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

VL3X

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Let's talk about these Emira First Editions seats.. I can't help but notice just how bland and cheap they appear (especially the full leather on the shadow grey demo). They certainly don't appear to be from a $94k exotic sports car. Their comfort and placement has been a common complaint from roadshow attendees. Apparently they aren't finalized production versions (they will be ~20mm lower and softer), but I can't see them visually changing much over the official promo shots. Has anyone heard where they are sourced?

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In comparison, the Evora seats (sourced from Recaro and Sparco) are works of art. Not just the aggressive bolsters, but the proper harness slots and beautifully stitched "GT" and Lotus crest. Where the GT seats have beautiful carbon backs, the Emira is black plastic. I'm also assuming the 12-way adjustables in the Emira FE add a lot of unwanted weight. Comfort is subjective, but I feel the Evora's seats provide excellent support from the bolsters while taking high speed turns. The 12-way adjustable Emira seats don't allow for side bolster adjustment at all.


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I suppose the Emira is targeting a different audience than their previous cars.. more of a luxury sport vehicle than a track ready sports car? I can hope for sportier seats in a future Emira GT. Along with carbon options and more paint choices too.
 
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New to Lotus

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I hope the seats go a lot lower they seem quite high compared to an evora and firm. The guy told me they will be softer and 30mm lower in production spec. They looked better in real life than the pics but I agree need to be top quality in the fe if your paying 76k.
 

Rufy

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seems like the leather seats fromthe gray model are lower than the blue show car in alcantara. Am I wrong?
 

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Yes I thought the same how tall is Harry metcalfe. Still need a bit more bolstering by the look of the track action.
 

Rufy

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a little bit more bolstering will make seats a little bit mre aggressive, I think it would be not bad...
 

Leonard

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Thinking back to the dealer tour outing when I sat in the car, I did seem to have a lot of room to move around side to side. Got me doubting my choice of leather now 🤔
 

Mknight702

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Thinking back to the dealer tour outing when I sat in the car, I did seem to have a lot of room to move around side to side. Got me doubting my choice of leather now 🤔
I must admit, when I sat in the car last night I did find the seats a bit "American" spec, I think I had a good couple of inches room either side of me. Certainly not the body hugging seats I was expecting, However, on the Harry's Garage video the driver did mention that the seats in that car were maybe not finalised but I forgot to ask last night whether some narrower seats were going to be fitted (they did say that you would be sitting lower). If not, those speccing full leather are going to be sliding round the interior on every corner and the alcantara crew won't be much better off.
 

Nova

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My take is that the Emira's current seats are aggressive enough for street use, backroad spirited driving, and the occasional weekend track run. They are definitely easier to get in and out of and should be more comfortable long distances than the bucket seats in the Evora GT.

For someone who wants more aggressive seats, it may be a better idea to wait for the non-FE edition and see if Lotus offers additional seating options in a hotter more sporting version of the Emira.

Personally, I find the seats to be luxurious enough and other sports cars that cost $100k when optioned similarly, like the GTS 4.0, have similar seats.
 

TomE

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They've said to various people at the roadshows the production seats will have more bolstering and a different interior fill material, which will mean they have more "give" without being over-soft. It's tricky to make decisions without a finalised version to see and for some people to try.

I'm guessing they must have some somewhere, as I assume the type approval cars have to have the final seat version so that it has the production airbag setup for crash testing.
 

freefall_junkie

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The Emira looks fantastic and I have no doubt it will be great to drive, but the one and only aspect of the car which gives me cause for concern at the moment is the seats. The seat in the roadshow car was not comfortable and mounted far too high for me, not helped by the electric adjustment not working. I hope the production seat will be a whole lot better, but as I have mentioned before Lotus do have past form for screwing this up. The carbon buckets in the Evora 410 Sport were mounted bolt upright leading many owners to source after market seat mounts to alter the position, and the Sparcos in the Evora GT410 were too high for tall drivers and of course not height adjustable. Seems quite bizarre to me to go to all the trouble of engineering a great car and then getting something as basic as the driving position wrong, but there you go, they did exactly that with the Evora 410. Fingers crossed for the Emira then!
 

Adam.sinclair

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I find the seats in my Elise 220 great. I have done 300 miles only stopping for fuel once with no aches or pains. I know the emira is for a totally different market but I do hope the 12 way allows get it in a position that feels secure and low.
 

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A couple of weeks ago I asked Lotus for more information on the production seats and driving position. This is what they came back with yesterday:

• The production spec seat will have revised side bolster offering increased support.
• The show car seat is fairly firm compared to the production intent.
• The show car seat is set too high and will be up to 20mm lower in the production car.
• The relative H point for the production spec seat in the Emira will be the same as the Evora GT410 Sparco seat in its low position.
• The seating position has been designed to accommodate 5th to 95th percentile drivers.

Two aspects of this information concern me:
1) If the H point of the driver with the Emira seat at the lowest setting is the same height as with the Sparcos in the Evora 410 it will still be too high for me. Why make the seat height adjustable if you are not going to enable tall drivers to get it good and low?
2) The 95th percentile for male height in the UK is only 6ft 2. This suggests the Emira will be less accommodating for tall drivers than the Evora. The show car certainly didn't seem to have as much legroom as the Evora, but with the pre-prod seats over padded and mounted too high it was difficult to judge.

None of this is quite enough yet to make me want to slip down the queue until I can sit in a production spec car but I am considering it. Definitely concerned that that the production seats will be too fat and too high. If only simple carbon buckets were an option.
 

jamesbxxx

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The roadshow car is still only a representative model. The seats are definitely pre-production, so only a guide. One of the Lotus chaps from the factory at the event I attended was 6'5" and said has no problems fitting in the Emira, so I wouldn't worry.
 

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Watching a YouTube video the other day a guy who was 6ft 6inch got in the car and said it was just like the 570s. It was the blue car with I don't think is set as low as it can go and the preproduction seat padding. I want to sit in the seat not on the seat, as this was such a topic in the evora I'm sure they won't get this wrong.
 

jamesbxxx

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Watching a YouTube video the other day a guy who was 6ft 6inch got in the car and said it was just like the 570s. It was the blue car with I don't think is set as low as it can go and the preproduction seat padding. I want to sit in the seat not on the seat, as this was such a topic in the evora I'm sure they won't get this wrong.
He must have a short torso and long legs, as it's definitely not ok in the blue car for me at 6'4"
 

freefall_junkie

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He must have a short torso and long legs, as it's definitely not ok in the blue car for me at 6'4"
Same here. 6ft 2, short torso, long legs, and the driving position was far too high for me with my eye line right at the top of the windscreen, and definitely nothing remotely like a Macca 570 where you sit really low in the car. No idea how someone 6ft 6 could fit - strange!
 

ma240

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I am at the other end of the spectrum at 5ft 6. I sat in the grey Emira this weekend in Las Vegas and there was no feeling of side support for legs or torso. The seats don't match the market for this car from perspective of appearance or function. More bolstering is essential to prevent me from sliding around in the seat. Its a big negative from an otherwise beautiful car.
 

Leonard

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They have said th
I am at the other end of the spectrum at 5ft 6. I sat in the grey Emira this weekend in Las Vegas and there was no feeling of side support for legs or torso. The seats don't match the market for this car from perspective of appearance or function. More bolstering is essential to prevent me from sliding around in the seat. Its a big negative from an otherwise beautiful car.
They have said that the seats will have more support. Be good to know for definite though before final commitment however, as at present they are a little lacking. The mid range pool car VW Golf at work offers more supportive seats
 

donskibeat

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I am at the other end of the spectrum at 5ft 6. I sat in the grey Emira this weekend in Las Vegas and there was no feeling of side support for legs or torso. The seats don't match the market for this car from perspective of appearance or function. More bolstering is essential to prevent me from sliding around in the seat. Its a big negative from an otherwise beautiful car.
as above "the production seats will have more bolstering and a different interior fill material" so hopefully this is just an issue with the demo car
 

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