[ekological]

After picking up the car on Friday and only driving it straight home so that I could pack and load the M3 for a track event, I was finally able to take it for a spin today. This morning was raining so I took the M3 to work. Got home, ate dinner and took a ride.

Everyone raves about the positives, so I'll just point out some things I noticed.

- The clutch pickup is very high. I would rather have it closer to the floor...makes smooth shifting easier. The clutch pedal effort is also very light.
- The gear shift mechanism is tilted to the right. It's a bit weird and make it difficult for me to find third and fourth since I'm used to my M3's gearbox.
- The engine is rather "husky" right off idle. Blipping the gas say in stop and go traffic will make this engine sound pretty...eh. I definitely like the soundtrack from the M3 better Once you get going, the engine sounds good. I haven't really taken it on the second set of cams, so I don't know how that sounds.
- There is very little travel in the suspension. When I first drove the car home, it didn't feel solidly connected...more like something was perhaps loose. I'll probably take it up on my friend's lift tomorrow and give it the once over to make sure that all the nuts and bolts are tight. But just looking at the suspension when the car is at rest, there is perhaps an inch of front shock travel before the bumpstop comes into play. I'm not sure how the suspenion height is set since people have said that the sport packaged and non sport packaged cars use the same shock bodies (just valved differently) so I'm curious as to how much shock travel there is with the LSS cars.
- Rear visibility is horrible. Backing out of my driveway is more of a test of blind faith than anything else. That roll hoop/covering is a hude obstruction.
- The brake pedal goes way past the gas pedal to make heel-toeing comfortable. When everyone talked about how close the pedals are, etc, I went in wearing my pumas. The darn sneakers turned out to be too narrow especially with the way the pedals end up after hitting the brake pedal.
- I love the small steering wheel...feels like a little toy
- The lack of power steering is awesome in the turns...you feel everything
- The stereo is absolutely horrible. ...if you care about things like that. But if you're going to get a nice upgraded head unit when getting the touring package, you would at least expect to have a somewhat descent sound reproduction.

That's it for now...we'll see when I take it to work tomorrow.

 

[Lotus F1]

Good writeup. I just want to point out a few things. The headunit in the car is a very good stereo. You need to upgrade the speakers not the headunit. If you dont do that the best headunit in the world will sound exactly the same.

I also for the first time got on the second cam. I dont know what kind of turbochargers some of you guys have driven but this second cam thing in no way resemble a turbo hit. It just feels like it ever so slightly races to redline. My turbo Miata hit you so hard it pressed your whole body deep into the seat and made gear shifting tricky thus requiring the quick skills of a video gamer before hitting redline. I personally would love the car even more with a supercharger to boost the torque and hp another 50 shot or so.

PS You are right. The stereo system as it stands is the worst I have ever heard im my lifetime. My 1986 BMW stock unit even blows it away!

 

[ekological]

Hehe. I know the head unit is a good one. It's either the speakers or the fact that it's driven off the head unit without an amp. Just saying that it sounds way horrible

I've driven a E36M3 with a big butt turbo. When that thing spooled up, it was OMFGFAST!

 

[Surferjer]

On the head unit-set the graphic equalizer up. Makes a world of difference. THere's still little bass, but the rest of the sound is good. It took me 2 weeks to get it optimized (in my mind).

 

[Racer X]

The touring pack radio comes with an automated equalizer with 3 positions. This should make for a good basis to customize to one personal taste.

I would listen to the automated setting for several weeks before adjust to suit taste. This is because a lot of people adjust the sound to something that is not true to the original (because they are used to listening to something that was not accurate) and so don't know what the music is supposed to sound like. I like to use acoustical music or acapella(sp?) singing for this purpose.

Greg

 

[master]

No way ! The 111R sounds much better then my sweetheart's M3. Not even CLOSE

 

[ekological]

O....forgot to mention that I have an aftermarket Active Autowerke exhaust on the M3. Stock M3 exhaust...yeah, I think the Lotus sounds more aggressive.

 

[Vantage]

I wonder if the pedal firms up under very hard driving so that the heel-toe becomes easier. I want to believe Lotus did not overlook this detail as this is how they test their cars. Perhaps there is a special method that allows you to perform the task in the current state.

 

[ekological]

Perhaps as the brake pads bed in there will be less mush factor!?!? I hope so...

I wonder if the pedal firms up under very hard driving so that the heel-toe becomes easier. I want to believe Lotus did not overlook this detail as this is how they test their cars. Perhaps there is a special method that allows you to perform the task in the current state.

 

[mact3333]

Good writeup. I just want to point out a few things. The headunit in the car is a very good stereo. You need to upgrade the speakers not the headunit. If you dont do that the best headunit in the world will sound exactly the same.

I also for the first time got on the second cam. I dont know what kind of turbochargers some of you guys have driven but this second cam thing in no way resemble a turbo hit. It just feels like it ever so slightly races to redline. My turbo Miata hit you so hard it pressed your whole body deep into the seat and made gear shifting tricky thus requiring the quick skills of a video gamer before hitting redline. I personally would love the car even more with a supercharger to boost the torque and hp another 50 shot or so.

PS You are right. The stereo system as it stands is the worst I have ever heard im my lifetime. My 1986 BMW stock unit even blows it away!

actually, the speakers and esp. the headunit make little difference...its the amp that makes the biggest difference...A/D/S amp is what is needed!

 

[LotusLust]

speakers and amp. what size are the speakers in the lotus? what this thing needs is a custom installation of a subwoofer like the j/l audio 6 incher we use in a custom box in the spyder. sure, laugh about a 6 inch sub but it is an amazing spoeaker when properly installed. how much room is there in the space above the passenger's feet? in the spyder there is a box designed and fit into the footwell on the driver's side. completely invisible but gives outstanding bass reproduction. someone down on the west coast of florida should stop by musical touch in port richey and let them look at a possible design for a 6 inch sub box. they did the outstanding spyder design