RE: Lotus revises Emira lineup (again) with new V6 SE

RE: Lotus revises Emira lineup (again) with new V6 SE

Saturday 7th June

Lotus revises Emira lineup (again) with new V6 SE

There's a new four-cylinder Turbo too, both available to order now, with tech upgrades and more colours...


Having seemingly held back new Emira derivatives for yonks, Lotus is now all guns blazing when it comes to making the most of its last purely combustion car. In just the past few months it has announced the Turbo SE and Jim Clark special edition; now the V6 flagship gets the SE treatment, and the four-cylinder gains a regular Turbo model. 

The new versions arrive as part of a wider refresh for the Emira. Changes for the mid-engined sports car include revisions to the cooling system, said to improve efficiency and reduce overall weight, plus advanced driver assistance systems are now standard fit. More exciting is the fact that the eight-speed DCT in the 2.0-litre car, always a source of some frustration, has apparently been reworked for ‘faster shift times, improved shift quality and smoother interaction between transmission and driver.’ That’s encouraging, especially with the 400hp potential of the Turbo SE; it always felt like there was a great four-cylinder sports car in the 2.0-litre, so let’s hope this update is the realisation of that. 

The new Turbo model boasts the spec of the original i4, with 360hp and 171mph potential. It can be identified with specific badges, yellow-black Lotus emblems and satin silver details, with options like a Lower Black Pack as well as new colours - Eos Green and Purple Haze are seen here -  to further the visual drama. It costs from £79,500.

Arguably of more interest, however, is the new V6 SE; while no more powerful than all the other 3.5-litre Emiras, rated at 400hp, it does have additional damper and alignment tweaks over previous versions for ‘sharper handling and increased ride comfort’. The choice of a Tour and Sports chassis remains. A new compression mount for the manual promises greater precision to the shift, so this really ought to be the best Emira V6 yet - a tantalising prospect. 

Certainly it’ll be the most expensive series production one, the V6 SE coming in at £96,500. And that’s before the new Racing Line option, offered only on the SE versions; it adds a pinstripe and colour codes the mirrors to the paint chosen for the calipers, then replicates it inside with contrast stitching. To ensure things aren’t too colourful, the Racing Line wheels are black. 

The updated Emira lineup, complete with the new models, colours, wheels and options, is available to order now, arriving in showrooms this September. And if that’s too long to wait, you know where to look for those already registered - sadly none on PH are purple…


Author
Discussion

Bencolem

Original Poster:

1,127 posts

254 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Hmm. Come back to me when the rumoured AMG 4.0 V8 has been fitted instead please.

Motormouth88

601 posts

75 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Honestly one of the best looking cars in recent times imo. There’s a lot of want for one of these and I’d choose one over the equivalent porsche, even if it doesn’t quite add up dynamically, just deserves a punchier engine.

FaustF

774 posts

169 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Bencolem said:
Hmm. Come back to me when the rumoured AMG 4.0 V8 has been fitted instead please.
Now that would be very interesting indeed.

oilit

2,733 posts

193 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
FaustF said:
Bencolem said:
Hmm. Come back to me when the rumoured AMG 4.0 V8 has been fitted instead please.
Now that would be very interesting indeed.
+1 - the interior looks like a reasonable place to be as well - aside from the stuck on ipad which I still hate even though they are as prevalent as steering wheels these days lol

bennno

13,830 posts

284 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Bencolem said:
Hmm. Come back to me when the rumoured AMG 4.0 V8 has been fitted instead please.
At which point you’ll then say 150k?

……For a Lotus


…… are they mad


…… I could buy a used xx for that, bonkers

Etc

Robertb

2,722 posts

253 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Best looking production car on sale today.


Tin Hat

1,414 posts

224 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
The dark blue and black versions look superb. Having driven these very hard, I can say that they are absolutely brilliant.

I don’t think that the pricing is unreasonable, if anything they look like very good value.

It is a typically Lotus situation that when they finally get bought (again) by a large company that is able to invest, develop a great car, only for the the world economy to fall apart/interest rates to rise and thereafter few are buying that kind of thing. You could almost use them as a barometer for impending economic troubles.

redroadster

1,860 posts

247 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Lovely styling and stance without been too bulky but feel pricing is OTT but hope sales prove me wrong .....

LotusOmega375D

8,684 posts

168 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Good to see that the Purchasing Department remembered to order the seats in matching pairs.

sjc

14,862 posts

285 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Such a shame these weren’t the launch colours,which were completely devoid of imagination.

Lester H

3,440 posts

120 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Robertb said:
Best looking production car on sale today.
Yes, what an absolute beauty as most of you think. A pity though that the photographer deemed it necessary and trendy to soft focus the edges of the shots to draw attention to features, but went too far. Some images are just blurred, the door mirror one being the most awkward. Why bother?

DonkeyApple

62,483 posts

184 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Not sure I agree with the author:

'The new Turbo model boasts the spec of the original i4, with 360hp and 171mph potential. ...... It costs from £79,500.

Arguably of more interest, however, is the new V6 SE; while no more powerful than all the other 3.5-litre Emiras, rated at 400hp.....costs from £96,500.'

Why the assumption that the Toyota V6 is of more interest than the AMG i4?

The i4 is the more fitting engine for a Lotus, almost all Lotus ever have been i4 and they only ended up with the Toyota V6 because they couldn't source an i4 back then which had the power they needed. The i4 in this instance is £15 cheaper for the much more expensive engine and the owner can tune it way beyond 400bhp if desired.

And then one has to wonder just how many clients wanted the manual option instead of feeling obliged to opt for it so as to not look like a loser who can't drive and isn't a real man? biggrin

AMG all day long and keep my £15k for any changes to the boost I may desire.

LotusOmega375D

8,684 posts

168 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Lester H said:
Yes, what an absolute beauty as most of you think. A pity though that the photographer deemed it necessary and trendy to soft focus the edges of the shots to draw attention to features, but went too far. Some images are just blurred, the door mirror one being the most awkward. Why bother?
That’s just his thumb! biglaugh

Ex Boy Racer

1,157 posts

207 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
If they did a convertible I’d be all over it. Same with the Alpine

Snubs

1,294 posts

154 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
I came out of the supermarket last weekend to find one had been parked behind my car. Took a photo while thinking I was looking at an excellent two car garage. I think they look great. If i were to get one I'd probably go for the lightest / purest handling one as the M4 already ticks the speed box. Having said that, an Elise would probably tick the box more effectively still.


Edited by Snubs on Friday 6th June 11:50

cayman-black

13,103 posts

231 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Love the new colours.

twinturban

329 posts

137 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Launched as a £59k car, seems all you get for the extra cost is a load of ADAS features you’ll want to turn off before every drive. What needs to be fixed are the quality issues. No mention of that. Development of this car has been painfully slow, price increase meteoric. Can’t see anything for an existing Emira owner to upgrade to or any good reason for anyone to pay £30k more than a barely used First Edition.

fantheman80

1,969 posts

64 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
redroadster said:
Lovely styling and stance .....
Sadly they dont have this stance in reality - these are heavily photoshopped imgaes and in real life the wheels are a tiny bit 'shy' and in the arches and ride height is higher. Still stunning though

GreatScott2016

1,865 posts

103 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
Robertb said:
Best looking production car on sale today.
I get the front end and profile are nice and the ride height looks spot on, but the rear end is still a bit of a mess to my eyes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though etc. etc. smile

highway

2,350 posts

275 months

Friday 6th June
quotequote all
GreatScott2016 said:
I get the front end and profile are nice and the ride height looks spot on, but the rear end is still a bit of a mess to my eyes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though etc. etc. smile
It is a wonderful looking car. What looks better, in production now, under £150k?