The Evora 400 Diaries

[chylld]

On 10/09/2016 at 05:00, JayEmm said:

...and just as I'm starting to forgive this car for it's many issues... the passenger side seat release breaks. The little leather strap has half-come-out of it's moorings. Joy.

Happened to my driver's side one, replaced (under warranty of course) at the first service with a brand new one. Dismantling seat isn't necessary and a new design is apparently on the way. Caused by over-tightening of the 2 M3 locknuts on the plastic clamps holding the leather strap to the release cables.

I rarely used the driver's side one so I'm surprised my passenger side one is still going strong, as it gets used every day.

[JayEmm]

I noticed on Friday water making its way into the cabin via the passenger window. Trying to work out why, I notice the window seal on the passenger door is fitted completely differently to my driver's door.

Driver's side: Seal sits on top of window, does its job

Passenger's side: Seal is mounted too far inwards, doesn't even touch top of window.

[chylld]

Definitely a fault with your passneger's side seal, mine is a mirror image of the driver's side

[PaulCP]

Just carefully lift the seal from the bottom and reposition it. 

Mine was also slightly too much inward resulting in a few drips getting in. I have repositioned it twice and it still sticks in place ok.

If this doesn't solve the problem then the window may need adjusting slightly.

[JayEmm]

Paul, Lotus had a quick look this morning and advised me a new seal would be required as they are only meant for one use only.

They also confirmed it's meant to be a mirror, as expected and as shown by our Australian friend. 

It's a shame really because this is a build issue not even a design or parts problem.

[Bibs]

Goddamn these hand-built cars. Maybe robots are the answer?

[C8RKH]

Lol. No way. Anyway you'd never get a robot that could understand Narfulk!

[Colin G]

Jayemm be getting the factory to wash the car next, as when it gets dirty he'll be unhappy because it certainly didn't come from the factory like that. 

[Chew]

@Colin G sailing close to the wind, there.....    

Diverting slightly, I'd value the Forum's machine learning wisdom here: the whole creaking seat thing has been done to death, but am I the only one to experience quite noticeable seatbelt versus leather on seat shoulders rub - manifesting itself as a kind of light cracking / clicking on bumpy roads? Started on passenger side, as noted by my 8 year old.  If you pull the seatbelt away from your chest, and hence off the shoulder, it stops.  Obviously, some kind of lower friction cloth seatbelt sleeve would do it and prevent rubbing against the leather, but I'm looking for the neatest fix.  Or is it just that JCT600 used some kind of ultra-high-friction wax on the seats prior to delivery?

Otherwise, I repeat, awesome car, no other gripes.  Attention seems to come mainly from teenage boys and 50yr-old+ women, but I'm struggling for the commonality here.

[JayEmm]

Ah yes, silly me, expecting a skilled labourer to assemble something correctly! How I should have remembered that all Colin Chapman ever wanted to be known as was a maker of kit cars!

In other blasphemous news the car is currently having a full sound system upgrade, it's pretty non destructive and if all goes well, I should hopefully have a solution for giving the Evora a very high end sound for under a grand. I'll be showing it to Lotus when it's done because I think it is something that could be easily offered on their cars and would be a nice option to offer. I certainly think you would get more people ticking it than the titanium exhaust box.

I also had a sit in an Elise Cup to see how I like the seats (I believe the 410 will be using similar seats. At least the show car did) - they aren't to my liking, too narrow and not enough support. A shame, I had hoped they would be a bit more supportive, anyway, the adventure continues...

[chylld]

8 minutes ago, Chew said:

am I the only one to experience quite noticeable seatbelt versus leather on seat shoulders rub - manifesting itself as a kind of light cracking / clicking on bumpy roads? Started on passenger side, as noted by my 8 year old.  If you pull the seatbelt away from your chest, and hence off the shoulder, it stops.  Obviously, some kind of lower friction cloth seatbelt sleeve would do it and prevent rubbing against the leather, but I'm looking for the neatest fix.  Or is it just that JCT600 used some kind of ultra-high-friction wax on the seats prior to delivery?

I have this too, ever since my car's first service. Didn't notice it after delivery but now it's becoming more and more pronounced.

I think the neatest fix would be some sort of felt-lined seatbelt holder that would also help to keep the belt within easy reach. Not sure how this would mount to the seat though.

[C8RKH]

@JayEmmAnd a skilled photographer only ever produces perfect shots, and skilled actors and directors never need a retake and skilled surgeons never leave their instruments inside a sown up body....

Skilled Lotus technicians share one thing with all of the fallible entities above. They're human and humans are known to make mistakes.

[Chris J]

44 minutes ago, Chew said:

@Colin G sailing close to the wind, there.....    

Diverting slightly, I'd value the Forum's machine learning wisdom here: the whole creaking seat thing has been done to death, but am I the only one to experience quite noticeable seatbelt versus leather on seat shoulders rub - manifesting itself as a kind of light cracking / clicking on bumpy roads? .

Had this on my 2011 S1 - the only annoying creak in the cabin. A pair of £8 seat belt sleeves from Amazon was the answer. A patch of felt on the appropriate part of the seat would also work. TBH I would spend a reasonable amount on a quality item but it's hard to find anything outside the cheap and cheerful £5 - £10 market!

 

[Bibs]

1 hour ago, JayEmm said:

Ah yes, silly me, expecting a skilled labourer to assemble something correctly!

Errare humanum est... 

You knew it was a hand built car when you bought it. No-one is perfect and it is being fixed for free under your warranty. 

[DJW]

1 hour ago, chylld said:

I have this too, ever since my car's first service. Didn't notice it after delivery but now it's becoming more and more pronounced.

I think the neatest fix would be some sort of felt-lined seatbelt holder that would also help to keep the belt within easy reach. Not sure how this would mount to the seat though.

Funnily enough I've been picking up in same sound over bumpy roads.  Same sound if you flick the plastic cover of the seat belt cover where it goes into the pillar.  

Also found after weekend trip in car with my wife, that she found the seat belt was riding up onto her neck, being around 5ft 5.  Not sure how get around that as pillar fixing is fixed. 

Re hand built comments, when you charge a premium for your product , guess what service your customers expect <whistle> 

Edited September 19, 2016 by DJW

[JayEmm]

I can't say I have had any issues with the belts, although somehow I have knocked off the seat belt cover off about three times. It just clips back on.

Regarding hand built I know perfection is unattainable, but this is why we have quality control.

@C8RKH I think you hit the nail on the head... if it isn't done right, which it won't always be when humans are involved... then go for a retake! Don't however just chuck a product out with a "that'll do" attitude. I've had plenty of poor shots in my professional career but we usually have a director watching what we are doing and telling us it isn't good enough! I don't know what QC process they employ but it seems to have been missed on my car.

That being said, I popped into Stratton today to book the car in for its first service and eyed up some of their stock, the line up at present looks great. They have a stunning Elise 250 Cup in

It's a shame these small details are being missed because fundamentally the car remains a stunning piece of engineering. 

Fingers crossed it gets sorted soon.

[C8RKH]

10 minutes ago, DJW said:

 

Re hand built comments, when you charge a premium for your product , guess what service your customers expect <whistle> 

I'm not sure Lotus do charge a premium actually. £72k for a new Evora 400 with better stock spec versus a base 911 of £77k - where's the premium there?

[JayEmm]

A Lotus of any description from more or less the Esprit onwards was always a "premium" product. Colin seemed to always want to move up market (the reason they stopped making the 7 I understand)

The current line up is quite interesting - the Elise is incredibly spartan for its price, but the Evora is quite well specified vs the Base 911. If anything it's the Elise that has to work much harder to justify the outlay

[Bibs]

You can still buy an Elise for sub-£30k new. Compared to an inflation-adjusted 1996 car, it's actually cheaper now than 20 year ago. 

[JayEmm]

Oh yes, they were never as cheap as some people seem to think they were, but the average car of 1996 was not very well equipped either - the average car of 2016 is superbly equipped.

Of course, where the Elise scores high is performance vs certain competitors. I also much prefer it over the Alfa 4C. To be honest I wouldn't even compare one with a Boxster because they are radically different tools. The Evora meanwhile doesn't perform that well *on paper* for the money. Those of us who have driven one know that as a drivers car it is incomparable however.

[DJW]

Friend loved the passenger ride around Isle of Wight on the weekend, although not sure some of the oldies appreciated the howling exhaust on the open roads

Funnily enough on 3 separate occasions when I was parking up, had people come over to say how much they loved the noise and look of the car.  My missus hated the attention lol.  

[C8RKH]

43 minutes ago, JayEmm said:

Oh yes, they were never as cheap as some people seem to think they were, but the average car of 1996 was not very well equipped either - the average car of 2016 is superbly equipped

That's a matter of opinion as personally I think many 2016 cars are over equipped, over complicated and as a result heavy, dull, soulless and lifeless. And this is just the "sports cars" as opposed to the exec barges.

I'm sure you can get a TT with a diesel rackety engine and just about every electronic convenience and driving aid possible except for any sort of intelligent way of getting the indicators to work. And people think that's what a real sports car should be. Evolution can often take us backwards.

[JayEmm]

I don't think I am going to disagree with you there Andy. I quite liked the previous generation Boxster but even as a Porsche fan the new 718s do very little for me. I have no doubt they will sell by the millions though.

[Neal H]

I still can't think of a direct competitor for the Elise. It's closer to a Caterham than a Boxster or a 4C, and all the better for it. Sadly, the vast majority probably wouldn't agree with me on the last point.

As for the Evora 400, apart from an occassionally creaky seat, mine is running perfectly. I'm really sorry to hear about all your ongoing problems James, it must be incredibly frustrating.

Why do we care whether a car is hand built or built by robots? I know I care (but I'm not sure why), and being hand built is certainly part of the appeal to me, but it's also clearly part of its problem.

[JayEmm]

I am not sure any car in the Lotus lineup lends itself to easy comparison - I suppose both a great strength and a weakness. I am sure there are plenty of Caterham owners who consider the Elise a big Lardy car for soft types.

Being hand built appeals to me too, but it can not and should not be used as an excuse. The cameras used by film production companies at the highest end are hand made and feature components with tolerances in the microns - but they are assembled properly because they are checked and measured at each stage.

My car was a very early one, so I like to think that could be in some way responsible. Oddly though despite my many niggles I haven't encountered any of the MAF issues or running problems others have. So there's that. Also it got a massive thumbs up from a young lad in a hatchback this morning, which was nice.