Anyone else surprised by the 0-60 times between the V6 & I4?

[ADC]

"Most fun" will be a personal thing I guess. Nailing a perfect line through a series of corners is fun, and you can do that in any configuration.

I find paddles are great when you are really giving it some (especially on a circuit), and self-shifting is great when you are just dawdling to and from work in traffic and cannot be arsed (iced coffee optional: I think the Old Bill would actually fine you for that now), hence I was after the i4 from the outset (plus the whole easy-to-add-power-later thing, which is very secondary to be honest, but still a plus in my eyes).

If the exhaust note isn't up to snuff, I guess the aftermarket is going to have to address that... and I'll just stick some playing cards in the wheel spokes in the meantime.

 

[SJR202]

0-60... the least useful measurement ever assigned to the motor industry.

 

[revanthmatha]

Which will be the most fun to drive though ? and I take it the V6 will definitely sound the best. Are any V6 people thinking of changing ?

I was originally in the v6 camp and am strongly tempted by the i4. I don't know how to drive stick and figured I'd use this car to learn but I plan on also having this be a daily driver. Shifters should be easy/good enough for the manual experience. Sometimes I just want my drive to be 'easy'. The v6 will definitely sound better. The I4 is quicker and underpowered which means it should be able to be tuned. I read that the reason it's underpowered is because it overheats otherwise.

 

[NicolasB]

I just don't understand why make two completely different engines for the same performance outcome? It's a lot of work for no real change in performance. Would have been easier to just design a DCT for the V6.

 

[Matthaus]

I just don't understand why make two completely different engines for the same performance outcome? It's a lot of work for no real change in performance. Would have been easier to just design a DCT for the V6.

I just don't understand why make two completely different engines for the same performance outcome? It's a lot of work for no real change in performance. Would have been easier to just design a DCT for the V6.

The v6 doesn't conform to emissions in a lot of countries and won't be around much longer in Europe

I4 is the long term

 

[NicolasB]

The v6 doesn't conform to emissions in a lot of countries and won't be around much longer in Europe

I4 is the long term

Yes, this makes sense. I guess the V6 was just "for old time's sake" to keep the old-school guys happy

 

[SJR202]

I just don't understand why make two completely different engines for the same performance outcome? It's a lot of work for no real change in performance. Would have been easier to just design a DCT for the V6.

Its a global car and needs to be available in all countries Lotus want to operate. China will only get the i4, as mentioned chances are Europe will rule it out in the next few years. So if you have the choice of the 2 then its just nice for you/your market. I'd rather they offer the choice as I havent any interest in an auto/dct sports car or anything with less than 6 cylinders.

 

[CDM1855]

There seems to conflicting acceleration times. U.K. 0 to 60 mph and European sites showing the same times for 0 to 100 kmh

If the 0 to 100 are the true times, then the 0 to 60 should be about 0.3 secs less. Which would mean I4 and V6 Auto should be at 3.9 for 0 to 60. Not that anyone will ever notice 0.3 difference

 

[kitkat]

Which will be the most fun to drive though ? and I take it the V6 will definitely sound the best. Are any V6 people thinking of changing ?

If anything I was originally on the AMG train and then swapped over to the 2GR just because I I found out how long I'd be waiting for the AMG. Life is too short to wait.

 

[Porter]

P.S. I’m willing to bet the i4, when released will actually have 400BHP.

Going to have a chat with my dealer and look at options to switch to the i4. Makes little sense to pay more for the worse car (I want an auto).

If you want an auto, I think this is a no-brainer. The AMG drivetrain will be superior in almost every way for your specific use case.

The primary reason I want the V6 is for the manual transmission, and 20% for the sound. But mostly the manual.

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

I must be the weirdest of all here.

I went for the V6 Auto old school for two reasons:

1. I am too old to go for the manual.
2. I am too lazy to have to go through 8 shifts. My hands get confused, therefore only 6 shifts and slow, my pace!!

 

[~el~jefe~]

i am not surprised that it is similar or faster from 0 mph. What i would be surprised is if it did not explode into a horrible death at 30PSI boost turbo in a 2 liter engine at some point before 100k miles are driven. The camry engine could be pushed for drag purposes into the 550 hp+ range easily but negate the reason to use a reliable engine.

 

[ADC]

i am not surprised that it is similar or faster from 0 mph. What i would be surprised is if it did not explode into a horrible death at 30PSI boost turbo in a 2 liter engine at some point before 100k miles are driven. The camry engine could be pushed for drag purposes into the 550 hp+ range easily but negate the reason to use a reliable engine.

To the contrary, given how far they have detuned the M139 for this application, I'd be surprised if it was even breaking a sweat, let alone flying close to its limits... that damn thing was designed for a race series that never eventuated ferchrissakes!

 

[Ronin]

I must be the weirdest of all here.

I went for the V6 Auto old school for two reasons:

1. I am too old to go for the manual.
2. I am too lazy to have to go through 8 shifts. My hands get confused, therefore only 6 shifts and slow, my pace!!

i'm right there with you!

 

[Porter]

2. I am too lazy to have to go through 8 shifts. My hands get confused, therefore only 6 shifts and slow, my pace!!

I can actually speak to this a bit. I have the ZF 8-speed auto in my BMW, which is an excellent box. It's not as bleeding-edge fast as the dual clutch stuff like DCT or PDK boxes, but it's extremely fast at paddle shifts for a traditional auto.

In practice, when driving quickly on an 8-speed gearbox with paddles, you don't think as much about which specific gear you are in the way you do with a traditional manual. Each gear is significantly shorter, and the dynamic penalty for changing gears is much smaller. That makes it a different process for the driver.

Where in a manual car on a circuit (or mountain road) you might be dancing between 3rd and 4th gear and making choices about when to downshift to 2nd for a tighter corner, with a paddle-shifted auto you end up making multiple shifts as you approach a corner, both as soon as you enter the braking zone (assisting decel) and often again either mid-deceleration or as you prepare to transition to throttle. So the decelerative effects of engine braking end up being used through multiple gears rather than just a single one. It changes the rhythm of driving quickly but not in a way that makes it feel frenetic... it's just a two-tap (or three-tap) rhythm in big decelerations where previously the shifts under braking were single (or maybe double coming down from much higher speeds) and you had to choose the exact timing more carefully.

With such fast shifting and so many gears moving past as you build or remove speed, it matters less what particular gear you are in when approaching a corner, and more about where you are in the RPM band. You may have started in 5th and decelerate through 4th and 3rd and then again to power out of a tight corner in 2nd. Or you may have started in 6th and then downshift twice into the sweet spot of the torque band in 3rd in a fast sweeper. But in both cases you probably wouldn't have thought much about the numeric gear, because without a physical shifter arm that you need to manage and keep track of to guide your hand position, the specific number doesn't matter as much. What does matter is where you are in the RPM band and the "step" of RPM you are taking with each shift.

Hope this helps.