Ride Height..... hence wheel gap....official answer

emiraspain

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I have added to the debate over the last 10 days, solely after my trip to Hethel and seeing with my own eyes there was a difference between tour and sport and being told by the instructor that its meant to be like that. Even in Harry's video there is a brief mention of it also.
The debate, like many on here, has gone on and on with different people and different titbits of info, even from those at Lotus, seeming to provide differing answers at differing times. Also experts on here assuming this would make sense, as I guess it does, that they would be different.
Im the end, I got a bit bored, even though I am sport and would be a low rider in any case, and so I went to the horses mouth. I felt that was the more appropriate end of the horse to go to in this case, and I asked directly. (I think Tom may have done this already, but people like me continued the debate with these new bits of info popping up).

Answer from Gavan

"The ride height is the same bath tour and sport."


Clearly the "bath" isn't the south western Roman city in the UK, but just a tipo from his Android phone. (I wont start a debate on android auto vs apple car play in a Lotus, maybe later....)
So despite others saying different things (including myself again), despite some photos showing differing heights for both types of cars, we can now take it as gospel the two cars will ride at the same height, unless you are very overweight of course. And no, for all you track rats, I wont ask him what is the height, but I am happy to measure it, as others can too, if we ever get our dealer car dates any time this month. With the factory showing now signs of real life, that may happen.... just about.
 
I have added to the debate over the last 10 days, solely after my trip to Hethel and seeing with my own eyes there was a difference between tour and sport and being told by the instructor that its meant to be like that. Even in Harry's video there is a brief mention of it also.
The debate, like many on here, has gone on and on with different people and different titbits of info, even from those at Lotus, seeming to provide differing answers at differing times. Also experts on here assuming this would make sense, as I guess it does, that they would be different.
Im the end, I got a bit bored, even though I am sport and would be a low rider in any case, and so I went to the horses mouth. I felt that was the more appropriate end of the horse to go to in this case, and I asked directly. (I think Tom may have done this already, but people like me continued the debate with these new bits of info popping up).

Answer from Gavan

"The ride height is the same bath tour and sport."

Clearly the "bath" isn't the south western Roman city in the UK, but just a tipo from his Android phone. (I wont start a debate on android auto vs apple car play in a Lotus, maybe later....)
So despite others saying different things (including myself again), despite some photos showing differing heights for both types of cars, we can now take it as gospel the two cars will ride at the same height, unless you are very overweight of course. And no, for all you track rats, I wont ask him what is the height, but I am happy to measure it, as others can too, if we ever get our dealer car dates any time this month. With the factory showing now signs of real life, that may happen.... just about.
Isn't it shocking that you can receive bad / different information at the factory, on a track day from an employee?

Thanks for the clarification
 
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Isn't it shocking that you can receive bad / different information at the factory, on a track day from an employee?

Thanks for the clarification
yes but technically it wasnt a direct employee.... more a contracted one, just .... you know....
 
yes but technically it wasnt a direct employee.... more a contracted one, just .... you know....
Still... contract or not ... you are at the HQ for lotus getting bad info.... I can't imagine going to stuttgart and the track guys giving bad info on the 911.... Crazy to me.
 
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Still... contract or not ... you are at the HQ for lotus getting bad info.... I can't imagine going to stuttgart and the track guys giving bad info on the 911.... Crazy to me.
its true yes, but its also possible Lotus have perhaps altered things ? You'd think not....
 
If that is true, do we know why they are not making the sports suspension lower? Seems an odd choice. Are they already at some sort of legally required min ride height or something?
 
If that is true, do we know why they are not making the sports suspension lower? Seems an odd choice. Are they already at some sort of legally required min ride height or something?
I think it's just a Lotus thing.
Same way the 2CV has to navigate a ploughed field without breaking a basket of eggs, a Lotus has to be able to navigate Norwich main High Street on a Saturday night without snapping knicker elastic
 
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Then again YOU SAW IT. So to be fair maybe there are non production set ups being used on Track????
that I couldnt tell you. They may have been experimenting at that point although you'd think the experimenting phase would have been over 6-9 months ago.
who knows..... the truth is, aesthetically it made a difference, but otherwise, you would not notice day to day
 
Let’s all post tape measure pics when we see the dealer cars. I will be bringing mine fo sho
Be on level surface

vpDTIg1.jpg
 
Are the sidewalls different sizes between the F1 Supersports and Cup2s? They may be listed as the same size technically, but I've seen actual measurement differences between tire manufacturers before.

Maybe Gavan has a different definition of "ride height" and "wheel gap." Could it be possible he misunderstood the question and was talking seat height or something else?
 
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Another thing to consider is spring settlement. I actually installed Bilstein B8s and Eibach Pro springs (very similar to what Lotus uses) on my current car and they settled a noticeable amount after a couple weeks and a couple hundred miles.

Initially I saw a ~0.75" drop from the factory setup and it eventually settled to about 1.25 (using the same method to measure that @lion shf mentioned above). That half inch difference is noticeable and could account for the variation some are reporting from the Emira driving experience events.
 
FWIW on my tour yesterday they again confirmed that both springs are the same height, just different rates from Eibach.

So then it's time to question what affects spring rate and which of the following potentially affects ride height:
  • Wire diameter
  • Spring diameter
  • Number of coils
 
How much would it have cost to have Bilstein thread the shock bodies and have adjustible perches? Maybe $100/car max? What a shortsighted place to save money.
 
How much would it have cost to have Bilstein thread the shock bodies and have adjustible perches? Maybe $100/car max? What a shortsighted place to save money.
That's what you would do for a track focused car. The Emira isn't a track car; it's a sports car for the street that can be used on the track, but that's not its primary design and focus.
 
How much would it have cost to have Bilstein thread the shock bodies and have adjustible perches? Maybe $100/car max? What a shortsighted place to save money.
To be fair there aren't many manufacturers that fit customer adjustable suspension from the off.
Probably a H&S and liability nightmare
 
FWIW on my tour yesterday they again confirmed that both springs are the same height, just different rates from Eibach.
The same spring height and higher rates would mean the Sport sits at a higher ride height.
 

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