Lotus Emira

Harry's review was more "real world"....
the other guy (negative one) was all about the track stuff.
90+% of folks don't track their cars, or do so really infrequently. So, I really don't care about the subtleties of its track manners. That's me... not a track guy.
I plan on daily driving mine, to work (not a lot of high speed corners, areas to drift, etc on my way to work... and everywhere else that does not require a lot of seats or storage.
to me this car represents that which seems to be gone... a (relatively) affordable pretty exotic car.
Everything out of Italy and Germany now is soooooo expensive.
The new vette is an amazing performer... but with this coming... this is THE car to get (IMO)

 

I am with you 100%

 

Reviews are out.
Its a far more beautiful evora. An excellent exotic looking road gt car with a manual.
Asa I posted earlier the evora 400 felt very linear, there was no surge of power to the redline and the steering was Ok, but not lotus alfa or Gt3 quality, this car based on the reports is the same.

Based on the reviews (and my evora experience), this is an exotic looking road car at under 100k with a stick, a car to drive around in on road, its a sales winning formula, the british vette formula, but it does not appear to be a lotus as we know it, which is first and foremost has been all about dynamics.

That all being said, this car is shocks, springs, alignment and a few lost pounds away from being a great. Possibly some version of the amg motor will be the mythical lotus. Porche and corvette build a number of versions of their cars, from the road softie to the hard core, this is ver 1.0 and ideal as a road car. Lotuis is reaping the rewards of the one things they always missed before, sales.

 

Review from last night's Top Gear - Season 32 Episode 3

https://vimeo.com/user37903859?embedded=true&source=owner_portrait&owner=37903859

 

"Does it live up to expectations???????? ---- Absolutely"!!!!!!!!!!

You will most often, in this hype the latest sportscar world, - pay more and get less. Nice review and honest it appears. As a former Lotus owner of 3 different Esprit Turbos - this is on my radar and certainly the 4 cyl model. Im about get very slightly used late 400 Evora as well. Happy to see this review without the latest, absurd --how fast numbers I can brag about-- obsession. What does the car make you feel, not what you can spout to others. Well done Top Gear.

 

If nothing else emira looks a lot like new gma hypercars esp from the front. Spending 100k and looking 2.5m is never a bad thing

 

With Z06 pricing, Emira looking even better.

 

Yes z06 $$ is best thing happen emira since launch

 

Compred to a z06 or even cayman Gt4, its a different animal regardless of price. Slower, softer, stick and evocative sound, perfect for the road, but prob not in the hunt on track bot interms of power and focus

Now lets see one with the amg motor amped up to 500 hp some weight loss Ohlins and great springs.
Currently its an evolved evora 400, a great car and arguably better more engaged choice if you're cross shopping a non Gt cayman/ 911 .

One still seeks the holy grail, a car thats road legal that can really do the biz on track, not just in terms of raw numbers, but also acuracy etc. For a price a Gt4 Rs may well do it. Lower down the food chain an elise certainly does esp on tight tracks.

An Emira with a little less weight, and 500hp amg motor may well have many of the virtues of an elise with the ability to knock on the p car door up top, a 400 hp 3200lbs evora/emira does not.. But as a road machine that emira v6 hits multiple sweet spots no one else does.

 

Email from Lotus today:

As previously communicated in June by our Managing Director, Matt Windle, supply chain issues have resulted in a slower than expected production ramp-up for Emira. We were uncertain of how delays for our UK & European customers would impact the scheduled production for our North American market, but Matt promised updates as the picture became clearer. [Click here to watch the original video]



With much greater clarity, particularly with regard to a number of supply chain issues, we can now advise that production delays will impact launch timings of the Emira through 2022. The business has been pushing endlessly to ensure cars are produced, shipped and delivered, as soon as supply issues allow and many of these have now been resolved with production now having commenced. However we regret to advise that this delay in the initial start-up now means that production for the US market will not commence until January 2023, with of a target of March for the first car arrivals.



We acknowledge that this delay is a disappointment, and please accept our apologies for this. We do however have great confidence in the turnaround and catch back of our original plans and from January, US production will be fully ramped up with ultimately no loss of overall volume to the US market through the year. Additionally and as a result of this change in timing, all cars arriving in 2023 will be from the very beginning Model Year 2024.



In the meantime we will have a special promotional fleet of Emira’s that will be arriving in the US this Summer and have committed to visit every dealer across North America for dynamic drive events. More details will be coming soon so we encourage you to stay in touch with your local dealer for more information and direct any other questions you may have their way. As a dedicated customer, we want to offer you an exclusive Emira driving experience ahead of receiving your vehicle.



We have communicated this information to the North American dealer network. Your dedicated Lotus dealer will be in touch with your revised production schedule and if you have further questions, please do reach out.

 

yep...
going to have to deal with LOL for awhile (Lack of Lotus)...
for me... about #50 on my dealer list... probably more like 18 months now...

 

I get to drive the Emira 9/24!
maybe I should not... it will probably make the wait worse....

 

Please post your thoughts after you drive it. At this point - I think the first time I will drive one is when mine gets delivered in March (if I am lucky).

 

Which dealer


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Lotus Austin
AKA Hi-Tech Motorcars

 

drove the Emira today for about 15 minutes... Obviously the V6, manual. True production car.
got up to about 95 on the highway.
It is very stable, steering is great.
Its a pretty car.
Interior fit and finish is really top notch.
Seats are great.
manual is almost a short throw, clutch is not hard.... just need to get adjusted to it (all my manuals are old cars). AC works amazing (it was 95+ and sunny here in Austin today, car was black inside, very dark gray exterior).
Inside, it is quiet. Sounds better with the windows open. I believe it had the touring suspension. Was not as stiff as I expected - was definitely not supple (would not expect that in this car).
she is quick. Not brutally fast (maybe with more seat time and knowing the clutch better).
its pretty cool to look in rear view mirror and see the throttle cable moving!
also, very cool looking in the side mirrors, looking at the air intakes!

honestly, I knew I'd really like it, and I did.
only major criticism is that it is really quite quiet in the cabin on start up, even revving the engine. Outside sounds pretty good.

Now, the wait.....

 

Excellent!
Did they mention delivery time ?


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Nope.
however I mentioned to the brand ambassador guy that I wish they would not be F###ing around with a battery powered SUV, and just crank these cars out...
he was clearly tired (travels a lot, sits in the passenger seat of a car getting thrashed about 4x/hour for hours a day, etc).
he implied that the production in China (eSUV) will somehow increase their production of Emira... whatever.
I read on a Lotus forum (yesterday.... I almost never look at them) that they will be / are doing 2 shifts per day.

but... I just read that Ford has 10's of thousands of cars sitting around waiting for a silly "Ford" hood emblem..... Supply chains keep rearing their ugly heads!!!

On a very positive note.... The yellow brake calipers absolutely match the yellow on the Lotus badging on the rims!!! I think the display car the color was off and looked stupid.
I also mentioned that I wish you could get the yellow Lotus badge on the steering wheel... he thought probably not... that this is "new corporate badge".

Also, there are new colors coming after the First Editions are done. Including white!
I wish they'd get a proper British Racing Green....
However, I worry the pricing will go up a fair amount... given demand, inflation, etc.

 

Well thanks for informative post and I'm either getting 1st or 2nd one delivered in Ny metro area and am more excited than ever after this.
Also may help keep value strong.

 

I'm confident several will pop up on BAT asking a serious premium!
it has near supercar looks (I mean that in the nicest way)
more performance than most of us can use (0-60 is basically irrelevant now... everything is fast!). This car does not post say 911 Turbo S #'s... but so what?
initial quality seems very high...
and for the $$... can you even get a base Cayman? Certainly a Vette.
It occupies a great niche.... looks / performance / (quality?) / cost.... I can't think of another car with all 3 (4?) of those items being in the "plus" column than the Emira.
quality is TBD after many cars, and many miles...

 

Dang, I’ll have to get a second one in white [emoji51]


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I'm about ready to give up my reservation.

It's been more than a year, and with not even a guess as to ship date I'm loosing interest.

 

A year not so bad…. I’ll be waiting 2,3,4 years for SF90S, 296 GTS and PS


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Better pedigree of car, so the longer the wait. :>)