Seats

[Jonhklee]

Still bag on the seats - if Lotus are happy to be puttting these photos on instagram - they do realise this quality is not good enough. I for one will not be accepting my car if it turns up with bagging seats

Just noticed the blue hue of blue jeans contamination on the leather!!! 😳

 

[PaulP]

again, what do the pictures tell you, crash helmet in the foot well, obviously well abused. None of us will do this plus if you are fat then the leather will wrinkle but on plus note when you go around a corner the wheel gap will are spot on!

If this is such an issue then seriously don't buy one leave it to people who want one

Sorry but no way this car has had the miles I will put on it. Seats should not sag like that, period. Imagine them after 5-10 years and tens of thousands of miles 😳

 

[GetawayDriving]

Still bag on the seats - if Lotus are happy to be puttting these photos on instagram - they do realise this quality is not good enough. I for one will not be accepting my car if it turns up with bagging seats

For what it’s worth I booked a driving academy day and the instructions explicitly stated no photography allowed, so I’m assuming the cars being used are not the examples they want to display.

 

[DerTheDer]

I for one love that color. Would have been nice to see actual photos before I went with Red. But I am sure I wont be disappointed either way.

 

[DrD]

Also fyi to everyone concerned about colour transfer on lighter colours. I've put Gyeon Leather ceramic coats on all my lighter interior cars and stains wipe off with literally a damp cloth. And you get less transfer in general. Really easy to apply and no tangible difference in finish. (not affiliated in any way)

 

[Wizardwings]

Also fyi to everyone concerned about colour transfer on lighter colours. I've put Gyeon Leather ceramic coats on all my lighter interior cars and stains wipe off with literally a damp cloth. And you get less transfer in general. Really easy to apply and no tangible difference in finish. (not affiliated in any way)

I'll have to pick this up when the car arrives. Thanks for the tip

 

[DrD]

I'll have to pick this up when the car arrives. Thanks for the tip

There's 2 they do: 1 called "leather coat" which is super easy to apply, just spray on and wipe off, smells really nice and lasts about 3 months, including all the UV protection and hydrophobic properties. Normally comes with a bundled cleaner too.
The 2nd is "leather shield" which is still easy to apply but has a few more steps, applied with a foam pad and then buffed off. But that one lasts much longer, I believe a year plus.

Both do the same, it's just purely price, amount of effort and repetition. Both protect, repel water and don't change the appearance. I've personally used both and tend to top up shield with coat every half a year or so - probably unnecessary but I enjoy the process.

There are tonnes of brands out there, but I definitely recommend ceramic coating your leather. It's nowhere as near as daunting as coating paintwork with all the prep etc... Super easy, little hassle. Maybe a tad expensive, but worth it in my opinion

 

[Emira]

Does the leathershield change the smell of the leather/interior after it's cured/dried? I'd want to enjoy that 'new car smell' for as long as possible rather than diluting it with the smell of a cleaning product!

 

[freefall_junkie]

On the one hand, it's a bit shocking that they're still mucking around with the seat design on May 19th, but it does reassure me that Lotus is taking quality really, really seriously and is determined to make sure that every aspect of the final spec is on the money.

I thought the seats I saw on the factory tour a couple of weeks ago looked really good so I'm very surprised to hear they still aren't finalised. That would mean the Magma car journalists like Matt Prior and Andrew Franknel have been driving this week can't have the final iteration. Have Lotus really given the press a car like the last time with a 'to do' list still attached? Seems unlikely but if so it would not look good. There must have been some compelling reasons why they didn't just buy the seats in from a supplier like Sparco or Recaro who have decades of experience in getting these things right.

 

[DrD]

Does the leathershield change the smell of the leather/interior after it's cured/dried? I'd want to enjoy that 'new car smell' for as long as possible rather than diluting it with the smell of a cleaning product!

No not at all, not perceptible at all until you drop some water or stray siracha mayo from that chicken wrap you've been munching. The coat has a nice smell when applying, the shield just smells of solvent (arguably nice if you're into that kinda thing). Both dry within a day to no smell.

 

[First Lotus]

For what it’s worth I booked a driving academy day and the instructions explicitly stated no photography allowed, so I’m assuming the cars being used are not the examples they want to display.

Me too @Bren when are you going? July 13th for me. I noticed the no photo rule too... Very clear that it will not be allowed

 

[GetawayDriving]

Me too @Bren when are you going? July 13th for me. I noticed the no photo rule too... Very clear that it will not be allowed

🙌 June 29 for me. Doing the full day.

 

[Eagle7]

I thought the seats I saw on the factory tour a couple of weeks ago looked really good so I'm very surprised to hear they still aren't finalised. That would mean the Magma car journalists like Matt Prior and Andrew Franknel have been driving this week can't have the final iteration. Have Lotus really given the press a car like the last time with a 'to do' list still attached? Seems unlikely but if so it would not look good. There must have been some compelling reasons why they didn't just buy the seats in from a supplier like Sparco or Recaro who have decades of experience in getting these things right.

Aren't the seats from Lear? The same company that does seats for Ferrari? Maybe Lotus decided to pull the experimenting part in house until they get the exact configuration they want, then they can tell Lear who can make them to that specification. I gathered Lotus wasn't happy with what they were getting, and some of it may have been the long delay between making a request, and getting test seats back.

There had to be a good reason why they're doing what they are now. I'm just glad they're not 'settling for' and are putting in the time and effort to get it as close to perfect as they can.

 

[digilotus]

Aren't the seats from Lear? The same company that does seats for Ferrari? Maybe Lotus decided to pull the experimenting part in house until they get the exact configuration they want, then they can tell Lear who can make them to that specification. I gathered Lotus wasn't happy with what they were getting, and some of it may have been the long delay between making a request, and getting test seats back.

There had to be a good reason why they're doing what they are now. I'm just glad they're not 'settling for' and are putting in the time and effort to get it as close to perfect as they can.

The seat frames are from Lear. Foams and covers (leather/alcantara) are outsourced and assembled in-house.

 

[Eagle7]

The seat frames are from Lear. Foams and covers (leather/alcantara) are outsourced and assembled in-house.

Right, but Lotus could easily have the covers and foam sent to Lear for final assembly if they wanted to. Depending on how much it slows them down in production, that could be the plan once production is underway.To me, Lotus doing each seat by hand kind of defeats the purpose of having them out-sourced for high-quality mass production. I'm sure if given the seat covers and foam cushions, Lear could make the seats look perfect and deliver them ready to install. Just a thought as to why they're still experimenting with foam densities at this late stage.

 

[digilotus]

Right, but Lotus could easily have the covers and foam sent to Lear for final assembly if they wanted to. Depending on how much it slows them down in production, that could be the plan once production is underway.To me, Lotus doing each seat by hand kind of defeats the purpose of having them out-sourced for high-quality mass production. I'm sure if given the seat covers and foam cushions, Lear could make the seats look perfect and deliver them ready to install. Just a thought as to why they're still experimenting with foam densities at this late stage.

I guess its all up to the business case!

 

[TomE]

Given all the supply chain issues and the multiple iterations on the seats, I suspect the seats we've seen in the recent Instagram post and the safety car are older iterations or non-production parts.

We know Lotus don't think about the consequences of cars being photographed and leaked and endlessly analysed, otherwise they'd fit these cars with production seats or prevent photos being taken. All this would have been solved by them publishing pictures months ago, but they keep holding back until they have final production spec cars they can photograph. I honestly think those pictures will get published about two weeks after the first customer deliveries

If they've had any sense at all (and it's really only 50:50 in my mind given how Lotus operate), they'll have scraped together enough production parts to ensure the press cars are to final spec. The press drives are happening now, and we know from factory tour feedback that they aren't building full spec cars yet. Fingers crossed the reviews appearing on 6 June aren't full of caveats about "the not quite final version of the seat" etc.

 

[TomE]

Super intrigued to see how easy that mesh is to take off around the gear linkage. And maybe the actual lever boot too, would prefer an exposed shaft (don't go there). That is, without fudging it too much and looking hacky and tacky...

From talking about this to the design and production folks at Goodwood, I think it's going to be fairly easy to remove the mesh and the leather shift gaiter. It's one of those situations where they have to fit it for global regulations but they know it isn't needed in all jurisdictions, so once you've got the car you can do it.

If the shifter surround or linkage cover needs a slightly different bit of trim then I'm sure someone will have a 3D printed replacement option within a day of the first car being delivered!

 

[VL3X]

The seat frames are from Lear. Foams and covers (leather/alcantara) are outsourced and assembled in-house.

Has this been confirmed?

 

[Pops68]

Just noticed the blue hue of blue jeans contamination on the leather!!! 😳

That's gunna happen on light colored leather. My fat blue-jeaned azz leaves the "blue-hue" on my wife's Aviator seats after a couple weeks. I just clean it with leather cleaner and start over again, no big deal...