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[Lotus F1]

http://forums.utahscca.com/viewtopic.php?t=302



What's Lotus position?

[Randy Chase]

Originally posted by 1FASTMX5

What's Lotus position?

[Lotus F1]

Its so strange to think that these car manufacturers talk about their cars in context of these associations and (even giving membership) to then deny warranty claims if used. Looks like I'll stay away from cones for a while

[Randy Chase]

My perception from some discussions, though I have never seen a formal position on this from Lotus.

If something happens to the car from you abusing it, which would include racing it, it is your responsibility.

Autocrossing should not fall under this since there is nothing being done in an autocross, that one does not do on a spirited street drive, except that you are only doing it for less than a few minutes.

This Mitsubishi thing is not normal and might reflect their money problems.

I would expect Lotus to cover the car under warranty for things that they should cover. If your engine fails and you happened to have autocrossed, the failure was not because of the autocrossing.

[grudkin]

Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that this sort of thing can be a problem. BMW voided my warranty recently after I lost an engine. I won't get into details here, but you can e-mail me if you like

I would suggest that if you are going to track the car in any fashion, you should consult with Lotus and clarify what their position is on specific events. And I would say that you should be willing/able to cope with a significant or even total loss that neither Lotus or insurance will cover. Make sure that car is suitably modified to by pushed, but consider if mods will void warranty. Will Lotus void the warranty if you install an accusump? I don't know, but I'm going to ask.

Example -- Porsche 996s are NOT track suitable out of the box -- they suffer from oil starvation in high g-loads, unlike the earlier 993 and prior cars (which are dry sump). GT2/3 and Turbo are exceptions -- all are based on the the earlier 993 engine -- dry sump. In the 996, Porsche can install a baffle in the 996 oil sump to combat the problem, but they will VOID YOUR WARRANTY if they install it. I guess they just expect anyone who will do this is going to 'race' the car

I think it's reasonable that no manufacturer should be expected to cover warrany claims if the car is competitively raced. But I think that for DE events, they should cover claims -- within reason. But there's a huge grey area here.

True that there are cases of manufacturers looking online for info about cars being 'tracked.' Also consider that new cars have computer data logs that can be used to deny claims

As track events gain popularity here, the issue will eventually be clarified, but it's not at the moment

[Randy Chase]

It is indeed a gray area. Well said. When my Toyota went in for warranty work, I would remove racing stickers, and the harness. Better to avoid the questions.

I left things like the modified exhaust and racing struts, because I was prepared to argue that aftermarket parts do not void the warranty for other things (I can see losing the warranty on the engine if I changed the ECU, added a turbo, etc). But I knew other MR2 owners that would strip the car back to stock to take the car in for engine work.

My perspective is that a new sports car should be able to autocross and do an occasional track event without breaking.

Speaking as the local webmaster for the SCCA, I would suggest when you autocross, that your region not include full names in the results. We do not.

[Brak]

Honda has pulled the same kind of crap. There are a few documented cases where dealers have monitored forums like s2ki.com and based on posts by owners that indicated autoxing or the like they've refused warranty work and "voided" the warranty. A friend of mine was the victim of this and eventually had to threaten a law suit in order to come to an equitable arrangement regarding a granaded motor (he still ended up having to pay a good portion of the repair however).

[khamai]

Some car manufacturers go as far as sealing parts. If the seal is broken the warranty is voided.

Case in point is the S/C crank pulley, the MAF unit and other parts on Fords. These parts have their fasteners (bolts/screws etc) marked. If the mark is altered (as in changing to an undersized crank pulley to increase boost of the S/C) the warranty is void.

This was one of the things I learned when I was considering overboosting my SVT Lightning. Didn't do it cuz I had 12 months left on my warranty.

[GabbaGabbaHey]

At the LA show I asked a factory rep, (Tony Shute .. not sure) about Lotus' position on how tracking would or would not affect the warranty of the Elise. He replied w/o hesitation, no problem it is a Lotus and is designed to be tracked I had precessed my question mentioning how Porsche is not honoring claims if their cars had been tracked, vis a vie ceramic brake warranty issues.

[MickOpalak]

Doesn't Lotus offer on-track, driver education events in England?

[Patricko]

Originally posted by MickOpalak
Doesn't Lotus offer on-track, driver education events in England?

Yes, they do I am doing one in August

[zvezdah1]

I don't think track events will be a problem (ie not competition) but if you overrev the engine and grenade it, and they can do the data download to see it, probably not much chance of warranty payment. It really wouldn't be reasonable to expect them to cover something like that.
Chris

[BrokenR1]

Originally posted by khamai
Some car manufacturers go as far as sealing parts. If the seal is broken the warranty is voided.

Case in point is the S/C crank pulley, the MAF unit and other parts on Fords. These parts have their fasteners (bolts/screws etc) marked. If the mark is altered (as in changing to an undersized crank pulley to increase boost of the S/C) the warranty is void.

This was one of the things I learned when I was considering overboosting my SVT Lightning. Didn't do it cuz I had 12 months left on my warranty.

Would they be able to void it if you were to say "pollish" some parts so they look better? For looks, yeah that's it looks. Looks won't void anything right?