Magma in Tasmania

[Johnson]

Magma Emira arrives in the Apple Isle

After an almost two year wait, my magma arrived in Devonport, Tasmania last Friday. Lotus Melbourne very kindly brought the car over on the ferry, as we don't have a dealership in Tasmania. Servicing will occur when the Melbourne guys come to Tassie each year for Targa Tasmania.

My partner followed me back to Hobart in her car, a three and a half hour drive from Devonport. On the way I made a few mental notes of things that I hadn't expected:

• The seat position is quite high -- I tried a few times to lower it further but couldn't (I'm 6'2").
• Visibility out the front and sides is terrific... out the back, not so much. I went for the tinted privacy glass, and thought for a while that the rear view mirror had the auto-dimmer enabled.
• It's very easy to place the car on the road, as you can see the location of the wheels by the body shape. I couldn't see the nose at all though, as it drops quite sharply.
• The road back was windy and bumpy, so I got to experience a number of jiggles and rattles from the underbody (and a sloshing sound at first -- water in the doors perhaps?). Nothing too intrusive, and drowned out by the fairly loud wind and engine noise at 100km/hr.
• As mentioned in a previous post, a grinding/grating sound came from the gearbox in each gear, up to about 2000rpm. Initially I thought I might be damaging something, but have since learned that it's a "thing" with Lotus manual transmissions and should quieten down with time.

I was pretty tired by the time we arrived home... the car was so eager to run that I had a constant battle to stick to the speed limit. We didn't strike a lot of traffic on the mountain roads, but of the cars we did there were lots of "what the...?" faces. When I got into Hobart it was as if a spaceship had landed... people stopped in the streets, waved, one girl with a bike must've thought I was Santa and beamed at me. All very cute.

And the journey begins...

 

[DerTheDer]

Glad you are happy! Thanks for sharing.

 

[digilotus]

Congratulations @Johnson, what a great spec! Your car looks fabulous and you'll be feeling like a celebrity every time you drive it. It's a massive head turner!

 

[K_Squared]

Happy for you! I have to be honest...I kind of chuckled at the thought of an Emira driving around Tasmania before we can even get one in the US! Enjoy the car mate!

 

[nelly111s]

Hope you get some Spring sunshine to see all the colours that Magma can give you.

 

[Chobfreak]

Congratulations and welcome to the Magma owners club! How did you get to have red mirrors with your black pack? Could you maybe share some more pictures, I'm intrigued by the look.

 

[digilotus]

Congratulations and welcome to the Magma owners club! How did you get to have red mirrors with your black pack? Could you maybe share some more pictures, I'm intrigued by the look.

Black PPF is magic 😉

 

[jamesbxxx]

I was told at the factory it’s important to run the gearbox in, as well as the engine. Up and down the box, no box changes, even if running at 4K in 3rd seems wrong, better than sticking at 2k in 6th on the motorway. (Mine makes no strange noises)

 

[Johnson]

Congratulations and welcome to the Magma owners club! How did you get to have red mirrors with your black pack? Could you maybe share some more pictures, I'm intrigued by the look.

Yeah, as @digilotus said, I had the roof and A-pillars done in piano black PPF. Initially it was because I wanted the silver exhaust tips… but I also really like the red mirrors and silver lettering. Plus, no chance of marring the roof paint, and quite a bit cheaper too.

Edit: here's a shot of it on the ferry, showing non-blackpack bits.

 

[JCOz]

Hi Johnson, great to see another Emira on Australian roads. The car looks great. I'm sure you'll enjoy it on Tassie roads !

 

[Johnson]

We had the day off yesterday and took a leisurely drive from Hobart to Dover (Tasmania). A beautiful road with lots of twisties and not a lot of traffic.

The car was a wonder! Admittedly I'm coming from a fairly ordinary base (I've owned an MX-5 and MR2, and my daily drive is an Isuzu ute), but this car is just effortless... more than enough power to flatten hills or overtake egg trucks, and so grippy that every curve can be taken at speed.

I'm at about 600kms now, with absolutely no issues. The low RPM grumble seems to be diminishing, and the solitary "park brake service required" warning was likely due to crusty discs after washing.

If you're still waiting to receive yours, hang in there! It's definitely worth it.

 

[Johnson]

Couple of thoughts after a driving day yesterday (Hobart to Richmond/Oatlands):

• The car is pretty much faultless. For you Americans waiting, I would say those vehicles with problems are the extremely rare ones.
• The brakes get super crusty sitting in a garage — I had real trouble getting the park brake disengaged on first go. Probably a good idea to take it around the block after washing to dry them off before storage.
• That engine! It’s phenomenally responsive… touch the accelerator and it spins effortlessly. I was trying to keep the revs around 3000rpm (but below 4000 for wear-in)… the supercharger whine does get a bit draining after a while. I noticed at 4000 the engine noise itself is more apparent, and much more appealing. I’m looking forward to really winding it up.
• The car gets really hot, and not just from the Aussie sun. Everything aft of the cabin was cooking when we got home… lots of cooling creaks and groans from the undercarriage. I stuck my hand in the boot and it was like a pizza oven.

I‘m still somewhat daunted by the car… and not just because it costs as much as a nice apartment. It’s so ridiculously pretty — the dropped jaws and waving children make me feel a little unworthy. I’m a very lucky man!

 

[Johnson]

The car was spotted by a Facebook group on our outing -- nice photos.

 

[JimH]

The car was spotted by a Facebook group on our outing -- nice photos.

Nice registration plate too