Lotus Emira Track Experience

[emiraspain]

So good morning... sorry I did not post yesterday after the event, but I went straight to a friends house for dinner, a Pilot who used to have an Excel, 25 years ago, now sadly has lost I would say 90% interest in cars *drives a SMART, and is now more into light lite aricraft....... father forgive him.
So where should I post I wonder, here or start a new thread or join the other thread track day.

Seems like there is quite a bit of tension here, so why not release it all here?

I will split it a little bit and talk some about the Lotus day, driving school and then, building up to the car, which is what you are all interested in, but knowing that I am just a middle of the road, or left of the road or right of the road, depending where I am driving, driver and so my opinions are simply that, opinions, with a none expert driver basis.
Spoiler alert, its a "Tragic Comedy" and more spolier alert, I did take some ...some...damn photos and even a video for the nimbus and green fans, holding phone incorrectly vertically to mimic taking photos. Never uploaded a video here, so will see how that goes or if need to use you tube..
So, first will talk about the day. driving course, very breifly dont worry, then the car..... then maybe the colours, which some of you may not like, but its all personal so, take no notice. Here goes....

 

[Leonard]

So good morning... sorry I did not post yesterday after the event, but I went straight to a friends house for dinner, a Pilot who used to have an Excel, 25 years ago, now sadly has lost I would say 90% interest in cars *drives a SMART, and is now more into light lite aricraft....... father forgive him.
So where should I post I wonder, here or start a new thread or join the other thread track day.

Seems like there is quite a bit of tension here, so why not release it all here?

I will split it a little bit and talk some about the Lotus day, driving school and then, building up to the car, which is what you are all interested in, but knowing that I am just a middle of the road, or left of the road or right of the road, depending where I am driving, driver and so my opinions are simply that, opinions, with a none expert driver basis.
Spoiler alert, its a "Tragic Comedy" and more spolier alert, I did take some ...some...damn photos and even a video for the nimbus and green fans, holding phone incorrectly vertically to mimic taking photos. Never uploaded a video here, so will see how that goes or if need to use you tube..
So, first will talk about the day. driving course, very breifly dont worry, then the car..... then maybe the colours, which some of you may not like, but its all personal so, take no notice. Here goes....

You had best not have posted this teaser before going for a full English breakfast and then getting on a flight back to Spain!

 

[emiraspain]

THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE

TAILOR-MADE ADVANCED​

A full-day programme, this course focuses on developing the advanced driving skills required to unlock the true performance character of the Emira.
960 pounds (lets call it a grand and I will be candid)
Off the bat and as someone said last week, it is over priced I feel. IMHO about 650 would be a fair price. You get there at 8-8:30am, a croissant if you want one, which stay on offer all day long, coffee or tea water etc. If there were 6 of you, with 2 instructors, you would finish the day around 5/5.30, but if there are 4 and there were 4 in our case, you could in theory have more time in the cars, but these guys are self employed and not on a fixed hour contract, so you basically just finish early, at 3pm. Some will say it would have been nice to get more car time, others will see the side of the instructors wanting to go home early, a 6 hour drive for one. I wont judge here, but I am sure I will else where, but you get about 40 mins in the car in the afternoon sessions, on track, and in the morning 60 mins I would say, so maximum maximum 2 hours in the cars for 1000 pounds.
I felt the previous deal, bronze, silver and gold (which I never attended, but was going to) gave much better value for money, which has also been said, just agreeing with the gentleman who said it.
I wont bore you with in detail depth of what we did, as the forum isnt for this, but feel free to ask if you have questions, but I will admit to my tragic comedy..... Im like an open book.... not such a good read, but it is at least open.
I started on the skid pan, quite different to Porsches, which is on a specially built surface, this one is tarmac sprayed with water. We did two 10 mins sessions here, trying to get under and over steer with perhaps a very experienced driver being able to drift around a bit (not me and not anyone there).
Comedy.... I really started to feel car sick on the FIRST run, Tragic, it really never left me the whole day , which put a real downer on the experience, but I wont let that cloud what was a sunny day.
I would say this has never happened before, not in the drivers seat, but Ive never driven around in a "new" smell car, helmet on and going round in circles...... interlude:


.
.

so Yes I can do it without getting sick, but less friction etc. At porsche's center you do this part quite with a kick plate type device, hence very differently and dont constantly keep going in circles to promote the effect you want, which clearly for my stomach would have been better.
Anyway, digression over. The strong small of the females perfumes and every other smell I could sense at 100m then became triggers and each time I got back in the car, except for maybe the brake testing and avoidance, would throw me back into an unhappy stomach state.
FOOD..... ohhhhh how good the food was at the porsche experience, costing half the price....
ohhhh how poor the food was here, Sandwiches!!!!.... ok at porsche to compare, there were probably 50 or more customers each day, and here we were 4, so while I understand they wont have an onsite chef, I still sat, sandwiches!!!! 1000 pounds and once again, sandwiches... haha.
Again, I wont go into more detail about the day, events, instructors etc as this is perhaps not the place, however Martin Donnelly made an appearance, even if it was to use the bathroom. I honestly didnt know who that was, but now I do, a lucky or unlucky man if you google him, depends if being virtually dead for 12 minutes is lucky or unlucky in the 1st place.
ok, so on with to the important stuff.....
Ohh firstly, brace yourselved, as never in the history of Motorsport has such a devilishly handsome guy been photographed next to such a paling in significance attractive car before, so much so that I thought it best to keep the helmet on, so as not to put Jenson Button to shame

 

[Leonard]

THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE

TAILOR-MADE ADVANCED​

A full-day programme, this course focuses on developing the advanced driving skills required to unlock the true performance character of the Emira.
960 pounds (lets call it a grand and I will be candid)
Off the bat and as someone said last week, it is over priced I feel. IMHO about 650 would be a fair price. You get there at 8-8:30am, a croissant if you want one, which stay on offer all day long, coffee or tea water etc. If there were 6 of you, with 2 instructors, you would finish the day around 5/5.30, but if there are 4 and there were 4 in our case, you could in theory have more time in the cars, but these guys are self employed and not on a fixed hour contract, so you basically just finish early, at 3pm. Some will say it would have been nice to get more car time, others will see the side of the instructors wanting to go home early, a 6 hour drive for one. I wont judge here, but I am sure I will else where, but you get about 40 mins in the car in the afternoon sessions, on track, and in the morning 60 mins I would say, so maximum maximum 2 hours in the cars for 1000 pounds.
I felt the previous deal, bronze, silver and gold (which I never attended, but was going to) gave much better value for money, which has also been said, just agreeing with the gentleman who said it.
I wont bore you with in detail depth of what we did, as the forum isnt for this, but feel free to ask if you have questions, but I will admit to my tragic comedy..... Im like an open book.... not such a good read, but it is at least open.
I started on the skid pan, quite different to Porsches, which is on a specially built surface, this one is tarmac sprayed with water. We did two 10 mins sessions here, trying to get under and over steer with perhaps a very experienced driver being able to drift around a bit (not me and not anyone there).
Comedy.... I really started to feel car sick on the FIRST run, Tragic, it really never left me the whole day , which put a real downer on the experience, but I wont let that cloud what was a sunny day.
I would say this has never happened before, not in the drivers seat, but Ive never driven around in a "new" smell car, helmet on and going round in circles...... interlude:


.
.

so Yes I can do it without getting sick, but less friction etc. At porsche's center you do this part quite with a kick plate type device, hence very differently and dont constantly keep going in circles to promote the effect you want, which clearly for my stomach would have been better.
Anyway, digression over. The strong small of the females perfumes and every other smell I could sense at 100m then became triggers and each time I got back in the car, except for maybe the brake testing and avoidance, would throw me back into an unhappy stomach state.
FOOD..... ohhhhh how good the food was at the porsche experience, costing half the price....
ohhhh how poor the food was here, Sandwiches!!!!.... ok at porsche to compare, there were probably 50 or more customers each day, and here we were 4, so while I understand they wont have an onsite chef, I still sat, sandwiches!!!! 1000 pounds and once again, sandwiches... haha.
Again, I wont go into more detail about the day, events, instructors etc as this is perhaps not the place, however Martin Donnelly made an appearance, even if it was to use the bathroom. I honestly didnt know who that was, but now I do, a lucky or unlucky man if you google him, depends if being virtually dead for 12 minutes is lucky or unlucky in the 1st place.
ok, so on with to the important stuff.....
Ohh firstly, brace yourselved, as never in the history of Motorsport has such a devilishly handsome guy been photographed next to such a paling in significance attractive car before, so much so that I thought it best to keep the helmet on, so as not to put Jenson Button to shame

Waiting eagerly for chapter 2. But I will say I can empathise with feeling car sick. Did a track day at Oulton Park once and did a sighting lap with a rather handy mate at full chat and I didn't recover for the rest of the day!
As an aside on an occasion when i wasnt feeling sick, I can also concur that the Porsche food is very tasty...

 

[emiraspain]

Ok then... on to the
LOTUS EMIRA V6 manual
Hard to organize my thoughts and I still feel a bit sick, but if any of you have read my previous threads you will notice its always hard to organize my thoughts, they just seem to splurge out onto the screen....
Also worth bearing in mind I am not a driving god, or even a godess (no offence to the women on here), I am no expert, I am not someone who adjusts my adjustable suspension any more than a few clicks if I went on a very seldom track day.
However, talking without knowing much of what I am talking about has never held me back before, so why the hell should it now right? Its not like some of you dont do it, you know who you are, those from the dark side of the Midlands (awake already Leonard haha). I am from the bright side, the west side... ok, on to the unorganized thoughts, feelings and some new potentially correct or not correct, CS style, information.
.

1. (i'll number so I dont forget things, although I probaby will.). SOUND SYSTEM.....
I switched it on, Im sure no one else did or has, even the instructors. It was on a.... hmmm... no rap station, but a station where it would be tricky to tell the quality lets say. I sat there for 5-10 mins in all honesty and COULD NOT figure out how to change the station, WTHell. Maybe this preproduction car, probably and almost certainly isnt the final software, but the steering wheels buttons, some worked, some didnt, it wasnt clear if you clicked or slid your finger over them. Well, at the end of the day, and I mean last session in the car I was determined to report back something on the sound, so going into the menu, following at least 4 5 6 clicks through the menu, I managed to get to Smooth or smouch or whatever FM and could hear an ELton john song with actual music.
Im not a sound system connoisseur, but let me put it this way:
Porsche Bose sound - 7.5/10
Hyundai Bose sound - 7/10
Porsche 911 classis stereo and standard speakers 4/10
Lotus Elise (dont laugh) Sony (was it) plus awful speakers 2.3/10
Honda E (unbranded but made by Panasonic I believe) 9/10. (yes, amazing base and all round quality)
Lotus Emira 6/10
Im sorry, but maybe it got better later, but there was no "wow" this is quite good. There was, ohh I best turn this up, its not great, maybe it will be better if I give it the beans as some car reviewers say, it wasnt. I did not play with the equaliser or change anything, but the base was average, clarity average, all average. Now this could be the stereo, could be the lack of a base unit in the car (ive no idea if it has one, you would assume it does), maybe the materials of the car and sound absorption, maybe speaker location.
Im clearly no expert as previously stated, but I guess the designers of the sound system would have worked with the designers of the interior on all these aspects to get the optimum position etc for the best sound. Do we think this happened? Do lotus have a team of 8-12 people working on such things as their wealthy german counterparts do, probably not.
If the system okay, yes. Would I pay whats probably going to be a 2-3k premium for this system, absolutely not. Base price car if it does come in at 60k is looking a good bet here already.
Sorry I cant talk about the range, output, frequency, all I can say is there was no feeling of wow, thats pretty good, it was more in laymans terms, wow, thats really pretty average. Sorry, but I said I would be candid.
.
2. REVIEWS. - I asked the main instructor if he has seen any of the reviews, he said no, not interested at all and never interested. He gave the same argument that we know is true in part, that if the company does not wine and dine, or launch at Spa with all expenses paid (think Alpine) then too many magazines take this into account. Make of that what you will, but I have seen it happen too, however, it does not mean all reviews are lies at all.
In fact I will go further, I will say ALL THE REVIEWS I HAVE SEEN are TRUE. Yes, I think everything said is true and no thats not a contradiction necessarily as if you think about it, some have had issues with the gear box and others have not. Okay, contradictory? NO its not, just as Harry enjoyed the car and did not mention or did not actually see any real gear box issues, this does not mean they are not there. In fact, I think all, or most Lotus owners on here know there is a high chance that the gear box / linkage will / could be a slight issue, so its not a surprise. It will be more of an issue for some than for others, but again, Reviews, yes I think everyone has told the truth, its just so so so disappointing the way, the tone, that some journalist decided to use when telling that truth.
.
3. GEARBOX - as Ive started, I'll finish. As someone else mentioned, one of the cars had a slightly smoother change than the other. I found 3rd to 4th to not go straight in for the yellow touring car, but easier in the blue sports, but I am sure the model had nothing to do with it. Also bear in mind that with a while longer it would have been fine, I guess I was drifting more to 4/6 rather than down straight to 4, simple as that and either I make the adjustment, or lotus do, not a big deal.
Is the gear box as smooth as Porsches manual for GTS/GT3, no, its not. Is Porsches GT3 "amazing" gear change as good IMO as a Westfield / Caterham / Morgan based on an MX5, but shorter and more mechanical, no its not, its like night and day!!! And for my money, that gear box is the best I have ever experiences, BUT, at very high revs, even its not quite the same to get it into the gears.....
So porsches gear lever goes in a bit easier yes, but its not all about going in easy, its about how it makes you feel when it does go in (I have to be careful with my humor here as I dont want to get thrown off the forum, you would all miss me... well, im my mind anyway).
Deal breaker... no, of course not. Worth the reviewers mentioning, yeh, a bit of a passing comment for sure. Again repeating what someone else has said, I like the gear knob, same as the Elise etc, but it could also be improved now, its been years and years, why not look for something new.. .but its fine.
The exposed gear linkage, really is a waste of time, you dont notice it at all, its NOTHING like as much of a center piece as the Elise... I would look to fix this if I could. Cabin also quite dark doesnt help here I guess.

To be continued.. sorry, but I need breakfast and have to go and play padel (spanish created addiction)
I will continue...... with some new info/thought on the rubber strip... of which I saw two different variants... neither better than the other

 

[Scruff111S]

Waiting eagerly for chapter 2. But I will say I can empathise with feeling car sick. Did a track day at Oulton Park once and did a sighting lap with a rather handy mate at full chat and I didn't recover for the rest of the day!
As an aside on an occasion when i wasnt feeling sick, I can also concur that the Porsche food is very tasty...

Hi, I have done Oulton Park many times, my local and favourite track. I had booked Oulton Park for October when I was told June delivery, but now cant do it.

 

[xen]

Ok then... on to the
LOTUS EMIRA V6 manual
Hard to organize my thoughts and I still feel a bit sick, but if any of you have read my previous threads you will notice its always hard to organize my thoughts, they just seem to splurge out onto the screen....
Also worth bearing in mind I am not a driving god, or even a godess (no offence to the women on here), I am no expert, I am not someone who adjusts my adjustable suspension any more than a few clicks if I went on a very seldom track day.
However, talking without knowing much of what I am talking about has never held me back before, so why the hell should it now right? Its not like some of you dont do it, you know who you are, those from the dark side of the Midlands (awake already Leonard haha). I am from the bright side, the west side... ok, on to the unorganized thoughts, feelings and some new potentially correct or not correct, CS style, information.
.

1. (i'll number so I dont forget things, although I probaby will.). SOUND SYSTEM.....
I switched it on, Im sure no one else did or has, even the instructors. It was on a.... hmmm... no rap station, but a station where it would be tricky to tell the quality lets say. I sat there for 5-10 mins in all honesty and COULD NOT figure out how to change the station, WTHell. Maybe this preproduction car, probably and almost certainly isnt the final software, but the steering wheels buttons, some worked, some didnt, it wasnt clear if you clicked or slid your finger over them. Well, at the end of the day, and I mean last session in the car I was determined to report back something on the sound, so going into the menu, following at least 4 5 6 clicks through the menu, I managed to get to Smooth or smouch or whatever FM and could hear an ELton john song with actual music.
Im not a sound system connoisseur, but let me put it this way:
Porsche Bose sound - 7.5/10
Hyundai Bose sound - 7/10
Porsche 911 classis stereo and standard speakers 4/10
Lotus Elise (dont laugh) Sony (was it) plus awful speakers 2.3/10
Honda E (unbranded but made by Panasonic I believe) 9/10. (yes, amazing base and all round quality)
Lotus Emira 6/10
Im sorry, but maybe it got better later, but there was no "wow" this is quite good. There was, ohh I best turn this up, its not great, maybe it will be better if I give it the beans as some car reviewers say, it wasnt. I did not play with the equaliser or change anything, but the base was average, clarity average, all average. Now this could be the stereo, could be the lack of a base unit in the car (ive no idea if it has one, you would assume it does), maybe the materials of the car and sound absorption, maybe speaker location.
Im clearly no expert as previously stated, but I guess the designers of the sound system would have worked with the designers of the interior on all these aspects to get the optimum position etc for the best sound. Do we think this happened? Do lotus have a team of 8-12 people working on such things as their wealthy german counterparts do, probably not.
If the system okay, yes. Would I pay whats probably going to be a 2-3k premium for this system, absolutely not. Base price car if it does come in at 60k is looking a good bet here already.
Sorry I cant talk about the range, output, frequency, all I can say is there was no feeling of wow, thats pretty good, it was more in laymans terms, wow, thats really pretty average. Sorry, but I said I would be candid.
.
2. REVIEWS. - I asked the main instructor if he has seen any of the reviews, he said no, not interested at all and never interested. He gave the same argument that we know is true in part, that if the company does not wine and dine, or launch at Spa with all expenses paid (think Alpine) then too many magazines take this into account. Make of that what you will, but I have seen it happen too, however, it does not mean all reviews are lies at all.
In fact I will go further, I will say ALL THE REVIEWS I HAVE SEEN are TRUE. Yes, I think everything said is true and no thats not a contradiction necessarily as if you think about it, some have had issues with the gear box and others have not. Okay, contradictory? NO its not, just as Harry enjoyed the car and did not mention or did not actually see any real gear box issues, this does not mean they are not there. In fact, I think all, or most Lotus owners on here know there is a high chance that the gear box / linkage will / could be a slight issue, so its not a surprise. It will be more of an issue for some than for others, but again, Reviews, yes I think everyone has told the truth, its just so so so disappointing the way, the tone, that some journalist decided to use when telling that truth.
.
3. GEARBOX - as Ive started, I'll finish. As someone else mentioned, one of the cars had a slightly smoother change than the other. I found 3rd to 4th to not go straight in for the yellow touring car, but easier in the blue sports, but I am sure the model had nothing to do with it. Also bear in mind that with a while longer it would have been fine, I guess I was drifting more to 4/6 rather than down straight to 4, simple as that and either I make the adjustment, or lotus do, not a big deal.
Is the gear box as smooth as Porsches manual for GTS/GT3, no, its not. Is Porsches GT3 "amazing" gear change as good IMO as a Westfield / Caterham / Morgan based on an MX5, but shorter and more mechanical, no its not, its like night and day!!! And for my money, that gear box is the best I have ever experiences, BUT, at very high revs, even its not quite the same to get it into the gears.....
So porsches gear lever goes in a bit easier yes, but its not all about going in easy, its about how it makes you feel when it does go in (I have to be careful with my humor here as I dont want to get thrown off the forum, you would all miss me... well, im my mind anyway).
Deal breaker... no, of course not. Worth the reviewers mentioning, yeh, a bit of a passing comment for sure. Again repeating what someone else has said, I like the gear knob, same as the Elise etc, but it could also be improved now, its been years and years, why not look for something new.. .but its fine.
The exposed gear linkage, really is a waste of time, you dont notice it at all, its NOTHING like as much of a center piece as the Elise... I would look to fix this if I could. Cabin also quite dark doesnt help here I guess.

To be continued.. sorry, but I need breakfast and have to go and play padel (spanish created addiction)
I will continue...... with some new info/thought on the rubber strip... of which I saw two different variants... neither better than the other

Really looking forward to the rest of your review. It’s refreshing to get an honest take from a fan of the car that can still be objective about its shortcomings

 

[Leonard]

Ok then... on to the
LOTUS EMIRA V6 manual
Hard to organize my thoughts and I still feel a bit sick, but if any of you have read my previous threads you will notice its always hard to organize my thoughts, they just seem to splurge out onto the screen....
Also worth bearing in mind I am not a driving god, or even a godess (no offence to the women on here), I am no expert, I am not someone who adjusts my adjustable suspension any more than a few clicks if I went on a very seldom track day.
However, talking without knowing much of what I am talking about has never held me back before, so why the hell should it now right? Its not like some of you dont do it, you know who you are, those from the dark side of the Midlands (awake already Leonard haha). I am from the bright side, the west side... ok, on to the unorganized thoughts, feelings and some new potentially correct or not correct, CS style, information.
.

1. (i'll number so I dont forget things, although I probaby will.). SOUND SYSTEM.....
I switched it on, Im sure no one else did or has, even the instructors. It was on a.... hmmm... no rap station, but a station where it would be tricky to tell the quality lets say. I sat there for 5-10 mins in all honesty and COULD NOT figure out how to change the station, WTHell. Maybe this preproduction car, probably and almost certainly isnt the final software, but the steering wheels buttons, some worked, some didnt, it wasnt clear if you clicked or slid your finger over them. Well, at the end of the day, and I mean last session in the car I was determined to report back something on the sound, so going into the menu, following at least 4 5 6 clicks through the menu, I managed to get to Smooth or smouch or whatever FM and could hear an ELton john song with actual music.
Im not a sound system connoisseur, but let me put it this way:
Porsche Bose sound - 7.5/10
Hyundai Bose sound - 7/10
Porsche 911 classis stereo and standard speakers 4/10
Lotus Elise (dont laugh) Sony (was it) plus awful speakers 2.3/10
Honda E (unbranded but made by Panasonic I believe) 9/10. (yes, amazing base and all round quality)
Lotus Emira 6/10
Im sorry, but maybe it got better later, but there was no "wow" this is quite good. There was, ohh I best turn this up, its not great, maybe it will be better if I give it the beans as some car reviewers say, it wasnt. I did not play with the equaliser or change anything, but the base was average, clarity average, all average. Now this could be the stereo, could be the lack of a base unit in the car (ive no idea if it has one, you would assume it does), maybe the materials of the car and sound absorption, maybe speaker location.
Im clearly no expert as previously stated, but I guess the designers of the sound system would have worked with the designers of the interior on all these aspects to get the optimum position etc for the best sound. Do we think this happened? Do lotus have a team of 8-12 people working on such things as their wealthy german counterparts do, probably not.
If the system okay, yes. Would I pay whats probably going to be a 2-3k premium for this system, absolutely not. Base price car if it does come in at 60k is looking a good bet here already.
Sorry I cant talk about the range, output, frequency, all I can say is there was no feeling of wow, thats pretty good, it was more in laymans terms, wow, thats really pretty average. Sorry, but I said I would be candid.
.
2. REVIEWS. - I asked the main instructor if he has seen any of the reviews, he said no, not interested at all and never interested. He gave the same argument that we know is true in part, that if the company does not wine and dine, or launch at Spa with all expenses paid (think Alpine) then too many magazines take this into account. Make of that what you will, but I have seen it happen too, however, it does not mean all reviews are lies at all.
In fact I will go further, I will say ALL THE REVIEWS I HAVE SEEN are TRUE. Yes, I think everything said is true and no thats not a contradiction necessarily as if you think about it, some have had issues with the gear box and others have not. Okay, contradictory? NO its not, just as Harry enjoyed the car and did not mention or did not actually see any real gear box issues, this does not mean they are not there. In fact, I think all, or most Lotus owners on here know there is a high chance that the gear box / linkage will / could be a slight issue, so its not a surprise. It will be more of an issue for some than for others, but again, Reviews, yes I think everyone has told the truth, its just so so so disappointing the way, the tone, that some journalist decided to use when telling that truth.
.
3. GEARBOX - as Ive started, I'll finish. As someone else mentioned, one of the cars had a slightly smoother change than the other. I found 3rd to 4th to not go straight in for the yellow touring car, but easier in the blue sports, but I am sure the model had nothing to do with it. Also bear in mind that with a while longer it would have been fine, I guess I was drifting more to 4/6 rather than down straight to 4, simple as that and either I make the adjustment, or lotus do, not a big deal.
Is the gear box as smooth as Porsches manual for GTS/GT3, no, its not. Is Porsches GT3 "amazing" gear change as good IMO as a Westfield / Caterham / Morgan based on an MX5, but shorter and more mechanical, no its not, its like night and day!!! And for my money, that gear box is the best I have ever experiences, BUT, at very high revs, even its not quite the same to get it into the gears.....
So porsches gear lever goes in a bit easier yes, but its not all about going in easy, its about how it makes you feel when it does go in (I have to be careful with my humor here as I dont want to get thrown off the forum, you would all miss me... well, im my mind anyway).
Deal breaker... no, of course not. Worth the reviewers mentioning, yeh, a bit of a passing comment for sure. Again repeating what someone else has said, I like the gear knob, same as the Elise etc, but it could also be improved now, its been years and years, why not look for something new.. .but its fine.
The exposed gear linkage, really is a waste of time, you dont notice it at all, its NOTHING like as much of a center piece as the Elise... I would look to fix this if I could. Cabin also quite dark doesnt help here I guess.

To be continued.. sorry, but I need breakfast and have to go and play padel (spanish created addiction)
I will continue...... with some new info/thought on the rubber strip... of which I saw two different variants... neither better than the other

I really hope that the stereo has not been finalised in theses earlier cars.
It had so much potential being a bespoke system from a high end manufacturer in a brand new platform. Should have had everything going for it.
As you say if it is only reasonable sounding then the BASE option starts to make more and more sense. I think most drivers could easily lose the fully adjustable seats and a couple of other bits and have a lighter cheaper car (price increases not withstanding...)

 

[SweptVolume]

I really hope that the stereo has not been finalised in theses earlier cars.
It had so much potential being a bespoke system from a high end manufacturer in a brand new platform. Should have had everything going for it.
As you say if it is only reasonable sounding then the BASE option starts to make more and more sense. I think most drivers could easily lose the fully adjustable seats and a couple of other bits and have a lighter cheaper car (price increases not withstanding...)

Didn’t @digilotus hear it in Sydney and said it was fab ? If these cars were for the driving school they probably left the subwoofers out (if you follow logic)

 

[digilotus]

Didn’t @digilotus hear it in Sydney and said it was fab ? If these cars were for the driving school they probably left the subwoofers out (if you follow logic)

I had a decent listen to it yes. Sounded pretty good to me! It’s not highly powered so won’t blow out your eardrums but had great clarity, range and tone. Best listening experience was through CarPlay / Android Auto where audio is sent uncompressed. Digital radio is compressed (as is FM) and you can certainly hear that!

The other thing to consider is that most quality speaker drivers have a ‘run in’ period. Sometimes 50-100Hrs or so to loosen up the speaker driver suspension diaphragm. In my home hifi speakers, it certainly took a while for everything to loosen up. First hour of listening was like someone was singing with a peg on their nose! Then the sound stage eventually ‘opens up’ once the drivers are run in.

 

[xen]

I had a decent listen to it yes. Sounded pretty good to me! It’s not highly powered so won’t blow out your eardrums but had great clarity, range and tone. Best listening experience was through CarPlay / Android Auto where audio is sent uncompressed. Digital radio is compressed (as is FM) and you can certainly hear that!

The other thing to consider is that most quality speaker drivers have a ‘run in’ period. Sometimes 50-100Hrs or so to loosen up the speaker driver suspension diaphragm. In my home hifi speakers, it certainly took a while for everything to loosen up. First hour of listening was like someone was singing with a peg on their nose! Then the sound stage eventually ‘opens up’ once the drivers are run in.

Without knowing the details we can’t assume because it’s a KEF system it’s going to be great. For a car application I’d argue equalisation is more important; it’s a fixed space with fixed MLP’s so with a little effort a good set of speakers can sound great. From what I’ve read I don’t think this was a high priority so I’m keeping my expectations fairly low.

For that reason (as well as a lot outside the scope of this forum) I don’t believe driver run-in will have any impact. Any change in driver characteristics will invalidate the initial calibration for the space.

Let’s see…or rather…hear.

 

[Pav]

Without knowing the details we can’t assume because it’s a KEF system it’s going to be great. For a car application I’d argue equalisation is more important; it’s a fixed space with fixed MLP’s so with a little effort a good set of speakers can sound great. From what I’ve read I don’t think this was a high priority so I’m keeping my expectations fairly low.

For that reason (as well as a lot outside the scope of this forum) I don’t believe driver run-in will have any impact. Any change in driver characteristics will invalidate the initial calibration for the space.

Let’s see…or rather…hear.

Agree. I also wonder whether they will have properly done the anti-vibration / dynamat that makes so much difference to any system. Particularly with panels made of plastic. It made a huge difference to the aluminium doors and tailgate on my Yaris.

I ‘ran in’ the Audison upgrade speakers for a good number of hours and then the installer came and measured the distance of my ears to each speaker to optimise the DSP. It was good during the running in but amazing after the adjustments.

Not expecting this level of set up and genuinely looking forward to hearing it. I don’t doubt a lot of effort has gone in by Kef and hopefully same by Lotus.

 

[Hedge]

THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE

TAILOR-MADE ADVANCED​

A full-day programme, this course focuses on developing the advanced driving skills required to unlock the true performance character of the Emira.
960 pounds (lets call it a grand and I will be candid)
Off the bat and as someone said last week, it is over priced I feel. IMHO about 650 would be a fair price. You get there at 8-8:30am, a croissant if you want one, which stay on offer all day long, coffee or tea water etc. If there were 6 of you, with 2 instructors, you would finish the day around 5/5.30, but if there are 4 and there were 4 in our case, you could in theory have more time in the cars, but these guys are self employed and not on a fixed hour contract, so you basically just finish early, at 3pm. Some will say it would have been nice to get more car time, others will see the side of the instructors wanting to go home early, a 6 hour drive for one. I wont judge here, but I am sure I will else where, but you get about 40 mins in the car in the afternoon sessions, on track, and in the morning 60 mins I would say, so maximum maximum 2 hours in the cars for 1000 pounds.
I felt the previous deal, bronze, silver and gold (which I never attended, but was going to) gave much better value for money, which has also been said, just agreeing with the gentleman who said it.
I wont bore you with in detail depth of what we did, as the forum isnt for this, but feel free to ask if you have questions, but I will admit to my tragic comedy..... Im like an open book.... not such a good read, but it is at least open.
I started on the skid pan, quite different to Porsches, which is on a specially built surface, this one is tarmac sprayed with water. We did two 10 mins sessions here, trying to get under and over steer with perhaps a very experienced driver being able to drift around a bit (not me and not anyone there).
Comedy.... I really started to feel car sick on the FIRST run, Tragic, it really never left me the whole day , which put a real downer on the experience, but I wont let that cloud what was a sunny day.
I would say this has never happened before, not in the drivers seat, but Ive never driven around in a "new" smell car, helmet on and going round in circles...... interlude:


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so Yes I can do it without getting sick, but less friction etc. At porsche's center you do this part quite with a kick plate type device, hence very differently and dont constantly keep going in circles to promote the effect you want, which clearly for my stomach would have been better.
Anyway, digression over. The strong small of the females perfumes and every other smell I could sense at 100m then became triggers and each time I got back in the car, except for maybe the brake testing and avoidance, would throw me back into an unhappy stomach state.
FOOD..... ohhhhh how good the food was at the porsche experience, costing half the price....
ohhhh how poor the food was here, Sandwiches!!!!.... ok at porsche to compare, there were probably 50 or more customers each day, and here we were 4, so while I understand they wont have an onsite chef, I still sat, sandwiches!!!! 1000 pounds and once again, sandwiches... haha.
Again, I wont go into more detail about the day, events, instructors etc as this is perhaps not the place, however Martin Donnelly made an appearance, even if it was to use the bathroom. I honestly didnt know who that was, but now I do, a lucky or unlucky man if you google him, depends if being virtually dead for 12 minutes is lucky or unlucky in the 1st place.
ok, so on with to the important stuff.....
Ohh firstly, brace yourselved, as never in the history of Motorsport has such a devilishly handsome guy been photographed next to such a paling in significance attractive car before, so much so that I thought it best to keep the helmet on, so as not to put Jenson Button to shame

Thanks for the review - excellent stuff. Sounds like they’ve done what they had to, to get these days going - use pre-prod / incomplete cars.

Can’t fault them with that, if that’s the case. Audio system and buttons probably isn’t on most folks agenda on days like this anyway - but fair play to you for trying it out for us.

Shame about the details…sandwiches (important!) & possibly giving you more track time - especially when it’s such a small group.

The key question though is: did the experience make you more or less excited to collect the car, or unchanged feelings?

 

[xen]

Thanks for the review - excellent stuff. Sounds like they’ve done what they had to, to get these days going - use pre-prod / incomplete cars.

Can’t fault them with that, if that’s the case. Audio system and buttons probably isn’t on most folks agenda on days like this anyway - but fair play to you for trying it out for us.

Shame about the details…sandwiches (important!) & possibly giving you more track time - especially when it’s such a small group.

The key question though is: did the experience make you more or less excited to collect the car, or unchanged feelings?

It is the small details I look out for and find very telling. Condensing all the rhetoric around Lotus, the cars, the changes…what gives me the greatest pause for concern is the company culture. If you don’t do the little (and often simpler) things right then it’s very unlikely you’ll do other things better.

If a company the size of Porsche that don’t need to try can get these right then why can’t Lotus? This isn’t down to parts shortages or operation at scale. **I have ‘company’ underlined as I initially typed ‘brand’ which I think tells the story in itself. Porsche understand they are building a brand. Lotus, regardless of their fancy ads and marketing spend, are still thinking like a ‘company’.

Apply that to this customer service mess and it translates quite well. Lotus the company is doing amazing - record pre- sales, great reviews, more deposits coming in by the day…no need to make any changes. This attitude though is hurting Lotus the brand and whilst this doesn’t immediately translate into cents and dollars, it is just as (if not more) important.

 

[VL3X]

I really hope that the stereo has not been finalised in theses earlier cars.
It had so much potential being a bespoke system from a high end manufacturer in a brand new platform. Should have had everything going for it.
As you say if it is only reasonable sounding then the BASE option starts to make more and more sense. I think most drivers could easily lose the fully adjustable seats and a couple of other bits and have a lighter cheaper car (price increases not withstanding...)

Are we. Sure @emiraspain tested the KEF system? We're the door speaker grills black or silver @emiraspain ?

 

[VL3X]

, Reviews, yes I think everyone has told the truth, its just so so so disappointing the way, the tone, that some journalist decided to use when telling that truth.

Interesting as it seems the other feedback I've been getting from attendees has been extremely positive. In fact, I think this is the only negative or disappointed review I've read from the Lotus driving experience.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding? To be fair I felt a little car sick reading your review myself.

 

[Leonard]

Agree. I also wonder whether they will have properly done the anti-vibration / dynamat that makes so much difference to any system. Particularly with panels made of plastic. It made a huge difference to the aluminium doors and tailgate on my Yaris.

I ‘ran in’ the Audison upgrade speakers for a good number of hours and then the installer came and measured the distance of my ears to each speaker to optimise the DSP. It was good during the running in but amazing after the adjustments.

Not expecting this level of set up and genuinely looking forward to hearing it. I don’t doubt a lot of effort has gone in by Kef and hopefully same by Lotus.

I just can't believe KEF would put their name to it and not make sure it is good. It's in their best interests to become a Lotus brand partner you would have thought with the scale of Geelys ambitions.
Would love to hear from someone at KEF about the development and final product

 

[emiraspain]

EMIRA REVIEW CONTINUED

Okay, Ive not read what anyone has said yet, Im just back and lunched, more bloody sandwiches, sour dough bread and cheese.... good old ADSA price.

So on I go with the "review / opinions"
I did forget to say one thing first, re the Lotus track experience, this is a marketing tool for them. 3 of the 4 of us had an Emira ordered and there is such a think as purchase reinforcement in marketing, something that makes you feel better after you have made a purchase. Lotus are I am afraid, oblivious to this concept. Yes we could say the driving academy doesnt need perfect cars, even finished cars, as you are only interested in the driving, but you know what, first impressions really do last and the quality of the cars, while not terrible, really was not what I would expect if Lotus took this sales/marketing opportunity seriously.
I dont want my first experience with my 83,000 pounds purchase, or 115,000 euros purchase! to be of a car with the carpet not down properly, with warning noises and lights going off and with a car that was only working in limp mode on 3 cylinders (my fault for spinning it on the skid pan, something you do, and not putting my foot on the clutch in time). It fixed itself in a few minutes, but the point is, I would not expect to pay 1000 pounds at Lotus / Porsche / Aston or even BMW and find cars that are hastily finished ... these are cars that should sell Lotus, not degrade them. Maybe some will disagree, but thats the way I feel, alright!..
Why would they give preproduction cars to show off to customer and potential customers and also to the press... so so so... stupid!

On we go

I dont know what number we are at, but lets say no.
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4. The Link & Co info entertainment thing.... Off the bat, this is not the finished article, BUT I dont see how the screens, which were not very visible at all, will suddenly change from night to day. I think if you compare an Ipad to a cheap Chinese imitation, thats what we are working with here, sorry, but candid again. Yes it / they may get a bit better, but they will not get to a level I would expect for a 60-80k car, I am pretty sure this wont happen.
At the same time, Alpines system is crap too, not boding well for their future collaboration.... The Evora's was worse of course, but take any german car of 40/50 k, any south korean car too, and the screens and their revolution, brightness, clarity, anitglare technology will be way way way more advanced than the Emira's. Sorry once again, but it looks coolish, but I think the menu system will not be as easy as it should be, and the glare and lack of punch from the screens, both of them, will perhaps make you glad its not your daily. However, if it is your daily, Im even more sorry, but there are worse cars out there, even our friends Yaris GR is pretty poor in this respect.
Where is the good news I hear you say before your Sunday roast??
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5. Steering wheel - what a disgrace, no no no, what a disgrace the journo's who found it too thick. WHAT??? If anything, its on the thin side, it is NOT thick at all, its perfect. I can compare to my Momo on the porsche and the 2 prong wheel on my previous honda E (loved it) and the Ionic 5 2 pronger as well. and the Lotus wheel is exactly what you would expect, so finally a good thing.
I would not want to judge the quality of the alcantara or leather, as maybe these will change, but I would say this is not a Bentley, but its fine.
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6. The Seats - again I realise these are only 95% of the way there, so maybe pointless giving my opinion, but I would say that since I joined the forum . I found the seat backs too wide. I am 5'9, average, 69 70 kilos, slim and perfectly formed I would say. I do not slide around in my Ionic 5 at all, but the side bolstering is not as severe as the Lotus, as of course it shouldnt be. What I am saying is that this bolstering should be moved in on each side to narrow the back. These seats did not hold me well in place. Not terrible and I dislike with a passion Porshe's 18 way seats, while we are at it. So again, as we are using none production cars, what can I say, apart from that I hope they improve, but being slightly pessamistic at heart, I am not convinced they will get them right, fingers crossed. Still not a deal breaker as for me, I would take porsche's bucket seats or a caterhams legs out flat type seats, without any adjustment at all, apart from fwd and back.
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7. General interior quality - the stitching looked porsche quality and the leather looked fine. The steering column looked like cheap plastic although you can hardly see it. Roof lining all good, gear lever I have mentioned. Pedals, not bad, but yes, you cant see the left two which isnt the way I would design it. I did not try to heal and toe, but Im sure you can.
The aircon controls do to me look cheap and they wobble a bit, I have a video.... I doubt this will change from this car to the final one. Overall its fine, but its a middle of the range volvo, not a top end BMW even, not bad, not a deal breaker, but could be better.
As mentioned, no highlight is made of the exposed gear lever, and for my money it should be, but yes maybe regulations prevented this. I would rip out the leather around it and take off the mesh, make it a highlight, rather than something you simply dont notice at all.
I did not find the cabin light or airy to take the journos turn of phrase and visibility was okay. I think those who went with Ice Grey will love it (ive not seen it yet, but I think the cabin is tooo dark and this interior or even the tan would help I feel, bravery is often rewarded).
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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.
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9. The Touring / Sports debate. As others have said, on the track, you would be hard pushed to notice the 5% difference in spring rates. Maybe I could, maybe I couldn't. If you intend to track the car often, clearly you will get sports as thats the sort of guy you are, but I dont think you would have a bad time with Tour at all, AT ALL. If you want to get your time down to the nearest 100th of a second, again, I am sure you have gone sports and so thats that. I did not drive it on the UK's famous B roads, so cant comment, but you have Harry for that. I have gone Sports with good year and I am not worried at all, I want to use the car all year round and dont want any moments in the wet, but with this chassis, I am not sure there would be with any tyre this side of balder than the late Willie Thorn (UK snooker reference, sorry US people).
So from a layman’s point of view, I personally think everyone will be happy with Sports or Touring...dont stress it, go with the flow, take it easy, donald where are your trousers.
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Continued below

 

[Mctaff]

I just can't believe KEF would put their name to it and not make sure it is good. It's in their best interests to become a Lotus brand partner you would have thought with the scale of Geelys ambitions.
Would love to hear from someone at KEF about the development and final product

I have the Kef ls50 wirless in the bedroom. Sounds the dogs for a pair of tiny speakers with built in amp.

Much better than bose in terms of the company knowing how to make great sounding products, so I’ll be disappointed if it isn’t better than the fairly crappy bose in my Macan!

 

[emiraspain]

EMIRA left over text

10. Speed - So I could not ask the guy to do a 0-60 test, as not production and I dont think he would have been too obliging and less so if my airbnb breakfast came up to visit the alcantara dash.
What I can say is this, the car feeeeels fast, even when it is not going fast. At 80mph I felt I was doing 100mph. In my Ionic 5 at 80 I feel I am doing 60. Obviously the seating position helps and you are low down etc. For enjoyment and safety, its a good thing if you car feels its going faster than it is, IMO. if you are a track rat, then maybe this isnt ideal but I cant help you there.
I personally think my ionic 5 in sports mode would match or beat it 0-60, which IMO is very bad, but it does have 600 NM torque. I hope to be proven wrong, we shall see when the official cars are statistically tested by the users / journos.
I would add, as I have maintained allllll along, if you want a serious track toy, get something else. Get an Exige, get a GT4, Ariel Atom, Lotus 7/11 whatever, but if you want a cool car that will be fun around a track and great handling, then fine, get the Emira. Just dont expect it to outdo your friends in their tried and tested GT4's or even the boring GTS's.
I would also add, if you have a Ferrari, or an Audi A8, or a GT 3.... any car like that over 100k, why are you here? This car will not be as good, its NOT a competitor to any of these cars, any more than a vantage or an F type is, so dont waste your time. There is nothing about the Lotus Emira that will compare to any ferrari model currently on sale, or any 911 model come to that. Now, if you dont want to run the risk of your ferrari heading into the gravel or worse still the wall, then fine, but do accept this is a milky bar, and you have Lindt, the milky bar tastes great, IF thats what you like, but it will never compare to Lindt for many reasons, components, investment, manufacturing etc etc..

11. THAT RUBBER STRIP - so, one of the guys who was there was Japanese, living in America. He knows quite a lot about Toyota and the Evora and works in Insurance. I will repeat what he said, obviously I DONT know if its true or not, but he thinks it is and its what he has been told.
In the USA, a car must be able to crash at 3mph without any damage being caused. Appppparently, the rubber strip is needed to prevent the front end hitting and damaging the bonnet at that speed.
Make of that what you will, it is not what Lotus have told us and of course it makes no sense that EU/UK cars would follow the same rule... but there you go.
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12. Components - the same Japanese guy said that Lotus used to use quite a few Toyota parts around the engine, water bottle, tubes, etc etc. Now, looking at the uncovered engine, and its surroundings, which were all on display, the truth is the whole area looked a bit cheap. He said they are using Geely parts instead now, to save money, but they are not the same quality and they certainly dont look great, but you wont see them most of the time I guess.
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I could go on and I may add some more later, but I think you're bored by now. Obviously being a bit sick dampened my day and having spent 12/17 months waiting and seeing things and talking about it, has taken its toll also. There are very few cars I have gotten into and thought wow, upon driving them, here are a few:
Mercedes SLS. 550 odd NA engine - dangerously quick and yes wow
Ferrari California - yes the cheap ferrari made me want to drive a lot faster than I should
Lotus Exige 380 - so not the most powerful, but wow, yes wow..... great little car, shame its as ugly as a bus joined to a taxi (sorry if u have one, but the Elise is way cuter... the early exige was cool )
Aston DBS - for its looks back then...and engine... cool key too
My first westfield NA 180 HP blacktop zetec engine, still probably my favorite car of all time, but I am sure the Caterham 420 is probably better and I will probably get one, a test drive would be nice though.
I have driven many other cars and I do love my 300HP backdated 911, see profile photo, it is very torquey hah... pulls like a train and such and airy cabin... but I dont think I went wow, I do upon looking at it though.
Its all relative, and nearly everyone on here has driven and probably owned better cars than the Emira, so I think you do need to be prepared and not have unrealistic expectations, which I think is the problem with some journalists. They expected it to be a cayman killer, its not, nothing is or ever will be now, only the 911 has killed the cayman as it prevented it from being as good as it could be, until the very end.
I would also say, IMHO, if you expect this car to be better than the Evora, with 430 HP, and 1250 odd kilos, its physically impossible, no matter what Gav says, how can it be, physics are physics, although a wider track may help in some ways, but not, I doubt very much whether Tom and the other Evora owners will think wow, this is the future.
Clearly its a step fwd in tech, and design and what have you, but basically it is the same car, engine, gear box, chassis // ish, BUT it is legal in the US, EU and is cheaper and for my money looks so much better (the evora looks great at the back, but the rest for me is not great). So again, I think all the reviews are 100% correct.
Harry thinks the car is great, a usable Lotus, a modern day Esprit, looks to die for and usable, with ENOUGH power to get you into trouble, but MORE than enough handling to keep you out of it. Evos arrogant, but truthful criticisms are also true, but like Harry, you probably wont care if you EVEN notice.
I really DO apologise as I realise my comments for the most part are not what some of you wanted to hear, BUT of course you need to try it yourself. I am just one person and I am not a multimillionaire with a car collection the size to fill a rather large barn, nor am I am track animal, clearly not my calling, but I am critical and I do expect a lot from people and companies, too much in most cases.
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To try to end on a positive note, there is NOTHING out there for less than 85k that looks anywhere near as good! It drives great!! Its almost an exige in a grown ups body, sure it is. It sounds good, different to the 6cyl porsche, but not worse and yes, maybe better. It is a step forward, although other steps could be taken too and maybe they will. I am happy I have one/two on order and I am happy I went manual, but I would be very interested to try the AMG unit when it comes out, why not?
Just be realistic everyone..... I am sure 95% of people going in with their eyes open will be glad they bought the car, BUT, know that Lotus is still the ROMANTIC's choice, not necessarily the best choice, but IT IS MY CHOICE!
attaches some files, even silver wheels...... will talk about colours below with more files.
Again, I maybe too critical, sorry if I have ruined your day a little, go watch harry's vid again