Let's talk about the new bonnet/hood seal

[Porter]

[edit] THEY FIXED IT - see this post on page 9 of the thread

Original post below:
__________________________

I'm really not liking what I see from this design change. It's a problem for me, as a customer. Ruins the design of the front of the car in my opinion, and at this point it's all I can see in pictures.

Here, on the stand at Goodwood:

And here, on a Nimbus example:

It should look like this (below), because this is how it was designed. This rubber seal is not good in my opinion, and the cynic in me guesses it's to fill a gap created by body panels that were delivered significantly out of spec.

I don't understand why they didn't keep the gap short like the prototype cars, and simply add a plastic trim element to the rear of the hood at the cowl to adjust the gap there. Fill it with black plastic on the back side, nobody cares there - it hits free air. At the front it's a dramatic style change, and not for the better.


Thanks to those I stole images from, Lots_of_Trouble (from here) and Darren Jones-Molyneux (on FB).

 

[FlyNavy01]

The rubber seal is because the "hood" (or bonnet for you folks in the UK), is hinged at the front. It's intentional, and a non-issue for me personally.

 

[Tonyshepp]

I'm really not liking what I see from this design change. It's a problem for me, as a customer. Ruins the design of the front of the car in my opinion, and at this point it's all I can see in pictures.

Here, on the stand at Goodwood:
View attachment 6779

And here, on a Nimbus example:
View attachment 6780


It should look like this (below), because this is how it was designed. This rubber seal is not good in my opinion, and the cynic in me guesses it's to fill a gap created by body panels that were delivered significantly out of spec.

View attachment 6784

I don't understand why they didn't keep the gap short like the prototype cars, and simply add a plastic trim element to the rear of the hood at the cowl to adjust the gap there. Fill it with black plastic on the back side, nobody cares there - it hits free air. At the front it's a dramatic style change, and not for the better.


Thanks to those I stole images from, Lots_of_Trouble (from here) and Darren Jones-Molyneux (on FB).

Isn’t it to be able to open the bonnet for maintenance of the radiators etc and so a gap would always be present?

 

[DerTheDer]

It would have been cool if they designed it so it like lifted up on 4 points and you slid it off.

 

[Porter]

Let's see it again from another angle. There is a gap there. The bonnet lifts upward from the rear and tilts toward the front of the car. If it doesn't clear the nose element when it opens, then that's a hinge problem to solve, not a case where a large black rubber seal needs to be added.

This is how it should look, and is the expectation that was established by all of the official marketing and photos of the car since launch. A larger gap than this would still be fine. But the large rubber seal that appeared within the last 3 months is significantly more prominent and apparent visually than any body gap (backed by void space) would be.

 

[Porter]

The way I see it, if Ikea can make cheap cabinet hinges that "lift" forward before pivoting in order to clear a tight adjacent panel, it can't be that hard for an engineering firm like Lotus to come up with a reasonable and cost-effective solution. ESPECIALLY considering that this is not a panel that needs to be opened very often. It's a maintenance access hatch, not a "bonnet" in the traditional sense. Hell, they could make it manual-removal only and eliminate the hinge and I'd be perfectly happy with that as a solution, as long as the removal process wasn't egregious.

The seal is unsightly and makes the car look improperly finished, and as an owner I'm going to have to spend time re-engineering the fitment of the hood to make the car look right. That's not something I should need to do on a brand new $95k sports car.

 

[DerTheDer]

We were misled by the ride height as well. So it will be interesting to see what else is not as advertised....Where abouts in VA are you?

 

[VL3X]

We were misled by the ride height as well. So it will be interesting to see what else is not as advertised....Where abouts in VA are you?

Misled about HP and redline too. Matt Windle is on video last year specifically saying the Emira has 416HP.

We were also shown a car with lowering springs and wheel spacers. A steering wheel with deviated stitching a TDC strip that now can't be had for most of us. And now there's a unsightly hood gap filled with rubber weather stripping.

Theres no reason for that gap. As @Porter said, there are alternate hinges that can and should have been used. I've seen many vehicles with hoods that open in the same direction without the ugly gap and rubber.

 

[Leonard]

It would have been cool if they designed it so it like lifted up on 4 points and you slid it off.

Yes as its dealer access only I don't know why it wasn't simply lift off? No gap required.

 

[VL3X]

Here's a shot of a '94 Corvette my dad owned. Hood opens in the same direction as the Emira, yet there's no ugly gap or rubber there. And this vehicle was produced ~30 years ago. 🙄

 

[Porter]

We were misled by the ride height as well. So it will be interesting to see what else is not as advertised....Where abouts in VA are you?

Alexandria, just outside DC. I'm originally from just west of the Roanoke area though, so I grew up with incredibly twisty Appalachian back roads as part of my everyday driving norm. You?

 

[912Matt]

I'm really not liking what I see from this design change. It's a problem for me, as a customer. Ruins the design of the front of the car in my opinion, and at this point it's all I can see in pictures.

Here, on the stand at Goodwood:
View attachment 6779

And here, on a Nimbus example:
View attachment 6780


It should look like this (below), because this is how it was designed. This rubber seal is not good in my opinion, and the cynic in me guesses it's to fill a gap created by body panels that were delivered significantly out of spec.

View attachment 6784

I don't understand why they didn't keep the gap short like the prototype cars, and simply add a plastic trim element to the rear of the hood at the cowl to adjust the gap there. Fill it with black plastic on the back side, nobody cares there - it hits free air. At the front it's a dramatic style change, and not for the better.


Thanks to those I stole images from, Lots_of_Trouble (from here) and Darren Jones-Molyneux (on FB).

Just change your paint colour to DV, problem solved; oh hang on a minute that’ll add a year to your delivery date ffs 🙄

 

[Porter]

These two design elements are now equally prominent from above (standing visual angles). Somehow I don't think that's what Russell Carr had in mind when he penned it.

 

[DerTheDer]

Alexandria, just outside DC. I'm originally from just west of the Roanoke area though, so I grew up with incredibly twisty Appalachian back roads as part of my everyday driving norm. You?

Very cool, I lived in Odenton for a while in MD, currently now near Charlottesville Virginia. Love the roads in this area.

 

[kitkat]

I'm not pleased about it, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

 

[digilotus]

Not a big deal for me. Blends right in on shadow grey!

 

[emiraspain]

well if you cant burn the rubber from the tyres due to 16Hp less, now you have some other rubber to burn .
Of course it has 416HP, even more... its just that you cant use it.... yet

 

[dgrace]

The only 2 reasons I can think that they'd need to add that rubber gasket are 1.) Airflow that they're trying to direct out the nostrils was instead leaking out the front gap, or 2.) Water was leaking in during testing and causing some drainage problem. I don't see how either of those are super likely or worth justifying a major change to the car's lines. My 23-yr-old C5's hood has no rubber gasket and works just fine. Disappointing choice from Lotus, particularly on the yellow.

 

[digilotus]

The only 2 reasons I can think that they'd need to add that rubber gasket are 1.) Airflow that they're trying to direct out the nostrils was instead leaking out the front gap, or 2.) Water was leaking in during testing and causing some drainage problem. I don't see how either of those are super likely or worth justifying a major change to the car's lines. My 23-yr-old C5's hood has no rubber gasket and works just fine. Disappointing choice from Lotus, particularly on the yellow.

Or wind noise suppression at higher speeds.

 

[Eagle7]

That's right above the top of the front radiator. Maybe they had to thicken it due to the heat coming up from the radiator? It has to be firm enough to seal the front, and not allow much panel flex or movement. The heat may have softened the original ones to the point where they weren't doing their job, so they went with a thicker, stronger seal.

I would have preferred a rubber seal under the edge like any other front hood, so the gap could be tighter. However I'm getting DV, so it won't be as big a visual issue for me.

Maybe just get a bottle of touch-up paint in your color and paint it? Since you'll rarely open the front hood, it won't be taking hardly any wear and tear, so the paint should hold pretty good.