The all-new Lotus Emira is an ICE swansong

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

The Lotus Emira is here as the British carmaker's farewell to the combustion engine.

Lotus has revealed its latest sports car, and comes with mixed emotions. See, the new Emira (pronounced eh-mee-rah) is a gorgeous thing that promises Porsche Cayman performance without the pricetag, but it’s also Lotus’ final car to have an internal combustion engine.

The Emira will be powered by Toyota’s supercharged 3.5-litre V6 at first, before eventually getting Mercedes-AMG’s epic 2.0-litre turbo four, the same one as in the A 45 S.

Power outputs are an unknown but expect the six to produce close to the 298kW figure seen in the Evora 400. As for the AMG engine, things are a bit more murky. The A 45 has 285kW and the A 45 S pushes things to 315kW so it could be anywhere between those. Or even more, who knows.

The new Emira is a properly good-looking car. Should be properly fast too.

Either way, the engine is mounted behind the passengers, powering the rear wheels only.

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The engine is mounted in the middle, for what will be the last time in a Lotus.

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Inside is a lot more digitisation and attention to detail.

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* Sunday Drive: Mercedes-AMG A 45 S

* Lotus turns up the dial with Evora GT430

Transmissions range from a manual and a torque-converter automatic to a dual-clutch automatic. The first two only come with the V6 while the AMG unit exclusively uses the dual-clutch.

The fastest Emira will hit 100kmh in less than 4.5 seconds, with a top speed of 290kmh. To improve driving feel, the steering is hydraulic, not electric.

Elsewhere, there are major updates compared to the outgoing Evora and Exige models. The interior gets a high-tech dash with a 10.25-inch touchscreen for infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a bunch of creature comforts like electric seats, leather upholstery, cruise control and automatic windscreen wipers, keyless start, ambient lighting, and parking sensors.

Add on the Lotus Drivers Pack and you get launch control, a stiffer suspension and sportier tyres.

Outside are clear changes, with LED lights front and rear, sharper styling and aerodynamic gashes in the bonnet. Underneath the car is a bonded aluminium structure, similar to its old cars, but it’s all-new. This has changed the dimensions of the car quite a lot, expanding it noticeably compared to the older Lotus models, especially in terms of width.

More width means less body roll and more grip, but it’s also… well, wider. The Emira measures 4412 millimetres long, 1895mm wide, and 1225mm tall. It also weighs around 1400kg, which is light by today’s standards but still a good bit heavier than the one-tonne Exige.

Shipments will begin next year, with prices starting at £60,000 in the UK and less than €72,000 in European markets (around NZ$120,000). A fully loaded “First Edition” with the supercharged V6 will kick off as the flagship variant.