hml_xy

November 7, 2023

Yes - you were absolutely right @Rambo 🙌👏

November 7, 2023

Today I managed to open the boot! I tried wayyy to hard, no fiddling with any electricity necessary. It just needed a second set of hands to push the carbon tailgate down (?) while I pulled on the emergency wire...

November 6, 2023

Thanks @DH2!

This is what I see in the passenger area fusebox, where would you connect the battery to? Maybe this photo looks similar to what you know from the S1? I am a bit lost as none of the 40A fuse sockets brought the boot unlock mechanism to life.

November 5, 2023

I'll give it a try tomorrow, haven't been back to the car just yet Will keep you posted!

November 5, 2023

@Rambo Yes, in fact I only tried it on my own so far. Will give it another try with a 2nd set of hands 🙌

November 5, 2023

Thanks! I´ll do that and will have a look in the workshop PDF...

November 5, 2023

And here comes another Evora 4xx owner with boot release troubles. After getting my clutch replaced, the fuse in the CTEK connector was blown, which prevented me from putting the car on the charger. I made the silly mistake to close the boot even though the battery was dead (trusting that my emergency opener was working fine in the past). Came back with a spare fuse to realise that the emergency mechanism probably wasn´t reattached correctly on the engine-out clutch replacement job. #!"§$)="")§ Argh!

Reading all the helpful tips in old threads here on TLF, I started hooking up 12V to the fuse box in the passenger foot area, puling one of the 40A fuses on the top and hooking power directly to it. Ground attached to one of the bolts in the same area.

I managed to get some of the electronics in the car to come to life, but no matter which one of the 40A fuses I tried, none brought the boot release switch to operate.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I was thinking about removing the fuse box and trying to hook the whole thing on 12V instead of just some of the fuses. But before I do this I thought I´d ask for some tips. Maybe the motor and relais that unlocks the boot isn´t even powered by the front fusebox?

Thanks for any help in advance!

August 9, 2023

@DH2 My greetings and a big thanks to Mark B. He did an excellent job at communicating with me along the way and the turnaround time was impressive!

Also thanks for all the tips, Dave! I'll forward these to my dealer (hoping they will know them already themselves...)

August 7, 2023

Just a quick update:

Managed to get hold of an original clutch kit from Hangar111 and have to say the communication, shipment and service was top notch! Highly recommend.

My dealer immediately started disassembling my GT430 and was very surprised to find the clutch in such a state. There was rust on the inside of the clutch housing! I believe that the clutch disks (not familiar with the english terms for these parts) looked fairly okay in terms of wear but something has ripped them apart as if they have stuck together quite badly.

Does anyone have any ideas what may have happened here? This is after 20.000km of road - only usage.

June 27, 2023

Thanks all first of all!

@Arregueti Interesting! In fact, my dealer also told me that they never had issues with the 4xx clutches. Only with earlier variants. In my case it is super strange how it happened. The car was in for its annual service (I drove it myself to the dealer) and after the service (which doesn't have anything to do with the clutch...) the gear won't go in when the engine is running. The dealer swapped the famous brake pedal switch because of an ESC error (which literally appeared on the way to the dealer).

I'll reach out to a few dealers and see what they have. Thanks for the hints!

May I ask how much you paid at Komotec to get yours fixed?

June 27, 2023

Hello fellow TLF friends!

Unfortunately my GT430 requires a new clutch (20k kilometers only! No track usage and very careful shifting, no palm-resting etc.)

My dealer thinks it might be really bad luck and it's going to be a very expensive engine-out repair job as we all know. Ugh.

Additionally, Lotus struggles to source the clutch kit since now nearly two months and I am loosing my patience.

Does anyone know where I could get a new, original clutch kit for my car? Happy to order from the UK and get it shipped to Germany. PNot too keen to swap it for Komotec / Jubu alternatives as I don't want to have a racier clutch than before 😇😅

Thanks for your recommendations!

February 11, 2023

Ouch, I'll have a close look at my discs tomorrow. Thanks for reporting.

January 18, 2023

In this case I believe it was bought and sold mainly for the sake of producing some piece of content. You don't walk into a dealer ship with a half-hidden camera when you don't have these intentions.

This guy was never really keen to own the Emira in the first place.

So 100% agree, @Rambo, the Youtuber is not a die hard Lotus enthusiast.

January 8, 2023

I had a chance to take her out on a surprising mild saturday this weekend in January... It's unfortunately just the second time after getting her road registered in Germany.

(Proper number plate holders to be mounted soon...)

January 4, 2023

@Rambosuggested in another thread that it would make sense to have a TLF overview of Emira issues. Since I had a few experiences in the weeks of ownership, I thought it might be a good idea to list them.

I'd like to underline that my intention is not to paint a picture of an unreliable car, we should remember that all manufacturers have these kind of issues with new models.

And as always in life, it matters most how problems are handled. My dealer did an excellent job at doing his very best and I had the impression that Lotus HQ was very keen to monitor and hopefully learn in the process.

So here is my summary after 3 months and nearly 3000km:

1) Just before delivery - servo steering pump "broken", it turned out to be a full recall of servo pumps on the early cars from what we have heard in Emira owner circles. Since my car was one of the very first, it probably took longer than in other cases until the part was available. Others had it swapped very quickly.

2) Right (EU passenger side) door would not open. This one was upsetting me the most. Happenend on first day of ownership on the way to the Ring. Girlfriend couldn't step out the car in front of our favourite café before breakfast and had to climb out 🙈😅

Turned out to be some cable latch for the locking mechanism was broken inside the lock, got swapped on both sides of my car and apparently has created a lot of buzz in Hethel. Heard that guys from factory came over to inspect and that in my opinion is a good sign that issues get taken serious.

3) Rattling when turning steering rack. Few days after picking up car from dealer after issue no. 2

One of the alloy floor panels flexed when turning the steering while standing still. After dealer reaching out to Hethel a few more rivets were added and the annoying noise is gone. This is a bit of a weird one, I was told that parts of the chassis slightly flexed under the force of the wheels turning while not moving. I got a video from the dealer that proofed that the sound was coming from the alloy floor panel.

Fixed in less than 24hrs and glad it wasn't anything serious on the steering components of the car.

Minor other findings:

* Sometimes wireless carplay is a bit hesitant to connect, but this can also be an Apple thing and happens in other cars as well.

* Not a huge fan of the KEF audio quality. Miles ahead of old Lotus, not horrible at all for a sports car. But not as premium as the KEF name makes you wish for.

* Front parking sensor has a life on his own, but this could be also triggered by my number plate.

* Climate control is a bit uneven in its temperature distribution, sometimes very hot / blowing in your face for no reason. But it stops after a few minutes.

* Same for heated seats: Sometimes very hot, sometimes not. As if the temperature sensors have a very steep threshold.

* Leather very slightly wrinkled in some areas, not perfect but you only notice when you know it.

* Rubber door seals are a reminiscence of the old E cars fitting quality. Slightly better but "you'll know it's a Lotus" 😅

----

And to not sound too negative, I like to stretch that I am still a very happy and excited Emira owner!

What I don't care at all about is the water vs. boot lid situation many have talked about. Total no brainer, happens on other cars as well. My old Range Rover had water spilling inside the boot, also my F-Type.

Also the seats and the steering wheel or the shift quality - no issues to me for a sportscar for the road. Oh and it sounds great in my opinion!

And most importantly, I still believe that Lotus did the right thing with the Emira. Sure, it is less hardcore than the old cars. But for the spirited sports car driver who wants a car that makes you feel special - 100% success. Driving dynamics, brake feel, power. All top notch for this market segment (I am not comparing it to cars 2-3x the money). My most favourite feature is actually the ride quality (tour spec). Cannot wait to do more a lot of trips and daily driving with it!

January 4, 2023

@ramjet thx for the headsup, done. ✌️

@Rambo it probably would make sense, I'll happily start one.

January 4, 2023

I am happy to report that I did nearly 3000km in mine by now. Took it to Amsterdam over NYE for a weekend getaway and enjoyed the warm weather opportunity to blast home over the A57 (unrestricted) towards my home town. Did what should be around 150-160mph several times and absolutely love the balance at high speeds. The tour setup feels much more suitable for daily driving the car compared to my obviously very dialed in GT430 Sport.

All I can say is that I am a big fan of the Emira. Yes, I had a few niggles since delivery but the dealer and also Lotus took them very seriously and sorted it all out. The additional usability over the old E cars means that I take her out much more than I did with the Evora (would have never taken the GT430 Sport on Cup2's on a roadtrip on the last weekend of December!)

Power and weight are absolutely fine, the car feels more accessible and provides fun more times of the drive all in all.
I'll grab some pictures of the dirty yellow later. ✌️

November 1, 2022

On 31/10/2022 at 15:14, Evotion said:

Have you found anything wrong with the car yet?

I couldn't find a single flaw in the car myself - except for the USB socket 😀

Saw your video, looks like you had a great day at Lotus!! Congrats, it must have been a great experience!

I'd say yes, I found a few negative things.

Most prominently the gearbox topic. The shift itself is oozing character in my opinion. Its beautiful, the weight of the shifter is often overlooked but adds so much to the experience. Surprised not more people mention it. Very analog, gated shifter style.

So where is the negative? I don't need the perfect shift quality. But after now 1100km in less than a week, I can say that sometimes the shift is a bit inconsistent (or I am a bit less precise at shiftling). Absolutely no worries for me but I could see why people say that other gearboxes are easier to handle.

I also noted on the other forum that you didn't recognise the gearbox noise during your day at Lotus. Have to say I heard it in your video briefly. To me it sounds like a race car gearbox and I can identify with it as a small manufacturer flaw. But others would "expect" a gearbox to not make these kind of rattleing sounds at low revs under load.

Testdrivers - shift into second gear very early after rolling off and give a little load on the accelerator. You'll hear the rattle from 1300-2500rpm. Every single person who drives with me for the first time commented on the noise and asked what that is.

Again, I take it as character and a sympathic flaw of an otherwise unbelievably exciting and fun car. I love the Emira so far, but I can't ignore the gearbox noise topic when asked if I found anything wrong. Bet Lotus did not dial this rattleing into the car intentionally and would have prefered to not have it. 😄

Next negative: The front parking sensor has a life on his own. If you stand somewhere in the middle of nowhere with nothing around it starts going of and beeps as if you are calling somebody on the phone 😅. Not sure if it is triggered by my registration plate or what that is.
But yes, that could be improved via software updates at some point. And also doesn't substract anything from the fun I have with the car so far.

And then the squeaking bootlid when opening. That is just cheap plastic flexing from the force of lifting the lid up. I don't really care that much but it is not the same level of haptic quality the car has in general.

KEF soundsystem could be stronger. I am a a music nerd and have a proper Hifi at home, so my expectations were high. Even higher because I also have a pair of KEFs in another room which is really a good system. Would have prefered a more powerful amp in the Emira. Sound quality is good (lightyears better than Evora) but not amazing.

Last but not least: Couple more physical buttons would have been nice instead of the touch stuff. But I like the whole design face of the screens. Looks like a very expensive and stylish Naim Hifi interface in a way.

As you can see: Everything that really matters is not on my list of negatives. Driving the Emira is so much fun and I think people should stop being so worried about the fact that it didnt turn out as the technically perfect and gold standard defining car on the road. Instead, they should take the car as what it was intended to be. A everyday sportscar with supercar looks but ease of use and overall reasonable (for a luxury car) costs.

So let's appreciate the overall package and the accessibility of her. It is a very big "well done Lotus" from me.

(not mentioning any of the communication and delays and all related issues, focusing only on the final car in that statement)

October 31, 2022

@RamboNot an english native speaker so hopefully I phrased it correctly 🙂 I said that I had the 4000rpm run-in limit in mind. Didn't say that stuck to it all the time. 😂

October 31, 2022

@RamboThe car got quite a bit louder or myself a lot braver than on the first two days of ownership. 😅

Still somewhat respecting drive in guidelines and not flooring it to the max, but I had my first blast in it yesterday.

Went to the Ring, which was far too busy on the second to last weekend of the season. But the weather was actually so nice that it was no surprise.
Hung out on a parking lot and catched up with some likedminded Lotus enthusiasts, while many people took pictures of the car.

Then mounted a GoPro and tried to capture all sorts of noises and tones of the Emira while semi-blasting (4000-ish rpm run in limit in mind!) around some b-roads of the Nürburgring area.

Here's the video - it has different mounting positions of the GoPro in it, all with windows closed and in Sport mode (exhaust open) besides at the cold start. That was with valves closed.

Hope it delivers some impressions and helps to stay excited about the Emira deliveries ☺️
It is definitely not a "quiet" car and far from boring sounding. What it has less is the in-cabin drone that the Evora had and I'm very sure that is an improvement.

October 28, 2022

@Rambo It depends.

In Tour mode you barely hear the exhaust in the cabin. But you hear a lot of supercharger whirl and "good" mechanical noises, which have their own character. Also with the windows down barely any noise. No burble or barks, also not when shifting under load. Much much more quiet than the other cars. It is a very usable, social way of driving the car.

In Sport and Track the exhaust becomes "louder" and starts burbling A LOT when going of the accelerator. But no F-Type style bangs or pops. It is a very quality sound, quite exotic as well. I am very pleased with it because it also sounds surprisingly different to the Evora/Exige soundtrack. Not night and day different but "fresh" in a way. Decibel wise I have to say that full open exhaust on the Emira is same-ish quiet as the closed exhaust on the Evora GT. You still hear more outside and it sounds amazing (inside and out) but less anti-social than the old cars.
It may get louder in a few thousand km's but I can see people craving for aftermarket solutions.

One positive finding for you RHD guys:

The car sounds better from the LHD passenger / RHD driver seat. Probably because of the hearing position being in a better angle to the engine bay (or was it intentionally tweaked this way)?

October 28, 2022

Thanks everybody for the kind words! It was a (sub-4000rpm) blast 😅 - everybody who has one on order can definitely look forward to it. In the best possible way it's a "modern Evora". The goal to speak to a wider audience than the predecessor has definitely been achieved.

I really wonder if the press cars had the "old" gearbox in them because this one is definitely better than what I know from the previous generation. Yes, the gearbox howl is still there (maybe even more than on my Evora?) but the gearshift is definitely tweaked and slicker. For example many of you will know that 1st was sometimes a bit hard to get into - none of that on the Emira! Also less force to put the gears in but in return a "cleaner" shift.

And the steering wheel being chunky... yes, it is very chunky when you place your hands in the 9:00 & 3:00 o'clock positions. But if you do it "right" and put them at 10:00 and 2:00 o'clock it's not too chunky. But yes, I would also prefer a round wheel a bit more.

Power wise I can't really say much after just 200km and no hard accelerations yet but first impression is you feel the difference in weight to the Evora GT430.

Ride quality and steering / brake feel are definitely class leading in my opinion - just like Gav said ... "a true Lotus".

Quirks:

1) Parking sensor behaves like on a modern Aston Martin Vantage - often just turns itself on at a traffic light and starts beeping for no reason. Same part supplier like Aston or a software glitch?

2) The fuel filler opening has a self-closing latch which takes a good bit of force to press open. This has caused a quite a spillage of Shell finest V-Power at the station. Seems I have to work on my technique to accomodate 😅

October 28, 2022

Oh, I got a little surprise with a Emira shaped keyholder / colour sample in a box with a carbon inlay for the second key.

And a photo of the first traffic jam on the way home...

October 28, 2022

I can't believe that I write this and it's still surreal. But I've got the car at home!

First driving was amazing, the gearbox is smoother than in the Evora. The ride quality is sublime! The sound is more subtle than expected but nice (not loud at all, but a quality soundtrack). Seats could still be a tiny bit lower, pedals are absolutely excellent and I don't get the comments of the cramped placing.

KEF sound quality is really good but the bass is not stellar (less bass than eg. a Harman Kardon in a Mini, but excellent mids and high but not crazy stereo field placement).

More to come! Now I need to go for a drive... 🤩

October 26, 2022

After over one month of waiting - tomorrow might be the day! She's registered and I hope I find the time tomorrow to finally go and pick her up.

From what the dealer told me the registration happened via COC and the car is still not in the public system database.

...This weekend might be the last chance this year for a small roadtrip. Weather report says sun and no rain around here. 🤩

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