Emira beats C8 in terms of offering visceral driving features like hydraulic (vs electronic) steering, manual (vs DCT), a quarter ton less weight, and compact proportions easier to place on the road. Plus easier to get in/out of with the doors requiring a few inches less space to swing open without a gaping side vent. Not to say C8 is a slouch for driving enthusiasts. As magazine racers like to tout, C8 performance metrics destroy Emira on paper. But you drive the car, not numbers printed on paper.
Lotus's decades long reputation as Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious has improved to Lots Of Toyota Usually Solid. And they were more problematic when an American company (GM) owned them vs more recently under Asian/Chinese ownership. It has reliability where it counts (drivetrain/powertrain) by Toyota so you don't get stranded while the rest of the car is serviceable from sharing many Polestar and Volvo parts (owned by the same Chinese company). And carmakers historically contract Lotus for their engineering expertise, especially in suspension, if not try to emulate them. This includes Toyota and past Corvettes. A car built in-house by car industry skunk works experts porting experience over from their legendary days revolutionizing F1 (more like inventing tremendously unfair advantages and continuously forcing new rules) is a special occasion.
Emira praise aside, I've decided squarely on the C8 for a few key reasons: Driving dynamics may not be as exquisite but consensus seems it's still great for what you pay for. Same for styling which may not be as elegant but the 458 supercar proportions rather than Porsche proportions will be a novelty for me. More bang for buck performance is a very typical reason. But my main selling point is that performance being a better match for American roads which are significantly wider/straighter than in UK/Europe/Japan. If I lived in the UK where Emira is cheaper than C8, I'd err more toward Emira where its technical handling prowess can be more greatly appreciated. On US roads (with backroads being in infrequent excursion for me), much of the Emira's value prop gets lost where C8 shines. Finally, plentiful replacement parts available cheap and quick domestically (once supply chain crisis gets resolved) and abundant dealer network edge out a win for C8.
Basically boils down to C8 being ideally matched to the US vs Emira being ideally matched to the UK in terms of chassis setup for roads, value for price, and ease of ownership.