Couzens' first Lotus. Emira content
Discussion
Firstly, before we get onto the current, a brief run through of past owned vehicles. Mainly Renault hot hatches.
First "quick car" was a Clio MK1 16v, followed by a Ph1 172, I bought the daddy of all Clio's a ph2 V6, ran that for a few years before having to sell it to get on the property ladder. Clio 182 in lovely petrol blue was it's replacement, before that went for Z4 3.0Si. Misses moved in and as part of that deal her dog came with, Z4 gone, Focus ST estate in. Couple of years later V8 itch took over and the ST was dispatched for a E92 M3 Frozen Silver edition.
We moved out of our 1 bed house and into a 3 bed a couple of years after getting the M3, and with a bigger house meant bigger bills, stopped using it as much and thought I'd be better off saving the money I was spending on it instead. M3 gone 535d purchased.
I'd been saving fairly well over the last few years, heart set on a Cayman GT4. Looking around the 60k mark, until I saw lotus were releasing a new sports car that was supposed to be 70k brand new. Gorgeous looking, latest tech etc etc. The closer it got to launch, the higher the price went, untill I dismissed it due to it being out of my budget range.
Fast forward a couple of years, stories of terrible paint, terrible reliability, terrible customer service, terrible sales model and a company in turmoil, but 60k used!
So I bought one. Because, ignore what everyone says and make up your own mind.
My thinking was to buy used as it should have all the niggles sorted and done under warranty which is has done so. It's had both doors changed under warranty as well as the tailgate. The dealer also added a years warranty to the car also.
Driving it on the test drive really took me back to driving the Clio V6, that noise. Oh my, I've missed the roar of a V6, the clunky gear shift, the linear power delivery. Just much, much better handling and a superior turning circle.
I'm only just getting around to uploading this, but I purchased back in November and collected in January, the dealer kept it as the doors were on back order at the time.
Spec: First Edition 3.5 V6 manual. Dark Verdant Green non black pack with alcantara interior and black calipers. 11,000 miles on the clock.
Collection Day, -3 degrees, greasy roads, caked in salt. Loved every second of it.
Quick wash sorted it
First "quick car" was a Clio MK1 16v, followed by a Ph1 172, I bought the daddy of all Clio's a ph2 V6, ran that for a few years before having to sell it to get on the property ladder. Clio 182 in lovely petrol blue was it's replacement, before that went for Z4 3.0Si. Misses moved in and as part of that deal her dog came with, Z4 gone, Focus ST estate in. Couple of years later V8 itch took over and the ST was dispatched for a E92 M3 Frozen Silver edition.
We moved out of our 1 bed house and into a 3 bed a couple of years after getting the M3, and with a bigger house meant bigger bills, stopped using it as much and thought I'd be better off saving the money I was spending on it instead. M3 gone 535d purchased.
I'd been saving fairly well over the last few years, heart set on a Cayman GT4. Looking around the 60k mark, until I saw lotus were releasing a new sports car that was supposed to be 70k brand new. Gorgeous looking, latest tech etc etc. The closer it got to launch, the higher the price went, untill I dismissed it due to it being out of my budget range.
Fast forward a couple of years, stories of terrible paint, terrible reliability, terrible customer service, terrible sales model and a company in turmoil, but 60k used!
So I bought one. Because, ignore what everyone says and make up your own mind.
My thinking was to buy used as it should have all the niggles sorted and done under warranty which is has done so. It's had both doors changed under warranty as well as the tailgate. The dealer also added a years warranty to the car also.
Driving it on the test drive really took me back to driving the Clio V6, that noise. Oh my, I've missed the roar of a V6, the clunky gear shift, the linear power delivery. Just much, much better handling and a superior turning circle.
I'm only just getting around to uploading this, but I purchased back in November and collected in January, the dealer kept it as the doors were on back order at the time.
Spec: First Edition 3.5 V6 manual. Dark Verdant Green non black pack with alcantara interior and black calipers. 11,000 miles on the clock.
Collection Day, -3 degrees, greasy roads, caked in salt. Loved every second of it.
Quick wash sorted it
Edited by couzens on Thursday 19th March 19:25
Edited by couzens on Thursday 19th March 19:26
Edited by couzens on Thursday 19th March 19:27
Edited by couzens on Friday 20th March 06:43
In the times I've used it, I've found myself having pack pain after an hour of use. Despite having 4 way lumbar control, it only seems two way adjustable.
It seems the air bladders were incorrectly installed at the factory and placed on top of one another, so they both do the same thing.
Taking off the seat shell and removing and adjusting them sorts this.
I highly doubt that this will sort out the bad back issue but at least I can now adjust the lumbar more which may help.
Another thing I've noticed is when the bass is turned up, there's a horrible vibration, borderline blown speaker rattle.
There is a vent flap right next to the subwoofer, which rattled, the fix for this is to insert foam into the vent to stop the air pressure from vibrating the flaps. I had a quick look yesterday and will get about cutting up some kitchen sponges and seeing if that helps.
Private plate purchased and at the same time I removed the front number plate plinth and bought a sticker for the front plate. Annoyingly the plinth is drilled into the front bumper, so there are raised holes under the plate, you can only notice this up close however.
GFE for Green First Edition, I thought was fitting. Even if it's only me who knows.
Couple of interior pictures, I prefer the alcantara to leather, although the material seems to be sagging already! But a full retrim in alcantara is on the cards for the future.
It seems the air bladders were incorrectly installed at the factory and placed on top of one another, so they both do the same thing.
Taking off the seat shell and removing and adjusting them sorts this.
I highly doubt that this will sort out the bad back issue but at least I can now adjust the lumbar more which may help.
Another thing I've noticed is when the bass is turned up, there's a horrible vibration, borderline blown speaker rattle.
There is a vent flap right next to the subwoofer, which rattled, the fix for this is to insert foam into the vent to stop the air pressure from vibrating the flaps. I had a quick look yesterday and will get about cutting up some kitchen sponges and seeing if that helps.
Private plate purchased and at the same time I removed the front number plate plinth and bought a sticker for the front plate. Annoyingly the plinth is drilled into the front bumper, so there are raised holes under the plate, you can only notice this up close however.
GFE for Green First Edition, I thought was fitting. Even if it's only me who knows.
Couple of interior pictures, I prefer the alcantara to leather, although the material seems to be sagging already! But a full retrim in alcantara is on the cards for the future.
Edited by couzens on Friday 20th March 07:02
Beautiful looking Emira, looks black in the photos but I guess in the sunshine the dark green shines through move in real life.
I have found in recent years (I,e, as I get older) that despite manufacturers efforts to provide good lumbar support I have resorted to using a cheap amazon foam lumbar support which has completely transformed longer drives meaning no more back pain at all. It’s my instant fix for any car seat!
Enjoy!
I have found in recent years (I,e, as I get older) that despite manufacturers efforts to provide good lumbar support I have resorted to using a cheap amazon foam lumbar support which has completely transformed longer drives meaning no more back pain at all. It’s my instant fix for any car seat!
Enjoy!
Lovely. On the reliability thing, 10,000 cars sold and a handful of owners with mostly small issues but the way the internet looks it seems like their built by a French manufacturer from the 80s. People don't often go online to say 'All fine, no issues.'
Interesting about the lumbar support thing, do you think one slipped down?
Interesting about the lumbar support thing, do you think one slipped down?
The green is very hard to capture on camera, and on an overcast day, it is very much black. When the suns out however, it's lovely!
Frimley111R said:
Lovely. On the reliability thing, 10,000 cars sold and a handful of owners with mostly small issues but the way the internet looks it seems like their built by a French manufacturer from the 80s. People don't often go online to say 'All fine, no issues.'
Interesting about the lumbar support thing, do you think one slipped down?
It's a bit hard to see, but on the bottom air bladder there is a plastic guard between the bladder and the metal wiring of the seat, there isn't one for the top bladder (once you unfold them) so I guess they came like that from factory. 3 torque screws and a trim remover was all that's needed to sort it. Five minute job. Interesting about the lumbar support thing, do you think one slipped down?
couzens said:
It's a bit hard to see, but on the bottom air bladder there is a plastic guard between the bladder and the metal wiring of the seat, there isn't one for the top bladder (once you unfold them) so I guess they came like that from factory. 3 torque screws and a trim remover was all that's needed to sort it. Five minute job.
Thanks, that's interesting, I'll check mineLovely.
I had a back issue when I got my Alpine with the non adjustable Sabelt buckets.
I splashed out on a Sabelt little lumbar cushion (basically a bit of foam covered in black with the Sabelt logo in white) which helped but after a few hundred miles I seemed to adjust to the seat and it became the most comfortable seat ever for long distances and tearing around the twisties.
The cushion now sits as decoration in my Dacia.
I had a back issue when I got my Alpine with the non adjustable Sabelt buckets.
I splashed out on a Sabelt little lumbar cushion (basically a bit of foam covered in black with the Sabelt logo in white) which helped but after a few hundred miles I seemed to adjust to the seat and it became the most comfortable seat ever for long distances and tearing around the twisties.
The cushion now sits as decoration in my Dacia.
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