No offense to the Evora GT. It’s the car that convinced me to buy a Lotus, and for a long time I thought about a lightly used Evora GT rather than an Emira. Mostly because it is a little raucous and flashy!
Lotus shot itself in the foot when it initially announced the car and the target price. I understand that the world changed between the announcement and the actual production of the car, but I think expectation and reality were just too far apart for a lot of people. Frankly, I wonder if the...
My guess is that it's limited by traction and the manual transmission. GM got to a point with F/R layout of the final C7 manual Corvette where they just couldn't make the car quicker without increasingly race/track focused parts.
A lot of the recent improvement in 0-60 times has come from DCT...
Thanks for the comparison.
I wonder what a high end engine build, like a 500 hp JUBU upgrade, would make then Emira feel like.
Another 1000 RPM and 75-100 HP would make the car feel wild, I think.
For me, the Emira’s transmission could be improved as well. It’s not bad, it’s just not great...
I think the time is ripe for a Saudi prince with a passion for the brand’s heritage to purchase it outright for pennies on the dollar and re-re-re-introduce Lotus to the world!
Or maybe, in an odd twist of fate, Mazda buys Lotus, as both companies share a passion for driving enthusiasm but from...
I’m a couple of hours south of Dallas in Waco.
To me and most Texans, anything below 70 is cold, and anything below 30 is hell.
I wouldn’t last more than 2 days in a Canadian winter.
You should come visit in January or February for a good laugh. Whole cities shut down if there’s even a chance...
I do wonder if the NSX would really feel quick. I love its understated, clean design. Looking exotic without strakes, scoops, fins and huge spoilers is quite a trick! I think the design has stood the test of time much better than the 360.
There were a few OEM manual 360s.
Also, I would prefer a car with no screen at all and analog gauges, with hard button controls for everything, so the older interiors don't bother me one bit!
The 360 had a manual swap done. I couldn't help but think that despite lacking 2 cylinders and over 1,000+ RPM, the Emira with 3rd cat delete and valve controller sounds pretty dang good next to the 360's flat pane V8.
I'm not a huge fan of the nose of the refreshed 1st gen NSX, and the 360...
There's a great new Everyday Driver video out today- "Emira, NSX, or Ferrari 360- Which would you Rather?"
Now I just need to find a NSX and a 360 to try out to see if I agree!
My PPF could be better. More cut/relief lines than I’d like, and there are a few areas that it doesn’t but up against as closely as I’d like.
However, I am glad I did not have the shop disassemble the car to tuck and hide everything. Press-to-fit panels never fit right once they are removed. I...
Why the heck not?!?!
The looks are a BIG part of the appeal of the Emira, for me anyway.
Sportscars are semi-practical toys, and I want a pretty one!
A Cayman GTS 4.0 is probably just about an even match for our Emira’s in everything except looks. In fact, what’s what I would have if the...
I can’t overstate how critical a manual transmission is to my enjoyment of a sports car.
A heavy grand tourer? Who cares. Put the slush box in to crush miles barreling down the highway. But for a sports car, there is almost no level of power I would trade for a manual transmission.
On the one hand, I WANT to believe you- I’d love an even more exotic exhaust sound.
On the other hand, I don’t want to believe you, because I might just spend almost $3,000 on an exhaust?
Did you do 3rd cat delete before Larini?
Most Ferraris just aren’t that pretty to me. Exciting, athletic, yes. I’d be happy to have one. I’d go so far as to say the last Ferrari design I really like is the F355. For some reason, even the Roma looks a bit like an actualized computer render to me.
The shapes are a bit inorganic to my...
Agree to disagree. It's a pretty car, and I wouldn't turn one down if someone offered to give me one.
However, the rear styling is unresolved, and it looks too long in the middle.
Also, I'm not sure I actually like the interior.
But, that's just like my opinion, man.
The proportions of the Emira do look a bit “baby supercar”, but oddly, I think the shorter length is actually what makes this design superior (to my eye) to darn near all mid-engined cars on the road today.
Most mid engine cars look inherently a bit goofy in profile from the rear of the door...
Break in done correctly here.
Manual transmission bona fides:
Only daily driven manual transmission. Ever. No automatics.
Personal car history- 2nd owner high mileage 1991 Taurus SHO as 1st car, owned since new 2006 Mustang GT, and now 2024 Emira.
My Mustang, which rolled over 140k miles...
This is what makes Lotus Lotus. It is who Lotus is.
Brilliant products despite poor management. Never not a time of uncertainty, always on the brink of bankruptcy, and yet, Lotus persists!
In theory I’d love to have a 2750 lb or less modern Lotus. In practice, that already exists, it’s called an Exige, and I didn’t buy it.
In modern times, significantly lighter means significantly smaller. The Emira is about as small as I want. In fact, to me it feels just about the perfect size.
I think the brakes and grip are up to significantly more than the drivetrain is. I see the transmission as the “weak link”. The gear change does not like to be rushed.
I’m not abusive to my car- I’ve never “launched” it from a stop. No revving to 5k and sidestepping the clutch, and I always try...
I wish there were a “reasonably” priced manual transmission upgrade for our car. No sequential box stuff, just internals that could take all the abuse you could throw at it at stock power levels. In other words, something built to handle 500 hp and 400 lb ft of torque.