Emira looks

[Pops68]

I'd like to take issue with this a little, because I've seen this peddled frequently (and by Lotus themselves, pushing the Emira as the 'usable' supercar). True, Ferraris of old had a reputation for poor reliability (but actually now, compared with other classics, old Ferraris actually come out quite well.)

But a modern Ferrari comes with a three year unlimited miles warranty and seven years servicing included in the price. That seven years' servicing goes with the car - it's transferred to the new owner if you sell it. So apart from consumables and an MOT, most owners spend nothing whatsoever on maintenance.

Modern Ferraris are also very well-built and reliable. There are 458s out there going strong with 250k miles on the clock. They can absolutely be driven daily (well, if you can stomach the depreciation).

They're also pretty practical. A 488 has 230 litres of really usable luggage capacity in its frunk (more than a 911), plus a whatever you can fit behind the seats depending on how tall you are. Emira has 151 litres in the boot plus whatever behind the seats.

Re: price point, I actually think Ferraris represent excellent value for money. They are individually hand-built to your spec - and the spec/customisation list is huge. Actually, it's unlimited; if you have the money, Ferrari will design and build you a complete one-off car! Performance is second to none and on-the-road handling will utterly destroy any Lotus (check out the reviews of the 488 - you'll see words like 'witchcraft' used to describe the ride and suspension). Yes. they are very, very expensive, but you are getting a bespoke car built for you, and they are definitely not just a pretty face. To drive, they are awesome.

What I'll never understand is why people buy Ferraris and only drive 'em 1k miles a year? Cars were meant to be driven imo!!

 

[Porter]

Like many things made by China, it is indeed comprised of bits/ideas from other country's successful products. Look at their new fighter plane. Looks like an F22 but without the capability. Same with the Emira.. Regardless I love the look of the new Lotus and I think they "squished" it enough to look "Lotusy". Does it look (almost exactly like) like this Ferrari? Even Ray Charles would say so but I don't care, it's beautiful and unlike the Ferrari it's in my financial wheelhouse...

The Emira was designed in the UK by the UK design team. Not in China. Specifically, the exterior was designed by Lotus UK designer Daniel Durrant, and the interior was designed by Lotus UK designer Jon Statham, both under the direction of Lotus design director Russell Carr. All of them are English and live in the UK and have been with Lotus for years, far longer than Geely's financial stake in the brand.

The Emira is also being built in the UK by UK production staff and management, using many of the same suppliers that they have been using for many years. It's not a Chinese product except in terms of operational financing.

There are some parts-sharing arrangements with other Geely family companies now, notably Volvo/Polestar for the switchgear and Lynk & Co for the infotainment, but so far that seems to be a good thing, not a bad thing, because those commoditized components were areas where Lotus struggled due to lack of scale.


If you want more detail on who the designers were, what their experience is within Lotus, and other additional context, scroll about halfway down on this page to the design Q&A sections: https://media.lotuscars.com/en/models/emira.html

 

[lion shf]

Maybe, what bar?

Patricks

Home - Patrick's Pub

 

[lion shf]

Only thing I miss about hopat

 

[ADC]

More than one pundit has observed out loud that the Emira could pass as a modern Ferrari Dino, so I agree with @kitkat that you have to be kidding yourself if you don't see at least some design influence coming from that quarter.

I am personally OK with that. I'm also fine with it being mentioned in the same sentence as McLaren. Not because I hope to ride on the coat-tails of those brands and feel like a 'baller, but because looking at the car evokes the same "ohhh yes" feeling I get running my eyes over some of those designs. I sure as hell am not interested in getting validation from Non Car People about my choice.

I'm comfortable saying that I do love that the Emira is able to bring such an exotic look and chassis (that was typically the preserve of £150K plus) to a price point that doesn't feel totally irresponsible/perilous to stretch to... and I expect it will be plenty of car for me to "recapture my youth" with (at least to start off ). I love driving, but I'm not exactly Fangio ferchrissakes.

Maybe that's what it boils down to... it evokes similar emotions to "proper" supercars, for not-supercar money, and it isn't about faking that you have a supercar... it's about unplugging from all the bullshit and feeling fucking awesome fanging around in a sweet little sports car that looks like it belongs on a poster from your childhood bedroom wall.



Or maybe I just need another beer.

 

[Pegasi]

As I have mentioned before it appears as though Lotus has created a car that really has no equals or predecessors. If you made a chart and compared this to all other sports cars I don't think anything would come close.

Midengined
Rarity
Price
Performance
Handling
Engines (two)
Transmissions (3)
Looks
Build Quality

I enjoy the debate on the forum because IMO its difficult to place this car anywhere or compare it to anything else because it's so unique. Unique doesn't mean BETTER OR FASTER, unique just means unique. It leads its class in looks and potentially handling. Handling in the sense of Touring being able to offer performance on most roads, and handling in terms of how confident does an "average" driver feel pushing it on a mountain road or a track. Its comparable to a Ferrari because it is elegant sporty. Lamborghini has a more in your face look example. A Mustang looks like a Charger in the sense that they are both muscle cars. So, I will be waiting for my green Ferrari look alike.

 

[ADC]

What I'll never understand is why people buy Ferraris and only drive 'em 1k miles a year? Cars were meant to be driven imo!!

Perhaps they are too busy swimming in their money vaults, Scrooge McDuck style?

I guess you have to really want to keep it forever, because, as Wolfram said, you take an absolute bath on the depreciation. And far be it from me to suggest that a certain subset of people who buy such cars feel the need to regularly trade up to the latest and greatest as a symbol of their wealth (actual enthusiasts notwithstanding)

 

[GetawayDriving]

There's been so much said about the Emira's 'supercar' looks here, but does anyone else think it's a shame it doesn't look like a Lotus? I think pretty much every car that Lotus has designed thus far has been unmistakably a Lotus: Esprit, Elan, Elise, Exige, Evora - they were all really distinctive and didn't ape anything else.

And now we have the 'supercar'-looking Emira which is a blatant copy of Ferrari's designs, and there have been many comments here that people are hoping it will be mistaken for a Ferrari (and it probably will).

View attachment 9675
(Ferrari 812)

View attachment 9676
(Ferrari 488 Pista)

But it's got absolutely none of the performance of a Ferrari - even one from a few generations back. It doesn't even have the performance of Lotus's own outgoing final edition three E's, and lukewarm reviews where the previous E cars were pretty unanimously brilliantly received. Yet the Emira's looks have been designed to fake being a supecar, and people are lapping it up.

So what exactly is it then? It all feels a bit fake Rolex to me...

When the Emira is coming down the road toward you, it has an Elise silhouette. Only as it gets close do you realize it’s a bigger, different thing.

It has lots of Lotus DNA in the details. The shoulders, the duck tail, the happy grin - but it’s modernized into a gorgeous package that is, imo, better looking than any Ferrari this decade or last.

 

[TomE]

You make a fair point. I was dropping my daughter off at school and even she said everyone will think the emira is a ferrari here at school. I told her to tell them its new, its a Fakerari!!! I simply don't care.

With respect to fans of Ferrari I think they are incredible machines but after the 355 they all look like space ships designed by several committees based on different planets in different galaxies. The side profile above is shocking. From the Seat rest back... wtf.

I'm not bashing because I cant afford etc. Good luck to anyone who can and loves the car. I doff my hat in your direction just not for me this new stuff. I do have loads of shit I could sell and get an older used model if it were a thing for me.

When the Esprit arrived it did not look like an Elan (granted the other wedges came before).

When I put the dipper down i just had a name and knew it was (hopefully) going to be a Lotus.

I was impressed when I saw it and can see old and new it its design. It seems that they made a swiss army knife in an attempt to please everyone down the middle. ie which ever tool you fold out there's a better one in a snap on tool box...

I still don't care its not perfect in every way. What or who is?

I don't get that someone would want to track an Emira when one can buy all manner of crazy tools to take on track. Its a bit heavy and a bit underpowered. Save up and get a KTM-GTR thing (oh that zaust sound).

Lotus again is reinventing itself and we either embrace it or let it go. Its quite clear us minions are of no consequence in the big picture. Its a pity we have this delivery sh!t show but I honestly don't think 'they' care at all we are too insignificant. I'm cool with that now but it will hurt them eventually if not already.

The Lotus Emira, the jack of all trades Lotus?

 

[TomE]

Do we know if the wait list is still close to 2 years Tom?

I know that was quoted in the early days but since i’ve seen people quoting 14 months etc.

Imagine there have also been quite a lot of drop outs with likely more to follow.

Would certainly be interesting to see what the waiting list is as of today. Think it may well be closer to 12 months……

It’s still at 75-85 weeks. The delay to customer deliveries starting and the anticipated slower ramp up and lower production rate are factors in that.

Although there are some cancellations, I don’t think we’ve reached the key milestone where people start dropping, which is test drives. Many will stick but some will cancel or defer to i4 or Base. But many dealers also have lists of people waiting for test drives before placing a deposit. So that may even out - hard to predict.

If UK car finance rates go up or i4/Base prices increase it’ll prompt some more cancellations.

 

[TomE]

Hmmmm....
1. We say it doesnt look like a Lotus, since it doesnt look like an Elise or Exige, which in turn dont really look like the Evora. Not sure about the reasoning there, but in any case when the Elise came out firstly, did it look like the previous Lotus car, the Elan? No, not at all, in fact it didnt look like any Lotus ever designed, it was new and it saved the company from Ruination.
So, I am not sure it needs to look like the previous Lotus's, as in reality, they were not that good looking anyway. The Elise was cute, the exige is ugly, 2 cars rolled into one. The Evora didnt sell well, but drove very well, so one can only assume the awkward angle 3/4 looks had a lot to do with it, that and price/reputation etc.
As has been said before, the 1st "new" lotus is the Evija, and that is now the Lotus identity the rest of the cars will follow....simple.
Harry, who knows a bit more than most of us on here, said it could be a maclaren in terms of looks. There is no doubt from the front there are elements copied from the Ferrari above too, you have to see it, the inlets, the lights etc.

2. As has been said many times, for Lotus to get traction, they need mass appeal, not track appeal. It is unfortuante they have said this car is the Evora turned to max and then some as its 100% not, it is at best a late Evora at 80%, which for the Lotusfiles wont be good enough and I understand that, but they must understand an Evora at 110% wont sell! How many people buy GT4's..... and thats based on a base model 718 that "sucks", but that base model sells way more than lotus ever will and it doesnt go on track and does not get big milage, its aimed at a certain customer.
L O T U S is chasing the SAME customer and those customers are not in this forum and they dont give a xxxx about what we think, they want a nice looking car, that looks cool, is more or less practical and very reliable.... that is red lines at 6250 o 6750, that it has 400Hp or 490Hp, that the manual is as good as the MX5 on track....that this the other, they could not care less.
THis is the customer Lotus wanted and this is what they have got. I repeat, the rest of those who want the real deal, the Lotus to take on the GT4, need to wait and stop bitching as this base car at 60k base, its NOT it, it was never going to be it, just Lotus told us it was, but we have seen over the last year that Lotus tell us a lot of xxxx each time they speak and its rarely true.

3. There is no 3... I refer the honourable gentleman to 1 and 2
How can so many new threads be on here and we all say the same things hahaha.... where are the reviews of the Europeans that have had their cars for 7-10 days.... WTH is up with that.
I'd have made a youtube video by now of about 2 hours...

Most of the EU customers haven’t actually collected their cars yet, as they failed PDI and are awaiting fixes.

 

[TomE]

Like many things made by China, it is indeed comprised of bits/ideas from other country's successful products. Look at their new fighter plane. Looks like an F22 but without the capability. Same with the Emira.. Regardless I love the look of the new Lotus and I think they "squished" it enough to look "Lotusy". Does it look (almost exactly like) like this Ferrari? Even Ray Charles would say so but I don't care, it's beautiful and unlike the Ferrari it's in my financial wheelhouse...

Except it’s not from China, it’s designed by folks called Russ, Dan, Jon and Gav working in a hangar in Norfolk.

Whilst you might see similarities with Ferrari and McLaren (it’s hard to engineer a mid engine 2-seater to current regulations without some similarities) there are cues from the Evija, Esprit, Elise and other Lotus cars.

The designer of the Ferrari 458 used to work for Lotus. Lots of ex Lotus people at McLaren.

 

[NicolasB]

Most of the EU customers haven’t actually collected their cars yet, as they failed PDI and are awaiting fixes.

Say whhaaaaaa?

 

[TomE]

More than one pundit has observed out loud that the Emira could pass as a modern Ferrari Dino, so I agree with @kitkat that you have to be kidding yourself if you don't see at least some design influence coming from that quarter.

The design of the Elise was influenced by the Dino. So yes, there is Ferrari lineage in the post-Elise cars. That’s not a bad thing.

Meet Julian Thomson’s Dino, The Ferrari That Inspired The Original Lotus Elise

At one point slated for a front-engine layout, the nimble Brit owes a lot to this Dino.

petrolicious.com

 

[JohnHoward]

Most of the EU customers haven’t actually collected their cars yet, as they failed PDI and are awaiting fixes.

That is a big concern. You would think that they would be all over the early cars ensuring the finished car is as good as can be. I wonder if Unipart are doing any checks before they export them, or are they simply transporting whatever they are given.
There is something fundamentally wrong though if the factory is turning out cars with issues. I wonder what the general 'fail' rate is for other brands of cars going through PDI. Is anyone on here in the trade or have contacts, it would be interesting to know how many get sent back to factories or have to fit replacement parts. I always assumed that PDI is more of a cursory look along with removing things like transport bolts and bits of protective film.

 

[emiraspain]

Most of the EU customers haven’t actually collected their cars yet, as they failed PDI and are awaiting fixes.

no way......

surely there are at least 3 or 4 that have them and passed....

this nightmare never ends.. haha..

 

[Evotion]

I've had my Ferrari for 6 weeks now. Even in a nice part of Surrey I have only seen one other. It feels super special.

I bought it to cover the disappointment of no Emira for the summer. I cancelled my Nimbus order and retained the Magma order.

I am now so bloody in love with it I am starting to wonder what the point is of getting the Magma car. I am starting to think the unthinkable.

This affection should have been for the Lotus. I remain super disappointed in how things have gone.
I will, of course, not make a snap decision and see how it makes me feel.

It will struggle to sound a 1/5th as good as the Ferrari BUT possibly equal on Looks and initial rarity.

 

[TomE]

no way......

surely there are at least 3 or 4 that have them and passed....

this nightmare never ends.. haha..

I’ve got a small sample and it may be biased. But I don’t think we’ve seen more than 10-20 customer cars delivered to dealers so far and less than 10 handed over.

I know of 2 definitely collected by customers and being driven. I know of 4 failed PDI, all for different reasons and all awaiting fixes from Hethel. One is major and involves replacing a key component. Some handovers have also been delayed because dealers were awaiting paperwork from Lotus before they could get registration.

 

[Rudolph]

* * * * *
Today I had a drive with my 2021 Evora GT 410 Sport IPS and decided to visit the Dutch Lotus importer to have a look at the Emira's for the second time.
They have one FE ordered and yesterday arrived (full) yellow Emira / Michelin Sport Cup 2 and one bleu / black demo Emira / Good Year's in stock now for 2 weeks......

I am 79 years of age and a Lotus owner since 1993 when I purchased an Esprit Turbo SE, which I traded in 2021 for the last available new Evora GT 410 Sport in the Netherlands.
I am very very happy with this Evora which was my first automatic car.
I never was a fan of the Evora however the last edition attracted me so much that I decided to make the step to ownership whereas I knew and had seen pictures of the Emira.

I think not to be the right person to make some remarks about the Emira as I am to much in love with this "less beautiful" but very "raw" and charismatic Lotus Evora.
Examining the 2 Emira's......... indeed they have a very nice body shape, an absolute success for Hethel.
Being there for some time with the Emira's however I unmistakable tasted that one important target for Hethel was to compete with Porsche......you can see and feel that in and outside the car.
This impression became stronger in the cabin and I think that therefore a true Lotus nut emotionally will not easily been hit. He will probably doubt in considering the purchase and wait until a test drive has been made, whereas the new type of customer is imo the right one to get involved immediately.
Driving back thereafter with my Evora I was extra happy with the layout and harmonious and analogue impression of the dashboard.
I am 6'4" and the cabin of Emira is not roomier as the Evora, of which I think it is less clustered as the Emira....I like that.
The foot leg room is approx the same whereas in the end position of the seat in the Evora I can barely tip the left foot rest, in the Emira I can place my foot flat on it.
These Emira's are LHD ones and the MT pedal situation is rather strange; the clutch pedal is where you expect the brake pedal to be, actually all 3 pedals are more or less in the right half of the footwell, imo a fact that for me would be a big minus point.
The pedal set up is clearly offset from the steering column center; I can not understand why.
With depressed clutch I went through the gears........this was a true disappointment for me.
It was rather heavy, did not feel solid and the gear handle is rather long.........this is so predominant that you will not look at all to the screens to see some gear link parts move.

My point of references are (10=perfect / 1=bad):
- A - "10" - for the 6 speed Aisin gearbox of my Rotary / Wankel Mazda RX-8 HP (the same gear box as the MX-5) which is very smooth with a solid and exact feel and a very short lever........it is "klick-klick"......
- The same; a - "9" - for the gearbox of my Mazda 2 1.5 GT-M.........most Mazda's have perfect Aisin gearboxes.
- My Evora has an IPS that feels and works very fine for me..........I would give it an - "8" -.
-The Emira feels as described before and for me very wobbly; sorry, not more than a -"6"-....... it is a real "klackk-klackk" box.........not my type of preference.
The digital dashboard of the Emira is just like you will find everywhere from Mercedes to Kia, it looks like one straight line from the left to the right....it doesn't excite me......btw the "First Edition" plaquette on top of the dashboard imo does look better as expected from many opinions and does "break" the emptiness of the upper part of the dashboard a little.

 

[lion shf]

I look forward to the test drive but I’m most def leaving the Amex at home