Lotus Elise Oil Line Recall details

LOTUS IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2005-2006 ELISE AND EXIGE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM JUNE 1, 2004, THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2006. THE OIL COOLER LINE MAY BECOME DETACHED FROM ITS FITTING.

A number of owners have reported that the oil line(s) have detacted from the oil line fitting at the oil coolers or at the engine. A detacted oil line can potentially spray oil on a tire increasing the risk of a crash or spray oil throughout the engine compartment increasing the risk of fire.

The NHTSA notified Lotus Cars of the recall on October 26, 2011. See NHTSA letter to Lotus Cars NHTSA Letter (pdf).

In January 2012 Lotus Cars USA sent a preliminary notification letter to all current owners of the affected cars. Owner Preliminary Notice (pdf).

On September 6, 2012, Lotus Cars sent a letter to the NHTSA with a proposed for the oil cooler line problem. The letter is in two parts. The body of the letter outlines the solution and how Lotus will reinburse owners cost of repairing oil lines that have detached.
Lotus Cars Letter to NHTSA (pdf).

The proposed reinbursement plan looks like this:

Customer Reimbursement Plan
1. Claimants(1) to be reimbursed for repairs conducted between 5th October 2010 and 19th January 2013 (customer notification + 10 days)
2. Claims will be refused if:
a) Repairs2 are not of the same type as the recall remedy (i.e. hose repair or replacement)
b) The repair did not address the problem that led to the recall
c) The repair was not reasonably necessary to correct the defect that led to the recall
3. Claims will only be paid if adequate documentation is provided:
a) Name and mailing address of the claimant;
b) Vehicle make, model, model year, and vehicle identification number of the vehicle;
c) Identification of the recall (either the NHTSA recall number or the manufacturer’s recall number);
d) Identification of the owner or purchaser of the recalled motor vehicle at the time that the pre-notification remedy was obtained;
e) A receipt for the pre-notification remedy, which may be an original or copy
f) Receipt must indicate that the repair addressed the defect or noncompliance that led to the recall or a manifestation of the defect or noncompliance, and state the total amount paid for the repair of that problem.
4. Within 60 days, claimant will be reimbursed for lesser of:
a) Cost paid by claimant for repair – OR
b) Lotus retail cost of parts + labour, taxes etc
5. Claims for reimbursement should be sent to: Mr Ron Mann, Customer Services & Warranty Manager, Lotus Cars USA Inc.

The letter proposes replacing the oil cooler hose end fitting where the original hose end fittings are removed and replace with new end fittings secured by Oetiker clamps.

It is proposed to replace the oil cooler hose end fittings, using a bespoke dealer fitting kit. This technique involves removal of the original hose end fittings and installing new end fittings, secured by Oetiker clamps. This repair will be carried out on the left and right longitudinal oil cooler hoses (4 end fittings). The lateral oil cooler hose will be replaced in its entirety. Following repair, the vehicle will be leak checked to verify oil cooler system integrity.

The letter continues to propose that Lotus Cars will need time to build and distribute the repair kits and train dealer technical staff. Thus the estimated date(s) that notifications will sent to owners, dealers and distributors will be subject to parts and tool availability, notification dates are as follows:
Dealer notification: 2nd January 2013
Owner notification: 9th January 2013

The proposed dealer service bulletin is available here (PDF)

Registration open for Autocross Season Finale (Oct 13, 2012)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 Golden Gate Lotus Club autox season.

The eight and final event of the season is now open for registration for club members only.

We will be having a BBQ lunch (including a veggie option) sponsored by Dietsch Werks.

Non-members will be able to register one week later.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club autocross page.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this year’s changes or any other autox topic.

See you all next month,

Colm.

Meet and Greet with Stefano D’Aste

Meet Lotus Cup Italy racer and WTCC driver Stefano D’Aste on Wednesday. He has also helped Lotus Sport develop several of their trackday cars. Come out and meet him and learn more about his Lotus exploits. The event is being held by GGLC Sponsors Sector 111 and Suspension Performance at the Suspension Performace shop in Mountain View. RSVP is required.

Where: Suspension Performance
2239 Old Middlefield Way Suite H
Mountain View, CA 94043
RSVP: 650-625-8499
When: Weds Sept 19 at 5pm

In the meantime check out this in-car video of Stefano driving the Exige Rally Car in Italy.

Registration for the Marina Autocross is now open (23 Sept 2012)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 Golden Gate Lotus Club autox season.

The seventh event of the season is now open for registration for club members at MotorsportsReg

Please note that this event is on Sept 23rd, a week later than previously advertised. Non-members will be able to register one week later.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club autocross page

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this year’s changes or any other autox topic.

See you all in a few weeks,

Colm.

Thunderhill Track Day registration is now open

Registration is now open for the Golden Gate Lotus Club’s fourth track day of the year. This event will be held at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willlows, CA on Tuesday, September 25, 2012. We will follow our traditional format of three run groups, allowing you to bridge two run groups in order to give you maximum track time. We will be running in the normal (counter-clockwise) direction WITH THE BYPASS this time.

Participants will sign up for either Novice/Intermediate, or Intermediate/Advanced depdending on your experience level. Early Bird pricing will be $140 for members and $160 for non-members. That price will increase after 9/12/2012 to $160 for members and $180 for non-members. Click here to register and sign-up early to ensure you pay the lower price.

See you at the track

John & Scott
GGLC Track Day Chairs

GGLC Labor Day AutoX reg is open

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 Golden Gate Lotus Club autox season.

The sixth event of the season is now open for registration for club members at: http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.advert/uidEvent/462F895B-F093-7784-BC958E0E5E3A7C44

Please note that this event is on Labor Day Monday. Non-members will be able to register one week later.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club autocross page.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this year’s changes or any other autox topic.

See you all next month,

Colm.

Cars, Karts & Kids Car Show to Benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area

The Frst annual Cars, Karts and Kids Car Show will be held in Fremont, California, Saturday, August 25, with hundreds of exotic and collector cars, Kart Challenges, and a silent auction featuring auto enthusiast items and memorabilia.

The all day event– 11 AM- 5 PM– is designed to appeal to car fans and families looking for fun, food and fabulous vehicles like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Vipers, Cobras, Corvettes, Porsches and Lotus sports cars. “We’re expecting more than 300 cars to be on display,” said Jenni Dietsch, the organizer and owner of Dietsch Werks of San Jose and president of the Golden Gate Lotus Club. “Everyone will be invited to test their driving skills at Lemans Karting’s indoor and outdoor tracks, bid on exciting auto items (including the Invisible Auto Thing), and enjoy delicious snacks from one of the eight Food Truck Mafia locations at the event.”

There’s no admission charge, but a suggested donation of $l0 is requested for general admission with kids l2 and under free with an adult. All proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area. Why Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area? “Six months ago a number of us who knew about the valuable work being performed by BBBSBA decided to help,” said Dietsch. ” With my experience servicing and repairing Lotus cars at Dietsch Werks and Eric Traylor of the excellent and nearby Lemans Karting facility an auto event seemed a natural. As soon as they heard about our plans, we got immediate backing from the Lamborghini Club of America, Apple Auto Club, Nor Cal Shelby Club, Ferrari Club of America/Paci?c Region, Ferrari Owners Group, EuroSunday, BMW Club, Porsche Club and Fiat America. They’ll all be represented at our show.

“We still have space for interesting cars,” Dietsch revealed, ” and we invite owners to contact me to discuss their proposed entry. Cost is $20 per car, which, like all proceeds, goes to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area.”

At BBBSBA, Director of Development Lauren Weston is looking forward to Cars, Karts and Kids. ” This promises to be an exceptional event that will be as much fun for participants as it will be of value to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area and, more importantly, the kids we serve. We want to thank the organizers and all of the amazing people involved in making this happen. Donors help provide a Bay Area child facing adversity with a caring mentor that offers guidance and support, leading to long-term success in school and life. It’s not just a donation. It’s an investment in a child’s future.”

Cars, Karts and Kids will be presented at 45957 Hotchkiss Street in Fremont. Full details including advance tickets donations and a map are available at www.carskartsandkids.com.

Contact: Jenni Dietsch at 408-429-5918. Or for information on BBBSBA contact Lauren Weston at 415-503-4353, lweston@bbbsba.org

First Production Exige S comes off the Assembly Line

The first production Exige S came off the assembly line today and very soon the first customers will experience this exciting new Lotus, a car which has already produced very positive headlines in the automotive media

Lotus Chief Operating Officer, Aslam Farikullah stood proudly by the production line and spoke about the significance of this event

How do you feel about reaching this particular milestone?

We are very proud of the Exige S. It marks the first step towards consolidating and then growing the company. I know that customers have been eagerly waiting for this car, and I assure them that it will be worth the wait. We wanted to be sure that we had a product that was absolutely ready before launching it. We are confident that the right time for the Exige S is now.

Our new philosophy is simple: We will keep announcements about our planned products to a minimum. New models will only be launched when the product and timing is right. Once we do launch a new product, we will ensure that we can deliver to customers anywhere in the world as scheduled.

What else will be different at Lotus under your leadership?

Our emphasis now is on the finer details of what we do. I believe that the ability of our engineers and workforce makes them among the best in the world. We will leverage on this key strength as we revitalise and strengthen the Lotus brand.

We can all look forward to exciting times ahead as we bring the company to the next level. But I am not a fan of the limelight; I will let our cars do the talking.

So what is your vision for Lotus?

I want the Lotus name to become a by-word in the automotive industry for integrity, which means delivering quality products on the dates we say we will deliver them. As a start, we will refocus our human resources in order to further strengthen our Quality Department by 20%, clearly demonstrating our future intent.

I would also like to reiterate that DRB-HICOM is committed to the future of Lotus. When I arrived I found a company full of talent, ambition and pride in the Lotus name. It’s my job now to re-galvanise the company and we will be doing that by investing in our existing talent.

Marina Autocross Registration is now open (Aug 18th event)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 Golden Gate Lotus Club autox season.

The fifth event of the season is now open for registration for club members only. Non-members will be able to register one week later.

This season we have 8 classes that you can participate in. Please read over the details on the club autocross page.

For Lotus Elise/Exige/Evora drivers, please choose your class that you want to participate in and also use the classification tool to calculate your index points. For non-Lotus cars, please use the appropriate SCCA class.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this year’s changes or any other autox topic.

See you all next month,

Colm.
GGLC Autocross Chair

Happy Birthday Elan

Recalling Sixties spy-fi show The Avengers, the first thing men of a certain age remember is Mrs Peel’s black leather cat suit. But the character’s object of desire was her cute-as-a-button Lotus Elan.

The Elan was launched in October 1962 at the British Motorshow, just as the Sixties started swinging. Jaguar had launched the E-Type the previous year, and AC had the Cobra and Ferrari the GTO. Big, expensive, powerful muscles cars. The Elan was very different, and typically Lotus – ultra modern, lightweight, rapid and huge fun.

It summed up the Sixties: a playful topless two-seat ticket to freedom, it was technically innovative with the first backbone tube chassis of any road car, a fiberglass body, four-wheel independent suspension, 670kg with a peachy power-to-weight ratio, bang up-to-date styling beloved by Kings Road cruisers, and a liberating, rock n’ roll attitude.

It came with luxuries that were a rarity at the time, like electric windows, carpets, a heater, and in vogue wooden fascia, but it was still light enough on the scales to outrun other automotive competition – not to mention groupies.

The Elan Sprint, a more powerful 1973 alternative, could hit 60mph in 6.6 seconds, which even now would be considered respectably fast. Back then it was Neil Armstrong territory.

Its pop-up headlights could wink at admirers. It turned heads on Carnaby Street, where the Swinging Sixties embraced cool new design. As well as its turn on TV, defeating baddies and complimenting Diana Rigg’s risqué wardrobe, it found its way onto a magazine cover with Jimi Hendrix posing on the bonnet, and even inspired the lyrics to The Beatles’ A Day In The Life.

The Elan was Lotus’ biggest commercial success to that point, reviving a company stretched thin by the more exotic but in turn more costly to produce Elite. Four different series were produced up until 1973, including a coupe version. Seventeen thousand original examples, including the Elan +2, were produced.

The car was designed by Ron Hickman, who went on to make millions when he patented the Black & Decker WorkMate. He died last year, having earned an OBE for services to industrial innovation.

The Elan was the design inspiration for the Mazda MX-5, which was one of the biggest selling sports cars of the 1990s, and it’s clearly the mother of the Lotus Elise, which has been a staple of the Lotus line-up since 1996 and is on its third evolution.

The late motoring journalist LKJ Setright summed up the Elan when, in the early 1960s, he wrote poetically, “The package that results may not appeal to those conditioned to judge a car by the shut of the door, the depth of the upholstery or the weight of the paint; but to those whose sensual and cerebral appreciations of motoring offer more relevant criteria, the Lotus is as much a machine for driving as a house by Le Corbusier is a machine for living.”

Fifty years on, the Elan has never gone out of style.

A little more Elan history

First introduced in 1962 as a roadster (Drop Head), an optional hardtop was offered in 1963 and a coupé (Fixed Head) version in 1965. It was the first Lotus road car to use the a steel backbone chassis, a technology that continued until 1995 on all Lotus road cars including the Europa, Excel and the Esprit supercar, when it was replaced by the Elise’s amazing extruded and bonded Aluminium chassis sub frame with a glass reinforced composite body.

It was also available as a kit to be assembled by the customer. Although a kit was not really the best description of these cars – they could easily be assembled in a weekend, as only a few key components had to be mated together.

The Elan was technologically advanced with a twin-cam 1558cc engine (early Elans in 1962 came with a 1.5 litre engine), 4-wheel disc brakes, and 4-wheel independent suspension.

Mirroring the changing lifestyle of Lotus founder, Colin Chapman, an Elan +2 was introduced in 1967 with two rear seats. These rear seats were compact but by no means occasional and it’s not coincidence that it perfectly accommodated Colin’s growing family – a car boss has to be able to use his own cars after all!

Elan production finished in 1972 and the +2 ended two years later. With a production run of 17,392 cars, the Elan family was one of the most successful in Lotus’ history, surpassed only by the Elise. In the 1970s with Lotus’ unprecedented success on the racetrack, especially in F1, Colin Chapman introduced the now legendary Lotus Esprit, Elite and Eclat ranges, taking Lotus into the higher value market and introducing the brand to the glamour and sophistication of supercar territory.