Lotus Driving Academy today - good news

[Lolub]

I wish I'd paid more attention/made better notes. But, I know that we used a mixture of the modes today, some of it in tour, some of it in track.

I felt like the slow, pootling around getting onto the track, the car was quite quiet. But under hard acceleration, it really did open up and sounded great!

To be honest, this is probably not a bad thing, certainly for myself, I don't want to wake the neighbours when I sneak out in the late evening

Awesome reviews, thank you so much!!

To confirm, does the Tour setup have drive modes like the Sport setup does?

Also, any differences felt between the Tour and Sport? I suspect the average person like myself will not be able to tell. I have an S2000 (AP1) as reference, which I consider a harsh suspension. However, I hope Tour (my build) is much more forgiving than the S2000.

 

[VL3X]

£180 for the taster (about 20-30 mins on track), £720 for intermediate and £960 for advanced. Probably cheaper for you to fly to Hethel and do it there

Supposed to go to Lake Como in October for our anniversary. Maybe I can talk my wife into Hethel instead.

 

[Joel]

Awesome reviews, thank you so much!!

To confirm, does the Tour setup have drive modes like the Sport setup does?

Also, any differences felt between the Tour and Sport? I suspect the average person like myself will not be able to tell. I have an S2000 (AP1) as reference, which I consider a harsh suspension. However, I hope Tour (my build) is much more forgiving than the S2000.

I only drove the Tour chassis so can't comment on the differences, but yes, both cars will have the drive mode choices

 

[TomE]

Awesome reviews, thank you so much!!

To confirm, does the Tour setup have drive modes like the Sport setup does?

Also, any differences felt between the Tour and Sport? I suspect the average person like myself will not be able to tell. I have an S2000 (AP1) as reference, which I consider a harsh suspension. However, I hope Tour (my build) is much more forgiving than the S2000.

Two suspension setups: Touring and Sports

Suspension: Touring and Sports options

Lotus promised us a further note on suspension choices. But as that still hasn't arrived, here's my attempt. This draws on discussions with the Lotus team, published info and some of my previous posts. The tl;dr version You've got two suspension options and one of them also has two tyre...

www.emiraforum.com

Three drive modes: Tour, Sport, Track (Track is part of the optional Drivers Pack so is standard on First Edition and a cost option on Base)

Drive Modes explained and Lotus Dynamic Performance Management

A few questions have come up about traction control, sport mode versus sports suspension and what the Track mode in the Drivers Pack does. Here's an overview and links to more details. First, to clear up one area of confusion. The Emira has two suspension options, Touring and Sports. There...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[TomE]

Supposed to go to Lake Como in October for our anniversary. Maybe I can talk my wife into Hethel instead.

The Norfolk Broads are similar .... ish

 

[GetawayDriving]

There are 3 in the US. Currently running Evoras - not sure when they’ll be getting Emiras.

Lotus Announces Three New USA Track Partnerships to Deliver the Lotus Driving Experience

Lotus has announced that three U.S. tracks have joined its Lotus Experience track program for 2022

www.thespeedjournal.com

We need a little love in the most populous corridor in the nation.

They should really add Club Motorsports in Tamworth NH. Amazing track, stunning scenery.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Supposed to go to Lake Como in October for our anniversary. Maybe I can talk my wife into Hethel instead.

You’re on the front door of the Alps, and not far from the Italian Lotus Academy location outside Milan. I’d think you can have an hell of a time where you are.

 

[Tommyboy1986]

Hi all great reviews , really like the honest feed back Was there any auto Emiras there at all? Did any one drive one ??

 

[Joel]

Hi all great reviews , really like the honest feed back Was there any auto Emiras there at all? Did any one drive one ??

They were all manual cars

 

[Andrew P]

Two suspension setups: Touring and Sports

Suspension: Touring and Sports options

Lotus promised us a further note on suspension choices. But as that still hasn't arrived, here's my attempt. This draws on discussions with the Lotus team, published info and some of my previous posts. The tl;dr version You've got two suspension options and one of them also has two tyre...

www.emiraforum.com

Three drive modes: Tour, Sport, Track (Track is part of the optional Drivers Pack so is standard on First Edition and a cost option on Base)

Drive Modes explained and Lotus Dynamic Performance Management

A few questions have come up about traction control, sport mode versus sports suspension and what the Track mode in the Drivers Pack does. Here's an overview and links to more details. First, to clear up one area of confusion. The Emira has two suspension options, Touring and Sports. There...

www.emiraforum.com

I drove both Touring with Goodyears & Sport with Michelin Cup’s yesterday and both performed extremely well. From a ride perspective it’s impossible to compare given how smooth the track is. Cup tyres will obviously give you a bit more ultimate grip but not much good if you are driving in wet weather. Unless your local roads are very smooth or you are mainly doing track driving I think Touring is the better spec for “normal” road conditions. A Touring spec Emira offers a materially better level of all round performance (braking, handling, less under steer, more ultimate pace) than an early Evora (can’t comment on the very latest Evoras). whichever suspension set up you choose I don’t believe you will be disappointed. Gear change is also better than the early Evora - good clutch weight, decent feel & even on track never had any issue with the change unlike a couple of the “professional” reviews.

 

[Scruff111S]

Great review

I drove both Touring with Goodyears & Sport with Michelin Cup’s yesterday and both performed extremely well. From a ride perspective it’s impossible to compare given how smooth the track is. Cup tyres will obviously give you a bit more ultimate grip but not much good if you are driving in wet weather. Unless your local roads are very smooth or you are mainly doing track driving I think Touring is the better spec for “normal” road conditions. A Touring spec Emira offers a materially better level of all round performance (braking, handling, less under steer, more ultimate pace) than an early Evora (can’t comment on the very latest Evoras). whichever suspension set up you choose I don’t believe you will be disappointed. Gear change is also better than the early Evora - good clutch weight, decent feel & even on track never had any issue with the change unlike a couple of the “professional” reviews.

Great review. I was a little worried that the Sport/Cup2 spec I have on order was a wise decision, having not driven either.

 

[Tailslides]

Hang on! There’s something fishy going on here. AU22 BUO is the yellow Emira I rode in up the hill at Goodwood. That’s got an alcantara interior with grey stitching. You can see that in the early part of the video when they do interior shots of the stationary car.

When they move on to the exterior shots on the Hethel track it’s the same car. But then when they cut to interior shots on track at around 7:30, it’s got tan leather seats. That’s a different car!

Why have they used two different cars and what’s the build spec of the tan interior one? BUO is definitely one of the pre-production press cars. I wonder if the tan one is an LDA car. Can anyone who did one of the LDA sessions confirm if the yellow V6 is an LHD with tan interior?

If it’s an LDA car then we know it’s 99% production spec.

I drove the Hethel Yellow and it was definitely not tan, that would have stuck in my mind as I have specified tan. Shot with door open and legend photobombing

 

[Magicman]

Supposed to go to Lake Como in October for our anniversary. Maybe I can talk my wife into Hethel instead.

Norfolk is very similar to Lake como tbh......

 

[virtualmacho]

Supposed to go to Lake Como in October for our anniversary. Maybe I can talk my wife into Hethel instead.

The Norfolk Broads are similar .... ish

I'm OK with the notion that the broads in Norfolk have things in common with my wife, but I doubt it means I can go wild over there...

 

[Green]

We need a little love in the most populous corridor in the nation.

They should really add Club Motorsports in Tamworth NH. Amazing track, stunning scenery.

View attachment 7807

Have you been there? I never heard of the track but it appears I live only 45 minutes from it. I may take my R8 there if they have a open event.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Have you been there? I never heard of the track but it appears I live only 45 minutes from it. I may take my R8 there if they have an open event.

I have, and it’s amazing. Especially in fall foliage. Several groups run there, you can probably find a few open events on motorsportsreg.com.

Between this, Palmer, Thomson, NHMS, Canaan, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen we’re quite spoiled for tracks in the northeast, I’m really surprised Lotus hasn’t teamed up with one.

 

[Lolub]

I only drove the Tour chassis so can't comment on the differences, but yes, both cars will have the drive mode choices

Thanks Joel for confirming!

 

[Lolub]

Two suspension setups: Touring and Sports

Suspension: Touring and Sports options

Lotus promised us a further note on suspension choices. But as that still hasn't arrived, here's my attempt. This draws on discussions with the Lotus team, published info and some of my previous posts. The tl;dr version You've got two suspension options and one of them also has two tyre...

www.emiraforum.com

Three drive modes: Tour, Sport, Track (Track is part of the optional Drivers Pack so is standard on First Edition and a cost option on Base)

Drive Modes explained and Lotus Dynamic Performance Management

A few questions have come up about traction control, sport mode versus sports suspension and what the Track mode in the Drivers Pack does. Here's an overview and links to more details. First, to clear up one area of confusion. The Emira has two suspension options, Touring and Sports. There...

www.emiraforum.com

Thanks TomE for all the excellent information, wow!

 

[LotusRising]

Just got back from the session today having driven both Touring & Sport spec on the skid pan, slalom etc & track. The cars looked fantastic in the sun - saw all colours and they were excellent to drive. All of us who attended have plenty of experience of driving many different types of sports cars (Lotus & many other brands) & nobody will be disappointed with the Emira. The brakes are fantastic, great handling (hard to provoke even on the skid pan) and no issues with the gear change despite what some expert reviewers have claimed. The engine also sounds great. Both Touring & Sport suspension worked well and without Cup tyres I don’t think the difference is substantial.

How was the gearing? Specifically can you scream it at reasonable non-track speeds or is the second gear too tall like the Porsche Cayman 4.0?

 

[Tailslides]

How was the gearing? Specifically can you scream it at reasonable non-track speeds or is the second gear too tall like the Porsche Cayman 4.0?

Gearing is not as long as Porsche, the engine is nice and tractable, third gear through medium corners from fairly low rpm holding the revs onto the straights, I found I was keeping fourth up to about 115-120mph but there was quite a bit more, just not up to speed in such a short session. The rev counter wasn't immediately in my view and I was more interested in braking points etc.