Harry's Garage videos - visit to Hethel and Matt Windle interview, Emira collection and drive

[emiraspain]

I mean, you can. With a set of spanners and some alignment tools.

To the prior post's point... I'm also mystified by people that express dissatisfaction with the way a car handles and yet have no interest in making the necessary adjustments to fix the thing they're complaining about. Cars are tunable. Not in the "go faster parts" sense, but in the configuration sense. Most of this stuff is shockingly straightforward.

you are correct, but I'd say, even on this forum, with supposed enthusiasts, not 60 yr old women going to the golf club, I'd say the % of those wanting and willing to do these mods is still not that large.
ANd somethings, like the gear ratios, which maybe annoy more than other things in certain cars, cant be so easilly altered.

I used to... I mean....manyyyyyy years ago, Italian Mini Cooper innocenti / MG BGT///// make some mods, but in modern cars and houses..... I'd rather get one out of the box ready to be a 9/10 to go....

 

[Porter]

I call BS on the “approval in all States” excuse. There’s national crash standards through NTSB, and maybe California has its own emissions limits, but otherwise there shouldnt be individual state import restrictions.

I think a lot of the commenters here (particularly from the EU/UK) are confused about what "type approval" means in a US context. Homologation for sale in the US is Federal, for all 3 of the major homologation hurdles - crash safety & signals compliance, import tariff compliance, and emissions compliance. Each of those is handled through a different federal agency.

Once Federally (nationally) homologated, the cars are legal for import. But the manufacturer then has to register the model and type information with each state so that the cars can be registered for the road and insured. You can't have a car that's legal in Oklahoma but not legal in Oregon, because we have unlimited freedom of movement and relocation in the United States. So there's a process of registration in each state.

There are a few states that try to add additional hurdles to the registration process, California being one of them with weird maximum noise requirements etc, but it's still an open question of law whether that is legal or not. They can no longer impose their own emissions standards, all of that was firmly Federalized after California tried to damage the viability of the entire US automotive market through their shenanigans in the 1990s and 2000s.

 

[Cachaco131]

You can't even really argue with it can you. They are owned by Geely now and they will do what's best for Geely!

Which makes total sense. Company needs to survive and cater to growing markets. We need to get over US/UK being the only relevant markets...why do you think the new BMWs look like they do? They are catering new buyers and markets and we have to accept it (although I won't buy them).

 

[Porter]

you are correct, but I'd say, even on this forum, with supposed enthusiasts, not 60 yr old women going to the golf club, I'd say the % of those wanting and willing to do these mods is still not that large.
ANd somethings, like the gear ratios, which maybe annoy more than other things in certain cars, cant be so easilly altered.

I used to... I mean....manyyyyyy years ago, Italian Mini Cooper innocenti / MG BGT///// make some mods, but in modern cars and houses..... I'd rather get one out of the box ready to be a 9/10 to go....

These are adjustments, not modifications. Anyone who owns this type of sports car should either have a good mechanic or race shop that can do this sort of work for them, or alternatively learn to do it themselves. It's far less difficult than most people imagine.

 

[Pops68]

Hey, you can't fool us, you've just added a sepia filter to these Emira factory pics!

Word has it those are pics of the 2nd shift...

 

[emiraspain]

These are adjustments, not modifications. Anyone who owns this type of sports car should either have a good mechanic or race shop that can do this sort of work for them, or alternatively learn to do it themselves. It's far less difficult than most people imagine.

again you are correct, but I personally and I think even here many would agree... dont want to, but then again I'm not going on a track with a car that weighs 1500 kilos.
Once you get past 40...your level of enthusiasm changes...for many things.... for me its an effort to even open Tinder, never mind spend the evening swiping right

 

[Guest142]

I just really appreciate Matt Windle for doing this interview and being as forthcoming as he was. It really bolstered my confidence in the decision to not only order Emira but be patient as Lotus works through what we all acknowledge is a historically troublesome time. This video by Harry marks a turning point in the production process in my view. Just phenomenal images from the production areas. Really interesting seeing the engines, suspension, and various components etc. Great vid.

 

[haaaake]

I love the people here like "why isn't my car done yet (sad eyes)" after threatening to black mail and expose Lotus for not sharing every single detail of production with them. lol.

Huge thanks to Harry for this video. So much more useful than all the mindless speculation and complaining on these forums.

I still haven't seen any other car with my spec yet so I am very excited to get mine.

 

[DJS]

Are you sure? I'll be very happy if we're getting deviated stitching on the center stripe.... I thought it was just colored on the bolster edges.

Agree looks amazing on the new configurator. Bravo Lotus (credit when its due) Yellow looks the best

 

[Mctaff]

I love the people here like "why isn't my car done yet (sad eyes)" after threatening to black mail and expose Lotus for not sharing every single detail of production with them. lol.

Huge thanks to Harry for this video. So much more useful than all the mindless speculation and complaining on these forums.

I still haven't seen any other car with my spec yet so I am very excited to get mine.

I think perhaps you're holding your copy of "how to make friends and influence people" the wrong way up?

agree though, great video... we could have done with this a couple of months ago and it would have prevented a lot of the complaining which you decry...

 

[Scruff111S]

3 years?!!! I admire your patience man. You should be getting yours......soon!

Well I was told on Wednesday it was starting production on Thursday. On that basis, I should get my check out email this week, then the car mid November.

 

[New to Lotus]

Come on is anybody any wiser after this video. Harry was easy on matt and he told us nothing new.
Have they got type approval to sell a car in the UK. It doesn't look like it to me, Aussies getting 20 rhd cars sounds like eu approval gained uk not???

 

[Pegasi]

I loved it! It was great seeing the factory up close and personal like that and I was pretty surprised to see how much is actually still manually done. Maybe this is a good thing? Maybe not?

Many have commented on how much is being built manually. I always thought this was a good thing. Whenever a car manufacturer touts a high performance vehicle or engine they always make a point to say it's handmade. Harry also kept pointing out the green marker indicating a bolt had been torqued, and torqued by hand I assume. My naive opinion thinks if something isn't mass produced by automation it can be more intricate and purposeful.

 

[Scruff111S]

You can imagine a fictional senior conversation:

• So the journalist reviews in the UK are a bit "meh"? - yes
• And the UK customers are getting antsy about delays and customer comms? - yes
• And we've got loads of UK orders and if a few people drop out no one will notice and it frees up slots for other regions? - yes
• And economic factors are narrowing margins on the UK cars and improving them elsewhere? - yes
• And the UK market already has Lotus brand awareness? - yes
• Why don't we make more cars for the other more profitable and brand-worthy regions and slow down the UK? - err, are you sure?
• Tell them it's something to do with Brexit...

Fictional? Sounds spot on to me. Were you a fly on the wall when this meeting took place Tom?

 

[Leonard]

Come on is anybody any wiser after this video. Harry was easy on matt and he told us nothing new.
Have they got type approval to sell a car in the UK. It doesn't look like it to me, Aussies getting 20 rhd cars sounds like eu approval gained uk not???

They will have the type approval.
What they don't have and want is the $$$$$
Makes no business sense to prioritise UK cars

 

[Mctaff]

Come on is anybody any wiser after this video. Harry was easy on matt and he told us nothing new.
Have they got type approval to sell a car in the UK. It doesn't look like it to me, Aussies getting 20 rhd cars sounds like eu approval gained uk not???

The positive for me here is they are realising they need to bring their customers along for the journey and give us some insight into what’s going on

Agree some questions still unanswered but to me this represents a positive change in their comms approach to date

 

[VL3X]

Many have commented on how much is being built manually. I always thought this was a good thing. Whenever a car manufacturer touts a high performance vehicle or engine they always make a point to say it's handmade. Harry also kept pointing out the green marker indicating a bolt had been torqued, and torqued by hand I assume. My naive opinion thinks if something isn't mass produced by automation it can be more intricate and purposeful.

I prefer to think this way too (and a nice "Handmade in Hethel" badge would have been nice), but I think the truth is, statistically at least, that computers and machine with multiple check points will be more consistent than by fallible human workers. Does that mean the car loses some soul and uniqueness? Sure... but is the end product now more reliable? Hopefully!

 

[New to Lotus]

Do they have type approval though??
20 cars going to oz but none in uk even demo cars?

 

[Leonard]

Do they have type approval though??
20 cars going to oz but none in uk even demo cars?

I fail to see how they can be that incompetent to not have UK type approval at this point.
It's just one of a few excuses to divert cars elsewhere

 

[Mctaff]

I fail to see how they can be that incompetent to not have UK type approval at this point.
It's just one of a few excuses to divert cars elsewhere

I suppose it depends what our dickhead government has done with the type approvals process now we’ve left the EU!

Is it sat in a to do pile somewhere along with being competent and a number of other items? Take back control baby!!!