback and excitement I was expecting and hoping for.

It's a shame if it is only the unfinished blue car doing the rounds.
I'm 98% sure they will get the production cars spot on though

 

[SVMLH]

The stance and ride height of this blue one was noticeably different to the dark grey one which is a driving car. It was also noticed that this blue one is fitted with substantial spacers, too which the driving version isn't. I think Lotus have fiddled with this blue one to make it more "visually appealing"...

When looking at the configurator it says that the Sports chassis (as opposed to the Touring) only "stiffens" the suspension, and makes no mention of ride height.

It would be good to get to the bottom of this!

I am always wondering what it is with car companies that even with sports cars you have to add spacers to have a good look….seems that they know it looks better so why not planing the sizes right in the first place?

 

[Stormcloud]

I am always wondering what it is with car companies that even with sports cars you have to add spacers to have a good look….seems that they know it looks better so why not planing the sizes right in the first place?

A low car just looks cooler, if you design a car to handle around how cool it looks then it'll have no give, no pliancy. Motoring equivalent of a fashion victim.

 

[gpsdesigns]

thanks so much for posting! The nimbus looks like a warm grey to me, hoping that is the case!

 

[Mike-engel]

Hi all. I hate to reveal my ignorance, but can someone please explain what is going on with fuel availability in the U.K.? All these comments make it sound like there’s ongoing rationing. Is that the case, and if so, why. Please educate me.

 

[klho001]

Anyone has snapped a pic of the key fob?

 

[VL3X]

It's a shame if it is only the unfinished blue car doing the rounds.
I'm 98% sure they will get the production cars spot on though

Pretty sure quite a few Evoras had issues with the leather trim shrinking and peeling on their production models. I'm starting to think I should listen to previous Lotus owners and stay away from a first year model.. Especially one with a brand new facility. I don't think you want a car that is not only totally new, but also built by brand new recently trained assembly line employees.

 

[kratedisease]

Pretty sure quite a few Evoras had issues with the leather trim shrinking and peeling on their production models. I'm starting to think I should listen to previous Lotus owners and stay away from a first year model.. Especially one with a brand new facility. I don't think you want a car that is not only totally new, but also built by brand new recently trained assembly line employees.

I believe you are being way too cautious and reacting to a hand built ( non assembly line built ) show car with a trunk still holding development or testing equipment and other modifications.....

if you really really want to be sure ......you can also hold off for the 3rd or 4th year also.....

These show/tour cars are always kinda built poorly. The Corvette C8 show car was the same when I saw it on the tour- real rough panel gap fit and seats that were sagging. , I took delivery of my 2020 1st year C8 and it arrived flawless with perfect panel gaps and not one mechanical or cosmetic issue after 8,000 miles so far. And I street park my C8 365/24/7 on the street in the snow and summer heat.

I also bought a 2014 C7 Corvette that was 1st year, and it was also flawless.

Show/tour cars that are hand assembled before the line is up, tend to have issues. Normal

 

[kratedisease]

Thanks for posting the great pics and comments. I'm going tomorrow so looking forwards to it.

See if you can get a picture of the key fob, please ??

 

[EspritGuy]

Just got back from B&C, good points :
- magma red disc looked better than expected
- presentation was ok and good support by Lotus to chat to
- estimate was Nov for amg engined car
- could not confirm but sounded like 70ish for amg engined car
- was informed that the red stitching on i4 was optional 300 extra

some piccies:
View attachment 487View attachment 488View attachment 489View attachment 490View attachment 491View attachment 492View attachment 493View attachment 494View attachment 495View attachment 496

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

 

[EspritGuy]

Those look cool. Thanks for the close up pic. Back to the configurator! Those on a grey car would be very nice.

Would appreciate seeing Nimbus Grey paint sample in various lighting, including sunlight and up against the blue car.
Thanks

 

[kratedisease]

The Emira yellow is plain in comparison (I took the swatch over to it to compare). Here’s a pic of it against the blue car. To be fair the Hethel yellow will no doubt look good in isolation

Your photo against the blue gives the best interpretation of the true hue and shade of this yellow.

Thanks so much for posting the pic, this is the paint color of my choice.

 

[Scant]

Those of us waiting a bit longer will be expecting photos! (and grateful)

Will do my best tonight

 

[Rufy]

View attachment 486

All black rims will be the same black colour here in your opinion? it says glossy black, but it doesn't seem this black is glossy. Thank you

 

[Rufy]

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

a couple of questions:

is that true that the contrast coloured stitching on the steering wheel will not be available for the V6 manual, but only for the automatic gearbox? and what could be the motivation for that!?

spacer for wheels and ground height (also height of seats): I hear by the first video of carwow that the height of the seats of the show model would have been different, in particular higher seats than the final model. What about the ground height and spacers: do you really think lotus played trick to make this model appear more attractive? what do you expect for the final model? something like the gray model driven by Jenson Button?

Thank you

 

[Pav]

Forgot to add earlier. Demo cars are due early April, first customer cars end of April. I took demo to mean press not customers.

Anyone has snapped a pic of the key fob?

I don’t believe there was one there but wouldn’t it have been nice if they had given one to all the people who have put 2k down. Would have cost them almost nothing. They could even have personalised them. Maybe I am expecting too much but marketing is about getting the details right and doing something memorable. Having given it the sleep test my opinion has not changed about the car (love it) or the event (underwhelming).

 

[Pav]

Hi all. I hate to reveal my ignorance, but can someone please explain what is going on with fuel availability in the U.K.? All these comments make it sound like there’s ongoing rationing. Is that the case, and if so, why. Please educate me.

By mentioning ‘there is no need to panic buy’ a politician haphazardly triggered a small section of the UK population into increasing demand by 500% almost overnight. It was mentioned because a couple of petrol stations had run out of fuel due to lorry drivers being thin on the ground, caused by a combination of Brexit and Covid.

For some reason there are a few of us Brits who are predisposed to being selfish, or arguably, doing exactly what a psychologist would expect people to do when they are told something they need is running out.

Back to the thread.. as a mildly ironic twist, it forced me to take my wife’s ID3 to the event rather than my GR Yaris. Maybe it’s a conspiracy!

 

[Smegatron]

Anyone else come away from the event wanting a yellow final edition Exige

My feedback:

Event was well organised, decent amount of people from Lotus and B&C to support. Presentation etc was not too long and generally well done apart from as mentioned before reading from a piece of paper....

Car looked really good in the flesh, interior looked and felt decent as well. Generally very nice and didn't disappoint. Hard to get a real idea of quality given its not a final production car but very nice even so. The alcantara trim was nice with good mix of leather as well. Its a nice size and just felt very exciting to be around. Really there were no red flags or any items that for me were a deal breaker.

I went in the evening so the colour was really hard to judge. For me the blue looked good but a bit flat given it was under so much lighting, I'd have preferred a more metallic look to it.

I got a look in the boot of the car - in the blue one its full of mechanical parts so no way to get a decent idea.

The space behind the seats for storage is smaller than I had hoped. If you have the seat back and at an angle then its really just the space at the bottom, its also not easy to get to so you wouldn't be using that for heavy or large items as your default choice. Probably big enough for 2 cabin suitcases on their sides (didn't test this) or maybe upright but depends on seating position.

Only thing I was not keen on was the seats / driving position. Cabin felt more cramped than my 997 911. They told me the seats would be mounted 30mm lower than in the car we were seeing, and also be softer. Its a bit frustrating as driving position is a key thing for me, and it wasn't possible to assess it easily. Head room was good, I'm 6'2 and had enough head room even with the seats mounted higher, so should be able to get a helmet on with them in the production height.

Colours available really hard to judge but don't go on the configurator, better to see them in real life. In the lights of the showroom the green looked black. The red was way more 'red'.

 

[BlackMarlin12]

Can someone tell me how the touchpads on the steering wheel felt? In some pictures I had the impression that these look a bit cheap. I hope I am wrong with that..

 

[SVMLH]

A low car just looks cooler, if you design a car to handle around how cool it looks then it'll have no give, no pliancy. Motoring equivalent of a fashion victim.

I am not sure if that is the case all the time. My bmw m4 comp (f82) drives much better, is more nimble and as well more planted at high speeds with the bmw m professional springs (so lower) and 100mm spacers than before- and it also looks much better as well, while beeing just a little bit stiffer than before. But far from beeing harsh. Doesn’t a wider track width lead to a lower centre of gravity which should lead to a better handling? I thought they have done that with the emira coming from the evora base and advertised that as improvement for the handling?