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    Lotus Emira

    It's been a few days since they unveiled it, and I still can't get it out of my head; I want one so bad. It looks like a baby 570s, but for 1/3 the price.

    I've been a Lotus guy for forever, and I'm a bit upset that the cars keep getting bigger and heavier, but tbf Colin Chapman was moving his cars to be more of GT cars when he died anyways. But a fun to drive, manual transmission, hydraulic steering, reliable? (The Toyota part at least), and good looking car is a rarity these days, and needs to be cherished. Plus it's the last of it's breed, and Lotus have, for the most part, been good at holding residual value.

    I've been fucking with the configurator for it, and I'm really close to going to the dealer and putting a deposit down.

    Click image for larger version

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    What do you guys think of it? I know Simon has been needing some new glasses...
    Attached Files
    Byron
    Leichtbau

    #2
    Lotus has announced that it will be their last petrol powered car, so if you like it - go for it!

    I think they look great & the supercharged V6 should be reliable and parts will be potentially cheap through Toyota so what's not to like.

    Have to admit I've been toying with the idea for some years of doing a 3.5 V6 swap on a 90s MR2. Missed the window on the cheap MR2s though as they've started to go up in price now.
    My e30: OEM+ with M30B35

    Comment


      #3
      One on Goodwood right now.

      I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
      @Zakspeed_US

      Comment


        #4
        The 4 cylinder older lotus had camshaft wear issues. As sensible as Toyota power plant sound, there is usually some
        unseen issue.

        Nonetheless cars are loved with their quirks or lack of.

        I’d do what the budget can afford, and in 15 years if around, good examples probably will appreciate in price.

        I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
        @Zakspeed_US

        Comment


          #5
          Same overall dimensions as the Evora but without the horrendous hood vents.

          There might be one in my future. Would love the V6 manual but curious how much lightness the 4 banger will add.

          Comment


            #6
            Who cares what I think, I’m not the smartest man when it comes to building or buying cars.

            If you love it, go for it.
            Simon
            Current Cars:
            -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

            Make R3V Great Again -2020

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              #7
              Certainly looks cool, and there was some good footage on Harry's garage and the inside looked a bit more grown up.

              But its just another car that looks super cool that is out of my price range.

              It will be interesting to see how lotus applies its methodology to electric cars that are heavy by default. "Simplify and add lightness" will be more challenging than ever.

              Comment


                #8
                I'm mostly waiting to see what US pricing is going to be. People on the Lotus forums are quoting $65-70k for the 4cyl and $80-85k for the V6, but I can't see how a Toyota V6 with a manual transmission will be $15k more than a turbocharged Mercedes engine with a DSG unless they really don't want people buying the V6.
                Byron
                Leichtbau

                Comment


                  #9
                  Well you can simplify since electric cars are simpler, but lightness is indeed impossible with the current state of the technology unless the range is sacrificed. If you do a back of napkin calculation you wind up seeing twice the range or more for the same vehicle weight with a gasoline engine vs an EV with current tech, despite electric drivetrains being ~3x as efficient as gasoline engines.

                  IG @turbovarg
                  '91 318is, M20 turbo
                  [CoTM: 4-18]
                  '94 525iT slicktop, M50B30 + S362SX-E, 600WHP DD or bust
                  - updated 1-26

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The Emira is the best looking car Lotus has come out with since the S2 Elise IMHO. I was never a huge fan of the looks on the Evora, nor the S3 Elise, but the Emira looks amazing. I love how the rear of the car, particularly the spoiler pulls design cues from the original Elise S1.

                    Back in 2004 when I bought my e30, the car I really lusted after was an Elise S2. Well I finally got the chance to buy one last year, and now that I own one I'm a little embarrassed to admit along with legions of other current and former Elise owners that it is a bit too raw. The problem is that almost every other contemporary sports car is too numb. The Emira hopefully hits the right balance.

                    Will I trade in my Elise for an Emira? Not without driving one first. :)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by atmh View Post
                      The Emira is the best looking car Lotus has come out with since the S2 Elise IMHO. I was never a huge fan of the looks on the Evora, nor the S3 Elise, but the Emira looks amazing. I love how the rear of the car, particularly the spoiler pulls design cues from the original Elise S1.

                      Back in 2004 when I bought my e30, the car I really lusted after was an Elise S2. Well I finally got the chance to buy one last year, and now that I own one I'm a little embarrassed to admit along with legions of other current and former Elise owners that it is a bit too raw. The problem is that almost every other contemporary sports car is too numb. The Emira hopefully hits the right balance.

                      Will I trade in my Elise for an Emira? Not without driving one first. :)
                      I nearly bought an Elise after having to sell my 'not-legal-for-CA' 2ZZ MR2 Spyder. The MR2 was absolutely fantastic so I thought the Elise was a natural move, but I also found it was too "race-car for the street" where the MR2 was a great "street car that could be driven to the track"

                      The MR2 was a great car and I almost bought another one and started over with trying to please California, but balked and the perfect car to start with was sold. The Elise would've been a great car to enjoy and profit off of, but Im stupid and make bad financial decisions when it comes to cars.

                      Simon
                      Current Cars:
                      -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                      Make R3V Great Again -2020

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by 2mAn View Post

                        I nearly bought an Elise after having to sell my 'not-legal-for-CA' 2ZZ MR2 Spyder. The MR2 was absolutely fantastic so I thought the Elise was a natural move, but I also found it was too "race-car for the street" where the MR2 was a great "street car that could be driven to the track"

                        The MR2 was a great car and I almost bought another one and started over with trying to please California, but balked and the perfect car to start with was sold. The Elise would've been a great car to enjoy and profit off of, but Im stupid and make bad financial decisions when it comes to cars.
                        Yes, that is the basis for my only complaints about the Elise. IMHO it's just about the perfect sports car *in stock form*, but it has two drawbacks that lead me to still recommend a Mazda Miata 95% of the time, or as you said: modifying other sports cars.
                        1. The Elise is too loud on the highway, which sucks in San Diego because I have to drive at least 30 minutes on the highway, usually farther, to get to any fun road or race track. I'm mostly addressing this by adding sound deadening, which most people think is blasphemous, but it's worth it to my ears. I'm more sensitive to this than the average enthusiast I think, so maybe not everyone has this complaint. I've always liked my sporting vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles) on the quiet side.
                        2. The Elise is too fast for the street. If fun driving is had by pushing a car and hammering corners, the Elise is so fast that it gets scary. The straight line acceleration is decent, but the corner speed is so fast and the car feels so much like it can defy physics it's scary to push it hard on the street. Thus whenever I'm street driving I'm either going too fast, or not really pushing the car. I haven't had it on a track yet, but plan to do so in the next few months. Unfortunately the best close-ish track for the Elise is probably one of the smaller courses as Willow Springs, which is like 3+ hours away from me.
                        Those are minor complaints though. It's still the most fun car in stock form I've ever driven.

                        I've seen a lot of people criticize the numbers on the Emira: under power and overweight, but I think the true factor to measure a Lotus by is how fun it is to drive, and the Emira numbers reflect that for a contemporary sports car (weight of required safety equipment, and cabin comfort items that most buyers will expect). So I personally wouldn't measure the Emira by it's performance numbers, but rather how fun it is to drive. I would hope most enthusiasts at this point have realized that crazy numbers do not make a car engaging to drive, and Lotus is one of the only brands that I think gets that. Numbers sell cars, so they have to be "good enough" but numbers don't make a car fun to drive. My NA Miata is still one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. My e30 pre-turbo and low-boost was also one of the most fun. High horsepower doesn't make a car fun on twisty roads. So hopefully this is the ethos Lotus has taken. If it maintains the driving fun magic with a little bit of extra cabin comfort, in 3-5 years I might consider trading in the Elise for an Emira. I'll just have to drive them back-to-back to see if the Emira lives up.

                        I might also just wait and see what they do for an electric vehicle. A proper electric Lotus sports car I can only assume will be a blast to drive. (If it wasn't obvious I'm not really counting the Evija - it's completely out of budget for me, and what I love about Lotus as a brand is they generally make amazing sports cars that I can afford).

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by atmh View Post

                          I might also just wait and see what they do for an electric vehicle. A proper electric Lotus sports car I can only assume will be a blast to drive. (If it wasn't obvious I'm not really counting the Evija - it's completely out of budget for me, and what I love about Lotus as a brand is they generally make amazing sports cars that I can afford).
                          Im in a similar boat, but curious to see what the new MR2 is going to be like. Supposed to come out ~'24 and it would be nice to finally get myself a brand new car for once. We'll see
                          Simon
                          Current Cars:
                          -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                          Make R3V Great Again -2020

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