Further thoughts on the Emira from Chris Harris

Chris Harris chats to Top Gear Magazine’s Jack Rix about the all-new Lotus Emira, comparing it to rivals such as the Porsche Cayman. Plus, Chris talks about his first-ever experiences with Geely, the Chinese car giant that acquired Lotus back in 2017.

 

[xen]

Copying accross…

Watched that a few minutes ago, it’s a great companion piece to the ‘review’ and for me was a better use of 7 minutes than the feature on Top gear.

The general consensus from most reviewers (and Chris) seems to be:

Looks amazing
Rides amazing
Handles well - apart from a little numbness with the front end
Engine - decent but unremarkable
Gearbox - decent but unremarkable

All in, great value.

 

[kitkat]

Thanks for posting Tom, enjoyed that while drinking coffee prepping for an early morning bike ride.

Nice to see a more substantive segment with Chris on the car. Resonates with most reviews already out there. Great handling and steering feel, okay engine but puts power down well, transmission not the best, and dealer support hopefully improves.

 

[Jonhklee]

LOTUS - if you are reading this, we need more info and media on the AMG i4!!! STAT!!!

 

[TomE]

Thanks for posting Tom, enjoyed that while drinking coffee prepping for an early morning bike ride.

Nice to see a more substantive segment with Chris on the car. Resonates with most reviews already out there. Great handling and steering feel, okay engine but puts power down well, transmission not the best, and dealer support hopefully improves.

I agree, I think if you were new to Lotus and considering an Emira this is a good summary of the pluses and minuses. Those will tip in favour of the Emira for some people, but not for everyone.

 

[d15b7]

Hello fellas. I hadn’t seen this one before. He fields his thoughts on the car and he says sort of what I’ve been feeling about the car too.

 

[New to Lotus]

Had we not come to this exact conclusion months ago on this forum.
Emira brilliant car to drive and listen to will make you feel special.
An improvement on its main TARGETED rival the GTS 4.0ltr!!! (Not gt4).
In terms of looks steering feel and interia.
But can't match the engine and gearbox!.
We all new that surely.
Now what would Chris pick if the Emira had the gts engine and box????

 

[Tonyshepp]

Thanks for posting, informative.

 

[Leonard]

Now what would Chris pick if the Emira had the gts engine and box????

I think that's pretty obvious!

 

[switchlanez]

What initially caught my attention about Lotus was the Elise sharing the same Toyota engine as my Celica. Then I learned they specialized in handling, even more special than the "on rails" handling Celicas were known for. Then I got into MkII/MkIII MR2s and the supercharged 2GR-FE was a holy grail of engine swaps. I could only dream of a US road legal S3 Exige. Emira comes full circle with one of its draws (to me) being its V6, older engine and all. Porsche flat-6es are interesting (I owned the flat-4 Toyota/Subaru) but I have decades long built-in bias for the supercharged Toyota V6.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Only Harry and Smees videos resonated with my type of want from a road car. Luckily with the Porsche guys sprouting the Emira is rubbish they'll be less pr@@s on the roads in Emiras.

 

[Pegasi]

LOTUS - if you are reading this, we need more info and media on the AMG i4!!! STAT!!!

I searched a few threads to find this but saw nothing certain. Does anyone in the BASE camp expect to be able to drive an I4 and a V6 before ordering? Will this even be possible?

 

[Climber]

Hello fellas. I hadn’t seen this one before. He fields his thoughts on the car and he says sort of what I’ve been feeling about the car too.

Thanks This is wonderful video, I really like the honesty which Chris speaks with!!!

 

[EspritGuy]

Copying accross…

Watched that a few minutes ago, it’s a great companion piece to the ‘review’ and for me was a better use of 7 minutes than the feature on Top gear.

The general consensus from most reviewers (and Chris) seems to be:

Looks amazing
Rides amazing
Handles well - apart from a little numbness with the front end
Engine - decent but unremarkable
Gearbox - decent but unremarkable

All in, great value.

I don't think the Emira was going to be superlative (to the disappointment of some) but promised to be one of the most exciting Lotus ever. It's a very high value driving experience.
You can find faster cars and more costly but not so much more satisfying.
Choose wisely.

 

[New to Lotus]

Good point.
I'm trying to make the case for both now.
V6fe for the weekend joy ride.
I4 base for the track day.
Catch the bus to work through the week.

 

[wallstbear]

Honestly, despite the fanfare and the panic on this forum over the past couple of months, my reading of all the reviews is that they are really more or less the same. This interview further confirms that.

Reviewers have generally been in agreement on the strengths and weaknesses, with some focusing a bit more on the weaknesses hence sounding more negative, while others focused a bit more on the strengths. But they are not really saying different things.

Kinda like my wife's assessment of me before we got married and a few years after. I am still me. But there is a lot more focus on my "weaknesses" now.

Again, the biggest selling point is that this IS the most car you can get without having hedge fund money or pro baller money.

 

[Eagle7]

I think Chris does an excellent and very realistic job of positioning the Emira where it should be; a great value for the money. His comments about how formidable Geely is were also interesting. I suspect the electric cars are going to be seriously good, but I hope they don't price them all above £100k. If they can make some electric models around the price point of the Emira, they could genuinely become a major player in a few years.

 

[DerTheDer]

LOTUS - if you are reading this, we need more info and media on the AMG i4!!! STAT!!!

Will be Q3 23 before we hear anything about the I4!

 

[EspritGuy]

Honestly, despite the fanfare and the panic on this forum over the past couple of months, my reading of all the reviews is that they are really more or less the same. This interview further confirms that.

Reviewers have generally been in agreement on the strengths and weaknesses, with some focusing a bit more on the weaknesses hence sounding more negative, while others focused a bit more on the strengths. But they are not really saying different things.

Kinda like my wife's assessment of me before we got married and a few years after. I am still me. But there is a lot more focus on my "weaknesses" now.

Again, the biggest selling point is that this IS the most car you can get without having hedge fund money or pro baller money.

Interesting that you used that analogy with your wife.
The relationship started with the Sport suspension and now it's the Touring?
It's not what you drive but what's driving you.
#For the Journey

 

[TomE]

I searched a few threads to find this but saw nothing certain. Does anyone in the BASE camp expect to be able to drive an I4 and a V6 before ordering? Will this even be possible?

It depends where you are in the Base queue. Press reviews of the i4 are expected around November, and dealer demo cars (at least in the UK) in Jan 2023 ... all assuming no further delays. Base options pricing is due in September and I assume the spec confirmation process for Base will start soon after that for UK deposits.

As Base deliveries will all be 2023 onwards, the US allocations will be in their 2023 numbers (due in Q4). If Lotus/US dealers follow the same process as for FEs then you'll need to confirm spec about 6 months before your build slot. So I think people early in the Base queue may not get a chance to drive both, but people in delivery month 2 or 3 onwards probably will.