Race to the first i4

[PsymonR]

I will ask about this and other ADAS features tomorrow. I really hope this didn't make the cut. I would gladly pay to delete it!

ISA would be bad enough if it worked well but it just doesn't. There's a reason I say "intelligent" in inverted commas, I'm yet to see a car with speed limit recognition that doesn't have moments where it gets it totally wrong.

I think it will only be on the i4 if they are forced to do so by legislation, I'm not quite sure where the car fits with the regs, currently only new models need to have ISA, but all new cars sold will need it from July afaik. If we have escaped then I'm glad the car is early rather than further delayed. I guess is going to depend on whether the i4 is classed a new model compared to the V6 or not when it came to getting type approval.

 

[Ratters]

I thought the same, but yesterday my checkout link went live, its a pleasant surprise but a bit of a logistical problem as I wasn’t expecting anything for a few more months, getting an insurance quote is also proving an issue. I must admit I’m thinking along the same lines as Ratters above.

My insurers have now confirmed ok to add to my collector policy but for everyday use at a premium of £950.
The paddles are a bit weak/ disappointing to use compared to my other DCT cars.Not a big issue though.
In auto mode it was excellent and docile but I tend to drive in manual mode with the benefit of no clutch which I prefer on my newer cars with traditional manual on my older cars.
The noise on start up also a bit underwhelming.
Not allowed to take it above 4,500 RPM as running in so difficult to get a flavour as to sound on the road.
Sport setting certainly sounded better than Tour.
The suspension is quite superb as is the chassis/ handling/ road holding and also steering( still mechanical???) and brakes.
I really liked it.
When run in and you can drive it hard I think it will be awesome.

 

[Ratters]

My insurers have now confirmed ok to add to my collector policy but for everyday use at a premium of £950.
The paddles are a bit weak/ disappointing to use compared to my other DCT cars.Not a big issue though.
In auto mode it was excellent and docile but I tend to drive in manual mode with the benefit of no clutch which I prefer on my newer cars with traditional manual on my older cars.
The noise on start up also a bit underwhelming.
Not allowed to take it above 4,500 RPM as running in so difficult to get a flavour as to sound on the road.
Sport setting certainly sounded better than Tour.
The suspension is quite superb as is the chassis/ handling/ road holding and also steering( still mechanical???) and brakes.
I really liked it.
When run in and you can drive it hard I think it will be awesome.

Not sure about ADAS- can anyone else guide us here please?

 

[JimH]

I had a call from LCS this afternoon -

"We know you cancelled your i4 but we have some spare cars - would you like to reconsider"

"No thanks, I'm very happy with my ex-dealer demo V6 Auto which only had 248-miles on it when I collected it last October, saving me £3k on my protected i4 price and £14k on the V6 auto price at the time (and with the first year's RFL taken care of on top...)"

"Oh, ok....."

 

[Lazaruos]

It’s happening guys ..

 

[GlobalPilot777]

It’s happening guys .. View attachment 38366

Is this in Dubai?

 

[Lazaruos]

Is this in Dubai?

Probably Kuwait cs sent me that pic and confirmed cars already on production since start of March expected delivery May

 

[yohc88]

I test drove an i4 in Sydney today, IMHO no real issue with the "supposed" downshift lag. Downshifts seem very responsive to me (and I have owned VW DSG and Porsche PDK cars in the past), its not lightening quick but as the same time I didn't think it warranted all the negative feedback it got. The i4 I drove had the latest DCT software so it could be a significant improvement from the YouTube reviews from last August. I wasn't expecting so much turbo flutter and turbo "choo-choo" sounds but it adds character to the car. By no means do the sounds shout "LOOK AT MY TURBO CAR !!!"

No ADAS functions.

All in all, I was impressed and look forward to my Seneca Blue i4 within a few weeks

 

[Tokion]

I had a call from LCS this afternoon -

"We know you cancelled your i4 but we have some spare cars - would you like to reconsider"

"No thanks, I'm very happy with my ex-dealer demo V6 Auto which only had 248-miles on it when I collected it last October, saving me £3k on my protected i4 price and £14k on the V6 auto price at the time (and with the first year's RFL taken care of on top..."

"Oh, ok....."

One of each would be AMAZING (But LCS would have to give you a sweet deal )

 

[Andy H]

I had my test drive this morning and I'm happy to report that it was a very positive experience.

The car was running in which meant I had a 4,500 rpm limit. However, that was enough to feel that the engine is very eager and despite having to short shift, I could definitely feel the torque building hard. I would say it feels similar to my 400bhp RS3 which has a 2.5 turbo engine. However, there feels to be less lag than the RS3 when pulling from lower revs. Overall, it feels the right power for typical country roads. I dare say a hotter version would be nice on the track or on open roads but there's more than enough on tap for the majority of situations.

I found the DCT to be very responsive. There was minimal delay when shifting up or down manually. Also, in sport the gearbox is very willing to hold onto the revs to keep you on boost. It's puzzling how it got so many bad reviews. I wonder if there's been a software upgrade although the salesman didn't think there had. This was my biggest concern going into the drive so I spent quite a bit of time switching between sport auto and manual and both felt really responsive.

I had driven the V6 before so I know the ride is sublime. The roads were pretty shocking in places but the touring suspension made easy work of them.

I asked about ADAS but he said that there are no new features over the V6 model which I guess is good and bad. On balance, I'll sacrifice ACC for no auto-speed limiting nonsense! The only caveat I would add is that the salesman was primarily Morgan rather than Lotus so it's possible he didn't have the latest info.

In summary, the drive was really enjoyable. I was more relaxed than last time without needing fight with the manual and the heavy clutch which gave more time to experience the drive. It was definitely enough to convince me I made the right choice over the V6.

Apparently Bell and Colvill are expecting customer cars fairly imminently and he was quite sure that I would be able to take delivery before the end of March and qualify for the 3 years servicing offer which is a nice bonus and goes some way to offset the price hike. Ironically, the only think that's standing in the way of a collection date is access to some reasonably priced insurance. I'm hoping that the i4 will filter through to underwriters by the end of the month.

 

[Andy H]

Just to add, that the car I drove is on the right in the picture and the others are V6's. I don't see any differences up front so the ADAS thing seems accurate.

 

[JClem]

I had my test drive this morning and I'm happy to report that it was a very positive experience.

The car was running in which meant I had a 4,500 rpm limit. However, that was enough to feel that the engine is very eager and despite having to short shift, I could definitely feel the torque building hard. I would say it feels similar to my 400bhp RS3 which has a 2.5 turbo engine. However, there feels to be less lag than the RS3 when pulling from lower revs. Overall, it feels the right power for typical country roads. I dare say a hotter version would be nice on the track or on open roads but there's more than enough on tap for the majority of situations.

I found the DCT to be very responsive. There was minimal delay when shifting up or down manually. Also, in sport the gearbox is very willing to hold onto the revs to keep you on boost. It's puzzling how it got so many bad reviews. I wonder if there's been a software upgrade although the salesman didn't think there had. This was my biggest concern going into the drive so I spent quite a bit of time switching between sport auto and manual and both felt really responsive.

I had driven the V6 before so I know the ride is sublime. The roads were pretty shocking in places but the touring suspension made easy work of them.

I asked about ADAS but he said that there are no new features over the V6 model which I guess is good and bad. On balance, I'll sacrifice ACC for no auto-speed limiting nonsense! The only caveat I would add is that the salesman was primarily Morgan rather than Lotus so it's possible he didn't have the latest info.

In summary, the drive was really enjoyable. I was more relaxed than last time without needing fight with the manual and the heavy clutch which gave more time to experience the drive. It was definitely enough to convince me I made the right choice over the V6.

Apparently Bell and Colvill are expecting customer cars fairly imminently and he was quite sure that I would be able to take delivery before the end of March and qualify for the 3 years servicing offer which is a nice bonus and goes some way to offset the price hike. Ironically, the only think that's standing in the way of a collection date is access to some reasonably priced insurance. I'm hoping that the i4 will filter through to underwriters by the end of the month.

Good to hear. I've got a test drive with B&C in two weeks. It's going to be interesting stepping out of my auto V6, into the i4 and comparing the two.

 

[PsymonR]

I had my test drive this morning and I'm happy to report that it was a very positive experience.

The car was running in which meant I had a 4,500 rpm limit. However, that was enough to feel that the engine is very eager and despite having to short shift, I could definitely feel the torque building hard. I would say it feels similar to my 400bhp RS3 which has a 2.5 turbo engine. However, there feels to be less lag than the RS3 when pulling from lower revs. Overall, it feels the right power for typical country roads. I dare say a hotter version would be nice on the track or on open roads but there's more than enough on tap for the majority of situations.

I found the DCT to be very responsive. There was minimal delay when shifting up or down manually. Also, in sport the gearbox is very willing to hold onto the revs to keep you on boost. It's puzzling how it got so many bad reviews. I wonder if there's been a software upgrade although the salesman didn't think there had. This was my biggest concern going into the drive so I spent quite a bit of time switching between sport auto and manual and both felt really responsive.

I had driven the V6 before so I know the ride is sublime. The roads were pretty shocking in places but the touring suspension made easy work of them.

I asked about ADAS but he said that there are no new features over the V6 model which I guess is good and bad. On balance, I'll sacrifice ACC for no auto-speed limiting nonsense! The only caveat I would add is that the salesman was primarily Morgan rather than Lotus so it's possible he didn't have the latest info.

In summary, the drive was really enjoyable. I was more relaxed than last time without needing fight with the manual and the heavy clutch which gave more time to experience the drive. It was definitely enough to convince me I made the right choice over the V6.

Apparently Bell and Colvill are expecting customer cars fairly imminently and he was quite sure that I would be able to take delivery before the end of March and qualify for the 3 years servicing offer which is a nice bonus and goes some way to offset the price hike. Ironically, the only think that's standing in the way of a collection date is access to some reasonably priced insurance. I'm hoping that the i4 will filter through to underwriters by the end of the month.

Great write up thanks, very happy to hear you had a positive experience!

Like you I'll definitely take having no adaptive cruise over being lumbered with ISA.

 

[Andy H]

stepping out of my auto V6, into the i4

That would be a really interesting comparison, I've only driven the manual V6. I would say the i4 "feels" faster because of the torque but the V6 is more linear. I'd be interested to hear how you find the auto vs DCT. The V6 auto would have been my plan b if the test drive had gone badly.

 

[Mitcheroo]

That would be a really interesting comparison, I've only driven the manual V6. I would say the i4 "feels" faster because of the torque but the V6 is more linear. I'd be interested to hear how you find the auto vs DCT. The V6 auto would have been my plan b if the test drive had gone badly.

I had my test drive this morning and I'm happy to report that it was a very positive experience.

The car was running in which meant I had a 4,500 rpm limit. However, that was enough to feel that the engine is very eager and despite having to short shift, I could definitely feel the torque building hard. I would say it feels similar to my 400bhp RS3 which has a 2.5 turbo engine. However, there feels to be less lag than the RS3 when pulling from lower revs. Overall, it feels the right power for typical country roads. I dare say a hotter version would be nice on the track or on open roads but there's more than enough on tap for the majority of situations.

I found the DCT to be very responsive. There was minimal delay when shifting up or down manually. Also, in sport the gearbox is very willing to hold onto the revs to keep you on boost. It's puzzling how it got so many bad reviews. I wonder if there's been a software upgrade although the salesman didn't think there had. This was my biggest concern going into the drive so I spent quite a bit of time switching between sport auto and manual and both felt really responsive.

I had driven the V6 before so I know the ride is sublime. The roads were pretty shocking in places but the touring suspension made easy work of them.

I asked about ADAS but he said that there are no new features over the V6 model which I guess is good and bad. On balance, I'll sacrifice ACC for no auto-speed limiting nonsense! The only caveat I would add is that the salesman was primarily Morgan rather than Lotus so it's possible he didn't have the latest info.

In summary, the drive was really enjoyable. I was more relaxed than last time without needing fight with the manual and the heavy clutch which gave more time to experience the drive. It was definitely enough to convince me I made the right choice over the V6.

Apparently Bell and Colvill are expecting customer cars fairly imminently and he was quite sure that I would be able to take delivery before the end of March and qualify for the 3 years servicing offer which is a nice bonus and goes some way to offset the price hike. Ironically, the only think that's standing in the way of a collection date is access to some reasonably priced insurance. I'm hoping that the i4 will filter through to underwriters by the end of the month.

Great review and reassuring to know the car feels right. Are you going to take delivery? I spoke to Lotus Southampton today and like you said it sounds like they are taking delivery of the cars in the next week. Why the hell they could not have given everyone the heads up weeks ago that the cars will be available in March is anyone’s guess.

 

[Andy H]

Are you going to take delivery

That's the plan. Like you, this all caught me a bit my surprise and I need to look at the cashflow as I was hoping to buy outright rather than on finance. Hopefully I can complete the man maths this weekend and confirm the order.

 

[PsymonR]

Great review and reassuring to know the car feels right. Are you going to take delivery? I spoke to Lotus Southampton today and like you said it sounds like they are taking delivery of the cars in the next week. Why the hell they could not have given everyone the heads up weeks ago that the cars will be available in March is anyone’s guess.

I would expect after the false start at the end of last year that they waited until they were sure that the cars would be ready to be delivered before announcing anything this time round, they probably didn't want to risk having to delay again.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Model year 2025 (builds after July) for EU/UK will have to have ADAS, so expect that in the next model year.

 

[AFBDA]

Model year 2025 (builds after July) for EU/UK will have to have ADAS, so expect that in the next model year.

Is this reported officially anywhere? And is this just for the i4?

 

[Emira604]

Model year 2025 (builds after July) for EU/UK will have to have ADAS, so expect that in the next model year.

Interesting, I wonder if we’ll get that here in Canada as the i4 FE will be delivered as a 2025 model.