Who has had a Test Drive , score from 1 to 10

[frazzer]

I know this was a joke, but I kind of feel the opposite! I feel like not having the need to be the absolute fastest 0-60/ 0-100 and just enjoy the engagement and positive aspects of the car shows confidence in your masculinity, like you have nothing to prove or compensate for! Not saying that you do, obviously! I just think sometimes men (I am one), in particular, get too caught up in being superior against each other. Competition is a great thing, but I am not buying this car to compete with anyone!

not trying to compensate for anything here either, just a car to enjoy driving.

 

[Carbuilder]

15 votes and 83 posts. Another thread down the toilet with pointless arguements.

 

[Evotion]

Ha - I am the only 10!
I thought it was 100% spot on for what Lotus wanted to deliver and I wished for in this particular car. It felt, and indeed was, better than I had hoped for.
Easy 10 for me.

I did drive it for about 90 minutes and was a passenger for 30.
Brilliant car - AND then there are the looks.

 

[lynchy73]

I voted 8. To me the handling, looks, brakes and sound were all in the 9 plus range. The only weak point is that it could be a bit more powerful. Not to say it’s not fast enough to be loads of fun (and it’s certainly not slow) but at the same time if I’m honest I’d like a bit more.

Still totally onboard with the Emira and fingers crossed my car will come through soon….

Thanks for the videos @Evotion, watched them both today

 

[Ian C]

I thought this kind of alignment issue was supposed to be impossible with Lotus new state of the art laser QC measuring machine etc???
At very least someone should be eyeballing each car before it leaves.
And IF they are just chucking demos out to get them out that speaks volumes also I don't get it
Edit: Just seen you are in USA and could have been in one of the pre production cars

From what I saw at the factory last week and alignment should be spot on , huge amounts spent on kit to check at every stage , granite floors put in to get it just right and cut out vibration from the factory, I would be surprised if anything was out of line

 

[Evotion]

The only weak point is that it could be a bit more powerful.

If they had kept the perfect package but had 450HP then I would love that.
Still, it seems to be a sweet spot, proved by the prowess of the car in the damp with sports suspension wearing CUP2s.

Sure, the power was not exhilarating, probably my 3rd fastest car, but it added up to a really good package for me.

 

[lion shf]

I ended up cancelling the test drive as I am working on buying a 2018 RWS R8, which I am waiting to test drive.

$? on that r8?

 

[lion shf]

well hang on a minute..or even 2...
I used to drive my bright yellow westfield around Bogota and the surrounding countryside, with all the girls smiling at me... naturally it was me and not the strange car they'd never seen before, they were smiling at... The car had 179HP, but with the high altitude of Bogota you could assume maybe 160Hp at best, less oxygen around to mix with the cheap crap gasoline.
I always felt that car needed another 30 Hp...and it would have been perfect. Back in the UK I bought one with 250 Hp, but not NA, instead with a turbo, and just that extra 70Hp was too much, in fact it ruined the car. Now I have on order the NA 220HP caterham....roll on next summer! I feel that will be the sweet spot and not the 310HP version which does not cost so much more.... but not my choice.
So why am I saying this, simple.... those who have driven the car, or not, and say they do indeed want a bit more HP or expected it, well they or that doesn't mean they want another 200, or 400 HP etc, realistically another 50/75 would probably be enough and based on where the Evora left off 430Hp, its what people expected... thats reasonable isn't it?

And then this whole, Lotus isn't about power and speed, its about lightness etc..... well I dont believe it to be the case any more if ever. Its more a case that they simply have never had access to the resources or the engines to give them the power they would perfectly well like. The Esprit increased in power as soon as they could get it to and they lied about their numbers upon release, why do that if they didnt car about it? Initially thanks to Bell and C. adding the turbo, and finally adding a big V8... Again, why a V8 if power was not important.... They were well behind the ball without it, thats why.... 10 years behind, like the Evora was... And besides, the Emira is no flyweight, its not light at all and no real effort has been taken to make it light, so in that sense its not a "real" lotus anyway.

Even the Elise has doubled in power over its life cylce and the Evora has done everything it can to get as much power as possible out of the outdated toyota engine, so once again, Lotus are as much about power as Porsche, its just they dont have the resources Porsche do to deliver it..... yet. The AMG engine will no doubt get them to the 450 and finally maybe 500 Hp some of us think will suit the car, but Lotus are trying to make a cash cow out of the base model plus extras with its 380/ 360 / 400 HP i4 & V6 models.. They have made a 400 hp, less drastic, more Mrs Mullins down to the golf club car first, before they make the car I think they really want to make. I'm willing to bet my wife on it..... certainly not my life....
Im happy with it with for the moment to have 400hp, but would prefer more... would also prefer a red line higher and bucket seats.... but when the "hot" one comes... then I can decide it ifs what I want.... However, can a 4cyl engine really be as good... do I want flappy padels, can the red line get much higher..... will it then cost GT3 money and have a horrible huge spoiler ... yes, it will as this porosity nonsense is just that, nonsense. The downforce it currently has is less than my bag of shopping, once I've emptied it out into the cupboard and left it outside on a breezy day.

time for dinner

Fun to read, understand 35%

 

[RENDERMAN]

$? on that r8?

Dude, dude, you are waiting to test drive an R8? an R8 is like a beautiful woman, you just ride it hard and forget the out come, just don't get her pregnant!

 

[TomE]

From what I saw at the factory last week and alignment should be spot on , huge amounts spent on kit to check at every stage , granite floors put in to get it just right and cut out vibration from the factory, I would be surprised if anything was out of line

That's what I thought, until I saw a dealer demo car that had failed PDI on several points, including panel alignment. To be fair, it was then due to go through rectification, but it should have been correct off the line in the first place.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Fun to read, understand 35%

That´s a 3+/10

 

[emiraspain]

Fun to read, understand 35%

maybe i should speak north american for you? ...
hows the boat search going.... should be some discounts soon

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

maybe i should speak north american for you? ...
hows the boat search going.... should be some discounts soon

This could be useful

 

[CoryC]

I’ve not had a test drive yet , but back in the day when I bought a new F355 the sentiment was , “ you have bought the engine the rest of the car comes free “ during many years of ownership I came to understand how true this was , the fit and finish was mostly very good , but didn’t age well , the focus was all on that fantastic 3.5 Ltr 5 valve flat plane high revving V8 , in fact screaming V8 with a later capristio fitted , the driving experience was the gated shifter and the shrilling V8 .
Is it so , that the engine and the shifter are the weakest elements of Emira ?
we all agree the Emira looks fantastic for the price , but I’m sure no one will disagree the F355 is sublime evolution at any price and one of the best looking sports cars ever created .
while I have always looked to new cars to be a better evolution of the older , this is not always so , I own a Porsche 987 3.4 RS60 manual and a 718 4.0 25 (basically a GTS), PDK , 13 years between them , the RS60 is the far better driving experience , lacking some mod cons ,and 70 bhp, but they matter not when screaming that 3.4 flat six through the sublime gearshift to 8k .
so what does this tell us? , look to the old for better driving experience, or pay new money for not such an engaging experience ?or in the case of lotus , new money for older tech , but not so engaging driving experience.
I am reserving my personal opinion until I have a test drive .

Having had that Ferrari experience, I'm very curious to know your opinion after your test drive. I've driven McLaren, Porsche and Corvettes in my day, and to me, the Emira felt AND sounded exotic from the drivers seat with the windows up and down. Performance wise, I felt is was very fast... not McLaren fast (but with dual clutch and paddle shift, there wasn't nearly the driver engagement) but very fast, and VERY engaging because you have to control your shifts and rev match to make those fantastic sounds and keep the car in its happy power band. Purely acceleration wise this should feel quicker than your F355 and the refinement of the ride and interior should also prove to a nice upgrade combined with the overall impressive look of the car in person. I hope you see it that way after your drive!

 

[spice]

Very much looking forward to a test drive , my last F car was a 488 , having had a manual 355 ,360 and a twitchy F1 430 , missed out the 458 , all of which were an epic occasion to drive , I’m expecting and hoping that the Emira will be somewhere in between an F car and 718 4.0 , which in fact is a little blander than it should be , it’s crying out for an after market titanium exhaust .

 

[NicolasB]

$? on that r8?

In the $135-145k range unfortunately

 

[lion shf]

In the $135-145k range unfortunately

My son2 and I fell in love with the first rws car we saw at the Chicago auto show 2017? That and the new nsx were our favs that day. I’d kill for one

 

[Pops68]

I know this was a joke, but I kind of feel the opposite! I feel like not having the need to be the absolute fastest 0-60/ 0-100 and just enjoy the engagement and positive aspects of the car shows confidence in your masculinity, like you have nothing to prove or compensate for! Not saying that you do, obviously! I just think sometimes men (I am one), in particular, get too caught up in being superior against each other. Competition is a great thing, but I am not buying this car to compete with anyone!

Ummm you're not using your pronouns!!!..

 

[SmallerBaller]

Not trying to steal any thunder from @RENDERMAN , but I am bumping this old thread as I am curious for some more recent feedback. I am sure by now more than 28 people on the forum have had a test drive!

 

[VL3X]

Easy 8 for me. Needs ~50+ HP, higher rev limit, customizable driver's screen with an analog gauge option, and adjustable height suspension and it'd be a 9 for me. A perfect 10 would be weight around 3k flat, carbon buckets, and a more aggressive intake and exhaust sound.