Race to the first i4

[JimH]

Yesterday my ongoing Lotus Emira First Edition i4 ordering saga (which started on 8th July 2021!) came to an end when I collected this 3-month old, 250 miles, ex-demonstrator Lotus Emira First Edition V6 Auto in virtually the same specification, and on the same day that Lotus Cars refunded our original deposit. Many thanks to Jack Bristow at Hendy Performance Eastleigh for a flawless transaction and handover process of what is, effectively, a brand new car. Lotus Cars have some way to go yet to match the direct sales model (and associated "premium brand" customer expectations) up to the ongoing dealership (sorry - sales agent!) experience for approved used Lotus cars. After 4 1/2 hours drive home in the pouring rain it's not quite as "showroom fresh" today but here's hoping that the new GardX CX2 ceramic coating has done it's job!

 

[JClem]

I hope you’re well. Apologies for the delay in response, it’s very busy right now.

Unfortunately, the turbocharged edition is facing further delays – production has not started yet.

Sadly, this is as much information I have to hand right now. We are working on creating communication about these delays and sending them out in the upcoming weeks.

I'm assuming Sharon means production of UK orders.

Hethel was full of i4s when I visited a couple of weeks ago. Which begs the question, are Chinese bound i4s unaffected by whatever issue is affecting other i4s? Or, is the Chinese order book so large that they are sacrificing RoW deliveries?

Also "upcoming weeks" suggests production of UK (and probably RoW) i4s is not going to start any time soon.

They had a Nimbus i4 demonstrator there which seem to work just fine when someone arrived for a test drive!

So glad I abandoned my i4 order and took an orphaned v6 3 months ago.

 

[Tokion]

……"upcoming weeks" suggests production of UK (and probably RoW) i4s is not going to start any time soon.

Scratched my head regarding ‘RoW’, but found that it is “Car Rental Terminology” that stands for “Rest of the World”. So I guess that makes sense

Thanks for all the good information JClem. I agree with everything you said, and I also hope you see my own points.

Lucky for you that you were able to switch to a V6 car at (supposedly) favorable terms. Unfortunately there has not been such offers where I am, and the disadvantages of breaking the contract by cancelling would be so severe that I do not think it would be feasible.

Therefore I have chosen to stay firm with my First Edition 4-CYLINDER (i4) order and simply wait it out. My dealer still says that my car will be manufactured during November 2023. Let’s see

 

[Cutting42]

Scratched my head regarding ‘RoW’, but found that it is “Car Rental Terminology” that stands for “Rest of the World”. So I guess that makes sense

Not just rental car terminology, it is used widely in my experience.

 

[MajHall04]

Hey! Maybe the holdup is they are giving all I4 400hp and the dct software update. Just trying to be positive since my non refundable US deposit was finalized in August!

 

[christophermalex]

Hey! Maybe the holdup is they are giving all I4 400hp and the dct software update. Just trying to be positive since my non refundable US deposit was finalized in August!

I for one believe that getting all i4's to 400hp and properly dialing in the DCT would make a HUGE amount of sense for Lotus. Let's be honest, the old school drivers with 2 left feet that MUST have that third pedal so the other grey-hairs don't scoff at them at the local Cars and Prune Juice will always want the V6. They can have them, and those of us that have been loyally and (im)patiently waiting for the AMG power/transmission can get the proper power delivery that Lotus are clearly comfortable sending to Shanghai.

If Lotus were to finally have an update with a positive outcome for the i4 crowd I'd love to see live reactions from the "purists" that thought their 400hp was going to rule the road.

 

[kitkat]

I for one believe that getting all i4's to 400hp and properly dialing in the DCT would make a HUGE amount of sense for Lotus. Let's be honest, the old school drivers with 2 left feet that MUST have that third pedal so the other grey-hairs don't scoff at them at the local Cars and Prune Juice will always want the V6. They can have them, and those of us that have been loyally and (im)patiently waiting for the AMG power/transmission can get the proper power delivery that Lotus are clearly comfortable sending to Shanghai.

If Lotus were to finally have an update with a positive outcome for the i4 crowd I'd love to see live reactions from the "purists" that thought their 400hp was going to rule the road.

I'm detuning you to 320hp with your ACN91 gas for that grey hair remark -- boost szn will never come for you Gen Z!

 

[Kibbbs]

I don’t mean to sound terrible, but I dip in here now and again to see if I should regret cancelling my order. I don’t. Car could be great (?) but the experience of being a Lotus UK customer is awful from what I can see. Best of luck to those of you hanging in there.

 

[christophermalex]

I'm detuning you to 320hp with your ACN91 gas for that grey hair remark -- boost szn will never come for you Gen Z!

I love making the grey-hair comment as mine has been well past grey on to silver for a few years. I have a 6-speed 911 Carrera S and the DCT is my plan to have the best of both worlds so I will be sure not to bring the i4 with me to my own local Cars and Prune Juice

 

[Rainier]

I for one believe that getting all i4's to 400hp and properly dialing in the DCT would make a HUGE amount of sense for Lotus. Let's be honest, the old school drivers with 2 left feet that MUST have that third pedal so the other grey-hairs don't scoff at them at the local Cars and Prune Juice will always want the V6. ...

That prune juice will speed up the V6 drivers

 

[EspritGuy]

That prune juice will speed up the V6 drivers

How else might you generate internal combustion?

 

[eriegz]

I believe we have a winner! https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/picked-up-the-emira-i4-fe-seneca-blue.3794/

 

[Zayex]

I suspect the UK delays are partly because they have been diverting more i4 output to China.

I think we all are afraid about the same thing.

They need to push the Chinese market for the arrival of the Emeya and the Eletre. It is clear that they need to let people see "many" Emira on the street, to make them feel that the cars deserve 100K$ for that "foreign brand" and more knowing that 70% of their market will be local (more with the import duties that are now in NA on Chinese cars and let's hope that the EU wakes up or Germany will be deserted of car manufacturers).

With this, as I had read in other threads that the I4 has hardly any waiting list.... as being in the EU (not UK), I did a reservation on 10/2022 and they keep telling me that "soon", which is already annoying.

I just hope they finish the China order list soon, so the rest of us can see our cars.

 

[christophermalex]

I think we all are afraid about the same thing.

They need to push the Chinese market for the arrival of the Emeya and the Eletre. It is clear that they need to let people see "many" Emira on the street, to make them feel that the cars deserve 100K$ for that "foreign brand" and more knowing that 70% of their market will be local (more with the import duties that are now in NA on Chinese cars and let's hope that the EU wakes up or Germany will be deserted of car manufacturers).

With this, as I had read in other threads that the I4 has hardly any waiting list.... as being in the EU (not UK), I did a reservation on 10/2022 and they keep telling me that "soon", which is already annoying.

I just hope they finish the China order list soon, so the rest of us can see our cars.

I am willing to overlook China getting priority if they simply forget to hit DELETE on the free additional 40 hp they will be getting. I will take the full 400 and won't even tell the V6 crowd (don't worry they aren't trolling here. I'm sure they are too afraid their clutch pedal will disappear if they click on this thread).

 

[Zayex]

Estoy dispuesto a pasar por alto que China tenga prioridad si simplemente se olvidan de presionar BORRAR en los 40 hp adicionales gratuitos que obtendrán. Tomaré el 400 completo y ni siquiera se lo diré a la multitud del V6 (no se preocupen, no están troleando aquí. Estoy seguro de que tienen demasiado miedo de que el pedal del embrague desaparezca si hacen clic en este hilo).

A common practice in the EU is that the car papers says that a car has 150hp and on the dynamometer the thing improves ... what I hope is that the engine curve is much more "interesting".

About the clutch pedal... I would love to see in the future the average mileage of the V6 vs I4 cars, I bet you those of us who buy the I4 will use it much more on a daily basis

I will of course deny this comment outside of this thread, completely!

 

[MikeG]

Yesterday my ongoing Lotus Emira First Edition i4 ordering saga (which started on 8th July 2021!) came to an end when I collected this 3-month old, 250 miles, ex-demonstrator Lotus Emira First Edition V6 Auto in virtually the same specification, and on the same day that Lotus Cars refunded our original deposit. Many thanks to Jack Bristow at Hendy Performance Eastleigh for a flawless transaction and handover process of what is, effectively, a brand new car. Lotus Cars have some way to go yet to match the direct sales model (and associated "premium brand" customer expectations) up to the ongoing dealership (sorry - sales agent!) experience for approved used Lotus cars. After 4 1/2 hours drive home in the pouring rain it's not quite as "showroom fresh" today but here's hoping that the new GardX CX2 ceramic coating has done its job!View attachment 32462

@JimH agree re shout out to Jack Bristow at Hendry Eastleigh. Like you I bailed from an i4 and went down the V6 auto road - sooo pleased I did. 120 miles on the clock and the buying experience was second to none, really smooth thanks to Jack. Really enjoying the sound and the gear change is absolutely fine, especially through the paddles. 1100 miles in and so far (touching lots of wood!) no warning lights or issues at all. Build date April 23. Also added black bonnet badge and wheel caps as far too much colour on it

 

[Gridgway]

I did just pop in to see if there was any good news re I4 UK deliveries, but there isn't sadly!

 

[Cutting42]

Sad news today, saw a post on fb about a Nov 23 build car being deferred to late Q1 2024 and used the webchat to get an update on my Oct 23 build car - one of the earliest - was an Aug build originally.

This is the response:

Thank you for waiting.
There is currently a delay on the turbocharged Emira. We are anticipating that we will be getting you into your car Q1 2024

I pleaded and begged but nothing else; just no more news just bland apologies. FFS what is going on? Where is the press release on this, info from the driving press or even an email would have been nice. I mean not having a sports car in Winter is not that big a deal but I (we) am (are) being sorely tested. So tempting to get a V6 right now.

 

[Mitcheroo]

I have just received a text message today asking me to finalise the specification of my vehicle to ensure I receive it a timely manner. I originally ordered my i4 in December 2022. Yet, I finalised my spec some months ago and the last email I received said my car would be November 23 build. Given issues highlighted on this Forum I never thought it would be built in November, but how comes they are asking me to finalise my spec? Is this just usual Lotus rubbish comms ?

 

[Gridgway]

Yes, the usual inept nonsense