Lotus Emira Track Experience

[Chris2409]

I've never had an instructor at Hethel trying to get me to go slower, in fact always the opposite. For obvious reasons they have to stay in the car with you.

There are track days on the Hethel circuit where you can drive your own car solo.

During my sessions last week the instructor demoed the exercises then got out of the car as he felt car sick . To be fair he did stay in the car during the final lapping sessions.

 

[emiraspain]

I was concerned about this as soon as I saw the frameless windows. I've seen designs like this work, but most eventually end up tearing at the weatherstripping above the sideview mirror due to the window being put up while the door is open or just from wear and tear over time. I forget which vehicle I had that did this, but one got really bad and caused excessive wind noise on the road.

View attachment 7987

yes, I saw it, but imagine it wont be an issue on final cars... but worth noting in the mean time

 

[Cachaco131]

Holaaa...
pues..... claro, todo es relativo y lo que es importante en el "feel" para uno, is maybe not so important for others.
In with allll the crap I wrote, I mentioned the Exige was a stunning car to drive, great power, great sound, great steering and it felt very fast, even if it wasnt as fast as a GT4, it felt it.
I have to say the feeling sick did take a bit of the "feel" away for me and to be honest, I would much prefer to have driven it without an instructor telling me what to do.
HOWEVER, the car does in MANY ways feel like a refined Exige and thats a compliment. It feels like your going faster than you are, where as I found my 718 felt it was going slower than it was. It was, and I am sure the GT4 is too, almost boring in its brilliance.

The Emira is not boring and is NOT perfect...
I wish I could tell you that you will enjoy it more than your GT4, but that depends on you, I think we are all looking for an amazing car at an amazing price and this is possibly not possible, but yes the car feels sporty, fast, and very stable!!.... Good noise, makes you feel alive, but again, I really want to drive it without anyone beside me to get comfortable with it, if you know what I mean.

Thanks! I can relate to the 718 "boring in its brilliance" remark, that's exactly how it felt. I don't have one though, I think I would get a Spyder for the topless experience

 

[eriegz]

I think it helps tone down the otherwise exotic looks...

I've never understood this, honestly. Why would you buy an exotic-looking car, then proceed to try to "tone down" its exotic looks?

 

[lion shf]

8. Wheel Gap - maybe you all know this, BUT I did not. Touring models have a much bigger wheel gap, about 2 to 3 fingers more than Sports. This is the way the car is designed and yes I am sure all things can be altered, but thats up to you. I am not even going down the road of that discussion, but just wanted to add that.
.
first thing that pisses me off

 

[emiraspain]

Thanks! I can relate to the 718 "boring in its brilliance" remark, that's exactly how it felt. I don't have one though, I think I would get a Spyder for the topless experience

Yes I love the spyder, but cant bring myself to buy a car, a porsche, that they have not bothered to update the interior to 911 levels for years.....
but its possibly the best car they have.....

 

[SweptVolume]

Very puzzling to read this about the ride heights. Several of us have been told by various different people at Lotus the ride height is identical for both setups. Gav Kershaw has said so on video (I think it's in the Smoking Tire podcast) and he and others from the ride & handling team confirmed it to me at Goodwood.

The Sports and Touring press cars at Goodwood were all the same height and they're the final iteration of pre-production before production.

We'll see it confirmed on production cars later this month, as most UK dealers will be getting one of each setup.

The catchpole video also says ride height is same for both setups

 

[emiraspain]

The catchpole video also says ride height is same for both setups

Only thing I can add to this... not guaranteeing anything
I saw it with my own eyes, cars next to each other, sorry didnt get a good comparing photo.
The guy that personally put in "100's" of hours developing the GT4 car there at Lotus was the one who said it and illustrated it with his own fingers.
So while I am not convinced by anything anyone says, as maybe this has been changed, I would trust this guy and what I saw myself with my own eyes, over what a journalist says.....
BUT once again, who knows........

 

[TomE]

It wasn’t just a journalist, it was also the head of vehicle attributes at Lotus and several of the Lotus ride and handling development engineers.

 

[emiraspain]

It wasn’t just a journalist, it was also the head of vehicle attributes at Lotus and several of the Lotus ride and handling development engineers.

okay, yes, it's personally not a worry for me, and as with many elements of the car, the screens, the sound system, the seats, there is info out there, but contradicting in some ways and only time, sooooon, will tell.
I have no idea what is true, but it would seem strange to have an actual Sports and Touring car at Hethel, for people to use and to encourage them to use them back to back to see the differences (which were minimal, if noticeable at all) and have the cars set up incorrectly.....
If someone has Gav's email, he would be the man to ask.... but if not, then its a case of seeing them at the dealers in about 1-2 weeks.....

It really doesnt get any better does it.. haha.
But the good thing is that even if the ride height is higher on the touring, which is was, it still handled superbly .....

 

[virtualmacho]

I've never understood this, honestly. Why would you buy an exotic-looking car, then proceed to try to "tone down" its exotic looks?

No worries, I don't understand it either!

 

[Tonyshepp]

@emiraspain thanks for taking the time for an honest write up, great facts and comedy thrown in too .
did they tell you what 95% was complete and the 5% that needed to be done, most of the reviews say it isn’t quite finished though no one says exactly what isn’t complete.

Did you feel a sense of occasion driving it, like real excitement or were you generally let down by the car that it felt average? After all there are a lot of good used cars for 80k.

 

[emiraspain]

I’m entirely not surprised — from a spring selection point of view it makes sense too.

Edit: To expand — they’re likely using the exact same dampers just with a different more aggressive valving. Everything else will remain the same except for the springs which are only slightly stiffer than touring. With spring selection, they’re going with off the shelf springs and if you pick the same length spring, with a higher spring rate — then the sports would ride higher than the touring. So instead what they likely did was go with a spring that was shorter and stiffer than the touring springs.

Matching ride heights exactly by only changing spring rate is extremely unlikely for a car mfg picking off the shelf springs. No matter what anyone claims, the ride heights can’t be identical unless they have adjustable or different spring perches.

I’m going with sports legitimately being slightly lower than touring.

Im going with whatever you just said

 

[TomE]

okay, yes, it's personally not a worry for me, and as with many elements of the car, the screens, the sound system, the seats, there is info out there, but contradicting in some ways and only time, sooooon, will tell.
I have no idea what is true, but it would seem strange to have an actual Sports and Touring car at Hethel, for people to use and to encourage them to use them back to back to see the differences (which were minimal, if noticeable at all) and have the cars set up incorrectly.....
If someone has Gav's email, he would be the man to ask.... but if not, then its a case of seeing them at the dealers in about 1-2 weeks.....

It really doesnt get any better does it.. haha.
But the good thing is that even if the ride height is higher on the touring, which is was, it still handled superbly .....

I‘ve already asked Gav and LCC and R&H team when the wheel gap/ride height questions first came up. I’m going to wait for the production cars and see what they look like.

 

[Hedge]

okay, yes, it's personally not a worry for me, and as with many elements of the car, the screens, the sound system, the seats, there is info out there, but contradicting in some ways and only time, sooooon, will tell.
I have no idea what is true, but it would seem strange to have an actual Sports and Touring car at Hethel, for people to use and to encourage them to use them back to back to see the differences (which were minimal, if noticeable at all) and have the cars set up incorrectly.....
If someone has Gav's email, he would be the man to ask.... but if not, then its a case of seeing them at the dealers in about 1-2 weeks.....

It really doesnt get any better does it.. haha.
But the good thing is that even if the ride height is higher on the touring, which is was, it still handled superbly .....

Oh FFS it sounds like the car has been designed by committee and no one has actually looked at what they’ve built or understands what they’ve built.

Still, it looks lovely!

 

[TomE]

@emiraspain thanks for taking the time for an honest write up, great facts and comedy thrown in too .
did they tell you what 95% was complete and the 5% that needed to be done, most of the reviews say it isn’t quite finished though no one says exactly what isn’t complete.

The missing parts are ancillary items like sun visors, washer bottle caps and exhaust tailpipe finishers.

As far as I can find out, it’s not major mechanical items, as they are able to part-build cars and fit the missing items later.

 

[emiraspain]

@emiraspain thanks for taking the time for an honest write up, great facts and comedy thrown in too .
did they tell you what 95% was complete and the 5% that needed to be done, most of the reviews say it isn’t quite finished though no one says exactly what isn’t complete.

Did you feel a sense of occasion driving it, like real excitement or were you generally let down by the car that it felt average? After all there are a lot of good used cars for 80k.

thankyou... no, the guys from the academy dont know much about the cars ... although the instructor did a LOT of the development work on the GT4, he didnt do any on the standard car, but obviously he knows Gav and his team. However, he does not know much about what goes on inside/on the other side. He claimed he didnt even know what each section of the factory was doing/designed to do. I.e paint shop over there, upholstery here..etc etc.
So to answer you, no, no one there has any idea about which 5 odd % is missing and what may be changed to improve these things. Some trim was not final and the warnings etc... more than that he had no idea.

I feel bad about my write up as it was overall a bit negative, but these are small details we are talking about in reality. How can I criticise Evo's first review on track and then also give a down side review.... a bit hypocritical, although I hope I didnt do it with a sticking the knife in tone.
Overall however the car was exciting, I would say, and I think some reviewers have eluded to it, more exciting than your typical porsche, be that a 718 GTS or a 911 S. As for the Alpine, its not in the same league for my money, their 4cyl is no match...
One of the most exciting cars I've ever had the pleasure to drive, and misfortune to look too long at haha, is the Exige and this car is along those lines. It is very hard to unsettle, but for a good track driver I am sure they can still have fun, but for an average joe like me, you are in safe hands, the chassis does feel very well balanced and the wide track, I'd say you notice it. Turning circle I didnt mention, its average, now that I think about it, turning around on track, not a London taxi, but not a london bus either.
Yes, there is a sense of occasion, but once again, I think when we drive this car on our own, relaxed, feeling good (as I wasnt) yes it will be what we wanted it to be. No it wont be perfect, its a Lotus, maybe they never will be, but it will be something you want to get into and drive it.... that as u say is the most important thing, not all the other rubbish I felt I had to mention as it has been mentioned previously.
Going into this with eyes open, I dont think anyone will be disappointed even at 80k.
However, those, if there are any of those lucky enough, at 60k, will be getting a true bargain!!

 

[kitkat]

The claim that they were the same ride height never made any sense to me in the first place I just didn’t want to provide any contrary information.

If you assume a 32/68% weight balance from the Evora and 1405Kg weight that means for example the each front wheel has 224.8kg of weight on it.

Use the exact same dampers and spring lengths but at 55N/mm vs 60N/mm for the sport springs and you’re looking at 40mm and 36.7mm of spring compression. That means changing nothing else the sport would ride 3.3 mm higher than the touring.

To match it lotus would need to produce a 3.3mm lower spring perch or adjusted the circlip on the damper body to use a different position.

What’s more likely is they just stepped down the length of the spring. Eibach sells their springs in 1” height increments. Put this together and you’re looking at a 20mm difference if they stepped down in spring length but upped the spring rate.

 

[emiraspain]

@emiraspain thanks for taking the time for an honest write up, great facts and comedy thrown in too .
did they tell you what 95% was complete and the 5% that needed to be done, most of the reviews say it isn’t quite finished though no one says exactly what isn’t complete.

Did you feel a sense of occasion driving it, like real excitement or were you generally let down by the car that it felt average? After all there are a lot of good used cars for 80k.

sorry, missed the used cars 80k comment, but thats a wide open book and a new forum completely.
On a personal note, on the way to my friends house for dinner, hampton in arden, I went past the aston martin dealer, close to the sainsburys / petrol station to get some garlic bread and lettuce..... too much info?
A year or more ago, you could get the latest Vantage, 2018 for less than 90k and today those 2018 cars should really be down to 80k with the odd one lower, BUT I dont think they are.
I dont want to open a can of worms and check, but I think aston did something, before covid to get their dealers in line and keep prices higher. I dont know, but I seriously considered buying one way before Covid for around 90...
Point being, on looks, engine sound and power, name and bragging rights, exclusivity and real wow appeal, the vantage at 80k would for me be a real tempter. However, a 2018 car would be out of warranty, would if things were back to normal, probably loose 5-10 odd thousand a year in depreciation, drink a bit more high costing jet fuel and.... the interior although high quality leather, feels bulky and dated (old school mercedes with no apple car play).
At the same time though, we cant sit here and compare a 2 3 4 year old 150k car with a new 60-80k car. I mean we can, but its not fair to Lotus and the fact that the Lotus stands up against that car and the 992, which for me is very good looking ... means its a great design and has enough power and a good sound. Its a never ending discussion and one for a beer or a juice in my case, and one that shows you, you need a smaller house and a larger garage .

 

[emiraspain]

The claim that they were the same ride height never made any sense to me in the first place I just didn’t want to provide any contrary information.

If you assume a 32/68% weight balance from the Evora and 1405Kg weight that means for example the each front wheel has 224.8kg of weight on it.

Use the exact same dampers and spring lengths but at 55N/mm vs 60N/mm for the sport springs and you’re looking at 40mm and 36.7mm of spring compression. That means changing nothing else the sport would ride 3.3 mm higher than the touring.

To match it lotus would need to produce a 3.3mm lower spring perch or adjusted the circlip on the damper body to use a different position.

What’s more likely is they just stepped down the length of the spring. Eibach sells their springs in 1” height increments. Put this together and you’re looking at a 20mm difference if they stepped down in spring length but upped the spring rate.

I take everything you say as gospel, as you seem to know more than most, but one thing I must say, the chocolate on the kitkat in the US and in the EU for that matter, is no where near as nice as it is in the UK, just throwing it out there as that is something I do know about . The Kitkat was originally a rowntrees macintosh product, not nestle of course...
Back to you, what cars do you currently drive and which if any are you changing for the Emira, and do you expect the Emira to lap quicker, do you care if it doesnt?

Will be be able to have a "i told you so thread" in a few weeks/months..... I told you the damn cars wouldnt come until Xmas, I told you the seats would be ........

On that note, its bed time.