Henry Catchpole - Carfection review

[digilotus]

Exactly what I’ve said previously. Touring is designed for GYs and Sport for Cup2s.
Anything in between is a compromise and will likely be suboptimal.

 

[Mickle]

Agree with all that, almost. It does look like a car that should go a lot quicker... which is not bad at all. I still believe that it is plenty quick. The reviewers drive all sort of cars. I don't buy that they can't be objective between segments.

All the reviews to be honest have compared the Emira to the cars in it's class. (alpine, GTS 4.0 maybe even a C8 corvette) The difference is all those competitors have released new powertrains/updated in the new model. Lotus has re-used an older one with less HP than a 2017 Evora. Albeit to give us a manual ( which I am not complaining about), and there is reliability to the old V6. The AMG i4 will probably be the best driving/quickest Emira around track. I think the reviewers close to Lotus (Harris, Henry, EVO, top gear) have all hinted this to us more than once. The V6 is for us old guys that want to change gears ourselves and feel connected. The numbers car will most likely be the i4 and it's future iterations. Like Harris said, I can see it going to 500 HP in the future... that is a significant difference.

I'm still getting a V6 manual..... Well just because it's damn cool.

Completely agree.

As an aside to Eagle's post, I'm also very skeptical of the £60k base price, that would be a bargain, but the way industry costs & car prices have inflated over the last year that surely can't still be possible. While browsing Autotrader yesterday I found Audi RS3's north of £70k which nearly gave me a heart attack!

 

[kitkat]

Thoughts after watching video:

- 5Nm/mm front and rear increase in spring rate with increased low and mid speed compression for the dampers on the sport model confirmed, just like I thought.

- seems like alignment from factory is tied to tires and not springs/dampers from what was said in the video, which honestly makes more sense

- excellent headlights is wonderful, too many cars are lacking here

 

[eriegz]

Didn’t Henry tour in the Shadow Grey car? Now we have a review of a Hethel Yellow? What am I missing?

Right, and didn't he also take the Shadow Grey car on a road trip down to Monaco? I thought that's what this video was going to be...

 

[Eagle7]

Completely agree.

As an aside to Eagle's post, I'm also very skeptical of the £60k base price, that would be a bargain, but the way industry costs & car prices have inflated over the last year that surely can't still be possible. While browsing Autotrader yesterday I found Audi RS3's north of £70k which nearly gave me a heart attack!

No I agree, that original target price point isn't going to hold. Inflation is going to add at least another £5k which we'll most likely see next year.

 

[Leonard]

Right, and didn't he also take the Shadow Grey car on a road trip down to Monaco? I thought that's what this video was going to be...

I think it got reworked to make it more relatable and real world. But then Lotus have provided the same spec pre production car in a different colour... and Henry has took it to rainy Scotland lol

 

[VL3X]

Beautiful visually as expected with Carfection, but I'm left underwhelmed... again. This is the third pre-prod Emira they gave to Henry? Seriously Lotus.. Get it together.

Basically the car looks great, but the powertrain is dated and handling leaves something to be desired. That's not good. Honestly, If the AMG turbo was available in manual, I'd wait for that. Let Lotus iron out some bugs and allow the factory and workers get some more experience... and hopefully supplier issues sorted and back on track.

When I first considered actually buying a Lotus and joined these forums, I asked why Lotus doesn't test their cars on the Ring. Everyone got defensive and said they don't need to.. "They have their own track." Anytime someone brought up HP/TQ numbers, 0-60 times, and the dated powertrain, again, people got defensive saying Lotus isn't about raw power and that "you need to drive one to understand." Well, the reviews aren't necessarily raving about the handling, are they? When I inquired about the spotty dealer network and past reliability issues and/or long wait times for repairs, I was told "it's all part of owning a Lotus"...

And now here we are with deliveries months behind, no customer cars built (I really doubt that Nimbus Emira behind Matt was actually 100% finished), major communication issues, and a bunch of mediocre reviews. This just isn't what I expected or hoped for at all.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Beautiful visually as expected with Carfection, but I'm left underwhelmed... again. This is the third pre-prod Emira they gave to Henry? Seriously Lotus.. Get it together.

Basically the car looks great, but the powertrain is dated and handling leaves something to be desired. That's not good. Honestly, If the AMG turbo was available in manual, I'd wait for that. Let Lotus iron out some bugs and allow the factory and workers get some more experience... and hopefully supplier issues sorted and back on track.

When I first considered actually buying a Lotus and joined these forums, I asked why Lotus doesn't test their cars on the Ring. Everyone got defensive and said they don't need to.. "They have their own track." Anytime someone brought up 0-60 times and the dated engine, again, people got defensive saying Lotus isn't about raw power and that "you need to drive one to understand." When I inquired about the spotty dealer network and past reliability issues and/or long wait times for repairs, I was told it's all part of owning a Lotus...

And now here we are with deliveries months behind, no customer cars built (I really doubt that Nimbus Emira behind Matt was actually 100% finished), and a bunch of mediocre reviews. This just isn't what I expected or hoped for at all.

It has been a difficult launch for the Lotus team. There is a plus to having an older powertrain and that is of course reliability. Not a bad thing with a smaller dealer network. 0-60 test, Ring times is something almost all sports car manufacturers have tested out. Lotus should have as well. The brand history deserves to be put up against the best and see where they are. Chapman was a verocius competitor, would be nice if they kept up with that.

Not all the reviews were mediocre. When Chris Harris states that he would most likely take the Lotus over a GTS 4.0, that is no small feat. Harry Metcalf really loved the Emira and Schmee did as well. The only real competition to the Lotus is either the C8 corvette or the cayman GTS. I do not see any other mid engine sports car with exotic looks that competes. C8 no manual, so 0-60 times and track isn't a fair comparison. Looks Emira wins. With the Porsche, depends on the reviewer. Like I have said once before Emira vs Cayman is James Hunt vs Nikki Lauda.

 

[kitkat]

Beautiful visually as expected with Carfection, but I'm left underwhelmed... again. This is the third pre-prod Emira they gave to Henry? Seriously Lotus.. Get it together.

Basically the car looks great, but the powertrain is dated and handling leaves something to be desired. That's not good. Honestly, If the AMG turbo was available in manual, I'd wait for that. Let Lotus iron out some bugs and allow the factory and workers get some more experience... and hopefully supplier issues sorted and back on track.

When I first considered actually buying a Lotus and joined these forums, I asked why Lotus doesn't test their cars on the Ring. Everyone got defensive and said they don't need to.. "They have their own track." Anytime someone brought up HP/TQ numbers, 0-60 times, and the dated powertrain, again, people got defensive saying Lotus isn't about raw power and that "you need to drive one to understand." When I inquired about the spotty dealer network and past reliability issues and/or long wait times for repairs, I was told "it's all part of owning a Lotus"...

And now here we are with deliveries months behind, no customer cars built (I really doubt that Nimbus Emira behind Matt was actually 100% finished), and a bunch of mediocre reviews. This just isn't what I expected or hoped for at all.

I think we'll still like the car overall -- but it won't be the car you keep forever.

 

[GetawayDriving]

James Hunt vs Nikki Lauda.

So you're saying I should name my Nimbus "Thor"?

 

[Lotustoronto]

So you're saying I should name my Nimbus "Thor"?

View attachment 7715

You can just get one of these patches for your jacket when you drive... no need to name the car.

 

[Leonard]

It has been a difficult launch for the Lotus team. There is a plus to having an older powertrain and that is of course reliability.

I'm not bashing again, but really is this really a thing? How many 80k sports cars are driving around with their engines detonating.
I think we are clutching a bit here to justify the ageing Toyota lump

 

[Leonard]

I think we'll still like the car overall -- but it won't be the car you keep forever.

Sad isn't it. As I honestly thought a year ago that it could be that car

 

[eriegz]

I'm not trying to be insulting here, but I don't know why I still watch Carfection videos... Every time I do, without fail, a minute or two into the video my eyes start glazing over and Henry's sultry, monotone voice starts putting me to sleep...

And it's the same story regardless of whether he's reviewing an Emira or an Aventador Ultimae. A very strange approach, when you consider how thrilling and exciting these machines are supposed to be.

 

[vantage]

I think the oddest thing about the Emira launch is that they revealed the car in July 2021, but it seems like they were nowhere near ready to actually deliver the car. Reviews are still coming out 1 year later with pre-production models. I'm not convinced the i-4 car is actually "finished" from an engineering standpoint either.

Perhaps the early "launch" was to determine the kind of demand they'd have.

 

[Lotustoronto]

I'm not bashing again, but really is this really a thing? How many 80k sports cars are driving around with their engines detonating.
I think we are clutching a bit here to justify the ageing Toyota lump

Yes we are. Powertrain could have been better.... or at a min give us the full monty out the gate for the V6. I have said that many times, the V6 should have been like the cup 430 power from Evora and the higher redline. Would have made a small difference in my opinion.

 

[kitkat]

I'm not trying to be insulting here, but I don't know why I still watch Carfection videos... Every time I do, without fail, a minute or two into the video my eyes start glazing over and Henry's sultry, monotone voice starts putting me to sleep...

And it's the same story regardless of whether he's reviewing an Emira or an Aventador Ultimae. A very strange approach, when you consider how thrilling and exciting these machines are supposed to be.

Yeah I don't personally vibe with Carfection videos -- it's like picking up a book before you go to bed.

 

[Leonard]

Yes we are. Powertrain could have been better.... or at a min give us the full monty out the gate for the V6. I have said that many times, the V6 should have been like the cup 430 power from Evora and the higher redline. Would have made a small difference in my opinion.

I think the 430 tune would have made a big difference.

Ironically baring in mind the competition, if we are talking ageing engines with character this would have been good

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2021/10/remembering-the-lotus-developed-lt5-v8-in-the-c4-corvette-zr-1/

 

[PaperLawyer]

Sad isn't it. As I honestly thought a year ago that it could be that car

Snap. I must admit that my enthusiasm is slowly draining - the fact that changing from an i4 to a V6 has caused my position in the queue to slip is not annoying me as much as it did, several months ago. This was intended to be my "forever car" but I am increasingly concerned that the first batch will reveal what needs to be corrected, but that the pricing increase of subsequent variants will simply knock me out.

 

[kitkat]

Snap. I must admit that my enthusiasm is slowly draining - the fact that changing from an i4 to a V6 has caused my position in the queue to slip is not annoying me as much as it did, several months ago. This was intended to be my "forever car" but I am increasingly concerned that the first batch will reveal what needs to be corrected, but that the pricing increase of subsequent variants will simply knock me out.

Look at it another way, if the pricing will knock you out of this category of cars, this may very well could be a forever car for you. It's unlikely we'll see this sort of car at this sort of price point ever again imho -- unless you go to something more mass production such as a Z or a Supra etc.