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

[TomE]

You're the second person to confirm this on the forum, so I think it's safe to say there is a difference in ride height. Glad I ordered sports.

Both people who have reported this have been told by the same person, an instructor working for Lotus Driving Academy. I don't think they're correct.

I'm still going off what Gavan Kershaw told me twice, and told emiraspain and has said in interviews, which is that they are both the same height. Lots of reasons why they might look slightly different and change slightly from newly-built to settled-in.

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

The same spring height and higher rates would mean the Sport sits at a higher ride height. Im not an expert, I'm just going off of what they told me, and everyone else, as well as looking at all of the LDA cars which were all at the same height, and I believe one of which is a touring (not sure...

www.emiraforum.com

 

[kitkat]

The 2020 Evora GT I test-drove was quite a bit lower than the Emira photo posted on the previous page.
Perhaps that had "cups"?
My MX5 was lowered on aftermarket springs and Koni adjustable shocks. It look much better than OEM and its ride quality was not compromised at all. I thought I read at one time that car manufacturers had to comply with some type of rule about ride height. In 2001 when I bought a new Corvette, all I had to do was turn 4 bolts (one at each corner) to lower the ride height. The ride did not degrade, especially after swapping out the runflat tires with non-runflat tires. Ohlin coilovers are very popular because (based upon what I've read) you can lower the ride height without sacrificing the ride to an extent where it adversely affects handling.

If you’re replying to my post about lowering ride height without changing anything else — ride heights are optimized around a number of factors including control arm geometry.

As for compromised handling in aftermarket situations such as your MX5 and Ohlins TTX, they both had two things in common — increased spring rates and shorter damper bodies (possibly just shorter bump stops for the konis). The increased spring rate is to compensate for that increase in roll moment arm and in the Ohlins TTX situation to compensate for likely increased tire grip when used on a track with track tires. The shorter damper bodies applies to both in order to retain damper travel.

My point is the discussion was about lowering cups and not aftermarket stiffer springs and certainly not about adjustable coilover assemblies.

 

[Concept24]

If you’re replying to my post about lowering ride height without changing anything else — ride heights are optimized around a number of factors including control arm geometry.

As for compromised handling in aftermarket situations such as your MX5 and Ohlins TTX, they both had two things in common — increased spring rates and shorter damper bodies (possibly just shorter bump stops for the konis). The increased spring rate is to compensate for that increase in roll moment arm and in the Ohlins TTX situation to compensate for likely increased tire grip when used on a track with track tires. The shorter damper bodies applies to both in order to retain damper travel.

My point is the discussion was about lowering cups and not aftermarket stiffer springs and certainly not about adjustable coilover assemblies.

I was replying to the post(s) that expressed worry that lowering the ride height to reduce the fender gap would compromise the ride on the street. My point is that you can have a better-looking side profile without a harsh ride.

 

[Foxy87]

Lotus suspension and steering have been a benchmark for years, and their engineering teams have designed for other marques. Their design philosophy has been that a properly designed suspension can be compliant. A harsh suspension may just be compensating for a poorly designed suspension. I have had multiple Lotus and none were ever bone-jarring from the factory and exhibited some roll. The only time I ever tightened up my set-up was for my Elise, which morphed into a hard-core track car over time.

I feel confident, especially after driving the sport tuned Emira that went on the dealer rounds last fall, that Lotus once again got it right. It can be smooth over bumps because it's designed correctly from day one.

Benchmark suspension? Well I really doubt that for the emira. If thats the case the emira wouldnt have such underwhelmig laptimes so far…

 

[Magicman]

Benchmark suspension? Well I really doubt that for the emira. If thats the case the emira wouldnt have such underwhelmig laptimes so far…

What other lap times are out there other than the Evo shit show?

 

[Foxy87]

- speedway Lausitzring
- varaino racetrack

and I guess with evo shitshow you mean Anglesey Coastal laptime (which I believe was pretty decent I think)

 

[Magicman]

- speedway Lausitzring
- varaino racetrack

and I guess with evo shitshow you mean Anglesey Coastal laptime (which I believe was pretty decent I think)

I'll be honest I've never heard of either of those tracks
The Evo test, pretty much the only average review I've seen on the car and quite obviously an axe to grind, its miles off the pace, there's an article on track times in this months evo and the emiras is bottom of the list adrift by several seconds to the next nearest. Whilst I'm skeptical a production Emira is that bad I think people are barking up the wrong tree with it as a track car, its just not one, was never meant to be, at least not in the sense a gt4 is. What it is is a better B Road blaster (canyon car in usa) than a gt4. I say this as a past gt4 owner.

Have any production car track tests backed up lotus claim of faster than pretty much any lotus before it?

It's a real shame lotus have now abandoned any marketing and media for the Emira or there might be a few more relevant tests out there.

 

[KAR120C]

Benchmark suspension? Well I really doubt that for the emira. If thats the case the emira wouldnt have such underwhelmig laptimes so far…

Track and road driving are (usually) very different. As I noted, I tightened up my suspension for track. But once you start to stiffen things up too much it's going to hurt your road performance as the suspension will have difficulty keeping the tire in contact with the road and will tend to jitter and hop over irregularities found on normal roads.

I've driven many cars over the years and my experience is that Lotus produces the best handling sports cars. Ones where I have no second thoughts about disabling the ESC nannies on the road because they are so predictably good.

 

[Foxy87]

@Magicman
You are right and I am with you 100% on the track vs b-road statement and your findings about the GT4. Nonetheless would a benchmark suspension setup show better lap times for the emira. A fast lap time shows how well the car is balanced, grips etc.

I mean even the Exige S V6 was 1.5sec slower around Hockenheim vs the 981 GT4, even though it was like almost 250kg lighter (check out here: https://kumschick.ch/files/Files/Dokumente/Presse/Sport_Auto_Lotus_Exige_S.pdf). SportAuto stated that Lotus could benefit a lot from Porsche in the way to setup the suspension right. So that's why I highly doubt that Lotus is a benchmark in suspension setup...

 

[Foxy87]

well Autobild Sportstars lost the Emira on the 18m Slalom as one of the first cars ever due to bad suspension setup... Just another point that shows Lotus doesn't care much and just sends out poorly prepped press cars!

And Porsche also managed it with the GT4. The car rides plenty smooth on normal roads yet still is a weapon on track even in stock setting.

Track and road driving are (usually) very different. As I noted, I tightened up my suspension for track. But once you start to stiffen things up too much it's going to hurt your road performance as the suspension will have difficulty keeping the tire in contact with the road and will tend to jitter and hop over irregularities found on normal roads.

I've driven many cars over the years and my experience is that Lotus produces the best handling sports cars. Ones where I have no second thoughts about disabling the ESC nannies on the road because they are so predictably good

 

[KAR120C]

well Autobild Sportstars lost the Emira on the 18m Slalom as one of the first cars ever due to bad suspension setup... Just another point that shows Lotus doesn't care much and just sends out poorly prepped press cars!

And Porsche also managed it with the GT4. The car rides plenty smooth on normal roads yet still is a weapon on track even in stock setting.

I guess it's in the eye of the beholder. Car and Driver, Road and Track, Top Gear, etc heap praise on the handling and say it's top of it's class.

I just hope I see mine yet this year so I can start putting some backroad miles on it!

 

[kitkat]

I don’t think there’s a good reason to turn the ride height thread into a GT4 vs. Emira thread @Foxy87

They’re already two threads dedicated to the topic.

 

[Foxy87]

I know, I wasnt the one mentioning the GT4 at first. All I was saying one can setup a car that is compliant AND can perform on a track.

BTT

Stock ride height is a good bit too high in my opinion, it sometimes even looks totally off, see above post 107…

 

[kitkat]

Stock ride height is a good bit too high in my opinion, it sometimes even looks totally off, see above post 107…

Yeah I think it's easy to make it look off with some photos at eye-level, anyone in reality standing next to the car I don't think has ever mentioned it being too high. Certainly not at any of the test drives I've been to.

 

[frazzer]

Yeah I think it's easy to make it look off with some photos at eye-level, anyone in reality standing next to the car I don't think has ever mentioned it being too high. Certainly not at any of the test drives I've been to.

Most photographs are too wide (ie. phone shots) or too low to make it look more 'aggressive'. Both are poor choices in my view and exaggerate the gap and are not how we perceive it as a human viewer. We stand higher and so the car feels lower and the gap is visually smaller.

 

[Concept24]

However, eye level when viewed by those seated in cars (not trucks or SUVs) is much lower than at standing height. Often times, I am in my car when I see a sportscar on the road.

 

[frazzer]

However, eye level when viewed by those seated in cars (not trucks or SUVs) is much lower than at standing height. Often times, I am in my car when I see a sportscar on the road.

true, but then you're inside having too great a time driving to care

 

[Concept24]

true, but then you're inside having too great a time driving to care

When I was renting the 2019 McLaren 570S, I'd pull up to a Mustang or Camaro on the highway, check out the fender gaps, then rocket away. I was having fun AND checking out car profiles.

 

[frazzer]

When I was renting the 2019 McLaren 570S, I'd pull up to a Mustang or Camaro on the highway, check out the fender gaps, then rocket away. I was having fun AND checking out car profiles.

nothing some bolt on wheel arches can't fix, you'll be the envy of every Camaro driver with that near zero gap

 

[Adam Brouillard]

I'm not sure about the Emira, but most double wishbone suspensions have similar or less roll center drop for a given amount of cg drop when around ride height. This means as ride height drops you will have about the same or slightly less body roll for a given amount of lateral force. Even if the roll center moves down more than the CG, it would be minimal. One of the big advantages of double wishbone suspension is the good roll center control throughout the typical suspension movement. Lowering cups are a good option for decreasing ride height with no change in ride quality at the increased risk of bottoming out the car or suspension. Works the same way as threaded body coilovers, but just gives you a fixed ride height change.

I'm kind of curious what that piece was that someone mentioned the dealers were taking out to get a slight drop. Do we have any closeup pictures of the Emira suspension where we might figure it out?