Lotus Emira

Hopefully not a repost.

I think Lotus hit it out of the park on the design. It's like a modern 308/328, maybe even better.

 

And I like the original more than Frank's redo

 

Actually... I agree with you. I think Stephenson is a terrific designer and IMHO rescued the 360 by drawing the F430, but Lotus got it right. Really hard to improve on this, as he seems to admit.

 

I really like his rear end redo... changing the tail light bar into an oval....
still a stunning car.

 

Anyone see Frank's f40 update? Maybe as an April fool joke but unfortunately it real. God awful design from an all time great designer

 

I put my deposit on one 4 months ago-doing final spec tomorrow--6cyl 6speed -thinking either red or green with black pkg..
Will get one of the first ,I'm told.
Lotus always had great road manners and this Emira is beautiful at a very competitive price.

 

Are spec’g it online or at the dealer ?


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I'm doing it online as my dealer simultaneously is on the configurator.

 

Likewise, spec’d online… the configurator is super basic, not many choices like spec’g a Ferrari.
I’m thinking red exterior and either red interior or black interior.
Of course I’ll wrap it white immediately lol.


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I did mine yesterday-Red,Black PKG.-polished silver wheels, yellow calipers an tan leather.
White wrap is intriguing---hmmm.!

 

So red on tan with black roof?


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According to the Lotus forums, people who put deposits in last July will be very lucky to get a car this year, not even sure for early next year. So you getting one of the first with a deposit in 4 months ago? Doesn't fit with the info from other dealers with deposits.

 

Well can only go by what I've been told-November-and me as a Dealer myself(of other brands) the Lotus dealer is a friend of mine.

 

You no like ?-my spec?

 

So reading this thread with interest - My SO owns an immaculate 2009 Elise SC and was saving for and loosely looking for an Esprit but is now hyper-enamored with the Emira - and for obvious good reason

Question - If it is elsewhere in the thread just point me - What is the roadmap/timing for a Spi/yder version and does anyone know if the Supercharged V6 with Manual will be an option in the Spi/yder?

Many thanks

 

i doubt there will be an open top version for same reason there never was one for the evora. they have same chassis/platform. its too bad because an open top is essential to the lotus experience imo

 

Agree - My SO pinged me last night (I built her an Emira with a code and sent it to her) and she said she "was holding out for the Spider and had news to chat about" - Hmmm - Will see what she has to say or found out - She is a LotusChat junkie like I am with FChat - our only "Social Media" outlets

 

Put my 2nd deposit down today and placed order now that dealer has allocations. I am told delivery in 4th quarter. Anyone know if Lotus keeps you up to date on build process?

 

I'm active on ltalk too but can't find mention of open top emira there

 

I’m going similar … but probably keep red roof.
Still contemplating red on red


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Dan Neil from the WSJ sure likes the car.
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2022 Lotus Emira: As Good as It Gets
With luxurious styling and a rowdy 3.5-liter V6 engine, the Emira is the best road car from Lotus yet, says Dan Neil. It’s also the last of the company’s gas-powered models.


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CLOSING ACT The Lotus Emira will be the last gas-powered model from Lotus Cars before the company switches to fully electric models, part of a 100 million GPB investment by majority owners Geely Automotive.
PHOTO: LOTUS CARS
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By Dan Neil

March 11, 2022 12:00 am ET

A LOT HAS CHANGED since I last visited Hethel, in East Anglia, England, the historic home of Lotus Cars. But as I drove up the country lane to the factory, there was my friend Alastair Florance waiting in the rain to show me around. Good old Flo.

Mr. Florance and I have grown gray waiting for the day when Lotus finally built a fully fledged, no-excuses sports car, and now it’s here: the Emira. Almost. I happened to be in England a few weeks before the start of production; however, my host had arranged some wheel time with a late-stage engineering prototype of a V6 First Edition.

Founded by race engineer Colin Chapman (1928-1982), Lotus’s sports car business had languished for decades under previous management before being picked up by the Chinese titan Geely Automotive in 2017. Geely has since invested more than 100 million GBP to put the Hethel campus to rights. We toured the stylish new company cafeteria; the airy assembly hall; and a sports-arena sized design studio, with a brilliantly illuminated central court and a phalanx of surface-measuring and model-milling robots.

It’s like one big weird going-away party. The Emira will be the last gasoline-powered Lotus before the portfolio goes all-electric, starting with deliveries of the Evija EV hypercar later this year. Hello, I must be going.

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GEARED UP The Emira V6 First Edition is powered by a 400-hp, 3.5-liter engine, paired with six-speed manual transmission (automatic optional) and rear-wheel drive. Zero to 60 mph is given as 4.3 seconds, with a top speed of 180 mph.
PHOTO: LOTUS CARS
When I first laid eyes on the Emira, I thought, Of course. That’s why you put your styling studio in England and your cooking school in France. The car looks fantastic, like it’s going 180 mph when it’s standing still. But—to be clear—it also goes 180 mph, owing to the 400-hp V6 rage-aholic that lives behind the seats.

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Roughly the size of the outgoing Evora, the Emira is a leap in both the details of car-building and drama at standoff distances. Count the number of cut lines in the bodywork that aren’t there. The deep door sills are hidden in the rocker-panel trim. The hood’s shut lines disappear under the triangulated elements between the front fenders.

As for sex appeal, please. The Emira’s chiseled waist makes Ronaldo look like a slob.

And the styling isn’t even trying that hard. Note the restraint in the lower grille, with a front splitter providing realistic clearance. In the converging gorgeousness behind the jet-like canopy, a curvaceous spoiler is subtly integrated into the rear hatch. Tasty.

No hybrid motors or traction batteries. No electrically assisted steering or brake-by-wire (both systems are hydraulic). No magnetic dampers or active aerodynamics. No dual-clutch transmission, all-wheel drive or torque vectoring. Instead, a three-pedal six-speed transmission is standard (automatic optional), buttoned to a limited-slip rear differential.

The 1990s called: They want their Ferrari back.

The car looks fantastic, like it’s going 180 mph when it’s standing still. But—to be clear—it also goes 180 mph.

When in the past people (me!) would ask why Lotuses didn’t have cutting-edge technology, they (Alastair!) would fall back on the purity-of-driving argument, reciting Chapman’s famous dictum “Simplify and Add Lightness.” But it was also to save money. Now, in the shadow of electrification, Lotus’s lo-fi essentialism has become quite chic and collectible.

The Emira’s money game is strong: $93,900 for the V6 First Edition. That’s a few thousand less than the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, which is the only new sport-driving machine worth comparing. Other powertrain options for the Emira—more restrained in power and consumption—are in the pipeline. But the V6 with the six-speed is the bodice-ripper.

The rain quit. After receiving a quick briefing on the controls, I exited the campus into the green-reefed lane and banged through the first couple gears.

Oh … my. Ahh. Ooh. MMM! Oh honey! I could run naked through a field of whatever feeling this is.

It’s definitely familiar. With the vociferous 3.5-liter V6 and stick-shift carried over from Evora, the Emira’s go-fast presents as before—panting and pulling at the leash, eager to spool. Peak engine torque (310 lb-ft) comes on at 2,700 rpm and stays on until 6,700 rpm, so it’s pretty blustery between 2nd and 4th gear. The meandering whine of the supercharger sounds like there is a shortwave radio behind the seats. When I slowed for a corner and let the engine run down, the tailpipes properly crackled.

The Emira’s dynamics are not completely analogue. Four drive modes progressively lower its inhibitions: Tour, Sport, Race, and the last, with stability control fully disabled, the cheekily named Fully Off.

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INNER STRENGTH The Lotus Emira represents a significant step up for the company in the quality of cabin appointments (trim materials, upholstery, switches, displays) and amenities (large-format touch-screen UX, pictured, and premium audio).
PHOTO: LOTUS CARS
But the Emira is so innately drivable you’d have to be an idiot to lose the handle, with or without electronic intercession. Like Lotuses of the past, the Emira goes where you point it about as fast as you want to get there, at whatever slip angle you desire. One reason: Lotus engineers always locate a car’s polar axis—the imaginary vertical stick around which it rotates as it turns—exactly at the inside hip of the driver. A few inches forward or aft and the car will feel less responsive, always slightly behind the driver’s intentions. Whereas the Emira already knew what I wanted for dinner that night.

The Emira’s bonded-aluminum chassis reprises a technology Lotus has relied on since 1996, albeit now with the precision of automated assembly. The car feels stiff as a drill bit. Again, not a surprise.

What’s new and different is everything else, everything that workers hang on the chassis and that hangs off it: doors and windows, seats and floors, instruments and switches—parts often from the not-very-nice-side of the global supply chain. There were some veryAutoZone -y years.

Geely’s product-development pockets are deep and wide. The cabin upholstery, touchscreen-based user environment, climate-control system, steering wheel, assisted-driving functions, all level up nicely with those in a top-spec Cayman or Jaguar F-Type—which is to say, awesome. The KEF-branded audio system is mega.

Meanwhile, the fit and finish on the working prototype was superb. All the seams lined up. The side windows seated into their weatherstripping like sexy Tupperware. And as I barreled down rough roads at a rowdy pace, I didn’t hear a single rattle, whistle, squeak or warble.

That’s different.


2022 Lotus Emira V6 First Edition (prototype)
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FINE SILHOUETTE The Emira’s design shares styling cues (if not tailpipes) with the Lotus Evija EV hypercar, which begins deliveries later this year.
PHOTO: LOTUS CARS
Price, as tested: $93,900

Powertrain: Mid-mounted, longitudinally oriented supercharged 3.5-liter DOHC V6; six-speed manual transmission; limited-slip rear differential.

Power/torque: 400 hp at 6,800 rpm/310 lb-ft (420 Nm) at 2,700-6,700 rpm

Length/wheelbase/width/height: 173.7/101.3/74.6 (mirrors folded)/48.2 inches

Dry weight: 3,097 pounds

0-60 mph: 4.3 seconds

EPA fuel economy: 17/26 mpg city/highway (est.)

Luggage capacity: 12.7 cubic feet

Write to Dan Neil at [email protected]

 

Great post. Thanks

'90s called and want their Ferrari back' is best automotive journo line of the year!

 

"No hybrid motors or traction batteries. No electrically assisted steering or brake-by-wire (both systems are hydraulic). No magnetic dampers or active aerodynamics. No dual-clutch transmission, all-wheel drive or torque vectoring. Instead, a three-pedal six-speed transmission is standard, buttoned to a limited-slip rear differential."

This^^^

 

was at my dealer yesterday....
first lucky buyers getting cars in Q4 in the US. I asked about Europe... figuring they'd get cars sooner... he assumed so.
I think he dropped the # of 4000 cars / year, stating he hopped they would increase the #'s.
at #52.... I'm looking realistically at 1.5 years (IMO).... sigh....
he said they are also going to build a battery powered SUV... (no interest from me on that one!)

despite my impatience... I'm happy to wait so long as they "get it right"... not have a bunch of recalls, build quality is great, etc.

 

The first customer cars will be delivered here (the UK) in June. Lotus are currently in the process of calling owners to ask which method of delivery they would prefer - direct to their home, collect from their chosen dealership or do a factory collection at Hethel with a tour of the production line and lunch in the factory restaurant.