If the 400bhp V6 is not enough, which engine would be a good replacement?

[xen]

I agree @ADC. Little to be gained being a keyboard warrior...

I think you summed it up nicely. it could have been a lot more and I'd have liked to have had that at the start. Well...we are where we are, the product that's been released is the Emira in its current guise and we can't change that.

 

[Leonard]

I agree @ADC. Little to be gained being a keyboard warrior...

I think you summed it up nicely. it could have been a lot more and I'd have liked to have had that at the start. Well...we are where we are, the product that's been released is the Emira in its current guise and we can't change that.

We would have probably been paying another 6k pounds as well for a power upgrade. Which would have taken it out of reach for me, so for that alone I am glad we are where we are

 

[TomE]

This thread has gotten weird. I get sad when I see terms "fan boy" and "kool aid" getting thrown around, regardless of the topic. Seeing as I'm avoiding doing some real work for a few minutes, I'll see if I can further stir people up with a lengthy waffle about how things sit in my head

I think there are a confluence of factors that have resulted in what I'm going to call a slightly disappointing (but clearly not deal-breaking) performance rating for the First Edition of the Emira.
- the V6 is a known quantity to Lotus, and lets them get to market quicker
- the V6 is a giant pain in their ass with regard to current and upcoming emissions targets being difficult to meet if it is tuned hard, and also with regard to what can be coaxed out of the engine and gearbox while still keeping pricing within the market bracket they are trying to hit
- the i4 is known to be a performance hero, and also meets emissions targets nicely
- however, Lotus are reluctant to let the i4 outshine the V6 (at least initially) because it would be confusing from a marketing perspective, so the i4 is (disappointingly IMO) hobbled.
- Lotus are also presumably still "getting to know" the i4 engine, so may have been fairly conservative with the tune so they do not run face first into a global reliability / overheating / fuel compatibility / whatever fiasco straight out of the gate.

I think the comparison to the trajectory from Evora "First Edition" to GT / Final Edition are somewhat apt, but needs to consider both drivetrains for the Emira. What is muddying the water here is that, yes, they are shipping ye olde V6 as that gets the car out the door sooner (and as a bit of fan service), but the real development and performance improvement is ironically going to be carried by the AMG drivetrain.

So, to recap: the Emira should probably have more power, especially from the i4, but Lotus have chosen to a) hit a price point, b) make sure they don't immediately get a bad reputation for reliability, c) let the V6 fans feel more smug than they deserve to be , and d) leave a significant amount of headroom for i4 power bumps over coming years (whether they just expect to get to know the i4 better, or whether they just cynically get to release new editions with a simple remap).
Does it suck? A bit. Are we all kinda stoked anyway? Yes. Am I inevitably going to want to tune the bollocks off my i4 at some point? Probably, once the aftermarket has matured for this model.

I'm not presuming to speak for anyone, but I don't think is too far from where xen / PaulP / 4GIV8M3 stand... we could probably do with skipping the polarising rhetoric though (in either direction).

Thanks for taking the time to write a reasoned explanation of where Lotus seem to be coming from on this. They've clearly taken a gamble in going with the old V6 at 400hp-ish as the launch car and having the i4 coming later and with lower power. But they appear to have their reasons for this - we can disagree with those reasons but those decisions have been taken. It's certain we'll see higher powered versions in the future. The Final Edition V6 GT450 may be the ultimate last hurrah of the V6 manual.

The outgoing Evora 400/410/430 cost significantly more than the Emira V6. The Emira pricing seems to have hit the right ballpark against their target competitors, setting aside some odd differentials in places like Canada and Australia. If they'd added 20-30hp and £15-20k I can imagine we'd be seeing a lot "too expensive for a Lotus" posts and far fewer deposits.

The original question was about alternative engines. It's interesting to note the planned Esprit replacement Lotus had designed to follow the Evora was rumoured to be going to use a V8 or V10 from BMW or Lexus. Imagine if we'd seen an Evora-like Esprit with the V10 from the LFA.

 

[Pegasi]

This thread has gotten weird. I get sad when I see terms "fan boy" and "kool aid" getting thrown around.

I always like to understand people's perspective. Most people debate to win, at least in the car world I like to debate to understand. This debate is a GREAT lead into the first reviews coming out? I drink coffee on my morning mountain drives so if they don't cover the cup holder it's getting a thumbs down!

Another thing that I am wondering about, what's wrong with being a fan boy. Lol. I am a fan boy! Lotus can do no wrong and I love it.

 

[Hapkin]

My vote goes to the 2.9 litre twin turbo V-6 from Alfa Romeo. 505hp, 443 ft lbs of torque. And at that size hopefully would fit!

That would be amazing. Sounds so good and has such character!

 

[NicolasB]

The thing is, at 400hp, it is selling out beyond their expectations and they are trying to figure out how to meet demand. Something tells me they don't care if there is 5% more power than it has, because they are selling like hotcakes.

 

[Eagle7]

This thread has gotten weird. I get sad when I see terms "fan boy" and "kool aid" getting thrown around, regardless of the topic. Seeing as I'm avoiding doing some real work for a few minutes, I'll see if I can further stir people up with a lengthy waffle about how things sit in my head

I think there are a confluence of factors that have resulted in what I'm going to call a slightly disappointing (but clearly not deal-breaking) performance rating for the First Edition of the Emira.
- the V6 is a known quantity to Lotus, and lets them get to market quicker
- the V6 is a giant pain in their ass with regard to current and upcoming emissions targets being difficult to meet if it is tuned hard, and also with regard to what can be coaxed out of the engine and gearbox while still keeping pricing within the market bracket they are trying to hit
- the i4 is known to be a performance hero, and also meets emissions targets nicely
- however, Lotus are reluctant to let the i4 outshine the V6 (at least initially) because it would be confusing from a marketing perspective, so the i4 is (disappointingly IMO) hobbled.
- Lotus are also presumably still "getting to know" the i4 engine, so may have been fairly conservative with the tune so they do not run face first into a global reliability / overheating / fuel compatibility / whatever fiasco straight out of the gate.

I think the comparison to the trajectory from Evora "First Edition" to GT / Final Edition are somewhat apt, but needs to consider both drivetrains for the Emira. What is muddying the water here is that, yes, they are shipping ye olde V6 as that gets the car out the door sooner (and as a bit of fan service), but the real development and performance improvement is ironically going to be carried by the AMG drivetrain.

So, to recap: the Emira should probably have more power, especially from the i4, but Lotus have chosen to a) hit a price point, b) make sure they don't immediately get a bad reputation for reliability, c) let the V6 fans feel more smug than they deserve to be , and d) leave a significant amount of headroom for i4 power bumps over coming years (whether they just expect to get to know the i4 better, or whether they just cynically get to release new editions with a simple remap).
Does it suck? A bit. Are we all kinda stoked anyway? Yes. Am I inevitably going to want to tune the bollocks off my i4 at some point? Probably, once the aftermarket has matured for this model.

I'm not presuming to speak for anyone, but I don't think is too far from where xen / PaulP / 4GIV8M3 stand... we could probably do with skipping the polarising rhetoric though (in either direction).

I like waffles.

 

[richbrown]

I’m a fan of many things but never a fan boi.

Used apple computers for 30 years but still diss them when they do something stupid like deleting magsafe or the headphone jack.

Buy BMW but hate the new front End, looks like shit

PLanning a lotus and am a fan, but Emira is underpowered - who releases an updated car with less horsepower than the old version? No car manufacturer I’ve ever seen (not porsche, not BMW, not mercedes….)

Truth is truth. Don’t label those who don’t drink the coolaid as “detractors” - those kinda forums suck.

There’s no answer to that . Close thread time 2nd request

 

[IH8theMavs]

Something like this? http://www.speedhunters.com/2022/02/ferrari-488-meets-lotus-exige/

View attachment 3402

Painting the engine head red with black letters is easily done. I don’t hate the Lotus tuned Toyota; I just hate the boring gray colour.

 

[SmokeGlider]

I’m interested. What would be your call it ideal outcome desired scenario? Not at all baiting here. Legit interested to know what the Goldilocks set-up would be. Sincerely.

I feel like much more than 450 hp would change the character of the car, and not for the better. The feel of the SC poweplant is sublime. The power comes on in such a predictable and linear fashion without upsetting the balance of the extraordinary chassis. Granted, it would be great fun to have the option to brutalize the asphalt from time to time; sort of a Jekyll/Hyde character. But not essential. And I think wringing an extra 50 ponies out of that motor wouldn't be so difficult.