Emira Review Index [V6 FE]

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For those looking for the latest Emira V6 FE reviews scheduled to be released today, I've self-volunteered to maintain a quick reference index here.
Please let me know of any missing articles and I'll update accordingly. (y)

ReviewerTypeDirect Link
EdmundsArticle
Harry's Garage (Harry Metcalfe)Video Review

Harry drives the Sports and Tour suspension back to back on the same road and shares his thoughts.
Schmee150 (Tim Burton)Video ReviewPublished 21st June
Carwow (Mat Watson)Video Review
TopGearArticles and VideoPublished 3rd July
Chris Harris talks about the Lotus Emira

Published 20th June

AutoTrader (Rory Reid)Video Review
EvoArticle and Video Review
CARArticle and Video ReviewPublished 22nd July


Lotus Emira vs Cayman 718 GTS vs Alpine 110s
AutocarArticle and Video Review
PistonheadsArticle
KHTVVideo Review
The DriveArticle
AutoExpressArticle
Pictures:
WhichCarArticle
CarBuyerArticle
HagertyArticle
Road and TrackArticlePublished 1st September
Lotus Emira Road and Track Drive

GoodwoodArticle
The IntercoolerPodcastReasonably good post-embargo Emira discussion on The Intercooler.
MotortrendArticle
DriveArticle
AFRArticle
ParkersArticle
CarExpertArticle
Caffeine & MachineArticle
Photos on Instagram:
The Sunday Times DrivingArticle
Car and DriverArticle
The SunArticle
AutoCar UKArticlePublished 2nd July

 
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I have ran this past my potential insurer, they have asked if removing the cat improves power/performance

I presume it doesn't change anything expect the exhaust sound is a bit louder. right ?
the cat reduces the power output a bit, so yes..removing it will give you a bit more power... maybe 10/15 hp... at least it did in my ariel nomad, which comes with the option of a bypass from the manufacturer ;)
 
the cat reduces the power output a bit, so yes..removing it will give you a bit more power... maybe 10/15 hp... at least it did in my ariel nomad, which comes with the option of a bypass from the manufacturer ;)
Thanks, hopefully they don’t have an issue with it
 
the cat reduces the power output a bit, so yes..removing it will give you a bit more power... maybe 10/15 hp... at least it did in my ariel nomad, which comes with the option of a bypass from the manufacturer ;)
Unless I missed something, none of the Emira reviews mentioned the innovative aero design and downforce impact on the driving experience. This seems odd, as I took it as the gamechanger some were hoping for, particularly against Porsche.
 
Unless I missed something, none of the Emira reviews mentioned the innovative aero design and downforce impact on the driving experience. This seems odd, as I took it as the gamechanger some were hoping for, particularly against Porsche.

Right!? I didn't hear anyone review the brakes either! Rory briefly mentioned they were good, but that's it. We have big AP racing 4 pots with lightweight 2 piece rotors! How is this so overlooked?
 
Unless I missed something, none of the Emira reviews mentioned the innovative aero design and downforce impact on the driving experience. This seems odd, as I took it as the gamechanger some were hoping for, particularly against Porsche.
well it seems the downforce the car achieves is far less than the outgoing Elise.... so I am not sure what to make of the pourosity in the end, as it doesnt seem to save much weight, the car is heavier than the GTS and has less downforce... someone correct me if I am wrong, but the V6 is not 1405 kg as some have said, its closer to 1460 I think...
 
it's clear many of us were expecting an Evora GT with upmarket interior and supercar looks and that's not what we're getting. We may be the minority.

One telling conversation I had at the roadshow about Sport vs Touring was the Lotus guy said the Touring was for commuters and management want to be sure anyone not coming from a sports car gets the Touring. I actually got the Touring (planning long drives in it), but the point is Lotus is making this a global mass market car - that raw edge of the Evora I got drawn in by may have been blunted a bit too much - just don't know. Will wait to test drive it.

Didn't Gavin go on record saying the Emira is quicker around their test track than the outgoing Evora?
 
interesting.... and the negativity does seem to, as always, snowball a bit and although I dont think it will have much effect on orders at all, maybe 5-10% max, it is still something Lotus should be out there getting on top of and they have walked into this mess by leaving the cat flap open with a load of insects at the back door.
I would be reacting now if I were them and make things a lot clearer as to what if anything will be done, or that nothing needs to be done as the car is exactly the way they intend it to be, 6750/7050 out of their hands, or whatever, but if it doesnt compete with the cayman gts, then get away from that comparison as soon as possible...... make it a cheap aston :). or get it up against the F type......... I dont know, but silence isnt the way I would go.
it will eventually all die down..... but there are a LOT more youtubers out there that will get their hands on this car over the next 2 months and Lotus would not want them taking the same path.
Im still happy, I think this guy will drive the car and I think he will like it, he had an evora didnt he, cant recall... had a 911 thats for sure
Totally agree. For Lotus, they need to act. For me, I couldn't care less... I still can't wait to get my car and will selfishly be pleased for a few returned deposits...i might get my car earlier!
I've read/watched so many reviews now. Lost track of who said what. But I will have my say when I drive it...and that's the one that's most important to me!
 
I don't think you'll notice 16hp especially as the torque is the same as the 416.
430 would have been nice for the fe, we know both engine and transmission can do it. I expect a software remap could do it
Top line is the one
Honestly the tune is probably based on (and an evolution of) the tune that produced ~416hp in the Evora GT / GT410. They lowered the redline a bit though, so it's not going to hit the same number on the spec sheet. The thing that matters is the torque curve, not the mathematical equation at redline max rpm that generates a horsepower number. Torque is what drives the car, and what the driver feels, so the shape of the slope and the area under the torque curve are the only things I particularly care about in a dyno chart.

The fact that the horsepower number claimed is "400" has absolutely nothing to do with their previous product called the Evora 400 - that number is coincidental, not an indication of a particular "state of tune". The Emira will, by the very nature of tuning and development in this industry, have the latest combination of mapping improvements. It certainly will not have a 5-6 year old mapping jammed into the ECM of a new car. That's not how this works. I suspect the rev limiter is the primary key to the spec difference.

I heard EVO asked Lotus for a press car for a road trip review and requested the Sports suspension, so Lotus gave them a Sports + Goodyear car - the sensible tyre option for a road trip with Sports. Then EVO took it to Anglesey and happened to have a GT4 there at the same time so decided to do a head to head track test...

Top Gear requested a car for a track test. Let's see what spec car they got and what the Harris review says.
I found the EVO track review to be pretty infuriating for this exact reason. There are even chassis alignment differences between the Sport+GY and Sport+Cup2 cars, so this was a borderline absurd comparison, particularly when they stacked it head-to-head against a GT-program track-focused special model with a price difference (when similarly optioned) of something like 22% - the US price is over $120k before taxes. The GT4 is FAR more expensive than the Emira FE and additionally is the product of six full production years of chassis development and tuning. The whole scenario is absurd, and frankly Jethro's whole attitude during the drive was negative and off-putting, he looked as though he had bitten into a piece of rancid chicken on the lunch break and it's all he could think about. If I had an employee with that look on their face while doing their job, I'd ask them to take a few days off for a mental health reboot (not a punishment, just looking out for their best interests with some off-the-books PTO) and hope they come back after a good holiday in a better frame of mind. EVO should be doing more active editorial management for the same reasons.

I honestly believe he was as hyped as the rest of us. Maybe too much so, again like the rest of us. All based on the information coming out of Hethel. The tragedy with this whole scenario is that the car will be a star 🌟 but the way Lotus have handled the comms has been shocking. They have over promised (no doubt with the best intentions) and now those promises are found to be lacking. I'm sure it's no suprise to learn my rose tinted glasses have been off for a while, so I have zero goodwill left. I just hope the test drive delivers enough of that Lotus magic to put some of the emotion I had for the brand a year ago back into my purchase experience for me to pull the trigger.
This is the problem with all the messaging being controlled by marketing people. They often don't understand strategic communications. It's all dancing ribbons, "dynamic language", and picking the right contrast colors for the typefaces. Very little calibration of the messaging to ensure the expectations are properly managed. In the absence of information, you leave people to make assumptions, and that's where the train goes off the rails.

For me, my pattern of use and my expectations of the car will be very specific, and as a functionally capable driver I'm looking forward to seeing what it will do in the real world outside of sterile track tests. I essentially want a modernized but mechanically low-tech tool for fast back-road driving, like a current-day reimagining of a 1980s RWD tarmac rally car. If it drives anything like a heavier-but-updated Ferrari Dino or Lancia Monte Carlo (037), or even in the flawed ballpark of an NSX, I'll be over the moon... I don't expect it to be refined or perfect, I just expect it to be engaging at speed. Something I can grab by the scruff of the neck and fling around in an enthusiastic fashion on mountain roads, but also park at the local Cars & Coffee and strike up a few good conversations over the years. Sure, a Porsche would do that too, but it wouldn't be as visually special or as conversationally remarkable for those purposes.

Tony is so good he already knows that the Emira is for specific kind of driver, he has always knocked the Emira and thinks they are going to lose value ha ha ha and he's a car salesman wow, Tony best get off this pod cast quick before his ego ruins his business.

And don't get me started on the Balenciaga flat cap he wears lol
Yeah that guy is insanely off-putting. I don't think I'll worry too much about the opinions of someone who has so little attention to the functional details of what's in front of him that he can't complete his driving license forms correctly without someone holding his hand. If I wanted to hear the opinions of a random know-nothing I'd drive out into a rural area of the US, wait at a gas/petrol station, and knock on the window of the first pickup truck I see in order to ask them about politics.
 
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If I wanted to hear the opinions of a random know-nothing I'd drive out into a rural area of the US, wait at a gas/petrol station, and knock on the window of the first pickup truck I see in order to ask them about politics.
:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
the rpm drop bothers me more than the hp drop honestly, both are minimal, but staying in a gear with better mechanical advantage is always better, so any additional rpm is good. unless the engine falls completely on its face anyway, but we know that's not the case here since prior versions spun higher.
 
the rpm drop bothers me more than the hp drop honestly, both are minimal, but staying in a gear with better mechanical advantage is always better, so any additional rpm is good. unless the engine falls completely on its face anyway, but we know that's not the case here since prior versions spun higher.
The rpm drop IS the hp drop. HP is a calculated figure, not a measured one. The only measured figure is torque. You multiply the measured torque by the RPM at every sample point, and divide by 5252 (for torque figures in lb-ft). That's why every HP/lb-ft dyno graph in the world crosses the two lines at 5252. So with any change to the vehicle's redline the HP figure must shift to match the torque curve at that point exactly, it's a mathematical inevitability.

I get what you are saying though - the number doesn't matter as much as the drivability difference of the lowered peak RPM. I don't know why they did it either. Irritating, in my opinion.
 
This is just standard marketing, it's no big deal, and they should rightfully be proud of all of the positive statements. Car Magazine very painfully ranked the GTS ahead but "only just" and mostly by the numbers - does that mean Lotus can't include all of the positive things they said about a car that genuinely gives a GTS buyer pause?

I think this forum is turning into the echo chamber. No offense to y'all but nobody is thinking about this as much as us and if I may mix metaphors I think the cheese roll here is starting to stink a bit. Reviews matter for about a minute. The car is great, so what if it's not the world's best? Neither was Evora. Neither was Elise or Exige. We love them all the same. This car is different. Whether it earns our love is yet to be seen but nothing in these reviews, comparing it to perhaps the world's best all-rounder that many here have already cross-shopped and decided against, concerns me all that much.

And to think Lotus isn't hearing these reviews is silly. Whether they act on them and when is something they'll decide and make a business case for. Right now, they're selling every car they can build.
 
The rpm drop IS the hp drop. HP is a calculated figure, not a measured one. The only measured figure is torque. You multiply the measured torque by the RPM at every sample point, and divide by 5252 (for torque figures in lb-ft). That's why every HP/lb-ft dyno graph in the world crosses the two lines at 5252. So with any change to the vehicle's redline the HP figure must shift to match the torque curve at that point exactly, it's a mathematical inevitability.

I get what you are saying though - the number doesn't matter as much as the drivability difference of the lowered peak RPM. I don't know why they did it either. Irritating, in my opinion.
One of the reviewers said the rpm drop was in order to meet emissions requirements. I'm not familiar with emissions tests in the U.K. Do they test it at max rpm?
 
The rpm drop IS the hp drop. HP is a calculated figure, not a measured one. The only measured figure is torque. You multiply the measured torque by the RPM at every sample point, and divide by 5252 (for torque figures in lb-ft). That's why every HP/lb-ft dyno graph in the world crosses the two lines at 5252. So with any change to the vehicle's redline the HP figure must shift to match the torque curve at that point exactly, it's a mathematical inevitability.

I get what you are saying though - the number doesn't matter as much as the drivability difference of the lowered peak RPM. I don't know why they did it either. Irritating, in my opinion.
yeah I understood all that, my point was only that I don't even really care if tq/hp would fall off or flatline after 6800 if that helps meet emissions or whatever, I'd still rather have it spin higher. It'd have to fall off severely to make the rpm not worthwhile.
 
One of the reviewers said the rpm drop was in order to meet emissions requirements. I'm not familiar with emissions tests in the U.K. Do they test it at max rpm?
That makes very little sense to me. I guess it's possible, but doesn't seem particularly likely to me - but I don't know the nuances of the European emissions testing process. Max RPM certainly isn't a part of the US testing regime to my knowledge, because it's not relevant to 99.99% of road use.

The Evora got a slightly different state of tune for the US market, to our benefit. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope the same is true with this car.
 
As far as the email blast Lotus just sent out today, what else would they do? They obviously read not only the reviews, but most likely this forum since it's the premier Emira forum, and felt they needed to do some damage control and quick. I would imagine there were some long executive meetings at Hethel, and also with Geely after all this. Are they going to try and address some of the issues if they can before production? Of course they are, they'd be insane not to at least take a look at it.

If it were me, I'd also change how they do the review process. A Lotus employee needs to be with each car and the reviewers for a few reasons. One, to make sure there aren't any shenanigans. They were very naive to not realize there might be some back-door manipulation by some very important rivals that would not be happy to see the Emira out-score their offerings. Not saying that came from the company itself, but most certainly it could from dealers. Politics are ugly no matter where they are.

Two, that same employee (possibly even have two) should be equipped and able to make some adjustments and/or check to see if there's a problem and where it is should one crop up, if the car is not performing as they know it should be. Harry's video showed the importance of being able to respond to the situation, and it was so important to Harry, he changed his order spec as a result. That's the kind of thing new customers are going to want to see and know, especially if they're being put in the position of locking in an order without being able to do a test drive. If you have two distinctly different car setups; have them both available to the tester/reviewer so they can do and show the comparison.

These reviews weren't just tiktok videos for entertainment and clicks and likes, they're going to be viewed as sales material for their customers. Treat them as such and manage them as such. To me it was like Lotus was the small town kid who goes to audition on the big stage for a national talent show, gets the golden buzzer and then thinks that means they'll receive that kind of adulation all the way to winning the whole thing. Then they get hammered early on in the final rounds, and learn the hard way how ugly competition really is at the top levels when you're going for the win. They should have known Porsche (or Porsche dealers) weren't going to simply sit back and let them win the reviews. Of course there just happened to be a track ready GT4 there at the same time the Emira was. Talk about getting blind-sided.

Be all that as it may, the important reviews are going to be from the actual owners, especially those of you in the U.K. who get the first cars off the line next month.
 
As far as the email blast Lotus just sent out today, what else would they do? They obviously read not only the reviews, but most likely this forum since it's the premier Emira forum, and felt they needed to do some damage control and quick. I would imagine there were some long executive meetings at Hethel, and also with Geely after all this. Are they going to try and address some of the issues if they can before production? Of course they are, they'd be insane not to at least take a look at it.

If it were me, I'd also change how they do the review process. A Lotus employee needs to be with each car and the reviewers for a few reasons. One, to make sure there aren't any shenanigans. They were very naive to not realize there might be some back-door manipulation by some very important rivals that would not be happy to see the Emira out-score their offerings. Not saying that came from the company itself, but most certainly it could from dealers. Politics are ugly no matter where they are.

Two, that same employee (possibly even have two) should be equipped and able to make some adjustments and/or check to see if there's a problem and where it is should one crop up, if the car is not performing as they know it should be. Harry's video showed the importance of being able to respond to the situation, and it was so important to Harry, he changed his order spec as a result. That's the kind of thing new customers are going to want to see and know, especially if they're being put in the position of locking in an order without being able to do a test drive. If you have two distinctly different car setups; have them both available to the tester/reviewer so they can do and show the comparison.

These reviews weren't just tiktok videos for entertainment and clicks and likes, they're going to be viewed as sales material for their customers. Treat them as such and manage them as such. To me it was like Lotus was the small town kid who goes to audition on the big stage for a national talent show, gets the golden buzzer and then thinks that means they'll receive that kind of adulation all the way to winning the whole thing. Then they get hammered early on in the final rounds, and learn the hard way how ugly competition really is at the top levels when you're going for the win. They should have known Porsche (or Porsche dealers) weren't going to simply sit back and let them win the reviews. Of course there just happened to be a track ready GT4 there at the same time the Emira was. Talk about getting blind-sided.

Be all that as it may, the important reviews are going to be from the actual owners, especially those of you in the U.K. who get the first cars off the line next month.
Amen to that.
Now, just wait for the Chris Harris review. A lot will turn on thst one.
 
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