So is it a great car?

[Matt]

For me, it is a good car. I've been dreaming to own a mid-engine car with supercar style for years. At the beginning, I considered an used F430 (the similar price to Emira in China) which was from $100,000 to $120,000. However, on secpond thought, I gave up. Afterall, an F430 is 15 years old.

 

[hagen111]

I am yet to be convinced the Emira will be a 'great' car and likely not even as good as a late Exige but I do know it looks the NUTS and will be very good and will be good enough for me.

And yes.. a bargain in my eyes.

Come on, every Lotus adapt who has driven Emira confirmed it is WAY BETTER and faster than Exige. I owned Exige V6, which is fantastic.

Now waiting for Emira to arrive.

 

[4GIV8M3]

I think it'll be on par to my current M2 Competition. But that's about it.

If money was no object I'd be in an F8 Spider.

I think youll be disappointed. S55 is on another planet. Performance wise its not really comparable. The Lotus will look and sound better though. On a track or in a straight line the M2 will absolutely destroy it.

 

[kbhoz]

Come on, every Lotus adapt who has driven Emira confirmed it is WAY BETTER and faster than Exige. I owned Exige V6, which is fantastic.

Now waiting for Emira to arrive.

Is that factual hagen111 , I thought the Emira was a tad slower than The V6 Exige(power/weight ratio etc).

 

[kbhoz]

I don't think anyone here has questioned if the car for 75K GPB is good value. It most certainly is. @Tommyboy1986 and @Evotion covered why it has good value. A lot of the debate on the forums revolve's around which spec touring/sport, build quality and consistency and worries about Lotus being able to handle the demand with enough care. My gripe was knowing they could have shoved a bit more power and a bit better seats. But that version is coming. It's the one I want.

I have no doubt that the Emira is a success. The demand and current 2 year wait list should tell you that. Is it going to light the competition on fire ( cayman GTS 4.0), no it's not. But that is a very very good car. It will be unique and different. Probably a lot cooler too.

Hey guys - remember we are paying £125k for FE V6 here in Australia - and I am hoping that is still good value!!

 

[Matt]

Hey guys - remember we are paying £125k for FE V6 here in Australia - and I am hoping that is still good value!!

Lucky you, In China ,the V6 costs £235k and i4 costs £186000.

 

[DaaS]

I think youll be disappointed. S55 is on another planet. Performance wise its not really comparable. The Lotus will look and sound better though. On a track or in a straight line the M2 will absolutely destroy it.

Agree. In straight line performance, even Supra with B58 is faster than my Evora GT. S55 is on another level power-wise.

 

[ksegg]

Agree. In straight line performance, even Supra with B58 is faster than my Evora GT. S55 is on another level power-wise.

Hmm, that's definitely one thing I love about my M2C.

On highways, when I move to the far left to pass traffic, everyone behind me quickly becomes a tiny dot. And I'm barely even really putting that much input into the throttle.

Is the Emira really that slow????

 

[Leonard]

I think youll be disappointed. S55 is on another planet. Performance wise its not really comparable. The Lotus will look and sound better though. On a track or in a straight line the M2 will absolutely destroy it.

If it doesn't beat yet alone be comparable to an M2 then what the hell has gone wrong.
The M2 is fat and slowish and nose heavy

 

[TRX250EX]

Hmm, that's definitely one thing I love about my M2C.

On highways, when I move to the far left to pass traffic, everyone behind me quickly becomes a tiny dot. And I'm barely even really putting that much input into the throttle.

Is the Emira really that slow????

I will say "Adequate" for road fun, you don't need more power, it's not for racing, not on road or on track, if you want to race you need Exige or wait for more powerful versions of I4, I personally believe even 360hp I4 will beat the V6 due to DCT alone

 

[Lotustoronto]

If it doesn't beat yet alone be comparable to an M2 then what the hell has gone wrong.
The M2 is fat and slowish and nose heavy

M2 Manual... it will be close... M2 DCT no chance around a track. Not this version at least.

 

[Leonard]

M2 Manual... it will be close... M2 DCT no chance around a track. Not this version at least.

It's 200 kilos lighter!
I had the manual it was a slow car to get off the line, but I'm no drag racer, nor want to be

 

[TRX250EX]

It's 200 kilos lighter!
I had the manual it was a slow car to get off the line, but I'm no drag racer, nor want to be

To make it simple, car and drive did both Evora GT + M2C quarter a mile test and both got exact same 12.4s, however M2 had 5mph faster trap speed, considering Emira is slower than Evora GT (on paper) then M2C surely beats it on drag racing, race track? I'm not so sure as weight make bigger difference on track, if I had to bet M2C will be winner due to DCT.

 

[Leonard]

To make it simple, car and drive did both Evora GT + M2C quarter a mile test and both got exact same 12.4s, however M2 had 5mph faster trap speed, considering Emira is slower than Evora GT (on paper) then M2C surely beats it on drag racing, race track? I'm not so sure as weight make bigger difference on track, if I had to bet M2C will be winner due to DCT.

I was in a minority with the M2 and found it lacking.
Oh dear

 

[TRX250EX]

I was in a minority with the M2 and found it lacking.
Oh dear

No to me even it's not a better car at all tbh, yes it's faster but doesn't mean better, if I had to choose easily Emira over M2C without a second guess, infact will take Emira over M4C also.

 

[emiraspain]

I think you know the answer and rightly so. The Emira, from someone who has driven it for 2 hours, feeling sick, but not the cars fault, is a good car, a different car, a romantics car (this is now my favourite phrase referring to the car).
Are you going to get burnt, 100% not. Is it a great car, not quite no, at 80k there are options, but none look like it does from the outside. On the inside, engine and handling wise, there are clearly things not far away or better, the Cayman GTS being the clear overall option. At 60k it would be great value, but I doubt it will come in for less than 65/67 on the road in the end.
I repeat, IMO it's a good car, its even a very good overall package of a car. But I cant quite bring myself to say its great, even though I want to!!! However, I may when I have had it and driven it for a few hundred/thousand miles on my own, or with a young hot..... I mean on a nice hot dat. In fact, I kind of feel that like the early iPhone, it will grow on me, it has the potential more than most cars. I think the GTS I would go off and get bored of, but this will be the opposite.

You can buy with no worries at all, the car will not burn you, I simply hope Lotus themselves don't either!

 

[ksegg]

I was in a minority with the M2 and found it lacking.
Oh dear

The M2C is fun on "normal" drives; I love the power and it handles great, but I agree that it just FEELS heavy all the time, even when it's just me in the car, and nothing else.

It's actually kind of scary on very tight, twisty, roads, because it's really not that light on its feet.

My assumption with the Emira is that it weighs less than the M2C, is MR layout instead of FR, and it being a Lotus, the handling is going to be sublime - so it should be "better" than the M2C. On paper anyway. I won't even know until I actually get delivery, 150 years from now.

 

[TRX250EX]

I think you know the answer and rightly so. The Emira, from someone who has driven it for 2 hours, feeling sick, but not the cars fault, is a good car, a different car, a romantics car (this is now my favourite phrase referring to the car).
Are you going to get burnt, 100% not. Is it a great car, not quite no, at 80k there are options, but none look like it does from the outside. On the inside, engine and handling wise, there are clearly things not far away or better, the Cayman GTS being the clear overall option. At 60k it would be great value, but I doubt it will come in for less than 65/67 on the road in the end.
I repeat, IMO it's a good car, its even a very good overall package of a car. But I cant quite bring myself to say its great, even though I want to!!! However, I may when I have had it and driven it for a few hundred/thousand miles on my own, or with a young hot..... I mean on a nice hot dat. In fact, I kind of feel that like the early iPhone, it will grow on me, it has the potential more than most cars. I think the GTS I would go off and get bored of, but this will be the opposite.

You can buy with no worries at all, the car will not burn you, I simply hope Lotus themselves don't either!

Yup exactly what I expected, it's not one of those "drivers car of the year" you expect a Lotus car to be, infact on paper Emira should be just that but there were shortcomings in some areas to keep price low, those are powertrain + transmission imo, the V6 hardly updated infact it even have less power + 200RPM or so less redline, the transmission used to be great but now more cars started having Manual Lotus Manual is not at the top, so considering these 2 elements make over 50% of car enjoyment (imo), I don't think anyone who driven one got the chills you get in "drivers car of the year" sort of car let's say, like GT4RS or GT3 or even Cayman GTS 4.0.

The I4 on other hand is something I'm not sure about, M139 (if I got codename correct) I tried it in A45s ignoring the sound it felt like a proper driver's car engine, it had character in it, so if Lotus get it right they might have drivers car of the year real contender with an I4! Hence I always said I hope we will get a track focused version using a more powerful I4+DCT combo, the V6 might have reached it's limits, unless Radford show us a whole new level of this V6.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Yup exactly what I expected, it's not one of those "drivers car of the year" you expect a Lotus car to be, infact on paper Emira should be just that but there were shortcomings in some areas to keep price low, those are powertrain + transmission imo, the V6 hardly updated infact it even have less power + 200RPM or so less redline, the transmission used to be great but now more cars started having Manual Lotus Manual is not at the top, so considering these 2 elements make over 50% of car enjoyment (imo), I don't think anyone who driven one got the chills you get in "drivers car of the year" sort of car let's say, like GT4RS or GT3 or even Cayman GTS 4.0.

The I4 on other hand is something I'm not sure about, M139 (if I got codename correct) I tried it in A45s ignoring the sound it felt like a proper driver's car engine, it had character in it, so if Lotus get it right they might have drivers car of the year real contender with an I4! Hence I always said I hope we will get a track focused version using a more powerful I4+DCT combo, the V6 might have reached it's limits, unless Radford show us a whole new level of this V6.

Here is the questions...

Emira V6 vs Cayman GTS 4.0 = tie

Emira i4 vs Cayman S = Win for Emira (premature, but I get the feeling this is in the bag for Lotus)

Emira V6 Manual GT/Cup/Final vs Cayman GT4 = ?? This is the crown they want for the final manual Lotus. No doubt in my mind they will be working very very hard for this. From what I have seen I think they can take the GT4 in the final V6 version. This is the one I want. The Emira should push that V6 to 430-440BHP and 100 KG lighter, with a bit better suspension setup. It's almost there.

Emira i4 450-500BHP 2026+ model vs Cayman GT4rs = ?? This will be the hardest mission to accomplish. The GT4RS engine from the GT3 will be almost impossible to tackle with a 4cyl. But it will be close, and at that point there won't be a GT4RS to buy, the RS is not a normal car, it is PDK only track car.

I think they can topple the GT4 manual with an Emira V6 final manual. This is the biggest triumph to the marketing of the Emira... To crown a mid-engine track King that can be easily drivable. The Exige cup 430 vs GT4RS would be an interesting battle on track I think... that's another thread lol

 

[TRX250EX]

Here is the questions...

Emira V6 vs Cayman GTS 4.0 = tie

Emira i4 vs Cayman S = Win for Emira (premature, but I get the feeling this is in the bag for Lotus)

Emira V6 Manual GT/Cup/Final vs Cayman GT4 = ?? This is the crown they want for the final manual Lotus. No doubt in my mind they will be working very very hard for this. From what I have seen I think they can take the GT4 in the final V6 version. This is the one I want. The Emira should push that V6 to 430-440BHP and 100 KG lighter, with a bit better suspension setup. It's almost there.

Emira i4 450-500BHP 2026+ model vs Cayman GT4rs = ?? This will be the hardest mission to accomplish. The GT4RS engine from the GT3 will be almost impossible to tackle with a 4cyl. But it will be close, and at that point there won't be a GT4RS to buy, the RS is not a normal car, it is PDK only track car.

I think they can topple the GT4 manual with an Emira V6 final manual. This is the biggest triumph to the marketing of the Emira... To crown a mid-engine track King that can be easily drivable. The Exige cup 430 vs GT4RS would be an interesting battle on track I think... that's another thread lol

It's not tie man it depends on what you talking about? Style of course Emira wins, but we talking about as "driver's car", GTS 4.0 engine is just pure joy, the way it revs, the redline feel, the way power builds up, the way it vibrates the car, the intake sound, the PDK is alot of joy also the way it sounds in Sports mode or the feel of G Force in Sports Plus when you change gears, the Manual in Porsche felt more precise to me (lighter but not in a bad way), there's just something special about Porsches Powertrain+ Transmission combo that you don't get bored from.

What I noticed in Lotus driving Evora GT or the Exige Final edition which I have at home is that the engine sounds nice and fun but doesn't excite you for long, transmission is the same, it seems it lacks 2020s refinement, the way other manufacturers were pushing their engines to higher RPM, to better power delivery, to better sound (interior at least), Lotus seems lacking, now consider that Exige Final edition(I have it with exhaust flap mod) or Evora GT engines are even superior to that of Emira I can't say Emira will do something as "Driver's car", I expected that anyway, I said that from start.

Beating Porsche at their game is very difficult, only Exige had a chance due to the weight difference, and I can see alot preferring it even me personally prefer Exige to GT4, Emira on other hand it sacrificed the weight for usability, which is a good thing hence I'm buying it but makes it worse as a driver's car argument, but as a fun daily usability car Emira will give more character due to being more special at low speeds than Porsche which you have to push it to get the most out of it.

My final judgement is when I get to drive production version of Emira or mine when it arrives, that won't be long hopefully.