Lotus Emira review: The new Lotus position
By Lotus standards the Emira is unbelievably plush. But does it still feel like a Lotus?
DRIVING a Lotus fast is a bit like being hauled up on stage to jam with Slash at a Guns N’ Roses concert. You’re bound to sweat bricks, but if you know what you’re doing, you’re in for the time of your life. Come to think of it, even if you can’t tell one end of a guitar from another you can just fake it and have a ball anyway.
The experience tends to knacker the ears, too, but less so with the Emira. It may be a Lotus, but it adds a bit of welcome comfort (and even some soundproofing) to the hardcore experience usually served up by the brand’s mid-engined, rear-drive two-seater sports cars.
The Emira is not merely the newest Lotus but the last new one of its kind. The brand is switching to pure electric power after this, and it’ll be interesting to see if its dedication to building lightweight cars will survive the transition.
Meanwhile, if you still have a thing for engines, the Emira offers a choice of two. There’s a fizzy 2.0-litre turbo sourced from Mercedes-AMG paired with an eight-speed twin-clutch auto, and the supercharged 3.5-litre V6 tested here. Derived from a Toyota unit, it’s tuned for a heady 406 horsepower, and comes with either a six-speed manual or an automatic, for people who got a leg shot off in a war.
It says something about the Emira’s buyers here that so far, the manuals have outsold the autos. Driving a Lotus has always been something of a shibboleth, after all, and one that marks a person out as a driving enthusiast first, car enthusiast second.
Sure enough, there’s a nice sense of occasion when you take your Emira out to play. You step on the clutch and waggle the gear lever to see if you’re in neutral, ease your foot onto the brake pedal, lift the start button’s little cover and jab your finger. The engine bursts to life before settling down to a buzzy thrum, and then it’s time to strap yourself in and go.
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Driving gloves are optional, but if you feel like wearing them for any car, it’s this one. That’s because the Emira demands both a firm hand and a light touch. The controls – meaning the pedals, the gearshift and even the steering – are all on the heavy side, so you have to work them deliberately, and yet the car has rapid reflexes that require delicacy and precision.
Put in the effort, and your reward is the chance to exploit this car’s ability to jink into corners like a beast and pull off serious G-forces with ease. The steering offers heaps of feedback, and the way the chassis responds to little mid-corner movements of the accelerator pedal makes the Lotus feel more like a dance partner than a car.
The engine, while forceful, isn’t actually very charismatic, but it does supply plenty of excitement, especially from the way the acceleration and noise intensify with revs.
It would definitely take a race track outing to safely approach the Emira’s limits, but it’s the kind of car you want to take to Sepang, anyway. Unlike with Lotuses of yore, however, you’ll be less tempted to have someone truck it there for you.
By the brand’s standards the Emira is positively luxurious. It has powered seats, cupholders, a decent-sized compartment for odds and ends, an electric parking brake and even a tray for your phone with wireless charging.
It has a touchscreen system. What’s more, it works with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Analogue dials have been binned in favour of a digital driver display with graphics that are engaging without being crowded (although the steering wheel has an odd shape because you need to peer at the virtual instruments through it).
You even get driving modes called Tour, Sport and, of course, Track. In the past you altered a Lotus’ attitude by changing the way you drove.
If anything, the Emira is noticeably soft for a Lotus, with the springs allowing some body roll to creep in when you’re really going for it through a bend. If you insist that a Lotus should be a go-kart, you can have the car with a stiffer Sports Pack. My 47-year-old spine and I wouldn’t, but it’s nice to know you don’t have to compromise.
That level of detail suggests parent company Geely lavished a bit of money on the Emira. The relationship also explains why the Emira has Volvo bits in it (Geely also owns the Swedish brand), but the car’s overall fit and finish make it impossible to argue that Lotus has suffered under Chinese ownership. The cabin doesn’t smell of glue as much, and the body panels are fitted as tightly as I’ve ever seen on a Lotus.
What lovely body panels they are, too. With classic mid-engine proportions, a pointy nose and wide hips, the Emira resembles a scaled-down Ferrari, and one of the prettier Ferraris at that.
What matters more is that it offers as much engagement behind the wheel, for half the price of one. More than any Guns N’ Roses track could ever be, that must be music to a driving enthusiast’s ears.
Lotus Emira V6 3.5 First Edition Engine 3,456 cc, supercharged V6 Power 406 hp at 6,800 rpm Torque 420 Nm at 2,700 rpm Gearbox 6-speed manual 0-100km/h 4.3 seconds Top speed 288 km/h Fuel efficiency 11.3 L/100 km Agent Wearnes Automotive Price S$498,800 without Certificate of Entitlement Available Now
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