Emira Collision: Part 1

The Lotus Emira has been in the US for just over a year now.  A crashed car has made it's way into our shop.  This Blog will detail our progress on this repair.

The insurance company wanted to total the car but the client was quite adamant that the car be saved if possible.  He is a friend/client of ours so we agreed to take a look at the car.  

The car would start so we unloaded it from the flatbed tow truck.  It appeared to drive straight as well - all good signs.  Insurance claims are not a fast or easy process when a car is as low volume as the Emira.  We worked with this insurance company and after a series of calls and meetings at our shop, prepared an exploratory estimate.  We needed to disassemble the rear of the car to determine if the powertrain suffered any damage and confirm other critical areas.

energy absorption saves passengers!

Often times in a collision, damage will propagate to areas that were not in the immediate area of destruction.  In fact, sometimes it is better to simply replace certain parts as they may have hidden damage.  We took the rear of the car apart after getting the A-OK.

The Emira is built like the Evora which runs a similar architecture as the Elise/Exige.  All of these cars feature an extruded aluminum main chassis that feature subframes bolted or glued to the front and rear.  The Emira has a rear subframe that bolts to the main Al chassis tub.  This steel subframe supports the powertrain and is designed to be a crumple zone that can absorb energy in a crash - as it successfully did here.

We were very concerned that the powertrain mounts were damaged.  Fortunately, they appeared to be undamaged.  The Al subframe absorbed the damage.  None of the wheels/brakes/suspension parts were affected.  The side airbags did deploy so will need to be replaced.  But overall the car seems like it can be saved so we prepared a more detailed estimate.

rear mount is intact

This car was designed with collision repair in mind - more so that previous models.  The rear of the car is no longer one large clam.  It is comprised of smaller parts that make replacement, especially for minor issues, and easier proposition.  

we should be able to save the rear glass

The biggest concern is getting parts for this car.  We have placed our order with LotusPartsOnline and are awaiting notice of shipments.  Fingers crossed that we will not be waiting too long.  Fortunately, the Emira is still in production so new parts will be available.