Emira [Report] Lotus Emira (type 131)

[Bridster]

Is there an accurate source for the dimensions. In on video they mentioned 2m while an article stated 1,895mm.

All the articles I've read said 1895mm (which is doubtlessly the width without mirrors included).

Pedestrians seeing you driving one will mistake it for a £150-200k supercar. Only the exhaust note of the 2.0l will prove otherwise.

Yeah, that's exactly it. It competes in presence with full fledged supercars and it actually looks better than most of them!

 

[Merc1]

They should have named it Lazarus.

M

 

[A.P.]

This is way too nice, especially for the price. Wonder if it will drive that well too.

 

[martinbo]

I'd love to see this car help Lotus persist and succeed. It's a breath of fresh air in the small sports car market.

Some notes according to Autocar:

It will go on sale in all key global markets next spring, initially powered by the Toyota-sourced supercharged 3.5-litre V6 from the outgoing Exige and Evora, before the 2.0-litre AMG unit follows in the summer.

The Emira will be Hethel’s final non-electrified car. It follows the limited-run Evija electric hypercar in this promising new era for Lotus under the majority ownership of Geely, which is funding not only new cars but also new facilities and manufacturing processes with the aim of products being built to a higher and more consistent quality.

Underpinning the Emira is Lotus’s new Sports Car Architecture, which was developed using the extruded and bonded aluminium chassis technology first used by Lotus on the Elise of 1996. The car is 4412mm long, 1985mm wide and 1225mm high, with a wheelbase of 2575mm, making it just a fraction larger than the Evora.

Here are some insights around powertrain options and the reason behind the AMG engine:

The first deliveries will be special, higher-spec Launch Edition cars using the Toyota V6, which will be offered with a manual or automatic gearbox. The AMG four-pot (which became available through a new technical partnership between Lotus and AMG, born of Geely’s stakeholding in AMG parent firm Daimler) has been given its own tune for Lotus, along with a bespoke air intake and exhaust. It will come exclusively with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

Both versions of the Emira have their engines mounted transversely and powering the rear axle alone. Lotus hasn’t yet confirmed performance figures for either version of the Emira, rather that there will be a range of outputs between 355bhp and 395bhp, alongside maximum torque of up to 317lb ft.

 

[KiwiRob]

Did they stuff the car with cheeseburgers? Why so heavy for a Lotus?

when you look at all the features they have added as standard compared to what was offered in previous models it has to add weight.

I wouldn’t be surprised if stripped out lightweight versions are launched at a later date.

 

[bmwz4coupe]

It is too heavy for being a Lotus. It’s ok when comparing to Evora but this was already too heavy. Too differ more from the competition I think they should focus more on weight and less on confort factor (like they did before with Elise/Exige), I believe a Lotus buyer want something special and pure outside of the mainstream products.

 

[Centurion]

This is way too nice, especially for the price.

One of the two reasons why Lotus are able to make the car available at this price is:

1. They have consolidated three models into one.
2. None of the engines are new. Basically no costly drivetrain R&D has been required.
3. They need an car that pulls people into the showrooms so that Lotus can flog very expensive EV supercars.

 

[Bridster]

Also, it doesn't cost extra to design a car that looks great.

 

[Centurion]

Also, it doesn't cost extra to design a car that looks great.

It will be interesting to see how their EV SUV and supercar will be priced. The pricing of the Evija at £2m(production apped at 150) is nuts.

 

[mihc]

If think they nailed it. Really nice design.

 

[Centurion]

Update on the 2L AMG drivetrain.

AMG supply engine and dual clutch transmission. However Lotus:

-Map the engine to their liking
-Fit their own air intake
-Fit their own exhaust
-Choose the shift points for the dual clutch transmission

 

[Wunderkind]

Update on the 2L AMG drivetrain.

AMG supply engine and dual clutch transmission. However Lotus:

-Map the engine to their liking
-Fit their own air intake
-Fit their own exhaust
-Choose the shift points for the dual clutch transmission

Great car, looks better than the Maserati MC20 at less than half the price.

Thank you Lotus, thank you AMG, and thank you Geely & China.

 

[KiwiRob]

It is too heavy for being a Lotus. It’s ok when comparing to Evora but this was already too heavy. Too differ more from the competition I think they should focus more on weight and less on confort factor (like they did before with Elise/Exige), I believe a Lotus buyer want something special and pure outside of the mainstream products.

That wasn't really working for them was it? Not enough people want to buy bare bones lightweight sportscars. I bet sometime in the next 18 months there will be a light weight stripped out GT version minus the fancy stuff and a lot of kg's.

 

[Centurion]

That wasn't really working for them was it? Not enough people want to buy bare bones lightweight sportscars. I bet sometime in the next 18 months there will be a light weight stripped out GT version minus the fancy stuff and a lot of kg's.

To be honest. Anyone who wants a super light lotus can just buy a used Elise or Exige.

 

[Matski]

Yeah, there's slight super-light options out there, Caterham 7 620 is quite a bit lighter than the Elise/Exige if that's really what a buyer wants.

 

[bmwz4coupe]

That wasn't really working for them was it? Not enough people want to buy bare bones lightweight sportscars. I bet sometime in the next 18 months there will be a light weight stripped out GT version minus the fancy stuff and a lot of kg's.

I don’t mean that it should weight the same or be as extreme as the small Elise, but a Lotus shouldn’t weight the same as their Porsche rival. Alpine managed to do an 1100 kg sportscar, Lotus should be able to do the same.

 

[Wunderkind]

Just to touch on the weight one last time... From the videos it seems that a lot of the weight increase is indeed because of improved refinement and NVH - which is good! However, also consider that the lightest spec Cayman is 1335kg DIN and the Alpine A110 (also with 2 seats, I4 and a DCT) is 1100kg DIN. And neither of those cars suffer from a lack of refinement. The A110 especially is known as a very good cruiser. So it's really hard to find an excuse for the 1405kg figure. The car is also 100mm wider than the Cayman - which is not great and undoubtedly plays a role in the weight increase as well.

That said, I have to agree with everyone else and say that getting these looks for this amount of money is pretty much unprecedented. These are 9/10 - immediately wow everyone upon arrival - people pull out their phones to take a picture - looks. And for only £60000!? With this sort of design, unless the car was horrible, which by all accounts it's the exact opposite of what's true, you would have a pretty hard time convincing yourself to buy something else. Sure, the Cayman has the NA 4L F6, and it's an excellent car in general, but compared to this it has the road presence of a Skoda. Completely invisible. The same story with the Alpine. And while we might try to fool ourselves into thinking that only handling and driving excitement matter, if we are honest, looks and how others perceive the car matter a lot too. Hence why everyone doesn't buy the cheapest NA MX-5 or something and has it tuned.

Now if it just weighed 1200kg... Then the car would also have a comparable acceleration to the Corvette and the base 911 (which might not be that important but it's definitely something casual buyers pay attention to)... And it would be a complete killer on all fronts and an instant classic. Well, should still be pretty good regardless...

The Emira is also some 30cm longer than the Alpine A110.

 

[Merc1]

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M

 

[Rolf]

It sounds fantastic as well as it looks

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[Bridster]

From a poster on PH:

Just placed a deposit.

The salesman (Ian Groves) tells me that he has never seen anything like this in twenty years in the business and he spent 8 of those selling Porsches. The phone has been non-stop all day and his dealer principal said to him an hour ago that he wouldn't be surprised if the entire years allocation was sold out by the end of next week.