RE: Lotus Exige Automatic spec confirmed

[stoddie]

Speak to lotus about it.

my car and a few others have suffered from severe rattling and lunging when the clutch was pressed, loss of gears. Only able to get drive by pushing it into 1st and it grinding.

A few have had the clutch replaced and still lunge forward. Not the best when youre approaching a junction or traffic lights. I had to turn the car off to get the car to stop.

My cars been in lotus since October and now up for sale due to it.

Edited by stoddie on Thursday 29th January 19:13

[RobM77]

Gandahar said:

RobM77 said:

I fear it'll reduce driver involvement, but it's surely good news for those with limited use of their left leg, or even completely disabled drivers.

As someone with a dodgy left leg due to motorbike broken back I heartily agree. Having said that, getting into my mates Elise is quite an experience in itself with the injury. It's not very graceful

Cracking cars though so the more people who can drive one the better, and good for Lotus bank balance to boot.

PS the manual gearbox on the Elise is not actually that great from what I have seen. From watching it in action it is not like a rifle bolt.

Edited by Gandahar on Thursday 29th January 17:37

Yes, the gearchange on the Elise and its derivatives has never been that good, whether on a k series car or a later Toyota, 4cyl or V6. My 2-Eleven has an uprated linkage, but it's still not a nice thing to use. That said, I'd far rather have a manual Exige, no matter how good the auto was, but whilst I do have a left leg problem, it's only a problem in heavy traffic, for people with worse problems, it must be a huge relief that a 'proper' driver's car is now available for sensible money with two pedals.

[leglessAlex]

RobM77 said:

Gandahar said:

RobM77 said:

I fear it'll reduce driver involvement, but it's surely good news for those with limited use of their left leg, or even completely disabled drivers.

As someone with a dodgy left leg due to motorbike broken back I heartily agree. Having said that, getting into my mates Elise is quite an experience in itself with the injury. It's not very graceful

Cracking cars though so the more people who can drive one the better, and good for Lotus bank balance to boot.

PS the manual gearbox on the Elise is not actually that great from what I have seen. From watching it in action it is not like a rifle bolt.

Edited by Gandahar on Thursday 29th January 17:37

Yes, the gearchange on the Elise and its derivatives has never been that good, whether on a k series car or a later Toyota, 4cyl or V6. My 2-Eleven has an uprated linkage, but it's still not a nice thing to use. That said, I'd far rather have a manual Exige, no matter how good the auto was, but whilst I do have a left leg problem, it's only a problem in heavy traffic, for people with worse problems, it must be a huge relief that a 'proper' driver's car is now available for sensible money with two pedals.

Yup, this is really good news for me. As to the person that wondered if someone without the use of their legs could get in in the first place, I'd say they probably could. Out the wheelchair and onto the sill, then into the seat, manhandle your useless legs into position and then disassemble your wheelchair and put it in the passenger seat. Alright it probably wouldn't be easy but I'm sure it would be possible.

Also, as someone else said, you can still buy the manual and indeed it's still the default option so what's the problem? This is Lotus giving people more choice which will hopefully result in more cars sold and more money coming into the company. I can't see how this is anything other than a good thing!

[morgrp]

Forgetting the gearbox for a sec, the car in the pictures looks awesome in that colour and those wheels

[unsprung]

Wouldn't be my first choice, that automatic. But if it helps Lotus to trade with healthy numbers, then I'm all for it.

[Justices]

Caddyshack said:

angelicupstarts said:

I'm sure some of the modern auto boxes are good and faster then i can be ... but i want to be involved ..
otherwise id catch the eurostar .. it does 199 mph with little involvement from me

Odd sort of TRACK day though!

Corners like it's on rails though..

[andy_s]

It's not for me but good on them for opening up the option for others; shame the V6 is not able to be 'federalised' as the auto may have been even more welcomed over the pond.

[zerovira]

I didn't think about disabled people, but if that makes them able to drive a lotus, then good for lotus and for them.

I drive a motorbike and my greatest fear is having an accident and lose mobility in any of my limbs.
I have promised myself that in that case I will buy myself an adapted westfield megabusa, I have heard they adapt it if need be.

[HeMightBeBanned]

andy_s said:

It's not for me but good on them for opening up the option for others; shame the V6 is not able to be 'federalised' as the auto may have been even more welcomed over the pond.

The Merkins are rather accepting of a manual in performance cars. Witness BMW making manual M cars for the Septic market but not selling them over here. Money talks.

[kbf1981]

It would make a V6 more of a daily driver. I'd probably have a go in one but yeah, as you say, manual is probably still the preference.

[peter450]

Don't know what the fuss is about in some quarters, there not replacing the manual with an auto there giving you the choice....since when was that abad thing ?

[Terry Barr]

Baryonyx said:

You do realise you can blip the throttle yourself in a manual, if you have a modicum of coordination between your left hand and your right foot? It doesn't take a 'driving god' to manage it!

Indeed, if am lot of your early illegal driving was on a Leyland Comet wit a non synchro box you either learned to double clutch or gave up trying to drive.

[gavsdavs]

RobM77 said:

I thought I was always told to shut up about the DBW 0.5-1.0 second throttle delay on here because it was 'barely noticeable'

The evora dbw system has a delay ? Ouch !

[Impasse]

gavsdavs said:

RobM77 said:

I thought I was always told to shut up about the DBW 0.5-1.0 second throttle delay on here because it was 'barely noticeable'

The evora dbw system has a delay ? Ouch !

I believe Rob is referring a BMW characteristic which he found particularly irksome.

[errek72]

Impasse said:

LukeR94 said:

The proof is in the pudding, we will see how it drives.

Ultimatly that is the most important thing.

Unfortunately not or there would be an Evora on every street corner and an Exige in every garage. It's important to magazine writers and internet forum contributors, but the people who buy sports cars look for other attributes.

The reverse could be also argued. I'd say ever since Clarkson started ranting about "flappy pedals" the tone was set.
I was sceptical myself but now that I own a car with such a gearbox, I am baffled that there are still cars offered and sold with manuals. For me it combines all the benefits of a manual with those of an auto. To me manuals are fine, for old cars. They belong in the past.
Nice to see Lotus has joined the future. May they sell in abundance.

[kambites]

errek72 said:

I am baffled that there are still cars offered and sold with manuals.

I can't see why it'd be baffling - the answer is fairly obviously "because some people like them". I don't like automated boxes and will probably never buy one, but that doesn't mean I can't see why they exist.

[errek72]

kambites said:

errek72 said:

I am baffled that there are still cars offered and sold with manuals.

I can't see why it'd be baffling - the answer is fairly obviously "because some people like them". I don't like automated boxes and will probably never buy one, but that doesn't mean I can't see why they exist.

I wonder if people would still like them after trying out the alternative, in stead of just reading or hearing about them.
Perhaps it's a macho thing I'm not getting.

[kambites]

errek72 said:

I wonder if people would still like them after trying out the alternative, in stead of just reading or hearing about them.

I do.

I've driven plenty of double clutch automatics and don't like them at all. The Exige isn't even one of them, it's a six-speed torque convertor.

[errek72]

kambites said:

I do.

I've driven plenty of double clutch automatics and don't like them at all.

So is it purely a matter of taste for you or do you believe there is a functional benefit to the manual ones?

[kambites]

errek72 said:

So is it purely a matter of taste for you or do you believe there is a functional benefit to the manual ones?

Yes, it's purely a matter of preference. Obviously from a purely functional perspective, the more that's automated the better, down to the nirvana of completely driverless cars...