📓 Journals London to the French Alps

[AndyC]

Nooooo! It's hard to get an objective view of what's going on with Lotus when reading the stuff on here, so I was hoping that your trip would be able to provide some positive balance, but...

Reading this is probably the final nail in the coffin for my Emira journey. Despite being a huge Lotus fan I dont think I could live with the unreliability of (a) the car, (b) the service (or lack of). I am so disappointed . It looks like it's an F-type for me....

Andy, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip and the car behaves itself!

Having worked at JLR for a long time (not anymore), not sure you’re getting a more reliable car IMO. You will be an AWESOME service when things break no doubt because they have cars go wrong a lot and have that part solved brilliantly. But getting repairs actually done and having your car back … lotus is miles ahead for me atm. My jaguar and Land Rover have been in multiple times and had a VERY similar issue in June this year with a engine management light (turned out to be the second turbo gone bang at 11 months old) but what saves them is they replace the car with another similar fairly quick via the AA so you can continue life.

Please await my update before you make a final decision!

 

[ADC]

I believe it's thereabouts
View attachment 29813


FYI that's the ECM (Engine Control Module). There's also the CEM (Central Electronic Module) which is sort of the main computer and handles the OBD interface. That unit is larger and located behind the passenger footrest inside the cabin.

Seems to have great airflow to it, from what I can see...

 

[AndyC]

I shall return to my trip description and get this thread back on track! If there is only ONE post you read on this thread ... this is THE ONE!

So its 7am and I am out cleaning the car again in the front of the hotel ready for what I expect to be the best days driving of the trip! Admiring my free parking space and the concierge all appear to know me now for just cleaning the car but its time to leave Evian-les-bains!

Quick pop to fill up on some awesome water from the spring (I am really getting some great parking covered in this trip!):

So I have planned my route before leaving in anticipation of the drive. I spend most of my time in the alps when its covered in snow so the fun roads are then usually ski runs. They are usually called "col de..." and are always fermée (closed) in winter. BUT these roads are usually a drivers dream!

So we leave early... I want a free run over the mountain... I choose this run :

So it started a bit off to get out of the town giving an insane incline and experience of the "sticky hill start" feature... but as soon as we got a few miles from the lake... this was a FANTASTIC drive, smooth tarmac and leaving early ...no traffic! Yes its an hour stint, but I finally got to test the car properly. One part in particular I need to focus on. I had hoped for a great drive, and BOOM this part delivered soo much I ended up turning around and doing part of it again . I had never been on this road in the alps before but took the risk and super SUPER glad I did.

Here is the repeatable section.. honestly the best 20 mins of driving of the entire trip... I went up .. then back down .. then up again
Here is the street view

And the overhead:

I did not see another car.. the sun was blazing and I completely forgot about anything else! I was soo much on another planet I have no pictures.. just said to my wife to drop me the location as we was a mile after we left so I could share!

Honestly what a COMPLETE joy... it was after the first run up I finally fell in love with this car... What a morning!!!!!!!!! I still have a smile on my face now

Stopped to experience some mountain biking in les gets (they put a serious track on the slopes in the summer!) And filled up on a beautiful Tartiflette.

The Emira got tested... The Emira is amazing... The Emira ...

 

[Eagle7]

I believe it's thereabouts
View attachment 29813


FYI that's the ECM (Engine Control Module). There's also the CEM (Central Electronic Module) which is sort of the main computer and handles the OBD interface. That unit is larger and located behind the passenger footrest inside the cabin.

That picture is so sickening to look at. They had to have hit pretty hard to shear off the lower wishbone and bust the upper one like that. The amount of things stuffed into these cars is pretty amazing. Figuring out the packaging must have been a challenge.

The only thing I can figure out ECU-wise from that picture is even with the hatch open, it doesn't look like it's going to exactly be easy to access.

 

[Kimmax]

That picture is so sickening to look at. They had to have hit pretty hard to shear off the lower wishbone and bust the upper one like that. The amount of things stuffed into these cars is pretty amazing. Figuring out the packaging must have been a challenge.

The only thing I can figure out ECU-wise from that picture is even with the hatch open, it doesn't look like it's going to exactly be easy to access.

Supercharger has to come off IIRC

 

[Porter]

Supercharger has to come off IIRC

I think it's actually accessible through the wheel well if you take the liner out. I may be remembering it incorrectly though.

 

[Eagle7]

I have a laser thermometer. When I get mine, I'll take temperature readings of various parts of the engine compartment and even the trunk, to get an idea of what normal running temps are. I'm guessing there may be an opportunity for some judiciously applied heat reflective tape on certain things in certain areas.

 

[Logoman]

@AndyC great post !
A dream come try by the sound of things given your knowledge of the alps - and as an ex-snowboarder i've always been curious what those roads that are closed in winter are like for driving in the summer - good to hear they live up to expectation.
Took my Emira to the alps in June and had a similar experience - the car is

 

[Andy H]

Great to hear the road trip is back on track. The alps route sounds incredible. It would be good to hear the outcome of the recovery callout story and how Lotus turned it around for you.

 

[AndyC]

Its time for the afternoon drive... a drive I have done before so knew there was some cracking views and great road... (not as good as the morning mind but still awesome). At this time I felt like I would be invincible after such a great morning. However it was afternoon and traffic played on my fun a bit. Still a great drive none the less.

Heading from Les Get I went to St Gervais les bains...

A practical tip I thought I'd show how good this Nike bag is in the boot though... It seriously took me too long to find a good bag to fit in and this is a peach .. insert upside down and slide backwards Everything I needed for a week away with my wife (minus a vanity bag) fit behind the engine. The space is a real genuine surprise to me that I did not expect given no frunk in this car.

Given we was driving for 8-10 hour stints I personally do believe we made the right call to not put any makeup, deodorant or Champagne (they had a bottle the year my daughter was born - it was rude not to) in the back. I once had a bottle of champagne explode on the top an old TV because the temperature of the bottle got a little warm. The boot gets warm for sure (what else do you expect being soo close to the engine) but I am sure it would be ok I just did not chance it and would not again.

 

[jamesbxxx]

Its time for the afternoon drive... a drive I have done before so knew there was some cracking views and great road... (not as good as the morning mind but still awesome). At this time I felt like I would be invincible after such a great morning. However it was afternoon and traffic played on my fun a bit. Still a great drive none the less.

Heading from Les Get I went to St Gervais les bains...
View attachment 29850

A practical tip I thought I'd show how good this Nike bag is in the boot though... It seriously took me too long to find a good bag to fit in and this is a peach .. insert upside down and slide backwards Everything I needed for a week away with my wife (minus a vanity bag) fit behind the engine. The space is a real genuine surprise to me that I did not expect given no frunk in this car.
View attachment 29851

Given we was driving for 8-10 hour stints I personally do believe we made the right call to not put any makeup, deodorant or Champagne (they had a bottle the year my daughter was born - it was rude not to) in the back. I once had a bottle of champagne explode on the top an old TV because the temperature of the bottle got a little warm. The boot gets warm for sure (what else do you expect being soo close to the engine) but I am sure it would be ok I just did not chance it and would not again.

Which Nike bag is this? It is the medium duffle from sports direct?

 

[AndyC]

Thanks for the advice during the issue.. but here is the post a lot wanted to see.

So its now late afternoon and after a café (espresso) in town I have a 1.6mile drive to the hotel... about 30 seconds in. An alert on the dash fires saying "Power Restricted Mode" along with an Engine management light (this has happened to me 3 times in the last 2 years in different cars) so I know I should stop the car asap but get to a safe place to do so.

I get to the hotel car park, park-up check in and let my wife go to the room.. go back to move the car a few mins later and... nothing! So as this car does not have an assist call button like my others I google the breakdown number and find https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/roadside-assistance

+44 1603 370023 IF OUTSIDE THE UK

I call the number (its the AA like most in the UK), they go through all the details and then when asked where I am I explain France. This triggers a transfer to another department based in France.

I then go through the same details and the person asks for the make and model. The reaction is... a lotus - I have never had a lotus call before. Let me place you on hold while I go find out. 15 mins later the person comes back and say; lotus are not covered by this service and I would give you the number to call but that will just bring you straight back to this number (he clearly had googled the same as me). He continues "I have found out that lotus have a very unique recovery contract that is not covered by AA France - I will transfer you to the correct company"
After a few attempts to transfer and about 10 minutes he comes back "it appears no one is picking up - I will keep trying for you and get them to call you back - as you are in a safe place is this ok".

TBH I am relaxed about it knowing that I will not be using the car again that day but it is about 5pm now and agree.

2 hours later I call back - Turns out the Guy from France AA is still trying to get through. We agree for him to email them and I will check back in the morning... clearly this was not ideal but by this time I'd had a few beers and was super chilled in a nice hotel with a reservation at a great restaurant in 30 minutes. BTW if you are ever in Saint-Gervais-Les-Bains I really recommend Le Serac Restaurant

After dinner, the realisation of a ~650 mile drive the next day started to kick in and the car was not working... I would say this triggered a middle of the night unrest and I woke-up and started to dig. Obviously in about a 4 hours I found a handful of people (this forum is amazing btw) on what ti could potentially be, other people with the breakdown issues etc etc.
I have had the joy of working in Automotive manufacturers for ~15 years. I reached out to a few people I had not seen in a number of years that might be able to help... at 8:30am I get a call from Lotus Warranty and explain my situation.

We had to checkout at 11 so I talked to Lotus about the risk and decided if I could start the car I might be able to drive it to a lotus dealer. 10mm spanner is helpful indeed!!!

So I get the car started and no engine management light is present. The guys at Lotus was super helpful. They continued to take charge of the breakdown part (just in case I did actually breakdown again).

Lotus took the symptoms down and acknowledged that it was a likely issue as they recently released 2 potentially impact module updates. It looked like Dijon was the best dealer for me to go for...

I headed off and the car felt fine to me! Lotus called me every hour to check everything was ok and to give me updates. confidence was high in the car now... and I had left something in Evian-Les-Bains so I had the terrible pain of driving back over the mountain !!!! The weather was great and the drive was amazing.

I have to be honest that I did not push the car as hard though as wanted to get to the dealer in 1 piece. Lotus was concerned that if I turned the car off that it would not start again so I was a little nervous when I stopped for fuel. The car is running in the picture

4 hours later I arrived at Lotus Dijon... in the rain... WHAT A DEALER I wish my dealer was like this one. A proper lotus dealer not attached to anything else and is next to a race track where they tune lotus cars all day long. It was a joy to walk around.

The new software (thats not available on a recall or anything yet) was installed - took about 45 mins. During which I got to look around the service area.

They even maintain their own race team here:

Car now flashed and ready to roll to the last train of the day back to the UK.... The sun even came out!

 

[AndyC]

Which Nike bag is this? It is the medium duffle from sports direct?

Thats the one!

 

[Andy H]

That sounds like quite an adventure. I'm not sure I would have been able to relax that evening like you did! It's great that Lotus took over and guided you to the dealer. Did you ever get a clear answer on who was responsible for the recovery service if you had needed it? Was it the French AA or some other organisation?

 

[Cachaco131]

@AndyC seems to have the perfect personality match with Lotus ownership.

 

[Eagle7]

@AndyC seems to have the perfect personality match with Lotus ownership.

He's what's known as a sports car owner, in the classic and true sense. It's a mentality and attitude like this that overcomes adversity, and goes on to create the ambience of what sports car ownership is really about. It's not about speed or horsepower, it's about the participation in something out of the ordinary, the path less trodden. It's the adventure of it all, and Andy is a true adventurer. Well done Andy, well done.

 

[Porter]

I'm loving this story. Thanks for making us a part of it, Andy.

 

[AndyC]

That sounds like quite an adventure. I'm not sure I would have been able to relax that evening like you did! It's great that Lotus took over and guided you to the dealer. Did you ever get a clear answer on who was responsible for the recovery service if you had needed it? Was it the French AA or some other organisation?

Turns out… (I’m reading between the lines here) that lotus had an agreement that had never been triggered. Their agreement is with the holding company of AA who cover via an insurance agreement. Also it’s with a specialist cover group for sports cars in France (which are super rare in France given their tax rules).

Soo I finally got a call 24 hours after I needed it to come help to rush I declined as was doing 130kph on the motorway and the car felt good. I’m assured this was just a contract issue that was not triggered. 2 things I’m doing - I’ve agreed to write up the experience for lotus as they need this to verify it’s fixed for the next time it happens to a lotus driver. Secondly I’ll followup with people I know at the AA to verify the facts.

You need to understand … I’m a car guy, this car is great, this break proved that to me. Cars that have this much power are GOING to breakdown, they are GOING to cost money to keep. In an Emira it can never be a super stressful situation IMO. I’ve been in situations with all my children and then it’s different. But with just my wife, with no time or dependent pressures, why stress in this situation.

If this was my wife on her own she would not know what to do that’s for sure.

A little bit more about me… I was working in automotive aftersales for 17 years. I helped some manufacturers go to over 100 ecus on their cars. Lotus have just gone from 4 to 40.. it’s a very hard jump. I notice lotus are still yet to release a J2534 compatible device for the Emira, This means they probably have no diagnostics for roadside assist either, these are all things they have to do for legislation but to help owners too.

 

[Toomanyloti]

@AndyC seems to have the perfect personality match with Lotus ownership.

you beat me to it. Had not had chance to reply before now..

Thanks for ooozing positivity in the face of adversity

I have been away with the 'lads' on car trips with a guy messing about with a piston and needle out of an e-type at the side of the road in France whincing at the possibility he might drop it. We filled an Elan Diff with Engine oil (its all we had in the middle of nowhere) with a bit of garden hose and a funnel 'I happened to be carrying' in the boot of my Elan etc etc...
I lost most of the Elan coolant many years ago coming through one of the passes in the Lakes when the otter switch blew out. An old pop bottle and a stream came to the rescue..

There's always a way

 

[AndyC]

The last leg of the trip was a beast… shows the touring capacity of the car.

One day averaging 14mpg through twisting road roaring like a beast through the mountains… to the comfort of a 1000km drive across france into the UK.

This car has opened up a new possibility for me. The sentiment from others on posts here are correct, the mentality is built over years of issues and things like gearbox replaces on the side of a road… The runs to the Nürburgring when you know 1 of your party is not coming back in the same vehicle. This is the first trip I’ve done with just 1 car, without having to plan recovery options. With changes of clothes to use at nice places to eat. This car has opened a new way for me to explore. I’m excited for the ventures I’ll be experiencing in this car.

Yea there was a mishap - it was a fuel pressure drop, the car is being over sensitive to protect the engine really. As I stated in my previous post … this is a big change for a manufacturer to have soo much software working independently to help the vehicle perform.

This is my first lotus … I’m super excited for the future of EV vehicles, I had the privilege of working on the Rimac Nevera and if you have not seen that car out dragging a F1 car go look.

However, given this is one of the last real ICE vehicles… I’m proud to have one!!

A new lotus fan over here!!!

Thanks for joining our journey! This will be an everyday car for us too … will be clocking probably 10k miles a year so let’s see how reliable this beauty is.