Chris Harris

[BatMobile]

I said it before and i will say it again, Lotus need to invite him in, give him the red carpet treatment - talk through the cars, let him have a play on the track with whatever he wants and get him not just excited but a fan. 

Lotus not inviting him to the 400 launch was an oversight, he has gone on to Top Gear and looks like he will be staying so that was a poor choice by whoever did the invite list; you can argue he should grow up but given thats his profession it is quite an insult.

As a lotus owner it is annoying to read this drivel but to give the other side of the coin, why does he care what the comments are....he doesnt owe lotus anything; this attention seeking does sound like a scolded ex girlfriend who just wants a cuddle and some recognition. 

Lotus need to take a chunk of Geely's cash and do a marketing overhaul because Chris Harris aside it is piss poor. 

[GFWilliams]

@BatMobile - I think you're absolutely spot on

[pete]

Exactly,no problem with his driving

[Chillidoggy]

He’s still a cock.

[Sport220]

When was the last time he did a video on a Lotus?

I quite like and have followed him for a long time, it'd be nice if JMG invited him to pay Hethel a visit and maybe do a TG piece for a future season.

And I don't see that as mockery either. 99% of car people don't understand Lotus' range, not because it's very extensive but because of the cars' lack of exposure and the thousands of limited editions getting released in the last years. I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people still thinking Lotus use Rover engines and have no idea what a GT430 is, just to put in perspective

[Bee]

To be honest, it's incredibly rare that anyone, whatsoever, has done a high-profile, mainstream video about Lotus. It was embarrassing to realise that Seb Delanney was probably doing more to bring the brand to a large audience than Lotus's own P.R. Just seen a nice video, today, in which someone who vaguely knew the brand, and liked it, but did not know what they were like 'close up' had a day at Stratton's open day. For an amateur piece, he  was really able to challenge the negative stereotypes by encouraging the viewer to actually see the cars up close and personal, pointing out the quality of the materials and showing that a good-sized 6 foot 2" guy could so easily and comfortably sit in an Elise! I really hope one of the dealers lends him a car so he can make a follow-up.

 

I hope that one benefit from the new ownership will be a professional and consistent approach to getting the content out there; we can all moan about Chris Harris (I certainly do) but the damage of the negativity he encouraged is only so annoying because knowledge about the brand, and what they are currently delivering, is very much restricted to enthusiasts. If we'd seen The Grand Tour drive an Exige 430, or seen Top Gear have a go with an Evora 410/GT430 etc. the public at large would be starting to see what Lotus product in 2018 actually looks like, and they'd be starting to understand the differences between the models. I'm pretty sure the cars would have impressed with track times, too!

 

 

[Bibs]

Cheeky scamp, my car was £33k!

[SteveO...]

On 4/10/2018 at 14:31, BatMobile said:

Sensible stuff

Agree with @BatMobile   Harris is just playing his part as a presenter in a 'Car Based' TV programme.  Lotus really needs to to up their marketting and use these journos to get the message out there. 

I'd never really considered a Lotus having previously been a Porsche then TVR owner. About five years ago I saw his Drive film with the green Exige V6 and Matt Becker then saw the same car at a stand a Le Mans shortly afterwards.  That was definitely an influence on me buying an Exige V6 two years ago.  More recently, the videos of our very own @JayEmm were very useful in planting the seed of Evora 400 ownership.

Most people don't know what my Evora 400 is; it's been mistaken for a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. Lotus need to use people like Harris to get their products in front of buyers.  It's no use having a great product if noone knows about it.

[pete]

Shane it has to be him though

[The Pits]

You also have to cut your losses with individuals who, for whatever reason, seek to undermine your efforts to change perceptions. Lotus is an easy target for journalists because they sell in small numbers therefore a small risk to their ambitions to grow their audience. 

Most of the car press is overwhelmingly positive towards Lotus but Harris's tweet reveals that this doesn't count for much. Harris thinks it's just blind patriotism (ignoring the positive reviews coming from non-UK journalists also the positive review that Porsche and others routinely get from UK ones) but it's clear that it's going to take a lot more than just more good reviews.

However there is a new PR person at Lotus and I think there are some positive signs already. Clive Chapman being given an Evora GT410 Sport seems like an obviously good idea and Autocar this week has a lot of Lotus content including 10 full pages on a story about driving a GT410 Sport around Scotland to commemorate the great Jim Clark. Nice mix of Lotus history and heritage with a 2018 product.

[GTK]

Really interesting Jonny. Imo Lotus is far more attractive as the company with the small [focussed] offering that takes a little knowledge and individuality to appreciate, than the one that every dickhead blindly loves. So if they can be profitable I'd rather they didn't court people like Harris. That [tweet] sort of manipulation of social media isn't journalism, or even punditry, just the cheap lazy efforts of people blinded by the ego monster. Feeding that kind of social media isn't the only way to get ahead. There used to be PR/advertising people who could sell something with honest creativity, and not just owning a lot of likes.

[Mark Blanchard]

[scotty435]

Is it just me or do I get the feeling I am missing something with people defending Harris. He is not the first person to be missed of a invitation list and will not be the last, but in the companys 70 years history he is the only so called journalist to behaving like a petulant child, roll the red carpet for him, wow that as to be a joke. Come on ,he as gone from YouTube to top gear and that TV series since he as been a member is a bit like Lotus PR department pretty shocking. Lotus can put there plobems right , with the arrogance he has, not sure he can.

[PAR]

Honestly guy, if you are unhappy about him why don't you just tell him by emailing him: Chris.Harris@porsche.com

 

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, PAR said:

Honestly guy, if you are unhappy about him why don't you just tell him by emailing him: Chris.Harris@porschefanboy.com

 

FTFY.

[oilmagnet477]

On ‎13‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 18:07, Bee said:

To be honest, it's incredibly rare that anyone, whatsoever, has done a high-profile, mainstream video about Lotus. It was embarrassing to realise that Seb Delanney was probably doing more to bring the brand to a large audience than Lotus's own P.R. Just seen a nice video, today, in which someone who vaguely knew the brand, and liked it, but did not know what they were like 'close up' had a day at Stratton's open day. For an amateur piece, he  was really able to challenge the negative stereotypes by encouraging the viewer to actually see the cars up close and personal, pointing out the quality of the materials and showing that a good-sized 6 foot 2" guy could so easily and comfortably sit in an Elise! I really hope one of the dealers lends him a car so he can make a follow-up.

 

I hope that one benefit from the new ownership will be a professional and consistent approach to getting the content out there; we can all moan about Chris Harris (I certainly do) but the damage of the negativity he encouraged is only so annoying because knowledge about the brand, and what they are currently delivering, is very much restricted to enthusiasts. If we'd seen The Grand Tour drive an Exige 430, or seen Top Gear have a go with an Evora 410/GT430 etc. the public at large would be starting to see what Lotus product in 2018 actually looks like, and they'd be starting to understand the differences between the models. I'm pretty sure the cars would have impressed with track times, too!

 

 

OI! LOTUS - get this bloke on your PR Team FFS! Top man

Nice to see the regulars cars getting a mention too!

[GTK]

 

On 10/4/2018 at 12:57, Bibs said:

A lot of people on here don't like him because of this - https://jalopnik.com/how-auto-journalism-fails-when-nationalism-gets-involve-1686723025

I feel the draw of the dark side. 

[Advantage]

His latest comment, this time about the Driftmas video. He really is a monumental cock and thankfully one or two of the replies are calling him out.

[ramjet]

And yet the driver in the video (which I just watched) seems to be able to?

[Spinney]

What was this one-tyre-fire to which he refers?

[ramjet]

I think he means that only one wheel spins due to no LSD.

As @Advantage says, monumental cock.

I'll admit to thinking he was alright when I first heard about him. Completely different opinion now.

[Spinney]

But that’s just a case of speccing the LSD. I assume you can spec an Exige with this now, as you can with the manual Evora?

[Bravo73]

No, not from the factory you can’t. The Evora 4x0 comes with one as standard (in manual. No LSD for the auto: totally different gearbox). 

For the Exige, you would have to get one fitted aftermarket. 

[Spinney]

Yes I understand the auto box on Evora is completely different. As for the Exige though - really, you can’t spec the LSD???

Surely it’s essentially the same box as the manual Evora or is the final drive housing bigger and it’s an issue of space? If you can fit an aftermarket LSD, I can’t see any reason why the factory can’t supply one. That’s bizarre!

[Arun_D]

Indeed,  still no LSD, standard or otherwise,  on any Exige variant. 

Aftermarket is the only option, like myself and others have done.