My trip to Hethel

I am attending the tour on Monday so let me know if anyone has any questions they would like me to ask.
Can you please ask about the V6 IPS automatic gearbox. What changes if any have been made to it from the Evora 410 application? Thank you very much for your kind offer.
 
I am attending the tour on Monday so let me know if anyone has any questions they would like me to ask.
Where is the battery?

What's the change like in V6 slush box in sport mode compared to the DSG?

What measuring sticks are applied to the shop floor....ie 10 cars a day? Number of no fault cars per day?
Behaviour is driven by measuring sticks, hence the question.
 
What are the weight of the forged wheels

How much do the 12-way seats weigh

How much does the battery weigh

Are the lower black door sills painted, or is gloss black their natural color

Are the new gears they've made for the manual box closer ratio than the Evora, and are the new Lotus engineered gears stronger than the ones that were replaced.


I have to admit I'm a bit jealous of you guys over there being able to go on these tours!
Come over make a few days of it, I mean Norwich is a complete shit hole but I'm sure you'll enjoy the tour.
 
Can you please ask about the V6 IPS automatic gearbox. What changes if any have been made to it from the Evora 410 application? Thank you very much for your kind offer.
Good question I certainly will.
 
Where is the battery?

What's the change like in V6 slush box in sport mode compared to the DSG?

What measuring sticks are applied to the shop floor....ie 10 cars a day? Number of no fault cars per day?
Behaviour is driven by measuring sticks, hence the question.
Battery is in the boot/trunk, as was seen on the production line on Wednesday..
 
Some good questions there, i`d suggest maybe emailing them to the customer service team before you go so they can give you the answers when you are there. I doubt they`ll know if you ask them on the tour. He`s very knowledgeable but, as you`d expect, knows what he knows and the more oblique questions he wasn`t sure off.

I did ask whether it`s true the Japanese I6 has 400bhp, was told he didn`t know :)

As for the box, my memory isn`t the best, sorry. So much else to look at as well :) But they take a diesel gearbox as the standard one can`t hold the power and strip out 3 (or 4) gears to make way for their own spec. These give it a closer gear ratio and more like what Lotus wanted than what a diesel box provides. Yes, as mentioned above, there is a cooling circuit for the box as well.

One of the main things that was clear from a conversation is just how hard they are still working to fine tune the final bits. The issue they have is that they still have the ability to change items that they aren`t happy with. I`d expect that a normal build/company has it locked down ages ago but they can still play. For example they mentioned they weren`t 100% happy with the seat base foam so are still playing with that for the final production. The seat design was sorted but the final touches not.

It`s a bit like us where we have just too much choice and it actually causes more problems than just having a couple of options :) They really do care, it`s just a shame their comms don`t reflect what a job they are doing.

I should be in the first couple of batches with the I4 but they are very tight lipped on when that might be. Totally understandable. I might go back again for another tour once they are in full production. Every production area has 17min to finish their part. As there are many processes going on at the same time they estimate a car can be made in 10 hours.
 
I am attending the tour on Monday so let me know if anyone has any questions they would like me to ask.
Are there engineering issues holding up homologation approval?
Is the seat height finalised?
Why is there a gap between the exhaust tips and the actual exhaust? (looks fake)
 
Are there engineering issues holding up homologation approval?
Is the seat height finalised?
Why is there a gap between the exhaust tips and the actual exhaust? (looks fake)
Are there engineering issues holding up homologation approval? No
Is the seat height finalised? 20mm higher than the tour car
Why is there a gap between the exhaust tips and the actual exhaust? (looks fake) Its not a production car
 
I doubt they'll know any of this except if the lower sills are painted or not. I'd love to know weights of various parts, but I'm confident we'll have to wait for owners to do independent tests.
 
Are there engineering issues holding up homologation approval?
Is the seat height finalised?
Why is there a gap between the exhaust tips and the actual exhaust? (looks fake)
The exhaust tip gap is something every company does as far as I know. The fake tips are cosmetic, and that enables them to have perfect alignment sticking out from the car without having to worry about tweaking and aligning the actual exhaust system. It saves time on the production line.
 
Are there engineering issues holding up homologation approval? No
Is the seat height finalised? 20mm higher than the tour car
Why is there a gap between the exhaust tips and the actual exhaust? (looks fake) Its not a production car
20mm higher?
The salesman in St. Gallen told me it would be 10mm lower :D
 
Some good questions there, i`d suggest maybe emailing them to the customer service team before you go so they can give you the answers when you are there. I doubt they`ll know if you ask them on the tour. He`s very knowledgeable but, as you`d expect, knows what he knows and the more oblique questions he wasn`t sure off.

I did ask whether it`s true the Japanese I6 has 400bhp, was told he didn`t know :)

As for the box, my memory isn`t the best, sorry. So much else to look at as well :) But they take a diesel gearbox as the standard one can`t hold the power and strip out 3 (or 4) gears to make way for their own spec. These give it a closer gear ratio and more like what Lotus wanted than what a diesel box provides. Yes, as mentioned above, there is a cooling circuit for the box as well.

One of the main things that was clear from a conversation is just how hard they are still working to fine tune the final bits. The issue they have is that they still have the ability to change items that they aren`t happy with. I`d expect that a normal build/company has it locked down ages ago but they can still play. For example they mentioned they weren`t 100% happy with the seat base foam so are still playing with that for the final production. The seat design was sorted but the final touches not.

It`s a bit like us where we have just too much choice and it actually causes more problems than just having a couple of options :) They really do care, it`s just a shame their comms don`t reflect what a job they are doing.

I should be in the first couple of batches with the I4 but they are very tight lipped on when that might be. Totally understandable. I might go back again for another tour once they are in full production. Every production area has 17min to finish their part. As there are many processes going on at the same time they estimate a car can be made in 10 hours.
Wait… you asked them about the Japanese I6 with 400hp!!?? 😁
 
Sorry it’s 20mm lower in the production car.
Well thats what it says on the top gear original revie
Sorry, I was adding this to the list of potential questions for your trip to Hethel, as confirmation of all the various rumors we've heard.
 
Sorry, I was adding this to the list of potential questions for your trip to Hethel, as confirmation of all the various rumors we've heard.
Im sure I will get the same answer that we always get for every question........

This information hasn't been released from the factory as yet, is there anything else I can help you with today?
 
The exhaust tip gap is something every company does as far as I know. The fake tips are cosmetic, and that enables them to have perfect alignment sticking out from the car without having to worry about tweaking and aligning the actual exhaust system. It saves time on the production line.
One of my fellow tour participants mentioned that the exhaust finishers are mounted to the bumper itself.

We saw a number of cars with the black pack roof but I didn't see any with the black exhaust finishers!
 
One of the main things that was clear from a conversation is just how hard they are still working to fine tune the final bits. The issue they have is that they still have the ability to change items that they aren`t happy with. I`d expect that a normal build/company has it locked down ages ago but they can still play. For example they mentioned they weren`t 100% happy with the seat base foam so are still playing with that for the final production. The seat design was sorted but the final touches not.

It`s a bit like us where we have just too much choice and it actually causes more problems than just having a couple of options :) They really do care, it`s just a shame their comms don`t reflect what a job they are doing.

I should be in the first couple of batches with the I4 but they are very tight lipped on when that might be. Totally understandable. I might go back again for another tour once they are in full production. Every production area has 17min to finish their part. As there are many processes going on at the same time they estimate a car can be made in 10 hours.
Great to hear Lotus are working hard to get the details right, but I am surprised that they are still tweaking something as basic as the seats at this very late stage. I assume this means that the seats are now made in house? I seem to recall there was talk earlier on of them being supplied by Sparco. I'd feel a lot more confident if they were buying them in from a supplier like Recaro or Sparco who know how make good sports seats. The seats we have seen most recently in the TG review were still too high and lacking side bolstering.
 
On my visit I was told the seats are made by Lear - lotus design the padding etc Unfortunately no adjustable side bolster support , which they need.
 

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