Test Drives

[TomE]

For this Sunday's Newlands Corner meet we're expecting to have an Emira along.  Not available to test drive but a chance to see a production spec car up close.

Details here.

 

[JB]

Seems our test route/s have ticked many boxes for our customers, getting a chance to explore the rev range, corners, etc, don't think anyone is unhappy with it so far.

[Scrute]

Are we tracking anywhere which demo configs the dealers have? 
I’m interested particularly in Bristol as I’ll be driving one there in a couple of weeks. 

[Emiralust]

@TomE has made a record 

Location	Engine/trans	Colour	Interior	Suspension	Other specs	Notes
Caffyns Lewes Sussex (demo)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	Black alcantara (accent tbc)	Sports	Black wheels	Arrived 28 Oct AO72FKP
Caffyns Lewes Sussex (showroom)	V6 manual	Dark Verdant	Black alcantara (accent tbc)	tbc	tbc	delivery date tbc
Bell & Colvill Surrey (demo)	V6 manual	Nimbus Grey	Red leather	Touring + Eagle	tbc	Arrived 7 Nov AO72FJP
Bell & Colvill Surrey (showroom)						details tbc
Endeavour Colchester (demo)	V6 manual	Magma Red	Ice Grey leather	Touring + Eagle	Silver wheels	Arrived 31 Oct AO72FJF
Endeavour Colchester (showroom)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	tbc	Sports	tbc	delivery date tbc
Caffyns Ashford (demo)	V6 manual	Hethel Yellow	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Cup2	Black Pack, black wheels, black calipers	Arrived 28 Oct AO72FJC
Caffyns Ashford (showroom)	V6 manual	Magma Red	Ice Grey leather	Touring + Eagle	Silver wheels, black calipers	delivery date tbc
Parks Hamilton (demo)	V6 manual	Magma Red	Ice Grey leather	Touring	Black Pack, silver wheels, black calipers	Arrived 1 Nov AO72FLL
Parks Hamilton (showroom)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue		Sports		details tbc
Rybrook Solihull (demo)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black Pack, DC wheels, yellow calipers	Arrived 7 Nov AO72FJN
Rybrook Solihull (showroom)	V6 manual	Hethel Yellow	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Touring + Eagle	Black Pack, DC wheels, black calipers	details tbc
Rybrook Bristol (demo)	V6 manual	Nimbus Grey	Red leather	Touring + Eagle	Black Pack, black wheels, red calipers	Arrived 29 Oct AO72FJA
Rybrook Bristol (showroom)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black Pack, DC wheels, yellow calipers	delivery date tbc
Silverstone (demo)	V6 manual	Magma Red	Ice Grey leather	Touring + Eagle	DC wheels, black calipers	Arrived 29 Oct AO72FNP
Silverstone (showroom)	V6 manual	Hethel Yellow	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black Pack, black wheels	delivery date tbc
Central Lotus Nottingham (demo)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black wheels, yellow calipers	Arrived 29 Oct AO72FKF
Central Lotus Nottingham (showroom)	V6 manual	Dark Verdant	Red leather	tbc	tbc	delivery date tbc
JCT600 Bradford (demo)	V6 manual	Hethel Yellow	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black Pack, black wheels, black calipers	Arrived 28 Oct AO72FJE
JCT600 Bradford (showroom)						details tbc
Hendy Lotus Exeter (demo)	V6 manual	Nimbus Grey	Red leather	Touring + Eagle	Black pack, black wheels, red calipers	Arrived 5 Nov AO72FJX
Hendy Lotus Exeter (showroom)						details tbc
Oakmere Lotus Prestbury (demo)	V6 manual	Dark Verdant	Black alcantara, yellow stitch	Sports + Eagle	DC wheels, yellow calipers	Arrived 1 Nov AO72FLF
Oakmere Lotus Prestbury (showroom)						details tbc
Hendy Lotus Eastleigh (demo)	V6 manual	Seneca Blue	Black alcantara, grey stitch	Sports + Eagle	Black pack, silver wheels, red calipers	Arrived 5 Nov AO72FJK
Hendy Lotus Eastleigh (showroom)						details tbc

[TomE]

Which comes from here:

https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/uk-dealer-demo-cars-specifications.1766/

[Scrute]

Fantastic! Thanks, my exterior colour on the showroom and my interior colour in the demonstrator. 
Perfect! 

[TomE]

Showroom cars haven't arrived yet and could be another 2-4 months.

[exeterjeep]

Notice that Hendy Poole, who had dropped off the Lotus cars web site a couple of months ago (- but now only as a service agent,) are not in the list above. I was told a couple of months ago that they were going to get a demo Emira.     But see today the Hendy Poole are now Maserati dealers....

[DDubya]

Just back from test drive (Hendy Exeter). Intentionally I drove there in my GT430 as an immediate comparison.

1. lotus have upped there game in terms of finish and fit, feels up there with some of the quality brands.
2. NVH excellent, no squeaks or rattles, rumbles. Other than the noise that you want.
3. without a doubt it would be a lovely addition to the garage and a car that at last would avoid the endless question -“Could I use as a daily”. Answer is a simple yes.
4. I found the door handle operation irritating. Flush fit seems a bit of a trend follower.
5. entry exit, good, but no different to Evora.
6. but….. maybe I’m spoilt having the 430 and whilst it has some grunt, given the fact that it’s still pretty tight with only 1600 miles. The power delivery and the difference between the Evora and this version is very noticeable. The GT430 just has that bit of raw pulling power.

The conclusion?  I’ll keep my deposit in place, I need to drive an i4 as this would be my option. After all, why would I want two very similar cars?

would love to know what is in the pipeline as special editions (GT450 perhaps?).

I should add a thanks to Hendy and for a nice post drive cuppa!

[exeterjeep]

17 minutes ago, DDubya said:

Just back from test drive (Hendy Exeter). Intentionally I drove there in my GT430 as an immediate comparison.

Did you go out with Lloyd, think he would be interested in your comparison to the Evora. Think Mark is going out in it tomorrow. 

[DDubya]

Keith. Yes Lloyd did the drive. 

[Markindevon]

Hi @exeterjeepand @DDubya, my wife and I did indeed have a drive in the Hendy Exeter car today.  Jess took us out as Lloyds having a few days off.

As a newbie to Lotus, having had my S1 Evora for just over a year and 11k miles or so, I have to say that I think the car absolutely hits the spot.  It has a more restrained level of steering feedback but the ride, grip (as far as I could tell on a zero degree morning) and feel were all spot on and the performance was stronger than my n/a with a perfectly acceptable level of noise (loud enough!) and burble in sport mode.

Superb gearchange too, really mechanical and precise feeling.

loved it… 

(the TPMS was on during my drive too!)

[gregs24]

I got my chance to drive the Emira today thanks to Rybrook Lotus in Bristol.

Most things have been covered but as a previous Elise (S1 and S2) plus Evora driver there are a few things I noticed.

The car feels like a grown up Elise rather than a facelifted Evora. The difference from the Evora is very substantial IMHO. Gearbox is fine (not perfect but not a problem) the interior quality is a huge leap forward compared to anything Lotus have done before. The leather quality (Bridge of Weir) is much better than the old cow in my Evora. Ergonomics are OK but the car feels quite compact and headroom will be a problem for some. There is no way I would be able to wear a helmet in the car. The seat position and adjustment is good but it is overall set too high. I am only 6' tall ( shortish legs and long back) but there was only an inch headroom above me. The seat headrest is far too low and only sits in the nape of my neck with no adjustment. The bolstering is not as significant as my Evora was (or even my Mustang is). The low dash scuttle just seems to emphasise the high driving position.

There is a wind noise problem at the top trailing edge of the door, which seems to originate from the door seal design - but as these dealer demos are not customer cars it may have been changed. It is certainly significant at motorway speed and the biggest source of noise right by your ear.

Engine is plenty powerful enough for the road, but certainly quieter than the Evora. 

The most significant difference is the handling and ride. Wow. This had the touring setup, but the ride was astonishing, handling just as good as the Evora but rolling refinement a huge improvement. No ARB knocking or general NVH problems - as good as any car on the road. Steering a little less frenetic than the Evora and less tramlining. Some may see this as less exciting, but in reality it moves the car on towards a much wider audience.

Everything worked, but I did trigger the indicator with my knee once somehow!

Central screen is too dim in the sunny weather we encountered for about 5 minutes!

Jonathon at Rybrook did mention that if you are not fussed too much about spec then Lotus CS can put you on the cancelation list which could mean a much quicker delivery. They have done over 100 test drives now, so multiply that up by the number of dealers to get an idea of UK demand. I think Lotus have just about delivered 100 UK customer cars.

I'm a way off delivery yet so will probably want to look again before final purchase to see if any of the peeves are fixed.

[TomE]

Interesting write up.  I'm 5'9" and I agree about the seats feeling a bit too high even on the lowest setting.  I had to adjust the steering wheel height as far up as possible so I could see the top edge of the driver display where the tacho is displayed.  Overall a great car and has the broader appeal Lotus needed to achieve, but it won't necessarily tempt current owners out of an Evora, Elise or Exige depending on their requirements.

By end Jan the dealers will have done test drives for all the deposit holders who wanted one.  The bookings will then open for non-deposit holders, if anyone else is interested.  Be aware there are long lists already, with some dealers having over 1000 registered.

[gregs24]

It looks like Harry is similar to me - that headrest position is dangerous in a rear end shunt!

It needs to be 15cm higher at least.

 

[Rambo]

I'm surprised that set up would even pass Lotus dummy crash tests 😲

[rudolphwolven]

On 09/01/2023 at 13:49, gregs24 said:

I got my chance to drive the Emira today thanks to Rybrook Lotus in Bristol.

........The interior quality is a huge leap forward compared to anything Lotus have done before..........

* * * * *

I doubt it..........the picture indicates not the only spot..............

This you kind of alignment you will not find on the last edition Evora's.........!

 

 

 

Edited January 10 by rudolphwolven

[Rambo]

Blimey, that's quite good for Lotus 🤣

[gregs24]

43 minutes ago, rudolphwolven said:

* * * * *

I doubt it..........the picture indicates not the only spot..............

This you kind of alignment you will not find on the last edition Evora's.........!

 

 

 

Well one picture doesn't tell the whole story. The quality of the leather, the solidity, lack of rattles all much better. 

Have you driven one yet?

 

[rudolphwolven]

Yes, I did.........I was not impressed at all......only the looks are fine......but will be boring as time goes on.

I did own an 1990 Esprit Turbo SE since 1993.

Years ago I was aware of the launch of the new Emira / had pictures seen .........however I was fearing a.o. about the present teething problems now occuring and that the new Emira would not fulfill the expectations and needs of the true Lotus enthousiast.

The Emira 6V today costs € 151.069,- (GBP 132.940,-)

In 2021 I purchased a brand new 2021 Evora GT 410 Sport IPS.
At the same Dutch Lotus importer I paid € 139.500,- (GBP 122.760,-). (excl. trade-in amount for the SE)

So I preferred to purchase the new Evora GT and now are happier with my choice as ever before. 

 

[Del Lardo]

Test drive today and I chose Colchester as they had a red/white (ice grey) car though no black pack that I've ordered. I really like the red but if I had the ego I would go for yellow as I think it's the best colour for the car....

Test drive was a bit frustrating as it was mostly 30/40 limit through villages, the one NSL road I was in a queue of traffic but did get the chance to put some power down onto dual carriageway. Gone are the days of being thrown the keys and coming back an hour later and to be fair it wasn't too dissimilar to the test drive I got from Porsche when looking at 911s. 

So the car itself.....
Looks amazing, proper supercar presence and my test drive coincided with school kicking out time with the car getting a great reaction from kids (the arbiters of what cars are cool).

Interior looks great and feels very well put together, almost a Porsche feeling of solidity. The seat could do with being a little lower but the steering wheel has great adjustability that meant I could recline far more than I usually can (for my height I have long legs and short arms so often have to sit more upright than I'd ideally like) so driving position was acceptable. 

The drive, despite some concerns about driving a manual after 7 months of autos it was super easy to drive the car, the gearbox was excellent with precise positive shifts, nothing like I remember from my Evora. Visibility is very good, easy to place the car and rear view mirror is actually useful (unlike Evora). I was initially surprised by the ride, it was a little more jiggly than I was expecting compared to my 911, I'd say that it deals with bigger imperfections in the road much better but it lets you know the smaller imperfections are there in the way that a 911 doesn't which may be down to the steering which feels like a Lotus. It feels a little lights around the centre for my liking but weights up nicely and provides good feedback. Brakes would take some getting used to, felt strong but a bit of initial travel that doesn't do anything before they bite hard, sure I'd get used to it quickly but not immediately intuitive.

So on to the only thing on the car that I really didn't like, the engine. The soundtrack is a bit quiet and dull, sure it's something that can be fixed with an exhaust (Evora needed one too) but shame it's not better as standard. I've not driven a supercharged car before so maybe it's just a characteristic but it didn't feel like it wanted/liked to rev so to counter that I'd expect a nice wallop of torque lower down the rev-range but that wasn't there either. Power delivery was nice and linear and the car didn't feel slow but just didn't feel or sound exciting.

Hoping the i4 can solve that as it's meant to be a great engine and the rest of the package is excellent. The only thing that has me thinking twice is it turns out that back seats are really quite useful.

 

[gregs24]

2 hours ago, rudolphwolven said:

Yes, I did.........I was not impressed at all......only the looks are fine......but will be boring as time goes on.

I did own an 1990 Esprit Turbo SE since 1993.

Years ago I was aware of the launch of the new Emira / had pictures seen .........however I was fearing a.o. about the present teething problems now occuring and that the new Emira would not fulfill the expectations and needs of the true Lotus enthousiast.

 

Looks will get boring ! It's not a VW Golf!

The true Lotus enthusiasts were not buying the Evora in any numbers, The order book for the Emira is longer than all of the Evoras ever made. Go figure.

 

[simonb]

test drive at Silverstone yesterday, cannot fault the route they have, country roads, some good some with lousy road surface and a bit of dual carriageway

Car did everything really well Touring suspension glided over even the biggest pothole I could aim for, car all very comfortable and seats great for my 5'10 stature

Definitely a tourer rather than a sports car, steering was very good, certainly would not want it any heavier.  There could have been a bit more character / quirkiness for me.  Did not like the artificial pops and bangs and found the gearchange OK - it was almost overtightened to make if feel firm and precise, but felt like it would be quicker across the gate if a bit more sloppy - assume it will loosen up, and not bothered as going i4

Feels like a grown ups toy, and at 55 years old, I am going to have to admit to being in the target audience.

For me it will fit really well alongside the elise, and on a sunny day with dry roads and a backroad trip, I would not be jumping in the emira

Looks fantastic, did not feel too wide, and the corners were easy to get a feel for.  Unfortunately the driver window would not fully close, so could not appreciate just how quiet and civilised the interior.

an easy enough car that I think the wife would drive it (wont drive elise) 

[TdM]

A few things from posts above:

1. I think Evora quality depended on car (possibly Emira too I don't know) but Emira seems to get better comments and that may be perceived quality due to materials/ergonomics and layout being what you would expect from a modern premium car. The Evora was of a high quality to be fair but there could be some areas that aren't so well finished if you are looking for them. They are probably harder to find in the Emira

2. Energy from the power train is probably slightly hurt by emissions regulations which may take some urgency out of it. I am suprised that the rev limit isn't as high though so would be interesting to know exactly what changes have been made to the map. Exhaust noise also an outcome of the emissions regs. The very original Evora exhaust was quiet but IMO anything valved was great.

3. Review above mentions artificial pops and bangs, have they done a crackle map? My Evora does pop and bang occasionally if you are on it but it's a very natural and rare occurrence. Would be surprised if they've gone to the effort of programming in crackles! Keep the reviews coming, very interesting and good reads.

 

This is much better than the magazines to be honest. The should all give you jobs

[Al]

Glasgow Demo car (aka Park's Hamilton) is presently a Nimbus Grey with Red interior and Touring Suspension.  (Their Magma one is off the road with AC issues.)