New Lotus Emira vs used Mc, Ferrari, Lambo etc

[vanman1936]

Sooo

I think we can all (?) agree that the Emira is a stunning looking car and has stirred something in me that has made me put a deposit down on a new car when I swore I never would (hate huge depreciation as a matter of principle).

The natural question, for me at least, is a £70-£80k Emira (needs to be the V6) vs a traditional used supercar the right choice?

Value opinions and alternative propositions.

Thanks

P

[Fezzamania]

Ones a lotus the other is a supercar as per your question.
Same reason why I wouldnt buy an Audi R8 or a 911, would always feel I never had a supercar just a good sports car

[willy wombat]

When I saw the photos of the Emira in various magazines I thought it looked stunning so I went out my way to have a look at it at the Festival of Speed and I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. Good looking sports car but no Ferrari or Mac.

[Bispal]

The Emira is a sports car that looks as good as a supercar. TBH sports cars are in many ways more fun to drive than supercars and have plenty of performance. Its a win-win for me, supercar looks and sportscar agility, usability, size & price. This has always been one of Lotus's USP's. A used 12C/650S or Emira is a very difficult choice. For many people it will come down to the warranty (£5k pa on the McLaren P11 cars) and if Lotus resume their awesome 50/50 finance deal. The 12C was the best touring car I have ever owned and unbelievable fast, the Exige 430CUP the best sports car I have owned. If the Emira can be a bit of both then its going to be a wonderful car.

[vanman1936]

Bispal said:

The Emira is a sports car that looks as good as a supercar. TBH sports cars are in many ways more fun to drive than supercars and have plenty of performance. Its a win-win for me, supercar looks and sportscar agility, usability, size & price. This has always been one of Lotus's USP's. A used 12C/650S or Emira is a very difficult choice. For many people it will come down to the warranty (£5k pa on the McLaren P11 cars) and if Lotus resume their awesome 50/50 finance deal. The 12C was the best touring car I have ever owned and unbelievable fast, the Exige 430CUP the best sports car I have owned. If the Emira can be a bit of both then its going to be a wonderful car.

Bispal, you have hit the nail on the head…exactly my thinking and a 570/12C/650s are probably the alternatives, along with an R8 V10.

Not sure about the whole “supercar” debate, I think most people would hold it in that category from an emotional / looks / public perception perspective judging by the wider thread on it….if that’s your yardstick for a supercar….performance wise not though.

I hope it does look as good in the flesh, doesn’t seem to be a bad spec on the configurator.

[Man of gas]

interesting because I was planning on getting a 570s in the next year and have a real dilemma. I waited 2 years for a brand new s1 Elise 25 years ago and the Emira has woken up the same feelings as then.
I will wait and see it in the flesh

[davek_964]

Looks nice enough and a decent price.

Compared to my 650? About 0.0000000000000000001% tempted to have the Lotus instead.

[OldAndTired]

0-60 is apparently going to be 4.5s.

Doesn’t that make it a sheep in wolf’s clothing?

It’s also much wider than a typical Lotus.

[Trev450]

To me it would be more about the driving experience than outright performance. One of the corner stones of Lotus,

[supersport]

davek_964 said:

Looks nice enough and a decent price.

Compared to my 650? About 0.0000000000000000001% tempted to have the Lotus instead.

This really.

I love the look of it, and had a good look at FoS last week. But I wouldn't swap my Ferrari for it, and I wouldn't swap my old 911 for it.

So not sure where it would sit given I don't have space for many cars.

Now if I had a Cayman then I would consider the swap, it's a good looking car and should be very capable.

[MDL111]

Depends on what you want from a car. I would probably buy an Exige Cup instead of it if I wanted to buy a Lotus - like this one
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11740572

I am not particularly keen on modern cars though, including most new Porsches, Ferraris etc. so not the right audience to start with.

Would I buy an Emira over say a manual 360 - probably not

I am sure plenty will though as they want a warranty, finance, have a new car etc

[vanman1936]

supersport said:

davek_964 said:

Looks nice enough and a decent price.

Compared to my 650? About 0.0000000000000000001% tempted to have the Lotus instead.

This really.

I love the look of it, and had a good look at FoS last week. But I wouldn't swap my Ferrari for it, and I wouldn't swap my old 911 for it.

So not sure where it would sit given I don't have space for many cars.

Now if I had a Cayman then I would consider the swap, it's a good looking car and should be very capable.

I get the vs 650 comments, of course. However, as a place for money and cost of ownership it has an influence on where to put £80k….and I am tempted by a 650s also!

[Taffy66]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This is a great post and one i mostly agree with despite recently buying an 812SF which is even faster than my 488. I started doing track days a couple of years ago as i too got frustrated by not being able to access my cars performance on public roads. For the record i currently have a Taycan 4s, 488 and a 991GT3 RS WP. Anyone who claims they can exploit these cars performance on public roads is either a liar or an irresponsible idiot. Track days teach you drive very fast cars safely and over the limit of what they're capable of without endangering the general public who on the whole disapprove of anti social fast driving. I've sinse slowed down my road driving and keep the fast driving for track days.
On the subject of how much power for enjoyable road cars i agree about 300HP/Ton is the ideal level without getting silly. My favourite recent fun road car was my 981 Spyder which had perfect poke for safe but fast road driving. The new Emira will be a brilliant car and at 1325kg light enough to make good use of 360-400BHP. Bear in mind that Lotus' official figures are the EC weight including 75kg driver and good old BHP rather than the metric PS in total contrast to Porsche etc.

[sparta6]

Instant torque EV's are good for Santa Pod.

On the road there will be plenty of Auntie Mary's understeering into ditches with great surprise. I suspect limiters and spyware will become mandatory to satisfy insurers.

[R8Reece]

OldAndTired said:

0-60 is apparently going to be 4.5s.

Doesn’t that make it a sheep in wolf’s clothing?

It’s also much wider than a typical Lotus.

Yes, hence why I’m out.

[Roof down]

I absolutely love this car, Lotus have got this right, and being owned by Geely the quality will be assured.

Yes if it were a Ferrari Dino, which it could so easily be it would be unobtainable for years ,
I will certainly consider one, I also think Lotus wing shields would look pretty good too.

Great car can’t wait, green, cream interior silver or gold wheels will do for nicely for me.

Mike

[SFTWend]

Had a similar debate in my mind to the OP a while back but with a nearly new Evora vs Fez etc.

Assumed Lotus (slow) depreciation vs Fez running costs meant both would cost about the same overall in the long term. Lotus would be more year round useable and perhaps a more relaxed ownership experience.

Concluded that the main benefit of the Lotus was that I could run just the one car. But if I wanted something special for the weekend I felt some more cylinders from Italy would be more satisfying.

[Northernboy]

vanman1936 said:

Sooo

I think we can all (?) agree that the Emira is a stunning looking car and has stirred something in me that has made me put a deposit down on a new car when I swore I never would (hate huge depreciation as a matter of principle).

The natural question, for me at least, is a £70-£80k Emira (needs to be the V6) vs a traditional used supercar the right choice?

Value opinions and alternative propositions.

Thanks

P

You won’t get into a good supercar for £65k, you’re just a bit below the start of the ones that can still cut the mustard today, which I think makes the Lotus quite a good choice.

If it was £90,000 then you could buy a low mileage McLaren for the same price, but at £65k, you can’t.

I think that you need to drive the various options. I’m not planning to replace my McLaren with the Lotus, I don’t think it’ll get close enough, but it does look good enough that I’m planning to buy one to sit alongside the super car.

[WCZ]

the amg engine will be very easy to tune anyway

[MGR]

I really wanted something that looked good, was generally useable for B road and popping to the pub, could do a weekend away with realistic luggage, whilst also being able to do perhaps 1 track day a year without racking up huge bills.

I've been looking for several years for something roughly £100k that is useable on the road, there seemed to be a bit of a gap until this for my own requirements. Porsche are the obvious choice but I don't find the "non GT" cars entertaining enough, plus given the awful ownership experience I've had with my own basic 911 I don't think its a brand I will ever buy again.

Looking to the 2nd hand market the rise in the value of cars such as older NSX, 328/348/355 911 GT3 etc make these appear slightly poor value. If we go a bit newer then we hit the cars with mainly automated manuals such as F430 which appear reasonable value but I hate those gearboxes. A manual F430 would have been perfect but now you are paying a huge premium for these and they are so rare you will have to compromise on other spec.

For me the Emira, It ticks all the boxes. Looks special, has reasonable luggage space, known reliable engines, and will drive well and sound fantastic. It will also be able to do the odd track day without falling apart or requiring some hugely expensive carbon brakes replacing.

Edited by MGR on Tuesday 20th July 07:49

Edited by MGR on Tuesday 20th July 07:50