i4 wih 400HP - post from another Lotus Forum

[Emira Fan]

looks like new i4's with 400 BHP is now the new norm.... good read.

Showcasing progression: Lotus at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 - Just Auto

At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lotus showed two UK dynamic debuts, the highly anticipated hyper-GT Emeya, and the one-of-a-kind Evija X.

www.just-auto.com

Nice to see it in fine print [We’ve also got the Electra, our hyper SUV, and we have the Emira with the new 400 horsepower, two-litre turbocharged engine.]. good post.

 

[John777]

V6 will always sound better but a full exhaust system on the 2.0 is not bad neither. Trust me, this video doesn't even do justice for the actual sound on the street.

no thanks .. that sounds so ricer.. needs a manual 6spd.

 

[allenyao09]

Awesome, good to know the i4 will now be at 400. I’ve heard my dealer say the i4 is much easier to tune than the v6, is that correct?

The ECU of the M139 is locked and no one has successfully cracked the ECU yet. It will have much more tuning potential if the ECU can be flashed.

 

[boisecrawfords]

Lotus has removed the V6 from the configurator in the USA (not in the UK or Australia) but made no announcements. At the moment, all we have is rumors and gossip, mostly from US dealers.

A couple of possibilities:

• Hethel is only building about 2,000 V6 Emiras each year. Given that limited capacity, they may already have enough orders to take them to the end of V6 production (for example, Dec 2025)
• As discussed here, there may be a time limit on purchasing the Toyota V6 engine
• Or let's be optimistic . . . maybe they're about to announce the V6R with increased horsepower!

I just noticed that, very interesting!

 

[675430VME]

That sounds great, did you have to mod it to get the popping sound?

Stock has the popping sound already but a full exhaust just make it more pronounced.

 

[MickOpalak]

Potential bright sides: The 8G-DCT transmission for the AMG shifts slowly - multiple reviewers have pointed this out.

I imagine a slow DCT is about as fast as the torque converter auto with the V6, which is plenty fast as is.

 

[sharpie349]

I imagine a slow DCT is about as fast as the torque converter auto with the V6, which is plenty fast as is.

I agree here, I find it pretty hard to believe that the V6 converter does better than the DCT. I currently have a deposit for a base V6 auto but I am considering switching to a I4 1st Edition now that it’s boosted to 400hp, I would 100% do it if they engine didn’t sound so ricey but maybe I’ll compromise

 

[Wiz33]

I just noticed that, very interesting!

update from my dealer a week ago:

Base Production:
We've been told the Base Configurator should be added to

lotuscars.com by August. At that point we can explore building our cars! Production should start in January.

 

[Wiz33]

I agree here, I find it pretty hard to believe that the V6 converter does better than the DCT. I currently have a deposit for a base V6 auto but I am considering switching to a I4 1st Edition now that it’s boosted to 400hp, I would 100% do it if they engine didn’t sound so ricey but maybe I’ll compromise

The DCT is not slow as it's a sealed unit from AMG and there's no report of it being slow on the A45. The delay is caused by the slow OS in the Emira which takes almost 1/2 sec to get the paddle click to the EMU but that's something you can learn to overcome with time.

 

[seriously]

Is that kind of like CarPlay works great but it’s kinda slow. Kinda slow probably because of the emira chip not CarPlay natively which is faster in my wife’s Audi.

 

[Ryder35]

The DCT is not slow as it's a sealed unit from AMG and there's no report of it being slow on the A45. The delay is caused by the slow OS in the Emira which takes almost 1/2 sec to get the paddle click to the EMU but that's something you can learn to overcome with time.

Have you driven an i4?

 

[Wiz33]

Have you driven an i4?

Drove one in China about 6 months ago have also driven a A45s in Hong Kong. The actual shift feels the same, it's just it takes longer to happen after you click the paddle.

 

[Ryder35]

Drove one in China about 6 months ago have also driven a A45s in Hong Kong. The actual shift feels the same, it's just it takes longer to happen after you click the paddle.

I do wonder if they have updated it as I noticed no lag, certainly not .5 of a second between pressing the paddle and it changing. Maybe I am just not sensitive to such things?

 

[Wiz33]

I do wonder if they have updated it as I noticed no lag, certainly not .5 of a second between pressing the paddle and it changing. Maybe I am just not sensitive to such things?

It's one from the first or 2nd batch of arrival so I don't know if it's been back for service. I really don't feel it's a problem but it's not as snappy as the A45 but they're running on different data bus. I think most of the shift delay reports were from the early press cars and it got overblown. Probably from this video at the 12:10 mark: and this one at the 21:55 mark..

 

[Nova]

Here is a video of a production I4 car in China with aftermarket clicky paddles.

 

[Wiz33]

Here is a video of a production I4 car in China with aftermarket clicky paddles.


View attachment 47759

Is it a full replacement that have a more clicky feel?

 

[Ethnic6]

The ECU of the M139 is locked and no one has successfully cracked the ECU yet. It will have much more tuning potential if the ECU can be flashed.

I'm sure that will happen eventually, the v6 was modded to 530 by jubu. So they must have cracked the ECU for that to happen no?

 

[Ethnic6]

Stock has the popping sound already but a full exhaust just make it more pronounced.

what kind of exhaust did you install? I saw someone on youtube put a larini exhaust on the v6 and I felt that gave a much better sound than milltek. Wonder how it'll sound on the i4.

 

[seriously]

Here is a video of a production I4 car in China with aftermarket clicky paddles.


View attachment 47759

Good video. The shift itself seems crisp, but there is still a lag. Regardless of the source of the lag, still a lag. Suppose you can compensate by shifting in an anticipatory manner, but seems a shame. it should be click press and shift by the time you let the click go. It shouldn't be click on/off, then shift.

 

[Ethnic6]

considering the raise in the HP of the I4 to 400, will the price of the i4 be affected as well? Does anyone know how much they're paying for their i4 first edition?