Magma Red Lotus Emira Photo Thread

[xen]

The blue show car was intentionally lower than production height. As many people have pointed out, it gives a more aggressive stance. Any Lotus person at any roadshow with the car would readily tell you this, and about the other non-production elements.

Many manufacturers do this with show cars. Lotus aren’t the first and won’t be the last.

If you want the car to be lower than Lotus build it, it’s an easy modification.

That’s what I thought, thanks.

 

[Eagle7]

The blue show car was intentionally lower than production height. As many people have pointed out, it gives a more aggressive stance. Any Lotus person at any roadshow with the car would readily tell you this, and about the other non-production elements.

Many manufacturers do this with show cars. Lotus aren’t the first and won’t be the last.

If you want the car to be lower than Lotus build it, it’s an easy modification.

It was also basically a studio concept model, and concept cars are always not exactly representative of an actual production car for many reasons, regulations being one of them. The wheels canted inward gave it away for me, an intentional lowering that far would have had the wheels straight, like every other Emira we've seen. I'm guessing the effect of the weight of the batteries in the back, made it necessary to lower the front to match so it wouldn't look odd with the back squatted down. It's okay though, they're not going to sell the car lowered like that, so it will be entirely up to an individual to do that to their car if they think that's the thing to do.

I think they've done a remarkably good job of making the production look very very close to the studio model. Some very talented people involved with this.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Yeah I do understand, more than you know. If we're talking about motorsport and being out on the racetrack, here's my track car; lowered and all which I'm going to be selling to make room for the Emira.

View attachment 4926

It's a great car. I didn't put an entire Pedder's suspension upgrade in it (plus a lot of other things) because I was worried about wheel gap. I did it for performance, out on the track, where you can use that kind of setup at speed in an environment that's designed for it, legally. It's great on the track. A bit stiff and uncomfortable out on the street though, especially when going over rumble strips in parking lots which require virtually a dead stop and trying to go over them at an angle.

Manufacturers put in a certain amount of ride height to clear things like rumble strips, steep driveways, and to allow for suspension travel over road surfaces you aren't going to be driving on at the track, like driving over railroad tracks, etc. I just smile and shake my head when I see these kids in their lowered Hondas and such, slowing to a dead crawl to go over any kind of bump in the road, knowing it's probably their daily driver and only car. It's the kind of thing you do when you're young and want to look like a racer.

Gavan Kershaw is pretty nearly a legend for setting up a car chassis, and the Emira you will buy is dialed in for road use by the man himself. The car doesn't "need" a smaller wheel gap. You and maybe others think they need it to have a smaller wheel gap, and for you and how you use your car, that's entirely your personal choice.

As for me, after having rebuilt the better part of a Camaro chassis for a track car, I'm going to leave my Emira alone in that regard. I'm even planning on staying with the Goodyear tires Gavan had Goodyear make specifically for the Emira. I'm expecting the Emira to be nearly the perfect street sports car. Once I have mine and some driving experience in it, it may actually be the perfect street sports car. For me anyways. I'm hoping for closer gear ratios for street speeds rather than top end speeds. It's the first car I've really wanted in a long time.

I was led to believe your number was 7

 

[Eagle7]

I was led to believe your number was 7

HAHAHA yeah unfortunately somebody already had that number that day, so I had to pick something else. 7 is a pretty popular number.

 

[EspritGuy]

I wouldn't say they're no longer a thing, they obviously are for some people and that's their preference, but it certainly isn't a performance issue for a street car.

Check that photo again, to let yourself in on the joke.
Maybe it was a stretch.

 

[TomE]

It was also basically a studio concept model, and concept cars are always not exactly representative of an actual production car for many reasons, regulations being one of them. The wheels canted inward gave it away for me, an intentional lowering that far would have had the wheels straight, like every other Emira we've seen. I'm guessing the effect of the weight of the batteries in the back, made it necessary to lower the front to match so it wouldn't look odd with the back squatted down. It's okay though, they're not going to sell the car lowered like that, so it will be entirely up to an individual to do that to their car if they think that's the thing to do.

I think they've done a remarkably good job of making the production look very very close to the studio model. Some very talented people involved with this.

The weight of the batteries in the back is less than the weight of the i4 engine and ancillaries they'd left out.

These show cars are built by a specialist model maker, not by Lotus, and they use all kinds of tricks under the skin so the car looks right and feels right when you sit in it. Particularly a model suspension that takes into account the weight of the car without many of the heavy internals but still has some give when you get into the car.

A lot of the components are hand made - these days a lot can be done with 3D printing too. The wheels on the blue show Emira were machined from a solid billet.

It's impressive what they can achieve and how close to a production look they get with the model.

The Seneca Blue car inside the Hethel visitor centre (appearing in some of the dealer photos this week) is a clay model, so steps before the show car. That has black film to give the impression of a windscreen and darkened interior, as the clay exterior is built over a frame and there's no interior detail. The black surrounds on the side intakes literally just rest on a hole in the clay - I know because I knocked one of them off!

 

[Singularity]

The weight of the batteries in the back is less than the weight of the i4 engine and ancillaries they'd left out.

These show cars are built by a specialist model maker, not by Lotus, and they use all kinds of tricks under the skin so the car looks right and feels right when you sit in it. Particularly a model suspension that takes into account the weight of the car without many of the heavy internals but still has some give when you get into the car.

A lot of the components are hand made - these days a lot can be done with 3D printing too. The wheels on the blue show Emira were machined from a solid billet.

It's impressive what they can achieve and how close to a production look they get with the model.

The Seneca Blue car inside the Hethel visitor centre (appearing in some of the dealer photos this week) is a clay model, so steps before the show car. That has black film to give the impression of a windscreen and darkened interior, as the clay exterior is built over a frame and there's no interior detail. The black surrounds on the side intakes literally just rest on a hole in the clay - I know because I knocked one of them off!

…… because i knocked one of then off! …..

…. that’s naughty!

But seriously, I didn’t know that these models could be made to look so realistic yet be so far from the an actual car.

Like the thread on the opinions on marketing, I’m finding new insights into all sorts of things.

And here I was thinking this forum was just a great way to while away the time until my Lotus arrives!

 

[Johnson]

One thing I learnt from this image is that the lettering and tailpipes need to be silver on the Magma cars. IMHO.

However, I’m thinking of adding the black roof using gloss vinyl. Thoughts?

 

[Climber]

One thing I learnt from this image is that the lettering and tailpipes need to be silver on the Magma cars. IMHO.

However, I’m thinking of adding the black roof using gloss vinyl. Thoughts?

View attachment 4973

I also ordered magma red no black pack. I would like the lotus black, but my wheels are silver which goes with the tail pipe.
With yours black roof needs black wheels. The silver lotus & silver exhaust tips help each other. You need them both the same..
wheels play a big part of a look which are you getting?

 

[digilotus]

One thing I learnt from this image is that the lettering and tailpipes need to be silver on the Magma cars. IMHO.

However, I’m thinking of adding the black roof using gloss vinyl. Thoughts?

View attachment 4973

I'm thinking about doing the same but haven't seen black PPF on a car yet. I would imagine that it won't be as nice as real black paint, especially around the edges.

I wish Lotus allowed a black roof with silver pipes and lettering!

 

[GetawayDriving]

I'm thinking about doing the same but haven't seen black PPF on a car yet. I would imagine that it won't be as nice as real black paint, especially around the edges.

I wish Lotus allowed a black roof with silver pipes and lettering!

Once we start getting our cars, let the swapping begin.

I’ll trade someone my silver LOTUS letters for black ones. I’ll also trade my red seats for black seats, preferably with red stitch

 

[TomE]

Good point. Admins, we're going to need a buy/sell/swap section on the forum!

 

[Johnson]

I'm thinking about doing the same but haven't seen black PPF on a car yet. I would imagine that it won't be as nice as real black paint, especially around the edges.

I wish Lotus allowed a black roof with silver pipes and lettering!

Sounds like this could work:

Altered Black Paint Protection Film | SunTek

Altered Black PPF is scientifically formulated to help protect your vehicle's finish, while giving you the option to transform the look of your car's paint.

suntekfilms.com

They mention that orange peel is sometimes evident on cheaper PPF alternatives.

 

[DrD]

Sounds like this could work:

Altered Black Paint Protection Film | SunTek

Altered Black PPF is scientifically formulated to help protect your vehicle's finish, while giving you the option to transform the look of your car's paint.

suntekfilms.com

They mention that orange peel is sometimes evident on cheaper PPF alternatives.

Rather than needing to PPF the roof, it may make more sense to wrap the roof as it's not really at the risk of stone chips and a wrap gives good protection anyway. They (a good installer) shrink the wrap around the panel so you can't see the edge, it appears as if the panel is just painted. Quality of the wrap and who's doing it matters a lot, worth doing some good local research.

Inozetek have been impressing lately with their line of wraps. Quite a few places install them now. They've got "paint like" wraps with no orange peel and what not. They can even be cut and polished too, with ceramic coatings available. A friend had his Tesla model 3 wrapped in midnight metallic green and it looked spectacular. Genuinely looked like factory paint; deep, glossy and with a lovely metallic flek.

Having had a quick look, they've got a couple of blacks - non metallic gloss black and metallic gloss black too. I know other companies do more satin wraps if thats the look you want too.

Before DV pics came out, I was considering wrapping the whole Emira in one of inozetek's offerings. Still very tempted by their midnight metallic blue or even purple... Pics of their wraps attached for reference.

(I'm not associated with inozetek or car wrapping in any way. I've just been impressed with how good they look on a car).

 

[PaperLawyer]

I'm thinking about doing the same but haven't seen black PPF on a car yet. I would imagine that it won't be as nice as real black paint, especially around the edges.

I wish Lotus allowed a black roof with silver pipes and lettering

I also ordered magma red no black pack. I would like the lotus black, but my wheels are silver which goes with the tail pipe.
With yours black roof needs black wheels. The silver lotus & silver exhaust tips help each other. You need them both the same..
wheels play a big part of a look which are you getting?

I also preferred the magma red paint flowing over the roof when I saw a few of the magma red cars on the factory tour. A few of us agreed that the silver lettering and exhaust finishers would also tie in neatly to the silver on the diamond cut wheels (and I can also see the same logic for silver wheels, although the satin silver wheels were a disappointment for me).

 

[Johnson]

Rather than needing to PPF the roof, it may make more sense to wrap the roof as it's not really at the risk of stone chips and a wrap gives good protection anyway. They (a good installer) shrink the wrap around the panel so you can't see the edge, it appears as if the panel is just painted. Quality of the wrap and who's doing it matters a lot, worth doing some good local research.

Inozetek have been impressing lately with their line of wraps. Quite a few places install them now. They've got "paint like" wraps with no orange peel and what not. They can even be cut and polished too, with ceramic coatings available. A friend had his Tesla model 3 wrapped in midnight metallic green and it looked spectacular. Genuinely looked like factory paint; deep, glossy and with a lovely metallic flek.

Having had a quick look, they've got a couple of blacks - non metallic gloss black and metallic gloss black too. I know other companies do more satin wraps if thats the look you want too.

Before DV pics came out, I was considering wrapping the whole Emira in one of inozetek's offerings. Still very tempted by their midnight metallic blue or even purple... Pics of their wraps attached for reference.

(I'm not associated with inozetek or car wrapping in any way. I've just been impressed with how good they look on a car).

View attachment 4975View attachment 4976

So a wrap is different to PPF? Aren’t they both the same vinyl? (Sorry, just getting into this stuff.)

 

[Kentviking]

So a wrap is different to PPF? Aren’t they both the same vinyl? (Sorry, just getting into this stuff.)

I was looking into this quite a bit as I thought I might want a properly pearlescent white finish...
Historically you have had to make a choice between vinyl wraps that change the look / colour, but don't offer as much protection....or PPF which offers protection but historically at least has normally only been clear or provided minimal interference with the base colour/look...but now (and it is still early days) there are a new range of protective paints that can do both a colour transformation and provide the fullest protection....but the costs for a full car are going to be as much as a paint job...so you could just choose to do basic ppf on most exposed sections and repaint the car before selling on (or not, if it still remains in good condition)

not trying to advertise (and have no links etc)...but see here for one example

 

[kitkat]

So a wrap is different to PPF? Aren’t they both the same vinyl? (Sorry, just getting into this stuff.)

Completely different materials and construction and installation process and cost.

PPF is going to be 2-3x thicker than vinyl wraps.
PPF is going to be 3x more expensive to have installed as well.
Vinyl is installed dry and has an air release built into the material.
PPF is installed with a number of techniques that involve soapy water and alcohol water solutions under the material in order to let some areas slip and some to stick.

I’m simplifying as there’s plenty of exceptions and nuances in both.

 

[kitkat]

I’m getting the black pack because I often use a seasucker bike rack mounted to my car and the vacuum cup will pull vinyl or ppf right off. That being said I’m usually mounting to glass so that might not matter.

 

[digilotus]

I liked the run of the red paint over the



I also preferred the magma red paint flowing over the roof when I saw a few of the magma red cars on the factory tour. A few of us agreed that the silver lettering and exhaust finishers would also tie in neatly to the silver on the diamond cut wheels (and I can also see the same logic for silver wheels, although the satin silver wheels were a disappointment for me).

Based on the Magma photos shared, I agree that it will look exceptionally good with a red roof BUT with dark tinted windows. That will give it some good contrast on the canopy.

Added a quick photochop of Magma with tinted windows.