Well.... like I said i surpassed the storable weight limit and needed a weight belt. I needed 34lbs of lead for the conditions/circumstances/skill level I was in/at (7mm two piece w/hood & gloves, AL80, salt water, 190lbs) that doesn't feel that unreasonable of a set of circumstances honestly. Water temps on the dive were mid/low 50s F. Like your Lotus mine also holds 30lbs. Even using a one piece 7mm I was usually at 32lbs. So thus the requirement of needing a weight belt in not unreasonable circumstances, means I don't think its great in cold water. I despise weight belts, needing one means the BCD can't fulfill its one of its basic functions which is holding enough weight for my dive. If it wasn't a weight integrated BCD then it's fine, since that isn't its job to carry weights at that point. This is also of course assuming you don't overweight any the pouches past their weight limits.
I will admit this was when I was a newer diver, so I was just following the recommended PADI weighting guide (cross referenced by a few of the online calculators), which all put it north of 30lbs. I haven't dove in cold waters in a bit, and when I return to colder waters I hope to be doing so diving dry and with steel tanks. But a shop rented two piece 7mm w/gloves & hood, boat provided AL80, salt water dive, for a guy in reasonable shape( 5'11" guy at 190 ,i'm not claiming its all muscle and I look Chris Hemsworth but it's not all fat either), following a certification agencies weight guidelines, all seem like pretty normal things.
