kertong
Member
Hi all,
Just took delivery of my FE 1.0 Emira V6S in Seneca Blue today!
Quick blurb on my history of cars. Started on Camaro Z28's (a 1995 LT1 6 speed, hotcammed, full exhaust, roller rockers etc), was all about V8's and that growl in my younger days - but it wasn't until I drove a friend's 1991 Acura NSX, that I realized how much fun a driver's car could be. It was probably the closest thing to a religious experience I've ever had - in the blink of an eye while behind the wheel of that delicious manually steered NSX, all the stuff I loved about corvettes and camaros just went out the window. Anyways, that got me started on a long history of chasing that addicting, exciting, and connected feeling - got an S2000, then eventually started driving 996 (base, 4S, GT3), 991.1 (S and GTS), 981s (boxster S, spyder), etc. Had a few Elises (and an Exige S) in between those cars, as well as the 1991 NSX that turned me onto this path! (but a whole host of issues, mainly parts availalbility and the mental burden of not knowing how repairable the next maintenance item would be), got to me. Am currently driving my wife's Boxster GTS 4.0 around while I was waiting for the Emira etc.
I've lately been really turned off of Porsche. Fantastic cars obviously, but it's the dealerships. My wife and I, in the past decade, have bought all our porsches (probably 10 or more) from one dealership, one guy. To his credit, he tried his best; but failed in getting us an allocation for the 992 GT3 when they first came out. Came back saying management was taking bids, starting at $50k over MSRP. That didn't work out, as I refused to pay markup for nothing - felt like they were preemptively taking the resale value and market premium from my hands. Fast forward a couple years (in between which my wife bought a boxster GTS 4.0 from them) - starting 6-8 months ago, I was back in the market for a car, and was looking for a cayman GT4; they could not get me one, and the preowned ones cost more than they were when new. And though they did offer me the GT4RS they had on the showroom floor; it was marked up $50k - but since I was "such a good customer", they would do me the amazing favor of charging me only $25k markup. That felt like a slap in the face, so I decided to vote with my wallet; was able to secure this slot for this Emira due to someone backing out last minute (so I do feel like I didn't truly 'earn' this car like the folks here who put their deposits down on day 1 and had to wait years through multiple delays, price hikes, and lack of communications from lotus corporate.... sorry)
Anyways, what can be said about the Emira has already likely been said here, so I won't spend too much time on it; but I do believe this Emira so far, is the closest spiritual successor to the original NSX that one could find today. I might have said it was an Evora or Cayman before this, but the Emira takes the crown.
One of the best things about that original NSX, other than the amazing steering, was the forward visibility. The beltline on the windshield is so low, that you see the road up until the very last second - it rushes up at you, then disappears right as it touches your toes - at least, that's how it felt.
So imagine my surprise when I got into my Emira today (yes, the first time I was in one and drove one was today when I went to pick it up haha), the first thing I notice is how low the front beltline is, and on top of that, the window sills to the left and right. Really nice forward facing, open cockpit feeling. I read every post in the test drive impressions thread here, and many noted that they felt the seat was too high for them. I never got that feeling; but I can understand why some would see it that way. I think we've gotten too accustomed to high silled cars (due to safety regs and all that). This car, I still felt low relative to the center of gravity of the car, but due to the lower sills and beltline, that open cockpit feeling was quite enjoyable.
The shifter reminds me a lot of the OG NSX as well. Clicks into gear nicely. Though - the shifter somewhat feels canted towards the driver, resulting in the Emira's 1/3/5 gears feeling somewhat shorter in throw distance than the 2/4/6 gears. I don't actually think this is the case and I know it's just in my head, but I kept feeling like in the 3/5 gears, I wasn't "all the way" in and would pop it out and push it back in just to be sure. A minor thing that I'm sure I'll get used to quickly.
Haven't seen any of the common issues I've noted here (bubbling paint, pad material missing and streaking the cailpers); but I do have an issue I haven't seen others mention. The side view mirrors are loose - so loose that at freeway speeds, the image in the mirror is moving left and right and I can't really see what's going on. Anyone else run into this? It feels like the mirror housing isn't being clamped down and is just loose rocking back and forth - I can wiggle it freely with my pink finger about a cm in each direction with some up/down play as well.
Anyhow, took some quick photos. Enjoy! I am immensely looking forward to the miles of smiles and memories with this car.
edit: fixed the loose mirrors! held l/r mirror buttons down to fold them in; at first only one of them folded in while the other whirred and did nothing; eventually both mirrors folded in, i kept holding the L/R buttons down and then the mirrors made an awful thunk/snapping sound. I let go then folded them back out, and now the mirrors are nice and stiff/firm. what a relief!
Just took delivery of my FE 1.0 Emira V6S in Seneca Blue today!
Quick blurb on my history of cars. Started on Camaro Z28's (a 1995 LT1 6 speed, hotcammed, full exhaust, roller rockers etc), was all about V8's and that growl in my younger days - but it wasn't until I drove a friend's 1991 Acura NSX, that I realized how much fun a driver's car could be. It was probably the closest thing to a religious experience I've ever had - in the blink of an eye while behind the wheel of that delicious manually steered NSX, all the stuff I loved about corvettes and camaros just went out the window. Anyways, that got me started on a long history of chasing that addicting, exciting, and connected feeling - got an S2000, then eventually started driving 996 (base, 4S, GT3), 991.1 (S and GTS), 981s (boxster S, spyder), etc. Had a few Elises (and an Exige S) in between those cars, as well as the 1991 NSX that turned me onto this path! (but a whole host of issues, mainly parts availalbility and the mental burden of not knowing how repairable the next maintenance item would be), got to me. Am currently driving my wife's Boxster GTS 4.0 around while I was waiting for the Emira etc.
I've lately been really turned off of Porsche. Fantastic cars obviously, but it's the dealerships. My wife and I, in the past decade, have bought all our porsches (probably 10 or more) from one dealership, one guy. To his credit, he tried his best; but failed in getting us an allocation for the 992 GT3 when they first came out. Came back saying management was taking bids, starting at $50k over MSRP. That didn't work out, as I refused to pay markup for nothing - felt like they were preemptively taking the resale value and market premium from my hands. Fast forward a couple years (in between which my wife bought a boxster GTS 4.0 from them) - starting 6-8 months ago, I was back in the market for a car, and was looking for a cayman GT4; they could not get me one, and the preowned ones cost more than they were when new. And though they did offer me the GT4RS they had on the showroom floor; it was marked up $50k - but since I was "such a good customer", they would do me the amazing favor of charging me only $25k markup. That felt like a slap in the face, so I decided to vote with my wallet; was able to secure this slot for this Emira due to someone backing out last minute (so I do feel like I didn't truly 'earn' this car like the folks here who put their deposits down on day 1 and had to wait years through multiple delays, price hikes, and lack of communications from lotus corporate.... sorry)
Anyways, what can be said about the Emira has already likely been said here, so I won't spend too much time on it; but I do believe this Emira so far, is the closest spiritual successor to the original NSX that one could find today. I might have said it was an Evora or Cayman before this, but the Emira takes the crown.
One of the best things about that original NSX, other than the amazing steering, was the forward visibility. The beltline on the windshield is so low, that you see the road up until the very last second - it rushes up at you, then disappears right as it touches your toes - at least, that's how it felt.
So imagine my surprise when I got into my Emira today (yes, the first time I was in one and drove one was today when I went to pick it up haha), the first thing I notice is how low the front beltline is, and on top of that, the window sills to the left and right. Really nice forward facing, open cockpit feeling. I read every post in the test drive impressions thread here, and many noted that they felt the seat was too high for them. I never got that feeling; but I can understand why some would see it that way. I think we've gotten too accustomed to high silled cars (due to safety regs and all that). This car, I still felt low relative to the center of gravity of the car, but due to the lower sills and beltline, that open cockpit feeling was quite enjoyable.
The shifter reminds me a lot of the OG NSX as well. Clicks into gear nicely. Though - the shifter somewhat feels canted towards the driver, resulting in the Emira's 1/3/5 gears feeling somewhat shorter in throw distance than the 2/4/6 gears. I don't actually think this is the case and I know it's just in my head, but I kept feeling like in the 3/5 gears, I wasn't "all the way" in and would pop it out and push it back in just to be sure. A minor thing that I'm sure I'll get used to quickly.
Haven't seen any of the common issues I've noted here (bubbling paint, pad material missing and streaking the cailpers); but I do have an issue I haven't seen others mention. The side view mirrors are loose - so loose that at freeway speeds, the image in the mirror is moving left and right and I can't really see what's going on. Anyone else run into this? It feels like the mirror housing isn't being clamped down and is just loose rocking back and forth - I can wiggle it freely with my pink finger about a cm in each direction with some up/down play as well.
Anyhow, took some quick photos. Enjoy! I am immensely looking forward to the miles of smiles and memories with this car.
edit: fixed the loose mirrors! held l/r mirror buttons down to fold them in; at first only one of them folded in while the other whirred and did nothing; eventually both mirrors folded in, i kept holding the L/R buttons down and then the mirrors made an awful thunk/snapping sound. I let go then folded them back out, and now the mirrors are nice and stiff/firm. what a relief!
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