They were absolutely terrible at comms. Left hand didn’t know the right hand was already talking to me. Back and forth, zero skills. And that was the big Galpin dealer.
my sales guy relayed the same.... they were not even communicating with the dealers. there is still a yellow Lotus SUV at the dealer. Sales guy has several dimwits that want one. They have no idea if they will even bring it to the US.
What makes the Emira "exotic"? Certainly not the drivetrain(s). Certainly not the performance. Certainly not the materials. If it's low production that makes it "exotic", then we need to re-think the definition of "exotic"?
despite my ragging on Lotus.... The Emira is still a IMO a baby exotic... and I mean that in the best way. Looks very exotic and is not all bloated like most sports cars.
Exactly!!! We all have our preferences, but prefer a simple baby exotic over a complex exotic by a mile I just don’t need or want the complexity, nor 2 second 0-60 for the street.
Surprised at the used market, and glad I didn’t pay $15k over msrp as I originally planned: https://www.cars.com/shopping/results/?KNC=acqgeosem43&aff=acqgeosem43&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_DZnxC7MtU1gJJ3H1PqSD7v4sv-&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvKCvjJeUiwMV_BNECB0aLCCBEAAYAiAAEgLP-fD_BwE&makes%5B%5D=lotus&maximum_distance=all&maximum_distance_expanded=1&maximum_distance_expanded_from=30&models%5B%5D=lotus-emira&network=g&sort=list_price&stock_type=used&utm_campaign_id=10566683228&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_trusted=TRUE&year_max=2024&year_min=2024&zip=92882
Mine was brand new, drove a few times and yet was hard to move. That was the first month of availability! Had this car arrived on time during covid, there would have been a bigger demand and stronger resale. Great looks, but needs so much more power/sound to be exciting.
weird.... in those listings is a white one... labeled as a first edition... didn't know white ("mist") was available.... looks awesome in white! guarantee you could get 10K off those asking prices (high 90's low 100's)... or more!
So now we have a new category: "Baby Exotic" Clearly the market doesn't know about that or they would be snapping up Emiras...
More like a sports car that looks so ridiculously good that you can’t help but think of it as an exotic - even though it was never trying to be an exotic.
Looks, Chassis, Dynamics, and no not performance or powertrain, but then its performance exceeds pretty much most exotics from 10 years ago so its relative.
If lotus had their act remotely together, which would be a first in the history of the company(except maybe 2005-2010) then they would put the new toyota twin turbo motor in the car, that's in everything from tundra pickups to various lxi. Then youd have anear on 500hp motor. And or they could do an amped up version of the amg merc 4cyl motor or even an amg merc v6. Loose 200lbs along the way and now were talking Mclan 600 levels of performance for say 125K. then theyd have something. As it is this car is performance wise a competitor for a 10 years old cyaman S. That's lotus usually a decade late with what would have been last decades smash hit. That all being said, how fats to do need to go on the road, maybe the emira is plenty fast, it has manual(what other mid engined has that) looks exotic and being toyota powered wont leave you stranded. Youre getting ferrai Lambo exotic looks/vibe for Cayman s money, what it needs is something approaching GT4Rs performance, that means 500hp+, so many amg motors to choose from. But Lotus HQ does not care, cause theyre a chinese electric car company trading on a storied brand. Realistically though they should develop that emira and fast or the brand will be what's known as moribund. To me if were talking Brit cars, the new am vantage v8 is really appealing even though its almost 2x the money, the emira is cool, just not must have cool. What they need is a 130k version with less weight much more Hp and the good bits ie ap racing brakes ohlins shocks, then you can hunt aGt4rs in a car that also actually looks exotic..
I think you mean "most exotics from 20 years ago"... 458/Huracan/MP4-12C far exceed the performance of the 2024 Emira.
Just got home 5 min ago from a quick drive in my new Emira as I work to rack up the 1st 1000 miles. A couple of thoughts..... 1. This car gets all the looks. Most have no idea what it is, but everyone looks/comments/comes up to you. THAT is one major indicator of an exotic, baby or not. 2. The car actually needs more torque! Realistically, 400hp is plenty, but I like to get to 60 as fast as possible. I'll do the 3rd cat delete as soon as I get it back to Indiana and that will improve the sound. 3. The Turbo 6 referenced above would be excellent in this car!!!! 4. Very few cars are going to match this on a twisty road and that's where I'll be driving it on quick trips. Jim
True, I’m getting old Also true that a new minivan will blow away a 308 except maybe on corners. on road are people really going faster than the speeds and Emira can reasonably attain. But objectively speaking this car needs more go and the puzzling part is both Toyota and Amg make motors that can deliver. the Emira could get away with what has if it were class leading light which would be 500lbs less than it weights now. As it is the car has looks a manual and some handling precisions going for it. And I’ll argue the handling precision is no greater than competitors. To stand out the Emira needs go, a lot more go. or put another way if you’re going to put up with lotus and with the off the rack Powerplants then the car if it has more than just looks and a stick it would really standout from competitors
^^^ The problem with more power is more weight...Let's say they put a 500hp engine in it (dial up the boost on the V6), assuming the chassis can handle that (isn't the Emira on the Evora chassis?) But (500hp) Now you need more cooling (more weight), bigger brakes (more weight), bigger tires (more weight), heavier engine (more weight). So the Emira ends up weighing 3,400 pounds (or more)???
This one is just stunning. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2024-lotus-emira-24/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
New turbo announced: https://media.lotuscars.com/en/news-articles-regional/lotus-reveals-revised-emira-line-up-with-new-turbo-se-performance-flagship.html One person's opinion: https://www.google.com/search?q=2025+Lotus+Emira+Turbo+SE&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS1137US1137&oq=2025+Lotus+Emira+Turbo+SE&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDINCAEQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAIQABiABBiiBDIKCAMQABiABBiiBDIKCAQQABiABBiiBDIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiiBBiJBTIGCAcQRRg80gEJMTM2MGowajE1qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d28216e6,vid:NlQQdi0kMoI,st:0
So, they've turbocharged the V4 to get it to the same performance as the supercharged V-6... I'm not falling out of my chair over this... Kevin
