Emira journey starts here
Discussion
So decided to put a deposit down on a Lotus Emira . For my own records and for anyone remotely interested in the what I imagine be highs and lows of the 18-24 month journey to collection.
Brief history of my prior Lotus, had a Yellow S2 Elise purchased in 2003, 120bhp, tuned to 160bhp, loved that car, sold in 2005 to pay for wedding.
Nov 2006 bought a Yellow S2 111S in 2006, did a lot with the suspension, interior, brakes and damping. Competed in sprints, best result 2nd, sold this car in February 2011.
Mar 2011 bought a Silver S1 Elise, modded that to 160 bhp, suspension, tyres, brakes, dampers, was the most unreliable but loved that car.
I competed in LOTRDC over a couple of seasons, adhoc races, was an amazing experience racing as a support for the likes of the DTM cars, but sadly didn’t have the time, money or skill. Being quick on trackdays doesn’t make you a quick racer, I did ok, mostly midfield, hired cars. Sold that in 2016.
Fast forward to Thursday 4th August 2022, deposit down on Lotus Emira I4, the one with the Mercedes’ engine in.
The website is actually very good, all the more so as it is Lotus and frankly previous versions have been dreadful. Easy to use the configurator and with not too many options, showed the wife and kids who were happy, paid deposit and confirmation email and receipt received immediately.
Next day got a call from Lotus to say all in hand, currently 60 weeks at the earliest for delivery, but thank you for the order any questions, have you been to Hethal and at some point come to the factory.
Later on in the day got a call from the dealer I first enquired about to inform me he would be in touch with a view to a test drive and look at colours when the get a demo, no confirmed date.
To be honest I’m frankly shocked, Lotus of old there was zero communication, admittedly only 3 days in but impressive!
Picture of the car as specced on website.
I’ll update as and when.
Thanks for following and reading.
Matt
Brief history of my prior Lotus, had a Yellow S2 Elise purchased in 2003, 120bhp, tuned to 160bhp, loved that car, sold in 2005 to pay for wedding.
Nov 2006 bought a Yellow S2 111S in 2006, did a lot with the suspension, interior, brakes and damping. Competed in sprints, best result 2nd, sold this car in February 2011.
Mar 2011 bought a Silver S1 Elise, modded that to 160 bhp, suspension, tyres, brakes, dampers, was the most unreliable but loved that car.
I competed in LOTRDC over a couple of seasons, adhoc races, was an amazing experience racing as a support for the likes of the DTM cars, but sadly didn’t have the time, money or skill. Being quick on trackdays doesn’t make you a quick racer, I did ok, mostly midfield, hired cars. Sold that in 2016.
Fast forward to Thursday 4th August 2022, deposit down on Lotus Emira I4, the one with the Mercedes’ engine in.
The website is actually very good, all the more so as it is Lotus and frankly previous versions have been dreadful. Easy to use the configurator and with not too many options, showed the wife and kids who were happy, paid deposit and confirmation email and receipt received immediately.
Next day got a call from Lotus to say all in hand, currently 60 weeks at the earliest for delivery, but thank you for the order any questions, have you been to Hethal and at some point come to the factory.
Later on in the day got a call from the dealer I first enquired about to inform me he would be in touch with a view to a test drive and look at colours when the get a demo, no confirmed date.
To be honest I’m frankly shocked, Lotus of old there was zero communication, admittedly only 3 days in but impressive!
Picture of the car as specced on website.
I’ll update as and when.
Thanks for following and reading.
Matt
Edited by VTECMatt on Saturday 6th August 17:34
Must admit when I read the 60 weeks wait I though the sameBertBert said:
Yawn, what on earth are you going to do for content until 2024?
If you don’t have something positive to say don’t bother commenting, I won’t lose any sleep 
It will be a nice record for me personally plus will add stories from my Elise ownership as essentially the dna from this car started with the Elise.
Bright Halo said:
Excellent!
Love the colour.
Can you give us the spec and also share your reasoning for going AMG i4 rather than V6?
Be a while before I get to lock in spec, but submitted the following online;Love the colour.
Can you give us the spec and also share your reasoning for going AMG i4 rather than V6?
I4 engine First Edition
Sports Addition
Hethal Yellow Paint
Gloss Black Ultra Light Weight Wheels
Yellow Brake Calipers
Black lower and upper pack
Black Alcantara interior with yellow stitching
Alcantara wheel with yellow stitching and TDC marking
VTECMatt said:
Bright Halo said:
Excellent!
Love the colour.
Can you give us the spec and also share your reasoning for going AMG i4 rather than V6?
Be a while before I get to lock in spec, but submitted the following online;Love the colour.
Can you give us the spec and also share your reasoning for going AMG i4 rather than V6?
I4 engine First Edition
Sports Addition
Hethal Yellow Paint
Gloss Black Ultra Light Weight Wheels
Yellow Brake Calipers
Black lower and upper pack
Black Alcantara interior with yellow stitching
Alcantara wheel with yellow stitching and TDC marking
VTECMatt said:
Be a while before I get to lock in spec, but submitted the following online;
I4 engine First Edition
Sports Addition
Hethal Yellow Paint
Gloss Black Ultra Light Weight Wheels
Yellow Brake Calipers
Black lower and upper pack
Black Alcantara interior with yellow stitching
Alcantara wheel with yellow stitching and TDC marking
Great spec, when I get the call to lock mine in it will be almost the same, except I'm going to go for the black diamonded cut wheels.I4 engine First Edition
Sports Addition
Hethal Yellow Paint
Gloss Black Ultra Light Weight Wheels
Yellow Brake Calipers
Black lower and upper pack
Black Alcantara interior with yellow stitching
Alcantara wheel with yellow stitching and TDC marking
Bright Halo said:
Could you please share your reasoning on your choice for the I4 engine instead of the V6, I personally think I would also lean towards the I4 as it is the more modern, compact and probably tune-able choice?
Some of it is cost but mostly I didn’t really enjoy it in an Exige or extensive time in Evora’s. Whilst I have only ever owned manuals until this year (Tesla) I like the engine from the Mercedes’ and think it will fit well in the Emira. Received an email to say car will be delivered In 2023, I’m way down the list but hopefully they should be delivering cars later this year. Reading the forums the early depositors are getting rather frustrated with the delays, understandably so, but I have low expectations from Lotus.
I'm glad I held fire tbh was thinking of deposit down on a nimbus grey. Going to have a couple years at least in my GT4 and watch closely how the initial cars behave for customers in terms of reliability etc.
Online youtube etc reviews have been generally positive so far but with absolutely zero cars around to test drive before buying its just too soon for me.
Good luck and have bookmarked this thread
Online youtube etc reviews have been generally positive so far but with absolutely zero cars around to test drive before buying its just too soon for me.
Good luck and have bookmarked this thread
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