Emira vs other Exotic Cars

[ADC]

I wouldn't bother. When I did this in another thread, the consensus was that Ferrari interiors are "like something Homer Simpson would design or a teenage boy" or "looks like something somebody in the 80's thought the future would look like". Said no professional reviewer of a modern Ferrari. Ever.

This forum is (and I guess should be) completely prejudiced towards the Emira. But I still find it astounding how many times it's been repeated that 'it looks like a supercar, for 1/3 the price'. There are replica Ferrari 355s built on Toyota MR2 chassis that look like a supercar, for 1/3 the price... But like the Emira, they have neither the performance nor the technology of the real supercars. I'm sure the Emira will drive nicely... though, actually, an MR2 chassis is also pretty darn good.

That feels a little unfair... representing two comments (with no reactions/likes) as the "consensus" is a bit of a stretch, mate. I'll reiterate that I quite like simple and clean interior styling, but I wouldn't kick a Ferrari or a McLaren out of bed either (if you gave me one)

Sure, we all love a bit of Emira around here, and I will personally admit to being impressed by the "supercar-esque" look, but we can't all afford a proper one like you

 

[Blue97]

Ride hight makes a huge difference to the look of the car. Seeing how so many folks on here are obsessing about colour of body , brake discs etc the look of the car is why new converts put there money down. With a four finger gap between tyre and bodywork the Emira does not have the presence of a Ferrari. I wonder if so many deposits would have been taken if the launch cars ( and configuration renders ) had been shown with this gap - I think not. Porsche GT4 has a 1.5 finger gap , GT3 - rear tyre is up inside the wheel arch and 1.5 fingers at the front and if you look at the two Taycan pics one is at 4 fingers and the other is at 2 . A small gap just makes the car look so much more purposeful and how the designer would have intended.
Needed front axle lift.
Will reserve my judgment and deposit till I have seen an official customer car ( all the cars at the factory had a 4+ finger gap ) but I will say that the initial rush to buy was based on how the Emira looked - we all thought it would drive well.

 

[TomE]

I had heard around the traps (but please don't make me look up sources) that the grey "dynamic testing" example was actually slightly higher than production will be. So expect somewhere between the blue (dumped) and grey (tiptoes) ride height.

EDIT: OK, here's one source (but not sure I trust this guy... seems a bit unreliable IMO ) - Who is planning on wheel spacers right out of the gate? | Lotus Emira Forum

Exactly, what does he know?

That ride height info for the blue and grey tour cars came from Gav Kershaw at Goodwood.

For the various recent pictures of validation cars on non-production wheels I’d be cautious about drawing too many conclusions on height/gap.

The Hethel Yellow car used at the Eletre reveal was supposedly a “nearly final” production spec car. But even that looks to be running about 3-5mm high to my eye.

 

[Leonard]

Exactly, what does he know?

That ride height info for the blue and grey tour cars came from Gav Kershaw at Goodwood.

For the various recent pictures of validation cars on non-production wheels I’d be cautious about drawing too many conclusions on height/gap.

The Hethel Yellow car used at the Eletre reveal was supposedly a “nearly final” production spec car. But even that looks to be running about 3-5mm high to my eye.

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It looks high, but I think that's what we are getting for a GT style ride. They say Sports will be the same ride height. I'm not 100% anymore and have my doubts they will be the same.
At this stage 8 weeks out from first deliveries you would hope the ride height Touring and Sports would be fully confirmed, as well as having supporting photos.

 

[TomE]

Also bear in mind the Lotus approach to ride and handling makes use of a bit more suspension travel than other marques. It's covered in the articles linked from my suspension thread. That means potentially more wheel/arch gap unless they can create more space inside the wheel arch (which isn't feasible for the front wheels when turned).

 

[Leonard]

Also bear in mind the Lotus approach to ride and handling makes use of a bit more suspension travel than other marques. It's covered in the articles linked from my suspension thread. That means potentially more wheel/arch gap unless they can create more space inside the wheel arch (which isn't feasible for the front wheels when turned).

Yup. You simply don't get a REALLY compliant ride without suspension travel and that comes at expense of ride height unfortunately

 

[dgrace]

They found a way to do it on the Evora, apparently.

Here's hoping that yellow model at the Eletre reveal is actually representative of the production height and not another cheater demo with threaded shock bodies adjusted down for the photographers. I'd LOVE to be proven wrong.

 

[GetawayDriving]

I think the only thing that comes close to our beautiful Emira is the new Maserati - and they obviously copied Lotus looking at this angle...!

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I’m sorry but I can’t unsee Birdo from Super Mario.

 

[Blue97]

Wow, I am really tempted by the Evora and Maser( very good ride too ) - they look so good.
That small gap between tyre and bodywork makes such a difference to the stance.
Hope the production cars do not have the wheel arch gap of an SUV like the pre production cars do . Taycan and GT3 on Dunlops ( cup sports reck the ride ) both have compliant suspension. Why can’t the tyre /wheel just travel up inside the wheel arch under compression as other cars are able to ?

 

[CHEESE]

View attachment 4451

Why is there what appears to be a production car on base wheels? Aren't all of the cars currently being produced FEs?

 

[TomE]

As mentioned elsewhere, they are building production cars but not yet customer cars. These earlier ones are used for validation and approvals, then a batch for press reviews. So they won't always build with all of the FE options - for example no point including the expensive KEF audio system in a car that's going to be crashed and then destroyed.

Sometimes they'll move cars through production on transit wheels and fit the final wheels at the end, to avoid damage to wheel finishes during build.

I also have a hunch the FE spec wheels are a long lead item, as we've seen very few cars with these fitted. People who have been on factory tours over the last two weeks have seen all three types, so supplies are getting to the factory now.

 

[Pegasi]

Yup. You simply don't get a REALLY compliant ride without suspension travel and that comes at expense of ride height unfortunately

Yes but the compliant ride often begins with the chassis, not the suspension. So if the Lotus chassis is more resistant to twisting and flex then it allows suspension to do its job more efficiently and travel isn't as critical. At least this is my understanding and why Lotus can have their elite handling without a soft suspension mode and it's tolerable.

 

[Leonard]

Yes but the compliant ride often begins with the chassis, not the suspension. So if the Lotus chassis is more resistant to twisting and flex then it allows suspension to do its job more efficiently and travel isn't as critical. At least this is my understanding and why Lotus can have their elite handling without a soft suspension mode and it's tolerable.

I always thought travel was travel! But could be wrong

 

[TomE]

I always thought travel was travel! But could be wrong

Gav Kershaw explains it as part of the Lotus approach to ride and handling:

How Lotus Makes Great-Handling Sports Cars That Are Still Comfortable

Lotus has set been the benchmark for ride and handling in cars. The company's Gavan Kershaw explains how it's done.

www.roadandtrack.com

 

[Leonard]

Gav Kershaw explains it as part of the Lotus approach to ride and handling:

How Lotus Makes Great-Handling Sports Cars That Are Still Comfortable

Lotus has set been the benchmark for ride and handling in cars. The company's Gavan Kershaw explains how it's done.

www.roadandtrack.com

So I'm not totally wrong
Unsprung weight does make a massive difference as well

 

[GetawayDriving]

By request...

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty happy with how the Emira stacks up here. Granted, I'm a bit of a minimalist but the Emira strikes a really nice balance between sport and class. The 911 is the only interior that I'd prefer to have, and only slightly. Ferrari is nice but fussy. Included the Supra, which looks like it could be a Toyota Avalon by comparison.

 

[Wolfram]

By request...







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I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty happy with how the Emira stacks up here. Granted, I'm a bit of a minimalist but the Emira strikes a really nice balance between sport and class. The 911 is the only interior that I'd prefer to have, and only slightly. Ferrari is nice but fussy. Included the Supra, which looks like it could be a Toyota Avalon by comparison.

Personally, it irked me that for a supposedly 'analog' feeling sports car, the dash was completely digital and boring. That and the horrible stuck-on centre screen had me phoning for my deposit back the morning after I saw the car. Notice every single other dash above has a traditional-style rev counter (real or digital) dead centre. Also worth pointing out that the Ferrari interior shown is from the 2009 458 - so thirteen years old... This is what a current Ferrari digital dash looks like:

And the interior:

 

[Pegasi]

I like the interior especially the transmission tunnel. The only one I like better is the older Ferrari interior. This is such a personal preference though. Less is more for me.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Personally, it irked me that for a supposedly 'analog' feeling sports car, the dash was completely digital and boring. That and the horrible stuck-on centre screen had me phoning for my deposit back the morning after I saw the car. Notice every single other dash above has a traditional-style rev counter (real or digital) dead centre. Also worth pointing out that the Ferrari interior shown is from the 2009 458 - so thirteen years old... This is what a current Ferrari digital dash looks like:
View attachment 4562And the interior: View attachment 4563

Different strokes, but I look at that (new) Ferrari digital dash and I think it looks incredibly old. The overuse of gradients and bordered boxes and layered transparencies and the skewmorphism of metal numbers... it reminds me of iOS 3. Over-designed and out of date.

Probably because I'm a UX designer myself, but I'm a big fan of minimal graphics. I don't find the Emira's interface boring. Simplify and add lightness absolutely translates to UX/UI and I think they've designed with restraint here, in a good way. It should age better than something like the Ferrari. Of course the nice part of fully digital dashes is that they can be updated, but will Lotus become the kind of company who invests in aggressive software improvement and updates? Probably not on this car.

In any case, I like the Emira screen. I'd like it more if they used OLED hardware, so the black areas were true black and not bleeding light.

I also like the "tacked on" screen. Integrated screens inevitably make a dashboard bloated. Looking at the images I posted above, every screen looks terrible. The Alpine screen looks old. The Mclaren looks like a Newton attached to a RAM mount. The screen in the Cayman is integrated but far too low down. I've driven one of those quite a but and interaction with that screen pulls your eyes too far away from the road. The 911 integrates the screen nicely but that dash is big and bulky because of it, and I just prefer svelte/low dashboards that offer great forward visibility and that inevitably means a tacked on screen. I want CarPlay, and I think the Emira strikes the right balance.

Overall I think they nailed the interior. I genuinely love it.

 

[Johnson]

Different strokes, but I look at that (new) Ferrari digital dash and I think it looks incredibly old. The overuse of gradients and bordered boxes and layered transparencies and the skewmorphism of metal numbers... it reminds me of iOS 3. Over-designed and out of date.

Probably because I'm a UX designer myself, but I'm a big fan of minimal graphics. I don't find the Emira's interface boring. Simplify and add lightness absolutely translates to UX/UI and I think they've designed with restraint here, in a good way. It should age better than something like the Ferrari. Of course the nice part of fully digital dashes is that they can be updated, but will Lotus become the kind of company who invests in aggressive software improvement and updates? Probably not on this car.

In any case, I like the Emira screen. I'd like it more if they used OLED hardware, so the black areas were true black and not bleeding light.

I also like the "tacked on" screen. Integrated screens inevitably make a dashboard bloated. Looking at the images I posted above, every screen looks terrible. The Alpine screen looks old. The Mclaren looks like a Newton attached to a RAM mount. The screen in the Cayman is integrated but far too low down. I've driven one of those quite a but and interaction with that screen pulls your eyes too far away from the road. The 911 integrates the screen nicely but that dash is big and bulky because of it, and I just prefer svelte/low dashboards that offer great forward visibility and that inevitably means a tacked on screen. I want CarPlay, and I think the Emira strikes the right balance.

Overall I think they nailed the interior. I genuinely love it.

Totally agree. It’s always seemed that car manufacturers are a decade behind in graphic treatments (skewmorphism abounds!). Its like this obsession with iPads stuck to dashboards… surely in 2022 they can come up with a more integrated approach?