Dealer Demo cars in Europe and UK

[Scruff111S]

The Elise S1 rear had to be significantly modified from what the designers wanted as it was found out the design had really poor aero.

And wasn't Julian Thompson less than pleased when he saw Richard Hill's somewhat modified/ possible solution to the rear end lift problem.

 

[lion shf]

They are much better but these are also weirdly ungainly especially in the higher low trim versions

 

[emiraspain]

The Elise S1 rear had to be significantly modified from what the designers wanted as it was found out the design had really poor aero.

aha...
the exige first version was very cool too.... i mean it was like an elise, except an elise was a slight hair dressers car, well one that knows how to drive, where as the exige was for a demon tatoo artist.. haha...

 

[Scruff111S]

Please forgive. It is this I hate

I am with you on that. It is hideous.

 

[emiraspain]

you just love the attention huh??! Hethel yellow is it, sir?

hahal... ive had a yellow car... a westfield driving around Bogota, Colombia.. if you want attention...thats your best bet!....

no.. im seneca blue and magma red... not sure which one i will keep, but time..or whatever is close to infinity will tell us...

 

[emiraspain]

Please forgive. It is this I hate

ahhh.... well yes, nothing like the iron 5....
but if you compare..it is QUITE like the eletre 1..... I mean VERY LIKE..... one reason I wont get one, the back is awful on both.... but only one costs 100k

 

[Scruff111S]

aha...
the exige first version was very cool too.... i mean it was like an elise, except an elise was a slight hair dressers car, well one that knows how to drive, where as the exige was for a demon tatoo artist.. haha...

The s1 Exige came about from the Lotus Sport Elise Championship. These cars had a single centrally mounted seat. I was at Brands Hatch on the 9th April 2000 to watch the race and also saw the cover come off what was to become the S1 Exige. These had 2 seats though. It was a great day.

 

[lion shf]

ahhh.... well yes, nothing like the iron 5....
but if you compare..it is QUITE like the eletre 1..... I mean VERY LIKE..... one reason I wont get one, the back is awful on both.... but only one costs 100k

I actually like the square almost station wagon stance of the 5.
Just needs mor lo

If I go full ev for moms ride it’ll be

Powder blue n white please

 

[Pugwash]

And wasn't Julian Thompson less than pleased when he saw Richard Hill's somewhat modified/ possible solution to the rear end lift problem.

Yes, the famous duck tail which then went on to be incorporated in most Lotus from then onwards.

 

[Pugwash]

The s1 Exige came about from the Lotus Sport Elise Championship. These cars had a single centrally mounted seat. I was at Brands Hatch on the 9th April 2000 to watch the race and also saw the cover come off what was to become the S1 Exige. These had 2 seats though. It was a great day.

Some might say just an Elise with a fixed roof. And a snorkel. Which in most Exiges the roof proved to be easy to unbolt and turn it back into an Elise. The S2 111r that I had came with the same power unit as the then current Exige (189bhp). As with all things Lotus, some of this is about specification and some about marketing. In order to really differentiate itself, the later Exiges stole the rear off an Evora to include the V6 and hence clearly be different to the Elise. The roof still unbolted though! (Assuming you didn’t order the soft top version). The soft top version was quoted to have a lower top speed than the fixed head as no one was really sure what would happen to the soft top at the speeds an Exige V6 could achieve. The rear wing was deleted too. Not sure this was ever tested…….Unless there are some V6 Exige owners on here that can enlighten us……..
I will stop typing now.
Anyone know anything about Dealer Demos to get us back on topic?

 

[ksegg]

I am with you on that. It is hideous.

Yikes!

 

[roundincircles]

I just see this short video about some customers cars delivered but I don’t know which dealer was

Thanks for posting. It's a bit of OTT that they play that music when delivering.

 

[emiraspain]

I actually like the square almost station wagon stance of the 5.
Just needs mor lo

If I go full ev for moms ride it’ll be

Powder blue n white please

yes i love that too, but u would think twice here in EU... parking spaces..it will need two and will stick out at the back.. guessing 5m long etc... but looks great. yes i like the ironic 5 a lot... sliding back seats make a big difference and give u flexibility in luggage and rear leg room when needed, not sure anyone else does this simple thing

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

sliding back seats make a big difference and give u flexibility in luggage and rear leg room when needed, not sure anyone else does this simple thing

That's a cool feature. I used to have a Lexus RX300 back in 2001. Had the sliding back seats. Was really good for back passengers. Now I stick them in the engine bay 😜

 

[Chris2409]

I had an email from Customer Care to say that from the 2 dealer demos, only one of these will be drivable with the second a showroom car. Guess this removes the opportunity to test drive sport vs touring.

 

[Scruff111S]

Some might say just an Elise with a fixed roof. And a snorkel. Which in most Exiges the roof proved to be easy to unbolt and turn it back into an Elise. The S2 111r that I had came with the same power unit as the then current Exige (189bhp). As with all things Lotus, some of this is about specification and some about marketing. In order to really differentiate itself, the later Exiges stole the rear off an Evora to include the V6 and hence clearly be different to the Elise. The roof still unbolted though! (Assuming you didn’t order the soft top version). The soft top version was quoted to have a lower top speed than the fixed head as no one was really sure what would happen to the soft top at the speeds an Exige V6 could achieve. The rear wing was deleted too. Not sure this was ever tested…….Unless there are some V6 Exige owners on here that can enlighten us……..
I will stop typing now.
Anyone know anything about Dealer Demos to get us back on topic?

Just an additional thought, on the S2 Exige, yes you could remove the hard top and then fit an Elise soft top. I saw a company at a Lotus gathering who did the conversion.

 

[BeHappy]

Received 10th August
“We know you have been waiting and are excited to receive your new Emira. We are also very pleased to say that we will be inviting you to get behind the wheel for a pre-delivery test drive very soon.”

a whole month still no word THATS NOT VERY SOON-
This company is an absolute joke - everything is very SOON 🔜 yet it never is even the slightest soon. I now half want to not love the car when I do eventually get to ride to as don’t respect this Company my enthusiasm for getting this car has been killed. Was in 🇲🇽 last week - guy at the pool his wife has the Evora - ( he had a gorgeous Ferrari) he just laughed when I said I was getting Emira Nov ! “you mean sometime in 2023 “
Yes I know can’t shake my Grumpy pants 🩲 off

 

[DJS]

Yes it really is a continuous running joke amongst all my friends 🤷🏻‍♂️ Just got asked by a friend again today about when is my car finally due….

Response now is …. I simply don’t know 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Scruff111S]

Received 10th August
“We know you have been waiting and are excited to receive your new Emira. We are also very pleased to say that we will be inviting you to get behind the wheel for a pre-delivery test drive very soon.”

a whole month still no word THATS NOT VERY SOON-
This company is an absolute joke - everything is very SOON 🔜 yet it never is even the slightest soon. I now half want to not love the car when I do eventually get to ride to as don’t respect this Company my enthusiasm for getting this car has been killed. Was in 🇲🇽 last week - guy at the pool his wife has the Evora - ( he had a gorgeous Ferrari) he just laughed when I said I was getting Emira Nov ! “you mean sometime in 2023 “
Yes I know can’t shake my Grumpy pants 🩲 off

I know what you mean. I have said this before, but when Lotus say soon or very soon there doesn't seem to be any kind of time scale for this. To us deposit holders it means nothing. I wish they would say 1,2,4,6 weeks or 1,2,3 months, then we would know where we are. As a long time Lotus enthusiast i am wondering why I am putting myself through this. 3 weeks ago I did a tour of various other car dealers looking at what my options are. I never thought I would ever do that. All this has definitely took the shine of it. If I get the Emira or not, why should I care when obviously Lotus don't.

 

[Citizen]

Yes it really is a continuous running joke amongst all my friends 🤷🏻‍♂️ Just got asked by a friend again today about when is my car finally due….

Response now is …. I simply don’t know 🤷🏻‍♂️

And is the best response you could say