Ride Height..... hence wheel gap....official answer

[scarzie]

The same spring height and higher rates would mean the Sport sits at a higher ride height.

Im not an expert, I'm just going off of what they told me, and everyone else, as well as looking at all of the LDA cars which were all at the same height, and I believe one of which is a touring (not sure what color or plate # the touring one was)

 

[kitkat]

To be fair there aren't many manufacturers that fit customer adjustable suspension from the off.
Probably a H&S and liability nightmare

Lots do, all of the c8s, a number of Porsches, and M performance option for a many M lines.

 

[Leonard]

Lots do, all of the c8s, a number of Porsches, and M performance option for a many M lines.

It's always a track pack though. Not at this level.
Lotus fit adjustable Nitron or Ohlins dampers on their top of the line track variants.
So it will be coming... soon....

 

[VL3X]

Lots do, all of the c8s, a number of Porsches, and M performance option for a many M lines.

To be fair those are the typically the sportier versions of their cars (BMW M cars, Porsche GT, etc). Right now all we got is the Emira First Edition. I'd expect the Emira GT/R will have height adjustable suspension (and more power).

 

[kitkat]

It's always a track pack though. Not at this level.
Lotus fit adjustable Nitron or Ohlins dampers on their top of the line track variants.
So it will be coming... soon....

I'm just saying some cars come with adjustable spring height adjustment stock. Base level C8:

 

[Leonard]

I'm just saying some cars come with adjustable spring height adjustment stock. Base level C8:

View attachment 8137

Ah got you. That's interesting as well 🙂

 

[Porter]

The vast majority of this is probably simple differences in spring spec that are designed to "equalize" after settling, so that both variants end up with the same ride height. A car that's a few months old will likely sit slightly differently than one that's just been assembled in the last week or two.

What I can say is that it doesn't directly follow intuitively that the spring rates would be so similar to each other but have the same nominal length. Usually you'd see more of a jump in value between the rates of linear springs of the same nominal length, because an increase change in spring rate value is by increasing wire diameter or reducing coil count... both of which are typically done to a "step" value because it's a mass production process they have engineered to be repeatable thousands (or millions) of times.

This makes me guess that there might be a slight difference in nominal (unladen) spring length between the two specs that's offset by a difference in spring rate to get the loaded spring length to the same target vehicle height. That's a scenario that would definitely produce a difference in ride height before the suspension has fully settled.

OR... just as an out-of-the-box option for why the nominal spring rate values might be so close... the Touring spec might be using a non-linear spring. I'd be a little surprised if they used a non-linear (progressive-wound) spring on a Lotus, but they did have them on some versions of the Evora, and it does lend itself well to a more plush ride when not intentionally transferring the vehicle's weight around in dynamic maneuvers.

We don't yet know what the unladen springs look like when laid next to each other, so everything we currently can guess about the differences is pure speculation. If anyone with access to the factory wants to snap a photo of a suspension that's verifiably the "Touring" spec it would be most helpful.


Here's a very early shot of an Emira prototype on the pre-production line being hand-built. This shows what appears to be a linear Eibach spring, likely 2.5" ID or 70mm ID, it's difficult to tell without directly measuring.

 

[Porter]

Here's an Evora (non-GT I think?) suspension for comparison... note the progressive (non-linear) spring.

 

[TomE]

I have added to the debate over the last 10 days, solely after my trip to Hethel and seeing with my own eyes there was a difference between tour and sport and being told by the instructor that its meant to be like that. Even in Harry's video there is a brief mention of it also.
The debate, like many on here, has gone on and on with different people and different titbits of info, even from those at Lotus, seeming to provide differing answers at differing times. Also experts on here assuming this would make sense, as I guess it does, that they would be different.
Im the end, I got a bit bored, even though I am sport and would be a low rider in any case, and so I went to the horses mouth. I felt that was the more appropriate end of the horse to go to in this case, and I asked directly. (I think Tom may have done this already, but people like me continued the debate with these new bits of info popping up).

Answer from Gavan

"The ride height is the same bath tour and sport."

Clearly the "bath" isn't the south western Roman city in the UK, but just a tipo from his Android phone. (I wont start a debate on android auto vs apple car play in a Lotus, maybe later....)
So despite others saying different things (including myself again), despite some photos showing differing heights for both types of cars, we can now take it as gospel the two cars will ride at the same height, unless you are very overweight of course. And no, for all you track rats, I wont ask him what is the height, but I am happy to measure it, as others can too, if we ever get our dealer car dates any time this month. With the factory showing now signs of real life, that may happen.... just about.

I don’t like to say it, but “I told you so”

Gav said this months ago and yet there’s been pages of speculation on all the forums about whether it’s true or not. All kinds of reasons why the pre-prod cars have different heights and why newly built cars exhibit ride heights that aren’t final.

 

[TomE]

If that is true, do we know why they are not making the sports suspension lower? Seems an odd choice. Are they already at some sort of legally required min ride height or something?

The Lotus approach to ride and handling relies in part on longer suspension travel than other marques, so they don’t go for very low ride heights.

 

[lion shf]

How much would it have cost to have Bilstein thread the shock bodies and have adjustible perches? Maybe $100/car max? What a shortsighted place to save money.

C8 has this, just sayin

 

[TomE]

Another thing to consider is spring settlement. I actually installed Bilstein B8s and Eibach Pro springs (very similar to what Lotus uses) on my current car and they settled a noticeable amount after a couple weeks and a couple hundred miles.

Initially I saw a ~0.75" drop from the factory setup and it eventually settled to about 1.25 (using the same method to measure that @lion shf mentioned above). That half inch difference is noticeable and could account for the variation some are reporting from the Emira driving experience events.

And cars with different but recent build dates and different usage since build completion would show different settlement in the first few weeks. After a month they should all be the same height. Which is what people are reporting.

 

[lion shf]

It's always a track pack though. Not at this level.
Lotus fit adjustable Nitron or Ohlins dampers on their top of the line track variants.
So it will be coming... soon....

Not true on the C8. The adjustable Z51 package is just as comfy on the street as the non z51

 

[Lotustoronto]

I really do wonder if these pre-prod cars sent out on the reviews were all set up differently so that Lotus could get feedback on what works best. It is the only thing I can figure out why there seems to be so many differences on the mechanical feels / driving dynamics between versions/cars. Even forum members that went to the track day at Hethel reported that different cars had different clutch or brake feel. Is it possible that Lotus used this time to get feedback and make adjustments. Maybe the reason we are seeing so many delays as they try to figure out the best configurations and set ups? Catchpoole alluded to this in his review when he mentioned driving the EVO review car to Monaco, saying that sport / goodyears felt perfectly fine.... but then sport/goodyears felt different going to Scotland.

 

[kitkat]

Not true on the C8. The adjustable Z51 package is just as comfy on the street as the non z51

LOL, you seem to really really love the C8. Whatcha wasting your time here on the Lotus for?

 

[TomE]

I really do wonder if these pre-prod cars sent out on the reviews were all set up differently so that Lotus could get feedback on what works best. It is the only thing I can figure out why there seems to be so many differences on the mechanical feels / driving dynamics between versions/cars. Even forum members that went to the track day at Hethel reported that different cars had different clutch or brake feel. Is it possible that Lotus used this time to get feedback and make adjustments. Maybe the reason we are seeing so many delays as they try to figure out the best configurations and set ups? Catchpoole alluded to this in his review when he mentioned driving the EVO review car to Monaco, saying that sport / goodyears felt perfectly fine.... but then sport/goodyears felt different going to Scotland.

More worryingly, I fear it points to not being able to build cars consistently to the same standard yet.

 

[lion shf]

LOL, you seem to really really love the C8. Whatcha wasting your time here on the Lotus for?

Ill let you know as soon as I drive an Emira 4 or my wife blows our car budget on a new boat. Whichever comes first. Honestly I don’t feel out of line cause there’s been TONS of conversations about other cars. Emira 4 is my number 1 until savagegeese tells me diff
As it stands I’m number 1 on my local non FE 4 list.

 

[Lotustoronto]

More worryingly, I fear it points to not being able to build cars consistently to the same standard yet.

I was trying not to go there.... but I did think that as well.

 

[Pegasi]

I really do wonder if these pre-prod cars sent out on the reviews were all set up differently so that Lotus could get feedback on what works best. It is the only thing I can figure out why there seems to be so many differences on the mechanical feels / driving dynamics between versions/cars. Even forum members that went to the track day at Hethel reported that different cars had different clutch or brake feel. Is it possible that Lotus used this time to get feedback and make adjustments. Maybe the reason we are seeing so many delays as they try to figure out the best configurations and set ups? Catchpoole alluded to this in his review when he mentioned driving the EVO review car to Monaco, saying that sport / goodyears felt perfectly fine.... but then sport/goodyears felt different going to Scotland.

I would tend to agree. Past Lotus models have not had an emphasis on daily driving (correct me if I am wrong) so it makes sense that they would try and find a "new" perfect balance. In all the reviews from journalists that were all over the place plus track day participant feedback your theory would be Occam's razor.

 

[Lotustoronto]

I would tend to agree. Past Lotus models have not had an emphasis on daily driving (correct me if I am wrong) so it makes sense that they would try and find a "new" perfect balance. In all the reviews from journalists that were all over the place plus track day participant feedback your theory would be Occam's razor.

Would also explain the different ride height situations... we know they are to be the same ride height... just nobody ever released that measurement.