• We are conducting our first ever Lotus Emira of the Month for May 2024. This will be a monthly contest and will be submissions from users, voted for by the membership. Please take a moment to check out thread here: 🏆 May 2024 - Emira of the Month starts now! (You can dismiss this message by clicking the X in the top right hand corner of this notice.)

Let's talk about the Emira's seats...

TomE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 10, 2021
Messages
6,427
Reaction score
14,641
Location
Surrey, UK
Emira Status
Emira on order
I fear a Geely intervention to make them less driver focussed and appeal more to the masses.
I think that’s taking the Geely conspiracy theory a bit too far.
 

1stczechemira

Emira Fan
Joined
Oct 18, 2022
Messages
139
Reaction score
611
Location
Czech Republic
or the average weight, activity, steps per day, sports and stretching..
maybe we should start yoga classes for lotus drivers

I already wrote it here, with my 250 lbs I perceive the seats in the Emira as excellent. And another member wrote that he feels the same way with his 350 lbs. So we just have to make sure that the exercise is not anti-productive! :ROFLMAO:
 

TomE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 10, 2021
Messages
6,427
Reaction score
14,641
Location
Surrey, UK
Emira Status
Emira on order
Is it?
We make Asia specific product. Difference being this is one product fits all
It's possible to make an adjustable seat that suits many different shapes and sizes of person. Previous Lotus cars often only had fore/aft and seatback angle but would still enable a comfortable driving position.

It seems odd that a brand new, heavily researched seat (benchmarked against Porsche, Alpine, Toyota, Lexus and others) with lots of adjustment is actually getting such a mixed reaction.

I don't think that's because Geely told Lotus to make it #forthemasses
 

Leonard

Emira Aficionado
Joined
Jul 21, 2021
Messages
3,694
Reaction score
4,697
Location
Derbyshire UK
It's possible to make an adjustable seat that suits many different shapes and sizes of person. Previous Lotus cars often only had fore/aft and seatback angle but would still enable a comfortable driving position.

It seems odd that a brand new, heavily researched seat (benchmarked against Porsche, Alpine, Toyota, Lexus and others) with lots of adjustment is actually getting such a mixed reaction.

I don't think that's because Geely told Lotus to make it #forthemasses
Yup, either way I agree the large mixed opinion is strange
 

Jonhklee

Emira Fiend
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Messages
602
Reaction score
786
Location
Scotland
I’m totally intrigued now. Testing on the 17th Jan, will see how many bum/back rates the seats!
 

koorby

Active member
Joined
Nov 10, 2022
Messages
27
Reaction score
93
Location
UK
Well after 1600 miles in the Emira I’m sadly disappointed in the seats. Coming from a 992 911 Carrera 4S with 18-way adjustable seats, the Emira seats pale in comparison and I generally feel I am sitting on them rather than in them. My 2007 LE Evora had superb Recaros and I never ever felt aware of them nor fatigued after a long stint or road trip. The Emira seats constantly remind you they are there and I’m finding myself fiddling with the (somewhat useless) controls to try to get some more comfort out of them.

Main issues for me are:
  1. Electrics force the seats to be far too high (but why can Porsche do it well?)
  2. Lumbar is too far forward and I can’t seem to find a sweet spot
  3. Side thigh and hip bolsters don’t grip me enough (240lbs and 6’2”) and aren’t adjustable
  4. Why no memory for passenger seat? It would be £50 of electronics to do that, surely
  5. Seat heater has no dedicated button, hidden in the infotainment menus
Overall it’s the biggest let down of the car; my base model 718 Boxster with the base sports electric seats are far superior and you can adjust them to almost sit on the floor. Gosh, even my Macan Turbo’s seats are super comfortable for a long road trip.

I wonder if there will be after-market options for the Emira seats because everything else about the car is superb (apart from no dedicated sports mode button).
 

Toomanyloti

Emira Fiend
Joined
May 23, 2022
Messages
509
Reaction score
756
Location
UK
Emira Status
Emira Owner
Well after 1600 miles in the Emira I’m sadly disappointed in the seats. Coming from a 992 911 Carrera 4S with 18-way adjustable seats, the Emira seats pale in comparison and I generally feel I am sitting on them rather than in them. My 2007 LE Evora had superb Recaros and I never ever felt aware of them nor fatigued after a long stint or road trip. The Emira seats constantly remind you they are there and I’m finding myself fiddling with the (somewhat useless) controls to try to get some more comfort out of them.

Main issues for me are:
  1. Electrics force the seats to be far too high (but why can Porsche do it well?)
  2. Lumbar is too far forward and I can’t seem to find a sweet spot
  3. Side thigh and hip bolsters don’t grip me enough (240lbs and 6’2”) and aren’t adjustable
  4. Why no memory for passenger seat? It would be £50 of electronics to do that, surely
  5. Seat heater has no dedicated button, hidden in the infotainment menus
Overall it’s the biggest let down of the car; my base model 718 Boxster with the base sports electric seats are far superior and you can adjust them to almost sit on the floor. Gosh, even my Macan Turbo’s seats are super comfortable for a long road trip.

I wonder if there will be after-market options for the Emira seats because everything else about the car is superb (apart from no dedicated sports mode button).
i'm trying to ignore my seats but defo what he 👆 said.

Stinger were better than the 18 way ones in my Taycan but the Taycan seats are still better than the Emiras. I had to ride round with a rolled up towel in the Taycan until I got used to them.
But its not worth cancelling the car because the seats are iffy
 

kitkat

Emira Degenerate
Joined
Mar 5, 2022
Messages
2,241
Reaction score
4,216
Location
Mountain View, CA
Emira Status
Emira on order
It’s definitely not a great seat, especially not for a $100K USD car. One of the downsides, I can live with it when I replace it.
 

Logoman

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 30, 2022
Messages
79
Reaction score
106
Location
London
Not long returned from a 2000 mile trip in the Emira and I was so impressed with the seats in terms of comfort. I've had two major spinal injuries in my life (snowboarding and motorcycling) and so my back can be sensitive, but i found the Emira seats so perfect that I forgot about them. Only stuff knees after a few hours on the road.

No complaints from the lady either.
 

Watstone

Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2021
Messages
13
Reaction score
26
Location
Glasgow
Not long returned from a 2000 mile trip in the Emira and I was so impressed with the seats in terms of comfort. I've had two major spinal injuries in my life (snowboarding and motorcycling) and so my back can be sensitive, but i found the Emira seats so perfect that I forgot about them. Only stuff knees after a few hours on the road.

No complaints from the lady either.
Thank you, for a informative comment on the seats, from someone who actually requires good seats from an anatomical point of view, rather than these plonkers commenting on the seats who don't even own the car, and only had their arse in the seat for a short test drive.
Thank you 👍
 

TomAce

Emira Fan
Joined
Dec 8, 2021
Messages
222
Reaction score
674
Location
Germany
Emira Status
Emira Owner
To be honest the seats are somehow also for me the lowlight of the car. They nearly don't have any shoulder-support at all. I don't know but it gets very obvious when changing between my cars. In my VX220 Turbo (Speedster) seats it's nearly perfect for me, you instantly feel as if you're moulded into these seats.

And also my M2 with standard-sport seats, they have more shoulder support and you can adjust side-bolsters to your needs. This is the next thing where Emira seats are just average.

Ride comfort is ok, also for longer trips.

Does it spoil the experience? Maybe, you don't feel as connected as you could be. Alcantara helps imho a lot to keep you in place. Daily driving seemed to be the main target of these seats. You somehow have the feeling you sit on them, not in them.

Now, let's wait and see if Lotus comes up with upgraded seats with later iterations of the Emira.
 

freefall_junkie

Emira Fanatic
Joined
Oct 25, 2021
Messages
456
Reaction score
1,267
Location
Borders
Emira Status
Emira Owner
Seat comfort is a personal thing, but I find the Emira's seats to be really comfortable even on long drives, actually far better than I was expecting. The back seems to hold my spine in just the right position without the lumbar support inflated, and seat base is nice and long giving good under thigh support.

All good then? Er, no, for some of the same same reasons as above : 1 ) there is not enough side support and there is almost no support at all for your shoulders; 2) I'd prefer another couple of cm downward adjustment to get the base lower; 3) the headrest isn't high enough for tall drivers; 4) while probably no worse than electric seats from other manufacturers, they are also very heavy. The seats alone must account for a big chunk of the weight increase over the Evora. I'd take a simple set of lightweight, manually adjustable buckets any day. Given that Gav and the team spend hundreds of hours pounding round the Hethel test track, I'm rather baffled how the seats were ever signed off with such limited side support.

I still love the car and the seats don't really detract much from the experience, but for me they are easily the weakest part of the overall package.
 

Kimmax

Emira Fanatic
Joined
Jan 6, 2023
Messages
427
Reaction score
623
Location
Germany
Emira Status
Emira Owner
I’ve driven over 10k km, including 6hr+ trips and they are up to the task honestly. I’ve been on track days and they provide enough support. If you bought mainly for track events you might want to upgrade to buckets, but in this case you’re upgrading left and right anyways.
 

Nova

Emira Addict
Joined
Sep 28, 2021
Messages
1,830
Reaction score
2,664
Location
USA
Emira Status
Emira Owner
Not long returned from a 2000 mile trip in the Emira and I was so impressed with the seats in terms of comfort. I've had two major spinal injuries in my life (snowboarding and motorcycling) and so my back can be sensitive, but i found the Emira seats so perfect that I forgot about them. Only stuff knees after a few hours on the road.

No complaints from the lady either.
If you don't mind, what's your rough height and weight? Just trying to get a sense.
 

Kimmax

Emira Fanatic
Joined
Jan 6, 2023
Messages
427
Reaction score
623
Location
Germany
Emira Status
Emira Owner
If you don't mind, what's your rough height and weight? Just trying to get a sense.
184cm / 78kg
Edit: Oppsies, didn't see who you quoted. But I can confirm my right knee gets tired after some time, however I'm probably not sitting in the optimal position
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Aerie Performance Lotus Emira Carbon Fiber Parts GregsRaceParts.com

Latest posts

Top