Is Emira track capable straight from the factory?

[@Life411]

So how is the Emira on track? I had an opportunity to find out recently and here's my take on it.
Happy New Year! Pete

 

[KCDarkV]

The answer is yes. I’ve done three 2-day HPDEs completely stock down to the brake fluid. Will watch your video tonight.

 

[OppositeLock]

I tracked mine at Laguna Seca once breakin was done, and I overheated the brake fluid quite significantly, got mushy-pedal and had to pump it to brake. This was with 2-day old OEM fluid. So, "it depends"

 

[Evotion]

My brakes went to mush at Donnington - a track with long straights but were 100% brilliant at Castle Coombe which is bendy in nature.

A McLaren and Lotus test driver said it was a step on from all other Lotus and only the LT McLarens were as good. I happen to believe it as I was overtaking Exiges (though not sure the exact spec) with relative ease.

The car was designed to be epic at both track and road and therefore, out of the box, is amazing but, of course, there are some marginal gains to be had but specifically optimizing for track.
Mainly though, go on a diet (the drive and the car).

 

[OppositeLock]

When I was test driving cars this past summer, I drove a lot of nice ones, and I came to the same conclusion as your test drivers; my two final cars between which I was deciding were the McLaren 600LT and Emira. Both of them have a similar handling feel. The McLaren is obviously faster given +200HP and less weight, but the Emira is a better car in all other regards. I intend to track it a lot, like I did with my Elise, and this means, every once in a while, I will need to rebuild or replace the engine and transmission. The Toyota and Aisin units in the Emira are affordable to me, while the Ricardo engine in a McLaren costs as much as an Emira. The Emira also had a nicer interior, more physical controls, and an available 6MT, for half the price of a heavily used Mac.

I've only done one Emira track day so far, but using the touring suspension on the touring tires, I was as fast as my supercharged Elise on R-comps. There's much potential here, but it doesn't have that nimble Elise feeling.

 

[Evotion]

AH, have been looking at 600LTs for ages. The rawness appeals to me and I believe it is the best McLaren below 1 mil actually. Love the noise with the vertical exhausts.
I have recently decided against it as the scary tales of things going wrong spooked me out.

 

[OppositeLock]

The 600LT I considered had 30k miles on it, and a bunch of track miles. The interior Alcantara doesn't hold up well, it's nasty when it's got years of dried sweat in it, particularly the steering wheel. It needed new radiators due to rock chips, and had a few other minor issues. Basically, I'd need to put about $20k of work into a $200k used car just so then I could pay $8k/year for their extended warranty (which covered everything, which is nice). Once you're paying for the warranty, you have to comply with its requirements, like doing a dealer pre-track and post-track inspection for every track day, which adds hassle and $1,200 in additional per-trackday costs. It just wasn't worth it to play in that price tier. The biggest cost was brakes, since those carbon ceramics are very pricey and only last a few track days, but you can go with iron rotors or aftermarket ceramic, both of which last lots longer and cost less.

 

[Evotion]

Yeah, I researched on all of that, the same in the UK.
It was too scary and unpalatable a proposition overall.

Now looking at 458/488 Spider as I want to get back into Ferrari ownership.
Not cheap to run but overall less surprises than a McLaren.

 

[Tracked Emira]

Out of the box I tracked the New York Safety Track the day after I bought it, but kept it under 4K to break it in properly.
Upgraded race pads are a must, but at least upgrading to a higher boiling point brake fluid is needed for hot days so brakes don't give out on you. The car handles well with precise steering and can't wait to get it on the track again now that it Has Gregs race parts titanium exhaust, 3rd cat delete and Eventuri air intake. The weight loss will help along with extra power.
Really hoping to go to 18 inch wheels and removing parking brake to get it on slicks. Has anyone done this?

 

[OppositeLock]

I seriously looked into alternate wheel sizes. There isn't much selection in 19", so no sense going down to that size. Yeah, in 18"'s you have more selection of slicks, but the parking brake is useful if you street drive the car. Hoosier makes slicks in our OEM 20" sizes, and there's also the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2, which is a very grippy tire. I ordered a second set of 20" wheels and will be using one of these two.

 

[Tracked Emira]

I seriously looked into alternate wheel sizes. There isn't much selection in 19", so no sense going down to that size. Yeah, in 18"'s you have more selection of slicks, but the parking brake is useful if you street drive the car. Hoosier makes slicks in our OEM 20" sizes, and there's also the Dunlop Sport Maxx Race 2, which is a very grippy tire. I ordered a second set of 20" wheels and will be using one of these two.

Mine is an Automatic so I don't need the parking brakes.

 

[OppositeLock]

I'd still be hesitant to remove the parking brake in a street driven car. If you park it on a hill, you're going to put an awful lot of stress on the parking pawls in the transmission. The EPB also does work in an emergency if your brakes fail.