Who has had a Test Drive , score from 1 to 10

[Kwarstler]

Can you tell us about your test drive route? To have it "inspire confidence and be engaging" you must have gotten a better test drive route than some others on here which involved neighborhoods and speed bumps for the most part.

Well it was by no means a track. I did my test drive at Lotus of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is in the hills. Engaging? I actually rowed the gears - everything from 2-5. Never had the open road to run out or shift into 6th. You worked it to drive. Not boring at all! Power - linear. All gears pulled. A little downshift and it pulled harder! Confidence inspiring? Well when you get on secondary roadways in Pittsburgh, you follow the contours of the mountains. They don’t move mountains for roadways except highways! The twisties - both up hill and down were enough to give any truck driver the “pucker factor” hoping the engine brake does its job because the air brakes will surely burn up! The car stuck to the road like nothing else! I felt like I was at the local go cart track with my kids! Turns we’re precise and glued! At 40 mph, any SUV or daily sedan would have been screeching if not sliding off the roadway. The Emira? Nope - just point and go! For me, in some aspects it was kind of scary because the threshold to break loose exists, I just don’t know where and it’s beyond my driving skill. Still undecided about Sport be Tour? For me it will be sport. Sport was very acceptable on these Midwest roads. Ohio - where I am from - Pennsylvania is not different - winter wreaks havoc on roads. The way the British guys talk needing Tour suspension must truly be still driving on cobblestone! Just j/k. My biggest concern was Sport v Touring and I’m definitely Sport with Goodyears. At the end of the day, the test drive was too short because this car begs for more. I could have drove for hours but the 1/2 hour I had was more than enough to keep the fire alive!

 

[NicolasB]

I feel like this "it's a momentum car" thing sounds a lot like "don't worry babe, it's not about size, it's the motion of the ocean"

 

[digilotus]

I feel like this "it's a momentum car" thing sounds a lot like "don't worry babe, it's not about size, it's the motion of the ocean"

Emira is wider than a 911

 

[Cachaco131]

No one saying what you saying is not correct but rating Emira high just for sake of what you said will be lying to ourselves, we have to be realistic, Emira have shortcomings hence I said it's not car of the year sort of car.

I won't be here if it wasn't a car worth buying, but the V6/Manual combo letting it down to be one of greats today.

Some said it's like Evora but better Interior/tech/refinement, well this is what is expected from any car that's replacing the older anyway, doesn't mean it's best car in the world and should be rated 10.

If we look at 2022 year if I rate Evora I might give it 7/10, Emira? 8/10.

Is this improvement? Of course it's as it should be anyway, but engine/gearbox not only didn't improve but also like some mentioned might be even worse, hence I4 to me might be the car that goes beyond 9/10 if they get sound tuning right, although I doubt since Mercedes didn't do it, but Lotus overachieved with this V6 for the past years that makes me confident that M139 will do well in Emira.

I never said you should rate it highly. I simply hinted that with a troubled history and limited capex, it's not really fair to expect engine / gearbox upgrades (or other major) like those that Porsche can fund.

 

[emiraspain]

I never said you should rate it highly. I simply hinted that with a troubled history and limited capex, it's not really fair to expect engine / gearbox upgrades (or other major) like those that Porsche can fund.

true, but you would think they would have figured a way... such an advanced engineering company, consulting on many other cars and they couldnt improve the evora engine and transmission.. a bit of a let down.
Ariel make at best 50-100 cars a year and they have changed engines and upgraded often.... why couldn't Lotus .. even during the Evora's life.... yes they got more power out of the toyota, but they knew emissions were going to kill them and they never got the gear box right.

Im surprised they didnt find another V6 engine, but again its down to cost and lack of confidence in the future sales of the emira.... if they knew, they may have done things differently.

Anyway, it is what it is.......

 

[TomE]

true, but you would think they would have figured a way... such an advanced engineering company, consulting on many other cars and they couldnt improve the evora engine and transmission.. a bit of a let down.
Ariel make at best 50-100 cars a year and they have changed engines and upgraded often.... why couldn't Lotus .. even during the Evora's life.... yes they got more power out of the toyota, but they knew emissions were going to kill them and they never got the gear box right.

Im surprised they didnt find another V6 engine, but again its down to cost and lack of confidence in the future sales of the emira.... if they knew, they may have done things differently.

Anyway, it is what it is.......

The Toyota V6 was the "know it already" carry over engine to get the car to market quickly (until all the delays came along).

The AMG i4 is the modern new engine - it just needs many months more development work to get it into the Emira.

 

[Magma]

Well it was by no means a track. I did my test drive at Lotus of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is in the hills. Engaging? I actually rowed the gears - everything from 2-5. Never had the open road to run out or shift into 6th. You worked it to drive. Not boring at all! Power - linear. All gears pulled. A little downshift and it pulled harder! Confidence inspiring? Well when you get on secondary roadways in Pittsburgh, you follow the contours of the mountains. They don’t move mountains for roadways except highways! The twisties - both up hill and down were enough to give any truck driver the “pucker factor” hoping the engine brake does its job because the air brakes will surely burn up! The car stuck to the road like nothing else! I felt like I was at the local go cart track with my kids! Turns we’re precise and glued! At 40 mph, any SUV or daily sedan would have been screeching if not sliding off the roadway. The Emira? Nope - just point and go! For me, in some aspects it was kind of scary because the threshold to break loose exists, I just don’t know where and it’s beyond my driving skill. Still undecided about Sport be Tour? For me it will be sport. Sport was very acceptable on these Midwest roads. Ohio - where I am from - Pennsylvania is not different - winter wreaks havoc on roads. The way the British guys talk needing Tour suspension must truly be still driving on cobblestone! Just j/k. My biggest concern was Sport v Touring and I’m definitely Sport with Goodyears. At the end of the day, the test drive was too short because this car begs for more. I could have drove for hours but the 1/2 hour I had was more than enough to keep the fire alive!

Awesome feedback! Thank you!!

 

[SmallerBaller]

Is there any way we can turn this thread into a poll, so at the beginning of the post we can see a distribution of how people rated it out of 10? I appreciate the extra justifications and remarks to support the answers, but I would be interested to see the just the raw data condensed in one spot, as well! Could be helpful to see what a cumulative forum test drive average rating ends up being, and compare against other ratings out there.

Regardless, I would say all things considered an 8.75/10! (Rounding to 9, if we get a poll...)

 

[Eagle7]

I feel like this "it's a momentum car" thing sounds a lot like "don't worry babe, it's not about size, it's the motion of the ocean"

You would lol. A momentum car is the difference between done in less than 5 minutes versus being able to go all night.

 

[TomE]

Is there any way we can turn this thread into a poll, so at the beginning of the post we can see a distribution of how people rated it out of 10? I appreciate the extra justifications and remarks to support the answers, but I would be interested to see the just the raw data condensed in one spot, as well! Could be helpful to see what a cumulative forum test drive average rating ends up being, and compare against other ratings out there.

Regardless, I would say all things considered an 8.75/10! (Rounding to 9, if we get a poll...)

Poll added - cast your votes now!

 

[Eagle7]

As far as gear noise, this company makes a product that's rated for the Evora with the V6 and manual trans; same one the Emira has.

TA - Manual Gearbox & Differential Treatment with Teflon - Lindemann Performance Products

www.lindemann.dk

It not only quietens down the gear noise, but reduces friction drag which will give the car a slight gain in power by reducing drivetrain loss. In my experience, better gear oils will give you anywhere from 5-9 more hp to the wheels.

Komotec already has a place marker on their website for the Emira, so you'll be able to get more power for those who want more.

V6

www.komo-tec.com

 

[Eagle7]

Are you living on a different planet! £60K is long gone.

That's the advertised base price, and it was their target price point when developing the car which determined how much they would put into it; especially in the engine development.

 

[RENDERMAN]

6.75

WWWHHHHAAAATTTTT???? I'm getting my deposit back!!

 

[RENDERMAN]

I think y'all have failed the test!! you cannot compare the Emira to other manufacturers because their cars are meant to do something else, for example a new Mustang GT will spank, even an Evora Gt430 on a straightway but the EGT will spank the MGT on the track, because that's what they are meant to do.
The Emira is by far the best looking Lotus, the only rating of 10 it can get, but realistically, the Emira only has one car that can be directly compared to, the Evora 400. Without even driving an Emira I can tell you, performance wise, it is identical only prettier so by Lotus standards, overall I would give it about an 8.5! in my book the only Lotus ever to be worthy of a 10 is the Exige Cup 430... Ya'll have a good nite!

 

[emiraspain]

The Toyota V6 was the "know it already" carry over engine to get the car to market quickly (until all the delays came along).

The AMG i4 is the modern new engine - it just needs many months more development work to get it into the Emira.

yes, indeed....
Im just wondering will the AMG really compete with the porsche engine.... maybe on simple power, but ...

we shall see. Ive never driven an AMG 4 cyl so I cant even imagine how good or not it is, I have driven the NA AMG V8 in the SLS and that was insane... at the time the most powerful NA engine available.
Even though Im a V6 clearly, I would be very interested in driving the i4 for comparative purposes later on...and it will be..a good bit later on by the looks of it

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

well yes it is just like that video, outclassed by better cars...... simple no? otherwise we all give it a 10.

when i rate my g/f and i do it to her face, none of this behind your back rubbish, i go through her attributes.... and compare them to the ideal.... brain, not working at NASA, even in the canteen, so 6, legs, not quite like daisy off dukes of hazard insured for a milliion $ (yes im almost that old), so 8...... breasts operated, so pretty much perfect, 10.... face, also operated and didnt end well, 4......
and the list goes on...
I dont take into account how much I have to pay her to be my g/f do I? you see....
She's left me now.... not sure why....

haha

If you take into account price factor, a whore would be a 10, you get exactly what you pay for

Not that I use them, I go for the expensive ones much below 10 score

 

[Cachaco131]

If you take into account price factor, a whore would be a 10, you get exactly what you pay for

Not that I use them, I go for the expensive ones much below 10 score

Dios mío, está conversación ya casi va a ser censurada lol

 

[Bilbao-Emira]

Dios mío, está conversación ya casi va a ser censurada lol

Blame it on @emiraspain, he started me, lol

 

[RENDERMAN]

I thought this kind of alignment issue was supposed to be impossible with Lotus new state of the art laser QC measuring machine etc???
At very least someone should be eyeballing each car before it leaves.
And IF they are just chucking demos out to get them out that speaks volumes also I don't get it
Edit: Just seen you are in USA and could have been in one of the pre production cars

Dude, the machines say Made in china, just a few MM off is not a big deal, of all the Lotus I have ever seen or owned, the last thing on my mind is the misalignment of the trunk, heck we are now going as far as weighting the remote....who cares about world peace?

 

[SmallerBaller]

I feel like this "it's a momentum car" thing sounds a lot like "don't worry babe, it's not about size, it's the motion of the ocean"

I know this was a joke, but I kind of feel the opposite! I feel like not having the need to be the absolute fastest 0-60/ 0-100 and just enjoy the engagement and positive aspects of the car shows confidence in your masculinity, like you have nothing to prove or compensate for! Not saying that you do, obviously! I just think sometimes men (I am one), in particular, get too caught up in being superior against each other. Competition is a great thing, but I am not buying this car to compete with anyone!