What's the appeal? (Emira and Porsche)

[Lots_Of_Trouble]

I'd like to share a quick thought. And reading multiple posts, I feel Like I'm at a Marvel convention with DC fans stopping in. Clearly, there are Porsche lovers here, comparing the Emira sometimes negatively in many aspects.

What's the appeal in considering a niche vehicle like the Emira when your heart belongs with Porsche? Clearly, we are fans on both sides, but not sure why make the crossover if you find the new Emira disappointing?

For me personally,Porsche is the benchmark,again I said personally.

Reason being, the old boy had a love of Lotus and had a few when I was small,so the love of Lotus is inherited and I owned an elise a few years ago,loved it but it was too basic for my likings in terms of interior,so I left the brand for Porsche>Maserati>Porsche>Aston>Porsche...

I always wanted to get back into a Lotus but the quality inside still wouldn't bring me back,early Evoras were still plastic and "Tinny".

Thus,the Emira,after experiencing the leather interior it was more than sufficient enough to bring me back to the brand.

It still has that heritage British motor feel and lowness, still feels go kart(ish) but has upped the interior enough to bring me back.

Is it a porsche killer interior wise? Maybe not,but I actually really like it,and this will be a long keeper for me.

 

[Cachaco131]

For someone who I think manages investments your random use of statistics plucked out of the air really worries me

But… agree with your points though… I’ve got a Macan gts, it’s solid and has convincing performance for a tank, but it’s a bit dull

I drove a 911 gts and found it too polished and anodyne… no way it was getting me out of my vantage

Crazy on a track but too tame most of the time for me.

That said I’m considering a 991 again, cause I’m fickle

Lol- that's an accurate statistic based on my neighborhood Porsche count!

 

[fatjase]

Listen to a new Vantage…. Amazing doesn’t come close.

I had my mates for a month and we did the NC500 in it amongst some other road trips so I can absolutely agree with you on that point. It was a 2018 model so no GPF'S either, I think 2019 onwards the GPF'S had to be fitted so muted it slightly.

 

[Lotus64]

The GT3 has been my sole favorite car since the 997 dropped, bar none. It was the embodiment of everything I've ever wanted in a car... engaging, beautiful, comfortable and capable. Riding in a 997 and driving a 991 confirmed it was as good as it gets, worthy of being plastered on the walls of car enthusiasts all over the world. However the cost kept it out of reach for me.

Then the Emira was unveiled. I was immediately intrigued by the styling. I had always respected Lotus due to their racing pedigree but never seriously considered buying one due to one or more of the following reasons: comfort, price or (perceived) quality. However, days, then weeks went by, and the Emira stayed at the forefront of my mind.

Being the OCD person I am, I analyzed every detail I could find extensively. After months of back and forth, it finally occurred to me that I was not only obsessed with the Emira, to a similar and maybe even greater extent than the GT3, but I could actually afford it. I realized the Emira had all the attributes I lauded the GT3 for. The Emira had less straight line performance, but was potentially edging out the GT3 in engagement, beauty, comfort and definetly on price. It was the first time any car had been able to compete with the GT3 for my heart.

From then on, I knew I had no other choice but to buy an Emira.

 

[Nsrg]

I have a 997 turbo and it's great, but somehow a bit less special. I want an uncommon car that has great steering and doesn't cost the money of an italian car, I'm not really thrilled with the 997 steering at the moment.
The turbo is almost too fast, I also want something fun at 45 mph!

 

[~el~jefe~]

I have ultra optioned Porsche 718 Boxster T, carbon fiber seats, full interior package, guards red, Burmester stereo, and that thing is a work of art, no joke. to drive and to look at and to touch.

 

[centerpunch]

I'm an old guy, and have had nine Porsches. Two 356's, several 911's, a 944 Turbo Cup factory race car (had that one 29 years), and even a 904. The newest ones I've had were two 993's.

I've never been a one-marque guy, and have had a bunch of cool cars, including 2 Ford GTs, and my current coolest car is a 2005 NSX.

I'm really not interested in the newer Porsches. They are amazing and great cars, but to me, they have zero personality.

And I must admit, I mentally blew a fuse when they called one version of their electric car a "Turbo."

Before learning about the Emira, I was getting ready to order a Cayman GTS 4.0, simply because it was likely the last great gas-powered manual transmission sports car, but... I really wasn't excited about it.

I think on paper, the Cayman is probably "better" than the Emira in every way, and of course, Porsche can bump the power to 450 or 500 hp any time they feel like it.

But I have no interest in the Cayman, and I absolutely love the Emira, even though I'm sure I won't get mine until 2024.

 

[Lolub]

I'm an old guy, and have had nine Porsches. Two 356's, several 911's, a 944 Turbo Cup factory race car (had that one 29 years), and even a 904. The newest ones I've had were two 993's.

I've never been a one-marque guy, and have had a bunch of cool cars, including 2 Ford GTs, and my current coolest car is a 2005 NSX.

I'm really not interested in the newer Porsches. They are amazing and great cars, but to me, they have zero personality.

And I must admit, I mentally blew a fuse when they called one version of their electric car a "Turbo."

Before learning about the Emira, I was getting ready to order a Cayman GTS 4.0, simply because it was likely the last great gas-powered manual transmission sports car, but... I really wasn't excited about it.

I think on paper, the Cayman is probably "better" than the Emira in every way, and of course, Porsche can bump the power to 450 or 500 hp any time they feel like it.

But I have no interest in the Cayman, and I absolutely love the Emira, even though I'm sure I won't get mine until 2024

Very insightful, and I appreciate your appreciation of different marquees I once looked at a Porsche 718, blue with tan interior, but didn't pull the trigger because the Emira was announced! 2024, hang in there!

 

[Leonard]

I'm an old guy, and have had nine Porsches. Two 356's, several 911's, a 944 Turbo Cup factory race car (had that one 29 years), and even a 904. The newest ones I've had were two 993's.

I've never been a one-marque guy, and have had a bunch of cool cars, including 2 Ford GTs, and my current coolest car is a 2005 NSX.

I'm really not interested in the newer Porsches. They are amazing and great cars, but to me, they have zero personality.

And I must admit, I mentally blew a fuse when they called one version of their electric car a "Turbo."

Before learning about the Emira, I was getting ready to order a Cayman GTS 4.0, simply because it was likely the last great gas-powered manual transmission sports car, but... I really wasn't excited about it.

I think on paper, the Cayman is probably "better" than the Emira in every way, and of course, Porsche can bump the power to 450 or 500 hp any time they feel like it.

But I have no interest in the Cayman, and I absolutely love the Emira, even though I'm sure I won't get mine until 2024.

904!

 

[centerpunch]

904!

.
Yeah, I bought it in the 80's, sold it in the early 90's, thinking I was really smart and making a pretty good profit.

Oops!
.

 

[Leonard]

.
Yeah, I bought it in the 80's, sold it in the early 90's, thinking I was really smart and making a pretty good profit.

Oops!
.
View attachment 20679

Ah well better to have loved and lost.. and all that

 

[hagen111]

I own a daily 991.1 Carrera 2s. Such a brilliant car, does everything so well and build quality is supreme. Own a 991.2 GT3 Manual, and it is the very best 'street race car' money can buy. Mental. Yet don't drive it that much. Owned an Exige V6 and absolutely loved the Lotus DNA: super pure raw - like nothing else on the market. Rather got in the Exige than in the GT3. In general I am a fan of very good driver cars...and Porsche apparently tends to make a lot of those, they are brilliant. So does (did?) Lotus, as the Exige was a VERY GOOD weekend fun car. Also have a Donkervoort GTO JD70, which is from another galaxy.

Now where does that leave my upcoming Emira? I really have no clue...

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

I own a daily 991.1 Carrera 2s. Such a brilliant car, does everything so well and build quality is supreme. Own a 991.2 GT3 Manual, and it is the very best 'street race car' money can buy. Mental. Yet don't drive it that much. Owned an Exige V6 and absolutely loved the Lotus DNA: super pure raw - like nothing else on the market. Rather got in the Exige than in the GT3. In general I am a fan of very good driver cars...and Porsche apparently tends to make a lot of those, they are brilliant. So does (did?) Lotus, as the Exige was a VERY GOOD weekend fun car. Also have a Donkervoort GTO JD70, which is from another galaxy.

Now where does that leave my upcoming Emira? I really have no clue...

My guess, somewhere nice, not to be compared with those beasts!
But who knows

 

[Eagle7]

.
Yeah, I bought it in the 80's, sold it in the early 90's, thinking I was really smart and making a pretty good profit.

Oops!
.
View attachment 20679

Back in the 70's my college music teacher's husband had one of these, and she drove a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB!

The Porsche 904 was considered quite the exotic car at that time. Now it looks almost crude compared to the sophisticated designs and construction that computer aided manufacturing has enabled companies to make. The Emira looks so sleek and refined compared to this.

 

[JPSpecial]

Returning to the original topic I don’t know why the Emira has managed to catch the attention standing Porsche owners who are often among the most negative online towards other cars, especially Lotus. Loving Porsche with religious fervour seems to come with equal intolerance for other makes. I think there’s an element of considering the Elise and Exige as toy cars or extreme track toys and I think the Evora was often dismissed for being too close to the sacred 911 and as such attracted instant derision and mockery. It wasn’t enough that Porsche was very successful many seemed to want the Evora to fail and I include a number of prominent UK car journalists among them. I think many Porsche fans were insulted by any comparison with the Evora a cheap kit car made by turnip farmers with a Camry engine in their eyes. Quite how the Emira has managed to overcome such psychological hurdles remains a mystery and I can tell you it’s more by happy accident than design. Just look at the mess Lotus has made of their success since launch, it’s like they were totally unprepared for such a positive reception. I think the timing has been good with the 718 Cayman towards the end of its lifecycle but most of all the positive reaction to the Emira seems to be driven by styling and this has cut through a lot of negative perception towards Lotus. If they can deliver on quality with customer cars they really can build on this success and transform the company. I’m still surprised at the strength of the reaction to the Emira given how close it is to the Evora but very glad for Lotus that it has a volume seller at last. A lot was riding on this car and somehow they pulled it off. The TVR story is a warning for them though. They became very fashionable for a brief moment in the 90’s when the 911 fell out of favour with financial services (911 was seen as something of an 80’s city boy cliche). TVR spent the proceeds from the very popular Griffith and Chimaera on some new in-house straight 6 and V8 engines. Reliability took a fatal turn for the worse and their moment in the sun was short lived. 911s might not have been cool anymore but there was nothing less cool than a new TVR on a tow truck. The city slickers went back to BMW and Porsche and never looked back. Possibly until now. Lotus won’t get a second chance to deliver on quality, that’s the number 1 job of the Emira from here. No easy task and direct selling is a huge challenge to take on but I wish them well.

 

[Nova]

Returning to the original topic I don’t know why the Emira has managed to catch the attention standing Porsche owners who are often among the most negative online towards other cars, especially Lotus. Loving Porsche with religious fervour seems to come with equal intolerance for other makes. I think there’s an element of considering the Elise and Exige as toy cars or extreme track toys and I think the Evora was often dismissed for being too close to the sacred 911 and as such attracted instant derision and mockery. It wasn’t enough that Porsche was very successful many seemed to want the Evora to fail and I include a number of prominent UK car journalists among them. I think many Porsche fans were insulted by any comparison with the Evora a cheap kit car made by turnip farmers with a Camry engine in their eyes. Quite how the Emira has managed to overcome such psychological hurdles remains a mystery and I can tell you it’s more by happy accident than design. Just look at the mess Lotus has made of their success since launch, it’s like they were totally unprepared for such a positive reception. I think the timing has been good with the 718 Cayman towards the end of its lifecycle but most of all the positive reaction to the Emira seems to be driven by styling and this has cut through a lot of negative perception towards Lotus. If they can deliver on quality with customer cars they really can build on this success and transform the company. I’m still surprised at the strength of the reaction to the Emira given how close it is to the Evora but very glad for Lotus that it has a volume seller at last. A lot was riding on this car and somehow they pulled it off. The TVR story is a warning for them though. They became very fashionable for a brief moment in the 90’s when the 911 fell out of favour with financial services (911 was seen as something of an 80’s city boy cliche). TVR spent the proceeds from the very popular Griffith and Chimaera on some new in-house straight 6 and V8 engines. Reliability took a fatal turn for the worse and their moment in the sun was short lived. 911s might not have been cool anymore but there was nothing less cool than a new TVR on a tow truck. The city slickers went back to BMW and Porsche and never looked back. Possibly until now. Lotus won’t get a second chance to deliver on quality, that’s the number 1 job of the Emira from here. No easy task and direct selling is a huge challenge to take on but I wish them well.

Excellent post. It's the right choice for Lotus to stay with the Toyota engine and enlist MB for the I4. I am sure their electric vehicles will make ample use of outside sourcing rather than trying to reinvent what others already does well. Lotus should focus on their strength of design and chassis tuning.

 

[centerpunch]

The Porsche 904 was considered quite the exotic car at that time. Now it looks almost crude compared to the sophisticated designs and construction that computer aided manufacturing has enabled companies to make. The Emira looks so sleek and refined compared to this.

The 904 is crude?

Uh, I would disagree with that, and so would Gordon Murray.

Professor Gordon Murray reveals the 60s racers that inspired the T.33

You wouldn’t expect the ultra-advanced Gordon Murray Automotive T.33 to have much in common with vintage racing cars, but its ethos is deeply inspired by the sports racing cars of the 60s. We sat down with Professor Gordon Murray to find out more...

www.classicdriver.com

 

[Lotustoronto]

Returning to the original topic I don’t know why the Emira has managed to catch the attention standing Porsche owners who are often among the most negative online towards other cars, especially Lotus. Loving Porsche with religious fervour seems to come with equal intolerance for other makes. I think there’s an element of considering the Elise and Exige as toy cars or extreme track toys and I think the Evora was often dismissed for being too close to the sacred 911 and as such attracted instant derision and mockery. It wasn’t enough that Porsche was very successful many seemed to want the Evora to fail and I include a number of prominent UK car journalists among them. I think many Porsche fans were insulted by any comparison with the Evora a cheap kit car made by turnip farmers with a Camry engine in their eyes. Quite how the Emira has managed to overcome such psychological hurdles remains a mystery and I can tell you it’s more by happy accident than design. Just look at the mess Lotus has made of their success since launch, it’s like they were totally unprepared for such a positive reception. I think the timing has been good with the 718 Cayman towards the end of its lifecycle but most of all the positive reaction to the Emira seems to be driven by styling and this has cut through a lot of negative perception towards Lotus. If they can deliver on quality with customer cars they really can build on this success and transform the company. I’m still surprised at the strength of the reaction to the Emira given how close it is to the Evora but very glad for Lotus that it has a volume seller at last. A lot was riding on this car and somehow they pulled it off. The TVR story is a warning for them though. They became very fashionable for a brief moment in the 90’s when the 911 fell out of favour with financial services (911 was seen as something of an 80’s city boy cliche). TVR spent the proceeds from the very popular Griffith and Chimaera on some new in-house straight 6 and V8 engines. Reliability took a fatal turn for the worse and their moment in the sun was short lived. 911s might not have been cool anymore but there was nothing less cool than a new TVR on a tow truck. The city slickers went back to BMW and Porsche and never looked back. Possibly until now. Lotus won’t get a second chance to deliver on quality, that’s the number 1 job of the Emira from here. No easy task and direct selling is a huge challenge to take on but I wish them well.

I think you are pretty dead on. For me, in North America, felt that we never got the best of the Lotus cars (Exige S3) and in all honesty I don't think the Evora really got on in terms of design with us. However, the Lotus brand was always something special. Unlike so many others names that have come and gone, Lotus was a constant, despite some close calls. The Emira is a stunning car and that alone has brought droves of people from all other brands. Also, the price point it falls in makes it the supermodel out of the competition, never a bad thing.

You are right, for them to capitalize on this success, reliability is a must. They are at a make it or break point IMO.

 

[Magicman]

I have ultra optioned Porsche 718 Boxster T, carbon fiber seats, full interior package, guards red, Burmester stereo, and that thing is a work of art, no joke. to drive and to look at and to touch.

Not sure there's many porsches I'd ever refer to as a work of art

I've just sold my gt4, my 15th porsche, and they're brilliant cars in many ways but work of art has never popped into my head for any of them. It is a phrase I've used for the Emira styling though (and the v8 in my last ferrari)

 

[Magma]

Not sure there's many porsches I'd ever refer to as a work of art

I've just sold my gt4, my 15th porsche, and they're brilliant cars in many ways but work of art has never popped into my head for any of them. It is a phrase I've used for the Emira styling though (and the v8 in my last ferrari)

I think some of the G series/930 turbos are definitely works of art.