demo cars at dealers ?

[ramjet]

As the engine and gearbox are the same as the Evora, for the car to be raved about by some of the reviews that we have seen, I can only presume that they have made the car behaviour, steering etc, much better?

How much weight has been added over the heaviest Evora model?

[TomE]

5 hours ago, Emiralust said:

Has anybody been contacted by Bell & Colvill yet?

No and when I exchanged messages with Jamie last week he was still waiting for confirmation of specs and delivery dates for their demo/showroom cars.  Was supposed to be mid Sept, then late Sept.  I've heard from other dealers that they think early Oct is more likely now.

 

4 hours ago, Bibs said:

I believe initial test drives are being arranged directly by Lotus. 

That's correct, for people the first 1-2 months of deliveries.  I've heard of one person being contacted by their dealer to pencil in a test drive date, but still subject to confirmation next week of when the demo car will arrive.

A few people have now been contacted about the Checkout (30 day) process.  A dozen more have had the pre-Checkout email about protection and enhancement options (GAP insurance, alloy wheel insurance, ceramic coating etc), which means the Checkout email will follow in 5-7 days.

As Lotus are fond of saying, it'll all be happening "soon".

 

[Rambo]

Christmas is coming 🤔

[KennyN]

9 hours ago, TomE said:

GAP insurance, alloy wheel insurance, ceramic coating etc

No PPF option as previously mentioned?

[TomE]

That's right, PPF not offered as an option, although previously suggested by Lotus that it would be.  Dealers will offer it and I guess Lotus may add it later.

[KJD]

13 hours ago, ramjet said:

How much weight has been added over the heaviest Evora model?

A scarcely believable 98kg!

The Evora 400 was 1395kg, the Emira (according to the handbook) is 1493kg.

Complicate then add weight, as someone didn’t say.

But, hay-ho, that’s how it is. It’ll still be great. 🤞

[ramjet]

I wonder how much of that 98kg can be put down to ‘Mr. Safety’ stuff?

[TomE]

12-way electric seats, more sound-proofing (to hide the transmission noise), cup holders, USB ports, premium audio system and infotainment screens all add weight.  Side and curtain airbags are probably a factor too.

[duncx]

3 minutes ago, TomE said:

more sound-proofing (to hide the transmission noise)

Tut-tut Tom, I didn't have you down as a cynic

Probably not wrong though 👍

[TomE]

I hope even Lotus might acknowledge after 13 years there are some weaknesses in the Evora  

The Emira gave them an opportunity to fix some of them but it seems sometimes-sticky gear change and gearbox/bearing noise are still apparent on some cars.

Holding judgement until I can test drive, which depends on Lotus actually delivering demo cars to UK dealers - delayed yet again.

[exeterjeep]

On 15/09/2022 at 07:51, Rambo said:

Christmas is coming 🤔

Christmas stuff now in the stores, it's now the end of September, Emira in showrooms by..... mid Oct/end Oct, Nov........

[TomE]

B&C demo car arrived today, just in time for their launch event on Saturday for the newly refurbished showroom.  I may see a few of you there tomorrow.

[exeterjeep]

Any other dealers got 1 yet,

think I will nip into Hendy tomorrow.........

[TomE]

Not that I’ve heard confirmed.  Several are in PDI and scheduled for transporters next week. 

[TomE]

Talking to Lotus folks at B&C yesterday, it sounds like there have been further delays with type approval as well as the ongoing parts supply issues.  The demo car at B&C is going back to Lotus on Monday, as it hasn't competed PDI yet.

UK dealer demo cars are now all due to be delivered by 14 Oct.  Lotus will handle test drive bookings centrally for the first few weeks, to prioritise people with early build slots.  Each dealer will only have one demo car and no showroom car initially.

[simonb]

Are you saying it passed Lotus PDI but not B&C inspection?

[exeterjeep]

Don't think so, I read it that Lotus had not time to do the PDI on that particular car, just shows that they are further behind than we thought.

When dealers get their 1 demo, lets hope it is reliable for all the slots booked....

[TomE]

It went through Lotus/BCA PDI last week and didn't pass.  It was still sent to B&C, with known issues, as they wanted it for the event yesterday.  It needs several points rectified before it passes PDI and is returned to B&C.

[Badger77]

4 hours ago, TomE said:

Talking to Lotus folks at B&C yesterday, it sounds like there have been further delays with type approval as well as the ongoing parts supply issues.  The demo car at B&C is going back to Lotus on Monday, as it hasn't competed PDI yet.

UK dealer demo cars are now all due to be delivered by 14 Oct.  Lotus will handle test drive bookings centrally for the first few weeks, to prioritise people with early build slots.  Each dealer will only have one demo car and no showroom car initially.

Any pics Tom?

[TomE]

Here and in a couple of follow-ons linked from this thread:

https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/live-from-the-bell-colvill-launch.1967/

[Dobbin145]

20 hours ago, TomE said:

It went through Lotus/BCA PDI last week and didn't pass.  It was still sent to B&C, with known issues, as they wanted it for the event yesterday.  It needs several points rectified before it passes PDI and is returned to B&C.

Just out of morbid curiosity what were the issues that the demo car had to warrant 'failing' the PDI?

Also do we know if the Emira has finally been UK type approved? I thought this was completed a while back because it appeared in the UK insurance database.

(Sorry if this was covered on the other forum only there is so much advertising and screen junk for that forum it's almost unusable on my phone).

[Barrykearley]

21 hours ago, TomE said:

It went through Lotus/BCA PDI last week and didn't pass.  It was still sent to B&C, with known issues, as they wanted it for the event yesterday.  It needs several points rectified before it passes PDI and is returned to B&C.

Millions invested in a new line - new processes etc.

hard to believe they are having issues such as this. Quality control is something that should be embedded in the process and as such quality should be assured.

oh well - one day - in the meantime it looks like we are going to see customers finding problems that should have been long since resolved in process

[TomE]

5 hours ago, Dobbin145 said:

Just out of morbid curiosity what were the issues that the demo car had to warrant 'failing' the PDI?

Also do we know if the Emira has finally been UK type approved? I thought this was completed a while back because it appeared in the UK insurance database.

I'm not going to list them here, as that's not fair to Lotus when they know the issues are present and they have a plan for rectifying them before the car is signed off.  They wanted to provide a car to B&C for their event.  They could have sent them a pre-prod press car but wanted to show a production spec car, particularly the seats and interior.

Some of the issues indicate some of the in-line QA and final stage checks need adjusting, but if they rectify the car and feed back into the process then that's fine.  It shows the PDI process is working.  I've got a list of things I spotted (I wasn't given the full list) and can re-check the car when it returns to B&C.  If it still has issues then I'll list them.

On type approval, I understand the delays on the dealer demo cars and the switches being made between demo and showroom car specs for each dealer are due to type approval finalisation delays.  The Manual cars already show on most UK insurance sites but the Auto isn't there yet and is due to follow in October before first Auto customer cars are delivered in November.

5 hours ago, Dobbin145 said:

(Sorry if this was covered on the other forum only there is so much advertising and screen junk for that forum it's almost unusable on my phone).

https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/guidelines/

[C8RKH]

1 minute ago, TomE said:

I'm not going to list them here, as that's not fair to Lotus

I think that is very fair of you, and fair play to Lotus in supporting B&C as best they could. I am sure that every customer/potential customer who experienced that car loved it and appreciated it.

[Barrykearley]

Fair play - the pre prod car I saw was frankly exceptional. Glad to hear they are closing the loop on problems during these initial runs.