USA/Canada Delivery Thread

Finally got delivered this morning. Only issues are the SOS alert came on and oddly my windows are...odd. I roll them down and then they roll themselves right back up! LOL. I was trying to talk to someone out the window and itbwas quite embarrassing. But I'll work that out.

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Try this.

With the window all the way up, hold the window button in the up position for 5 seconds even though the window is already up. Then roll the window down, and even when the window is all the way down, hold the button down for an additional 5 seconds. Then roll it all the way back up and hold it up for 5 seconds when it gets to the top. I'm hoping this will fix it for you. :)
 
Just received my car. As beautiful as expected. Be ready for a lot of questions/conversations with passing admirers. And it sounds so good…
Hi @Motodoc8 was just awesome accidently bumping into you today and seeing your new ride! Congrats, great spec, was looking incredible in the sun today! Great meeting you and sharing stories! Hope to be seeing mine sometime this summer.
 
I did full PPF. Dealer offered a full with ceramic on uncovered parts for ~7K (paint correction would have been extra) but I looked at work on a sample car and was not impressed (this was Lotus warrantied nano fusion one). I ended up finding a shop that did the Xpel on full car with ceramic on top for 9K. It pained me, but that was the price everywhere I called. I found another place at 6K but a different (unknown brand) film.

I have not seen the finished product and will not for a week but when I toured the shop I was impressed by the crew there and also the fleet of cars they had (High End Porsches, Ferrari, etc). Will share pics once done.

Main reason I went full was for ease of cleaning. I want this thing to shine and do not want to have to do full details as often, so self healing portion of film in theory should make it easier to avoid swirl marks etc.
What was it about the Nano Fusion PPF that bothered you?
 
Curious for those that took delivery. Did you stick to the break-in requirements of 1,000 miles in Tour mode below 4000 rpm?
 
Curious for those that took delivery. Did you stick to the break-in requirements of 1,000 miles in Tour mode below 4000 rpm?
Haven’t gotten mine yet, but as I bought it and intend to keep it a long time, I will abide by the sub 4k rpms even though it will pain me.
 
Curious for those that took delivery. Did you stick to the break-in requirements of 1,000 miles in Tour mode below 4000 rpm?
I’m sticking to the 4 k but use tour and sports modes.

I‘m not advocating thrashing the car in the first 1000 miles, and I intend to abide by what the owner’s manual indicates; however, it seems to me that the word “continuously” is being ignored, and people are concluding that engine speeds over 4000 RPM are verboten. This is not the case:



3B69629C-E12F-4455-813F-174F177E7693.jpeg

On the other hand, maybe it’s not possible to exceed 4000 RPM with only half throttle. Nevertheless I’ll argue that the “half throttle” stipulation is the more important one here.
 
I‘m not advocating thrashing the car in the first 1000 miles, and I intend to abide by what the owner’s manual indicates; however, it seems to me that the word “continuously” is being ignored, and people are concluding that engine speeds over 4000 RPM are verboten. This is not the case:

View attachment 40311
Yep, this is exactly what I'm doing. It's a spirited break-in, but without thrashing it and without running at high rpm continuously.
 
I‘m not advocating thrashing the car in the first 1000 miles, and I intend to abide by what the owner’s manual indicates; however, it seems to me that the word “continuously” is being ignored, and people are concluding that engine speeds over 4000 RPM are verboten. This is not the case:



View attachment 40311
On the other hand, maybe it’s not possible to exceed 4000 RPM with only half throttle. Nevertheless I’ll argue that the “half throttle” stipulation is the more important one here.

Are you hitting redline at all before 1000? I've hit 5500 so far, currently 450 miles in
 
Yep, this is exactly what I'm doing. It's a spirited break-in, but without thrashing it and without running at high rpm continuously.
Agree
Are you hitting redline at all before 1000? I've hit 5500 so far, currently 450 miles in
not hit redline nor more than maybe 4300 very occasionally
I have never been one to obey any rules ever. But for some unknown reason this is the first one. Oh except I do go into sport mode. 😊
 
Are you hitting redline at all before 1000? I've hit 5500 so far, currently 450 miles in
I don’t have my car yet, but there will be occasions (per the manual, “occasionally”) later in the break in period where I will consider paragraph 4 to be permission to hit redline from time to time. It seems to me that hitting 5500 occasionally at your current mileage is right on track.

Disclaimer: I’m not a mechanic. I’ve broken in a few airplane piston engines back in the day, and the procedure there is very, very different: the engine is to be run continuously at steady, high power settings for long periods of this time. The thing is, though: an aircraft piston engine gets broken in at settings most consistent with how it will be used operationally. So in that way, the idea is the same for an automobile engine: during break-in, the engine should be used as it will be after the break in period, but work your way up there gradually, and consider the 1000 miles to be a mini version of the engine’s operational life. Realistically, over 100,000 miles the amount of time the engine gets thrashed will be quite small. So scale that down for the first 1000 miles, work into things gradually, vary speeds and work the gearbox, and don’t venture over 4000 RPM too soon, too often, with too much depth on the accelerator pedal, or too early in the first 1000 🤷🏼‍♂️. Also: always have a bit of mechanical sympathy. Some people are just hard on equipment 😬.
 
@73JPS why haven't you gotten yours yet? I thought it was already delivered to the dealer.
 
@73JPS why haven't you gotten yours yet? I thought it was already delivered to the dealer.
I’m going with PPF from the dealer’s installer: I haven’t been super impressed with places I’ve looked at around the area (although they’re not bad) and I just figure if the dealer has been using this guy for years I’ll lean on that. My date is soon though. Also: we might get a bit of snow this week 🤪.
 
Agree

not hit redline nor more than maybe 4300 very occasionally
I have never been one to obey any rules ever. But for some unknown reason this is the first one. Oh except I do go into sport mode. 😊
IMO, This is a modern Toyota Motor with a Super-Charger on top, not some High-Strong GT3 RS motor that redlines at 9000 RPM. I think the manufacturers are over-conservative with major caution on how to B-in the engines. Technology & tolerances are so much better today, I know my C8 had limited RPM until it exceeded 500 miles. After you hit 500 miles the RPM redline gained the correct RPM range. I added a great video below with details from the Corvette Engine engineers who designed the C8-Z06 motor.
 
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Well, yea, the engineers are probably conservative with the break-in, because pushing the envelope doesn't apply here. There's also the other departments at a manufacturer who wants less unhappy customers and less warranty claims, so it's entirely possible they took the engineer's recommendations and doubled it.

There is a limit, though. Manufacturers also don't want customers who think it's a hassle to own their cars. This is why most of them have moved to 10k oil changes and no early first oil change. I remember the early transition period where one brand, which I no longer remember (might have been Honda?), specifically says in the manual that it has a special engine oil for the first 3000 miles that need to be changed early. People were arguing in the forums that the ensuing changes are only every 10k miles so it must be fine to wait until 10k for the first oil change, and that the engineers are overly cautious - worse, it's just a trick by the marketing department to satisfy customers who are still used to 3k oil changes. That thread went on *PAGES* and the entire episode struck me as being irrationally silly.

Just follow the manual - 1k miles isn't that much, why second guess?
 
I don’t have my car yet, but there will be occasions (per the manual, “occasionally”) later in the break in period where I will consider paragraph 4 to be permission to hit redline from time to time. It seems to me that hitting 5500 occasionally at your current mileage is right on track.

Disclaimer: I’m not a mechanic. I’ve broken in a few airplane piston engines back in the day, and the procedure there is very, very different: the engine is to be run continuously at steady, high power settings for long periods of this time. The thing is, though: an aircraft piston engine gets broken in at settings most consistent with how it will be used operationally. So in that way, the idea is the same for an automobile engine: during break-in, the engine should be used as it will be after the break in period, but work your way up there gradually, and consider the 1000 miles to be a mini version of the engine’s operational life. Realistically, over 100,000 miles the amount of time the engine gets thrashed will be quite small. So scale that down for the first 1000 miles, work into things gradually, vary speeds and work the gearbox, and don’t venture over 4000 RPM too soon, too often, with too much depth on the accelerator pedal, or too early in the first 1000 🤷🏼‍♂️. Also: always have a bit of mechanical sympathy. Some people are just hard on equipment 😬.
Any idea what the restriction to Tour mode is all about given that it is easy to control the rpm’s with a 6sp? Besides increasing idle by 200 rpm’s, how would Sport mode affect the break-in period?
 
Just adding that the fact Lotus DID NOT supply a manual, and in fact many were not provided with a current link to download the manual, and also the ROW (U.K.) manual is NOT consistent regarding break-in procedures.. - all of this puts Lotus in a weird and likely unwanted position if a failure occurs.
 
Just adding that the fact Lotus DID NOT supply a manual, and in fact many were not provided with a current link to download the manual, and also the ROW (U.K.) manual is NOT consistent regarding break-in procedures.. - all of this puts Lotus in a weird and likely unwanted position if a failure occurs.
I could see a situation in which someone follows procedures in the manual, manual unknowingly gets updated at some point, and then that person has warranty issues with Lotus.

EDIT: am not referring specifically to break-in procedures, but anything in the manual (maintenance, procedures, etc.)
 
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Think about what a "tolerance" is. It's the difference, plus or minus, between blueprint spec and actual production parts. Because modern engines are built to higher tolerances, the parts are going to come into contact with each other much more than they used to. The enemy here is heat. Heat causes metal to expand, and that increases the amount of friction contact between moving parts.

A new engine/assembly is going to go through a 'wear-in' period which does exactly what that says. Moving parts that are in contact with another surface, which can be stationary (piston cylinder walls, etc) or moving (rods, bearings, gears, etc.), are literally going to be removing a small amount of surface contact material as they rub against one another. This applies to all moving parts in the car, not just the engine, but the critical areas are engine, trans and diff because those heat up considerably during operation. Heat causes metals to expand, which forces them into contact with each other even tighter.

The oil in those assemblies protects the components to a point, but there IS wear, hence the term 'wear-in'. The metal particulate that gets removing during that process gets in the oil, and this acts like an abrasive. This is fine during the wear-in period, because that's what's supposed to happen, but there's a point at which this particulate-infused oil can begin to cause wear that's not beneficial. This is why I ALWAYS replace the engine, trans and diff oil (usually at about the 500 mile mark on a new car), but in this case, I'll wait until the 1,000 mile mark. This removes all that abrasive particulate, and gives me clean oil in all those 3 assemblies that are now worn-in. Now you can go the recommended oil change intervals, although if you drive hard (especially track) you should change the oils more often, especially engine and diff. This is because extended hard driving greatly increases the heat, which increases the stress on the oils to try and protect the components. It's all about heat expansion and cool down.

A good wear-in procedure is to gradually accelerate to upper rev ranges, say 5,000-5,500 once in awhile, but not all the time and not at full throttle. Use the ranges of the components, including gear changes. Do all this in moderation while the assemblies are new and wearing in. Continuous operation above 4,000 rpm is going to create too much heat, which is probably the same reason they don't want you using sport or track mode during wear-in. Those modes are mapped for more aggressive performance (more fuel) which increases the heat. It's all about managing heat expansion and wear during the wear-in period.

Think of it like buying a new pair of leather shoes. You don't put them on and immediately run a marathon, it would destroy your feet. You have to wear the shoes awhile and allow the leather to wear-in and adjust to your feet first. Now imagine how much more important that is for metal on metal contact.
 
Okay guys (and gals), remember... it's YOUR CAR. Use some common sense here. Is your main focus coming up with a legal case, or would you just rather have a car that runs reliably for years and years? Regardless of what's been added or wasn't in the original manual, just be sensible and follow a reasonable wear-in procedure.
 

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