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

[kitkat]

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?

I think this depends on control arm lengths and overall geometry. Really hard to know without an actual car to measure and estimate through range of motion.

What the dealer mentioned is likely the circlip position on the Bilstein dampers that the spring seat sits on. I tried looking in past videos where it's configured but couldn't find a good shot.

Edit: The BOE lowering cup site on greg's mentions it in the notes.

Evora Suspension Lowering Cups by BOE

Evora suspension is pretty good right out of the gate. If there's one common complaint, it's the ride height. These lowering cups are designed in-house and will lower the car about 3/4 of an inch. After suboptimal experiences with aftermarket "lowering springs", which were both of inferior...

www.gregsraceparts.com

"NOTE --- If fitting these on a GT please know that it will sit approximately 10-15mm lower than a 400 does with them installed. You may want to adjust the circlip position on the shock body to raise the car slightly for some middle ground on the ride height to avoid rubbing on hard corners and large bumps."

 

[hagen111]

Emira has great chassis and beautiful suspension. Still I found my test drive was disappointing. Loved my Exige V6, which was a much sharper car! In my mind; Exige was truly Lotus and fantastic. Emira is Lotus engineered with the requirement to drive like a VW Golf…purely my own personal opinion ;-)

My Emira is coming end of this month. On order are the JUBU wheels, a set of coilovers, 4p harness and bucket seats.

My Emira will be based in the mountains and has a purpose to be a sharp scalpel to rush up and down beautiful mountain roads.

Plan to do run-in on track mid May in Spain.

 

[KJD]

couldn't find a good shot.

Like this?

From my Evora when I fitted the BOE lowering cups.

My sport option Emira has the front on the middle groove.
Rear is hard to tell as the spring obscures the cup but I think it’s on the top groove.

 

[kitkat]

Like this?

View attachment 25030
From my Evora when I fitted the BOE lowering cups.

My sport option Emira has the front on the middle groove.
Rear is hard to tell as the spring obscures the cup but I think it’s on the top groove.

View attachment 25031View attachment 25032

Looks like you could lower the Emira sport setup by 5mm, maybe a little bit more. Thanks for that information!

Edit: This is likely how Lotus fine tunes the ride height of the Sport and Touring springs. I know there's minimal difference between the two springs but with the same damper body lengths and weights -- it's hard to match ride heights. This also allows them to use the same spring perches.

 

[KJD]

Looks like you could lower the Emira sport setup by 5mm, maybe a little bit more. Thanks for that information!

Yup.

Some sunny day when I’m bored…

 

[Adam Brouillard]

Yeah, if the Emira has those and it's not in the bottom position that's a relatively easy way to do it although probably still not DIY for most people.

 

[Emirahep]

Bit delayed posting this but I asked Scott about ride height when picking up from Hethel last week.

He said he had been assured by Gavin that there was no difference between Sport and Touring.

I took along a tape measure and measured cars that I could get close to. 3 of them I knew the suspension 2 I did not (the Hethel car is an Op on here who picked up the following day). The other DV car also picked up on the 14th.

Obviously I can read the tyre make !

Posted below for those interested. I am not sure it’s a big enough sample size to draw any meaningful conclusions although my car (DV Tour Goodyear) did have a noticeably higher ride height than the two confirmed Sport set ups.

Perhaps other owners with cars can measure ? Through centre of wheel vertically to bottom of wheel arch.

 

[Foxy87]

Man these gaps are absolutely huge…

 

[Mark.]

They all need to settle before you can be sure of ride height

 

[TomE]

Thanks, useful to have the measurements. But need to re-measure after about 200-500 miles of use when it has settled.

The statement (again) from Gavan is the key thing. But I doubt it’ll be the end of the debate!

 

[Fido]

I’m fascinated by the obsession with perceived ride height. You’re not alone mind and there are other marque enthusiasts just as keen. Some manufacturers are more bothered about this than others, often employing specially constructed “settling” roads consisting of a variety of carefully designed obstacles that the cars are all driven over as they come off the production line. In reality, there are a good number of variables involved and all will have a tolerance as well, making it quite possible to see a noticeable variation in initial wheel gaps. As a rule it’s the stylists who are most obsessed and so publicity cars and the like are most likely to have been doctored by them to get the look just ’so’!

 

[digilotus]

Before comparing wheel gaps, make sure to equalise tyre pressures and validate tyre tread wear depth. Oh and make sure that the petrol tank is full too.

In all seriousness, in person the wheel gap looks perfectly fine and proportionate. I really wouldn’t want it any lower.

 

[Speedluvver]

For me, I have never thought - OMG, look at that wheel gap, when looking at the car - I think it looks epic. The touring suspension is witchcraft.. so impressive - so if the wheel gap helps that magic, its ok for me...

 

[lion shf]

If this isn’t comically bad, why does Lotus’ own press releases show dropped cars?

 

[Emirahep]

Man these gaps are absolutely huge…

Had to use wide angle on iPhone to get it all in from close up. They really don’t look as bad IRL.

 

[Emirahep]

If this isn’t comically bad, why does Lotus’ own press releases show dropped cars?

Agree Lotus press and website should not sell under false pretences. Naughty. But doesn’t look so bad in reality

 

[Emirahep]

They all need to settle before you can be sure of ride height

FYI the Nimbus Tour is Scott’s car. He has had that for a while but I don’t know what mileage.

 

[kitkat]

Don’t worry guys, I’m sure those of you obsessed with wheel gap can put some 24” wheels and bags on your Emira.

 

[Foxy87]

Hmm you surely dont understand how tires and rims work together…

 

[Fido]

It’s a 680mm (26.8”) tyre family. So the vehicle will be set up to have that size and all of the wheel and tyre options will maintain the size by varying width, sidewall height (aspect ratio) and rim size. If you fitted 24” rims you’d have just 1.4” of sidewall so 245/15 x 20 tyres. The gap to the wheel arch would still be the same but the chances are you’d have a very sore back! By the time you’ve driven a few miles, launched the car over a few sleeping policemen and performed a couple of emergency stops it will look a little better. Or you could sit on the front fender if anyone walks past! It always looks worse at the front end because the rear suspension carries the power train load and tends to squat under acceleration. The front end has to deal with braking loads and so when static is inclined to sit high until it settles with time.