📓 Journals Manual DV Collected from Hethel

[Drlonline]

A few thoughts from the drive home from Hethel;

Good bits;

Steering – lovely and very communicative as expected

Ride – glad I went for Touring as it was plenty firm enough for my taste and it soaked up many bumps and crap UK roads well

Gearbox – changes were smooth and pretty easy (except reverse – see below)

Looks – stunning car inside and out. Got some positive attention from a few other road users in the know. Very happy with my spec.

Interior – high quality, no rattles, felt good. Info screen was great and easy to use.

Stereo – plenty loud enough and my son (who plays a lot of loud music) gave it the thumbs up

Brakes - for brand new brakes I thought they were excellent. Plenty of feel and obviously powerful

Not so good bits;

Wipers – I’ll post more detail on the wiper issue thread, but in summary I did what I had been instructed by Scott, didn’t use automatic at all and still could not get high speed. Went into some torrential sharp showers and had to slow to 40-50 mph on the motorway. Really not good and Lotus need to fix this urgently

Seats – whilst they have a lot of adjustment and I got into a good position, they seem very hard to me and I got a sore behind after an hour and a half. Scott mentioned this and said they soften/give with time. I hope so as would not want to do a really long drive at present.

Steering wheel – as I posted from my test drive I really think this is an example of form over function. It is way too deep/thick just where I would naturally hold the wheel at 10 to 2 and has a “sharp” edge running on the surface of wheel facing the driver where the two halves meet. Had to move my hands to different places on the wheel to give them a break. Also, the haptic buttons are very touch sensitive and several times I inadvertently muted the stereo or changed the display by brushing them.

Reverse gear – Scott pre-warned those picking up that the gearbox can take some time to bed in. He recommended if you can’t easily get the car into 1st or reverse pumping the clutch a few times and moving the stick left/right in neutral and in and out of 3rd.4th before tyring again. I needed to do this to engage reverse when backing onto the drive at home. I am sure it will be fine, but I am glad I was pre-warned.

Gear knob - mine is not as bad as some ops but still scratchy under the palm of the hand. Given the whole point of a metal gear knob is to have this mechanical connection to the car this is a bit of a miss. I may try some polish or very fine wet and dry to take the scratchy edges off.

I also detected a slight left yaw to the car when changing up driving straight on a dual carriageway/motorway. I need to replicate this and see how it feels once car run in. I have never owned a mid-engine car before (although have had several rear engine ones) – I’ll call it “torque yaw” for now but would be interested if others notice the same or it’s a well known Lotus thing !

Looking forward to more good things to say on the engine/exhaust note/handling as the car is run in.

Still very happy I went ahead but also put more detail on the issues as probably of more interest to others.

Thanks for sharing your early observations. Regarding the sharp edge on the steering wheel, which one did you get, alcantara or leather? Do you think it would be different if you had chosen the other?

 

[Citizen]

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Very nice , this car is perfect

Why my knob is not satin finished like yours or others I saw here ? XD

 

[eclat2emira]

Thanks for sharing your early observations. Regarding the sharp edge on the steering wheel, which one did you get, alcantara or leather? Do you think it would be different if you had chosen the other?

Not feeling any sharp edges on my alcantara steering wheel.

 

[eclat2emira]

Very nice , this car is perfect

Why my knob is not satin finished like yours or others I saw here ? XD

You know that is a perfect set-up for a bunch of "knob polishing" gags?

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Not feeling any sharp edges on my alcantara steering wheel.

Same here, no issues at all with the Alcantara steering wheel

 

[Emirahep]

It’s ridiculous they have not resolved the wiper issue by now, how hard can it be ?

I wonder what would be the implication if someone was in a serious accident as a result of them not working properly

I think they would be sued !

 

[CDM1855]

I think they would be sued !

Exactly, so it’s puzzling this has been dragging on for about 5 months already without a fix

I was caught in a heavy downpour on the M25 a few weeks ago, in my current car, even with the windscreen wipers on full speed I was really struggling. If that happened in the Emira and it refused to go to full speed there is very little chance of avoiding a serious accident.

Especially with these ridiculous motorways that don’t have a hard shoulder now

 

[Emirahep]

Thanks for sharing your early observations. Regarding the sharp edge on the steering wheel, which one did you get, alcantara or leather? Do you think it would be different if you had chosen the other?

Leather. It makes no difference what material I believe. It’s the design.

 

[Emirahep]

Exactly, so it’s puzzling this has been dragging on for about 5 months already without a fix

I was caught in a heavy downpour on the M25 a few weeks ago, in my current car, even with the windscreen wipers on full speed I was really struggling. If that happened in the Emira and it refused to go to full speed there is very little chance of avoiding a serious accident.

Especially with these ridiculous motorways that don’t have a hard shoulder now

Will post what I have learned on the wiper thread.

 

[eclat2emira]

Will post what I have learned on the wiper thread.

I posted some info here in case it's of any help:

Wiper speed issue

Can anyone with a recent delivery comment if they have the wiper problem or not. Is it the earlier batches that is affected?

www.emiraforum.com

 

[Emirahep]

Can you share the issue you found ? I will defo check the AC as well as panel alignment and paint

Sorry for delay ! Been flat out. The issue was a “dent” in the paint on the bonnet.

I only spotted it when returning to the car about to drive away. I had already signed to accept the car but I had not moved it.

It was minor but I am an engineer and a bit OCD so I knew it would bother me. Best way I can describe it is a small ding in the paint made by a golf ball. I know it’s a GRP panel and doesn’t dent but that is what it looked like.

Called Scott over to have a look. He could see it and got on the phone straight away to a senior person in Quality Control. He came within 10 mins and saw it straight away.

Put his hands up and said there was an issue and it needed to be sorted. He also apologized. He mooted trying to polish it out versus replacing the bonnet. I said no way it would polish out and would not be happy with that approach.

I asked what has caused it and the explanation was something in the underside of the bonded bonnet that allowed the paint to be sucked down. Presumably some sort of capillary action.

I give Scott and Lotus full marks for jumping on this and replacing the bonnet.

Before anyone asks it looks like a very good colour match and they paid close attention to panel fit.

I would prefer to never have had this problem but they handled it well and I would have seen that ding every time I cleaned and polished the car.

I note that they could only fix this at the factory - at a dealer or home delivery they clearly could not resolve it this way.

So thanks to Scott and the team at Hethel. Hope this was a one off.

 

[Cooper]

Great to chat to other owners. One of them straight onto Eurostar heading for the Ring ! Big respect.

That was me. Great to meet you guys and it really was the best morning getting to chat, have a laugh and a bite to eat with other petrolheads. I can't imagine how it could have been any better and it was a real credit to Scott Walker. I've a lot more very positive things to say but will do that in my own thread, thankfully I'm home in one piece today

The DV and brown leather by the way is so classy. My Seneca is tart spec in comparison (suits me well!)

 

[Emirahep]

That was me. Great to meet you guys and it really was the best morning getting to chat, have a laugh and a bite to eat with other petrolheads. I can't imagine how it could have been any better and it was a real credit to Scott Walker. I've a lot more very positive things to say but will do that in my own thread, thankfully I'm home in one piece today

The DV and brown leather by the way is so classy. My Seneca is tart spec in comparison (suits me well!)

Hope your trip went well ! Let me know where I can find your story !

As we discussed at the factory, the Emira looks great in all FE colours

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on your Emira.

 

[Concept24]

Gear knob - mine is not as bad as some ops but still scratchy under the palm of the hand. Given the whole point of a metal gear knob is to have this mechanical connection to the car this is a bit of a miss. I may try some polish or very fine wet and dry to take the scratchy edges off.

If the knob is coated, it may be a bit tricky to polish the external corners of the shift pattern geometry. Should you use wet&dry paper, it would be very difficult to not polish surrounding areas, as well.
Ideally, entire knob would be grit-blasted, although you would have to grit-blast the entire knob to make it have a uniform appearance. How you would protect the black color inside the pattern is another challenge.

Lotus really should have the knobs machined with radii or chamfers from the beginning.

 

[Emirahep]

If the knob is coated, it may be a bit tricky to polish the external corners of the shift pattern geometry. Should you use wet&dry paper, it would be very difficult to not polish surrounding areas, as well.
Ideally, entire knob would be grit-blasted, although you would have to grit-blast the entire knob to make it have a uniform appearance. How you would protect the black color inside the pattern is another challenge.

Lotus really should have the knobs machined with radii or chamfers from the beginning.

Fully agree they should do this better !

Not rushing into anything but I don’t think it’s coated.

Now thinking of using silver polish…but better to think than rush in !

 

[Concept24]

Fully agree they should do this better !

Not rushing into anything but I don’t think it’s coated.

Now thinking of using silver polish…but better to think than rush in !

Yes, indeed. You would need fairly abrasive media to smooth the sharp corners. Uncoated/anodized aluminum would look okay for many years, but may eventually impart a black corrosion-induced substance on your hand. Then again, your skin oil may act as a protective layer of sorts.

 

[Emirahep]

A few more days in. Some thoughts;

Still loving the overall driver engagement of the car. This includes the way it looks. The theatre of starting it and having the engine just behind your head.

Still please with DV/Tan. Looks lovely. It is definitely dark, especially from a distance, but it isn’t black (photo versus black Polo below for comparison).

Gremlins - Only notable gremlin so far is the wiper issue (although see comment on car play below).

Steering - really is VERY INVOLVING ! So much involvement and feedback. Way more than my Yaris or GT3T, which themselves are great in isolation. But the very communicative and sensitive steering with wide tyres also needs quite some concentration. I’ll see how I feel in longer journeys but I don’t think you can relax at any time so when people say the Emira is more GT than Sports car I think I disagree.

Rev hang - I just posted on that thread. It’s a bit annoying TBH. Let’s see how it settles and whether I can adapt my gear changes as the car is run in.

Noise - as others have said the exhaust doesn’t sound much inside the cabin in Tour. So I am switching quickly to Sport. Much better. Went through a tunnel with windows down. Sounded meaty and fairly exotic.

Infotainment - very easy to use. Paired an IPhone in seconds - tried with a USB cable first and the phone asked me if I wanted to use wired or wireless. I said wireless and it pairs seemlessly each time I get in the car. Much easier than Porsche. Played some tunes via Tidal and sounded good. Slight issue was playback stopped at one point and couldn’t get it going again via the car. Had to start again in Tidal. Don’t yet know whether I dropped signal/was a Tidal issue or what. Will see how that goes and try downloaded music next time.

As I mentioned on another thread the only data you can get from
Apple Car play in the central area of the screen behind the wheel is small (but detailed) album artwork and artist and track. You can’t get Google maps or Waze data or directions as far as I could work out. At least it means you can have a full screen of google maps/waze and still see what is playing without using the multi screen car play function.

Software version - had a thorough dig around and you cannot tell from
the car menus what version it is running. A dealer will be able to plug something in but that is a shame (but not unusual).

A few photos below for fun. Clash of the greens at Homebase. Already know the curves and air ducts will take quite some cleaning !

 

[eclat2emira]

A few more days in. Some thoughts;

Still loving the overall driver engagement of the car. This includes the way it looks. The theatre of starting it and having the engine just behind your head.

Still please with DV/Tan. Looks lovely. It is definitely dark, especially from a distance, but it isn’t black (photo versus black Polo below for comparison).

Gremlins - Only notable gremlin so far is the wiper issue (although see comment on car play below).

Steering - really is VERY INVOLVING ! So much involvement and feedback. Way more than my Yaris or GT3T, which themselves are great in isolation. But the very communicative and sensitive steering with wide tyres also needs quite some concentration. I’ll see how I feel in longer journeys but I don’t think you can relax at any time so when people say the Emira is more GT than Sports car I think I disagree.

Rev hang - I just posted on that thread. It’s a bit annoying TBH. Let’s see how it settles and whether I can adapt my gear changes as the car is run in.

Noise - as others have said the exhaust doesn’t sound much inside the cabin in Tour. So I am switching quickly to Sport. Much better. Went through a tunnel with windows down. Sounded meaty and fairly exotic.

Infotainment - very easy to use. Paired an IPhone in seconds - tried with a USB cable first and the phone asked me if I wanted to use wired or wireless. I said wireless and it pairs seemlessly each time I get in the car. Much easier than Porsche. Played some tunes via Tidal and sounded good. Slight issue was playback stopped at one point and couldn’t get it going again via the car. Had to start again in Tidal. Don’t yet know whether I dropped signal/was a Tidal issue or what. Will see how that goes and try downloaded music next time.

As I mentioned on another thread the only data you can get from
Apple Car play in the central area of the screen behind the wheel is small (but detailed) album artwork and artist and track. You can’t get Google maps or Waze data or directions as far as I could work out. At least it means you can have a full screen of google maps/waze and still see what is playing without using the multi screen car play function.

Software version - had a thorough dig around and you cannot tell from
the car menus what version it is running. A dealer will be able to plug something in but that is a shame (but not unusual).

A few photos below for fun. Clash of the greens at Homebase. Already know the curves and air ducts will take quite some cleaning !

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Agree with all of that as a fellow DV owner!

In particular, your comments on the steering echo my own recent comments, with the feedback also demanding constant attention and small adjustments. This is a large part of the "involvement" everyone speaks of but I agree, it could be hard work on a longer run or when touring.

I do remember, however, on the 390-mile drive back from Hethel on a mix of fast A roads and motorway this not really striking me as an issue, I think because those roads tend to have a flatter, more true surface, meaning there is less "chatter" coming back through the wheel. The Emira is the opposite of my Vantage - more Sports car than GT, but I think it could also handle touring just grand.

 

[Emirahep]

Agree with all of that as a fellow DV owner!

In particular, your comments on the steering echo my own recent comments, with the feedback also demanding constant attention and small adjustments. This is a large part of the "involvement" everyone speaks of but I agree, it could be hard work on a longer run or when touring.

I do remember, however, on the 390-mile drive back from Hethel on a mix of fast A roads and motorway this not really striking me as an issue, I think because those roads tend to have a flatter, more true surface, meaning there is less "chatter" coming back through the wheel. The Emira is the opposite of my Vantage - more Sports car than GT, but I think it could also handle touring just grand.

Sounds like we thinking along similar lines. I will hop on the M40 and do a few junctions soon. Whether I feel like long distance touring will in large depend on whether the car/steering follows the slight camber on a motorway/autoroute. It certainly does on A/B roads.

And also whether the seat gets softer. Still find it quite hard although position/adjustment is excellent.

 

[Drlonline]

A few more days in. Some thoughts;

Still loving the overall driver engagement of the car. This includes the way it looks. The theatre of starting it and having the engine just behind your head.

Still please with DV/Tan. Looks lovely. It is definitely dark, especially from a distance, but it isn’t black (photo versus black Polo below for comparison).

Gremlins - Only notable gremlin so far is the wiper issue (although see comment on car play below).

Steering - really is VERY INVOLVING ! So much involvement and feedback. Way more than my Yaris or GT3T, which themselves are great in isolation. But the very communicative and sensitive steering with wide tyres also needs quite some concentration. I’ll see how I feel in longer journeys but I don’t think you can relax at any time so when people say the Emira is more GT than Sports car I think I disagree.

Rev hang - I just posted on that thread. It’s a bit annoying TBH. Let’s see how it settles and whether I can adapt my gear changes as the car is run in.

Noise - as others have said the exhaust doesn’t sound much inside the cabin in Tour. So I am switching quickly to Sport. Much better. Went through a tunnel with windows down. Sounded meaty and fairly exotic.

Infotainment - very easy to use. Paired an IPhone in seconds - tried with a USB cable first and the phone asked me if I wanted to use wired or wireless. I said wireless and it pairs seemlessly each time I get in the car. Much easier than Porsche. Played some tunes via Tidal and sounded good. Slight issue was playback stopped at one point and couldn’t get it going again via the car. Had to start again in Tidal. Don’t yet know whether I dropped signal/was a Tidal issue or what. Will see how that goes and try downloaded music next time.

As I mentioned on another thread the only data you can get from
Apple Car play in the central area of the screen behind the wheel is small (but detailed) album artwork and artist and track. You can’t get Google maps or Waze data or directions as far as I could work out. At least it means you can have a full screen of google maps/waze and still see what is playing without using the multi screen car play function.

Software version - had a thorough dig around and you cannot tell from
the car menus what version it is running. A dealer will be able to plug something in but that is a shame (but not unusual).

A few photos below for fun. Clash of the greens at Homebase. Already know the curves and air ducts will take quite some cleaning !

View attachment 25299
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One of the concerns I often hear about black cars is how quickly they show dirt, more so than with other colors. Are you finding that to be the case with the DV color?