Lotus 3rd Phone Call

[Leonard]

And this is on track at Goodwood in the same car. A fast circuit, all 3rd or 4th gear, all corners are 70mph+ and the fastest section is 145mph. The car will easily catch and pass 4-cyl Elises and Exiges, Caterhams and Esprits. I couldn’t hold off a modified supercharged Exige. There’s some initial roll then it loads up, so is very capable on track for a road-biased car.

The track vid is really useful thanks Tom. I think my worry was watching the Schmark.... (Schmee) video where the Touring car at Hethel looked to have a little pitch one way, pitch the other when transitioning from the chicane to the straight.

 

[TomE]

You're right, it will have some pitch. You can also see it on my video going through the chicane just before the pits. It's not that the car is wallowing, it's designed to load up progressively so that it rolls a certain amount initially and then doesn't roll much further. It won't make your passengers feel seasick!

 

[DJW]

So had confirmation today from Lotus that early deposit holders of V6 FE will probably NOT get to see images of cars sprayed in the 6 FE colours before cars are starting to get built .

Not the best experience having to decide final colour of circa £80k car based on potentially inaccurate renders or small paint samples.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Touring suspension on track

Only joking, It'll be fine!

 

[EM33RA]

So had confirmation today from Lotus that early deposit holders of V6 FE will probably NOT get to see images of cars sprayed in the 6 FE colours before cars are starting to get built .

Not the best experience having to decide final colour of circa £80k car based on potentially inaccurate renders or small paint samples.

We’ve already seen 3 full scale cars only 3 more colours to see and I’m sure we will by mid Jan 2022.

 

[TomE]

So had confirmation today from Lotus that early deposit holders of V6 FE will probably NOT get to see images of cars sprayed in the 6 FE colours before cars are starting to get built .

Not the best experience having to decide final colour of circa £80k car based on potentially inaccurate renders or small paint samples.

Can you let me know who told you that (by private message if you’d prefer) and I’ll follow up. That’s contrary to what I was told by senior Lotus people on Monday, that these pictures have already been taken and will be published in the Jan update.

 

[Lankan]

And this is on track at Goodwood in the same car. A fast circuit, all 3rd or 4th gear, all corners are 70mph+ and the fastest section is 145mph. The car will easily catch and pass 4-cyl Elises and Exiges, Caterhams and Esprits. I couldn’t hold off a modified supercharged Exige. There’s some initial roll then it loads up, so is very capable on track for a road-biased car.

If Emira's touring setup is as compliant as it is on your Evora then, havign driven it a few times, I do have a decent reference point with regards to Goodwood.

Haven't driven Goodwood in a while, so enjoyed the video.
It can be rather challenging in the wet, which is my lasting memory of the circuit when I last drove there in 2016 in a Clio V6 255 (we used to have an annual Renaultsport event organised by the owners' club); a slight drizzle had intensified by the time I had hammered down Lavant and approached Woodcote, a touch too fast for the conditions, so tried to trail-brake my way through it and had an interesting moment. It was quite hilarious seeing two Clio V6s spinning in tandem!

 

[Eagle7]

I truly hope we get to see the other 3 colors on actual cars next month, but I believe the renders I have are reasonably close; about 95% on Verdant and Magma. I'm having a difficult time with Nimbus as photos of the samples vary from straight up silver, to a smoothed out warmish silver gray, to a fast transition from bright to dark. I haven't been able to figure out how to replicate that color behavior, so I've did my best to match the inside shot of the warmish gray.

Here are the reference icons for the 3 colors I created for the ones we haven't seen.

Here's a picture of the actual planform samples I used to pull the colors from.

As you can see in the picture above, Nimbus is silver gray with a fast transition to shadow, yet in the image below taken indoors, it looks smoother and warmer.

I've gone with the warm indoor version for the renders I'm posting here.

Just for reference, here's a picture of the actual Hethel Yellow car in China.

And here's my render of Hethel.

With the exception of the lighting difference, you can see by the front of both images the color tone is virtually identical.

Without changing anything else other than the color of the car, here's Magma, Verdant and Nimbus.

If Lotus doesn't post pictures of cars in all the colors next month, I believe these renders are 90-95% close to what they're actually going to look like. Close enough to make a reasonable decision without being surprised by the actual color on a real car.

 

[TXEMIRA]

There is no shade of Verdant that will make me say “I don’t want Verdant”.
Each time I see a mock-up or another vehicle reference - it just makes my decision even more solid.
Having the Evora in green already also helps quite a bit (even though Verdant will be darker).
I just think it’ll be different and special.

 

[Rollerskate]

Spoke to lotus today as have heard nothing since I placed my 2nd deposit early October and they have told me that the 3rd phone call will not start until the new year.

They also said that there are no delays that they are aware of that could affect production early next year.

It seems that where you will fall in the build queue depends on a number of factors…..

What colour ?
What engine ?
What transmission ?
What country? (Later cars I guess)

I’m guessing all the above factors could move you up or down the build slots depending on what they are building first.

The only other thing they said was despite me being a fairly early depositor they couldn’t promise me a 2022 delivery which was a little concerning as it would be handy to know if I’m actually buying an 80k car next year.

Please reply to this feed if you have heard different or have an update on the 3rd deposit.

I share your frustration - having paid my. second deposit around the same time as you. It is unacceptable that we can't get information on build slots even though we were promised a build slot date for December. I have phoned the dealer and emailed Graeme Robertson. (European Sales Manager who I bought my first 2 Exiges from) only to be told to phone customer services! I am frustrated because I want the car enough not to tell Lotus to get stuffed. No-one should pay two deposits for a car, be promised build slot information before end of December, and then expected to phone a customer services line!

 

[TomE]

Who promised you a build slot date in December?

I've only ever been told (unofficially) that indicative build months might be available in Dec, and that target delivery dates would be told to us in Jan and then only for the first 6 months of V6 FE production. First batch (June delivery) deposit holders were called before Christmas and next batches will be contacted in Jan.

The UK dealers are not involved in the process and can't tell you delivery dates, so referring you to Customer Care at Hethel is all they can do. First deliveries are 6 months away so it's a little early to be expecting a more specific date.

I share your frustration about the comms and have expressed this to senior people at Lotus. I'm hoping to get a response to my points in early Jan and that we will get a more comprehensive update during Jan.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Who promised you a build slot date in December?

I've only ever been told (unofficially) that indicative build months might be available in Dec, and that target delivery dates would be told to us in Jan and then only for the first 6 months of V6 FE production. First batch (June delivery) deposit holders were called before Christmas and next batches will be contacted in Jan.

The UK dealers are not involved in the process and can't tell you delivery dates, so referring you to Customer Care at Hethel is all they can do. First deliveries are 6 months away so it's a little early to be expecting a more specific date.

I share your frustration about the comms and have expressed this to senior people at Lotus. I'm hoping to get a response to my points in early Jan and that we will get a more comprehensive update during Jan.

I was pleasantly surprised to get the call in December of a potential June delivery as the comms from Lotus said we would hear in January so actually they informed us earlier.

 

[DJS]

Can I ask a question to those of you that have had their June delivery confirmed....

Have any of you gone for the automatic?

Just seeing if the June deliveries are manual only.

 

[DJW]

Going auto and had confirmation both autos and manuals will be delivered in June.

 

[Yachtie]

Anyone had their 3rd phone call this year yet?

 

[TomE]

I haven't seen anyone posting on here, other forums or Facebook about calls this week. They may not be restarting until next week I guess.

Or they may have taken on board our feedback that the calls were nice but didn't answer key questions, so are re-grouping to update the scripts

Or maybe they're going to email everyone instead.

I'm trying to find out more info, but won't be until next week.

 

[Lankan]

I haven't seen anyone posting on here, other forums or Facebook about calls this week. They may not be restarting until next week I guess.

Or they may have taken on board our feedback that the calls were nice but didn't answer key questions, so are re-grouping to update the scripts

Or maybe they're going to email everyone instead.

I'm trying to find out more info, but won't be until next week.

Tom, did you get any feedback/response(s) to your list of questions? Not looking for details, just whether you received a response. Thanks.

 

[TomE]

Yes. I'm discussing with Lotus and will be able to give more of an update at end of next week. Making progress.

 

[Lankan]

Yes. I'm discussing with Lotus and will be able to give more of an update at end of next week. Making progress.

Super! Look forward to an update when you are able to.

 

[TXEMIRA]

Yes. I'm discussing with Lotus and will be able to give more of an update at end of next week. Making progress.

What are you naming that Thread?

A. Lotus Explained
B. Lotus Heardus
C. Lotus “For The Listeners”
D. Other