With Lotus Global allowing us a brief opportunity to sample the car – and their single request of “Please don’t scratch it” still stirring in my head – I tentatively head out into a drizzly mid-winter Auckland cityscape.
The Emira is a significant model for Lotus, serving as a beacon for everything the British carmaker has stood for in its storied past. But equally it’s a precursor to a very different Lotus going forward.
Without question the most accomplished car the brand has produced to date, and now a business resourced for ambitious growth, the Emira embodies Lotus’ progress. It represents a milestone on their path to becoming a truly global performance car brand.
Firstly, it’s stuffed with touchpoints we’ve all come to expect from a Lotus – striking design, thrilling dynamic performance delivering mind-boggling ride and handling characteristics and outstanding aerodynamics.
The signature Lotus lightweight, direct steering is immediately evident, even at city speeds there’s a sharpness to the Emira First Edition that you don’t experience in many cars these days, it feels more polished than Lotus of old, but thankfully retains that precision to point the car exactly where you want it.
Once settled in you appreciate just how much work Lotus have put into creating a well-packaged and suitably appointed cabin for discerning buyers.
The Emira is driver focused and cosseting, but comfortable. It offers creature comforts like keyless entry and start, a 10.25” touchscreen and 12.3” instrument screen, multifunction steering wheel, cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto, as well as Bluetooth, rear parking sensors (with front sensors as an option), an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and curtain airbags. All this makes it a car you could comfortably drive every day.
And that’s not always been something you could say about Lotus, who have always been laser focused on reducing weight and delivering track-orientated vehicles.
Of course, with Lotus’s heritage ensconced in motorsport, the Emira is very capable on the track too, but with this car’s generous interior specification you really can have your cake and eat it too.
I’m not pushing the car hard today – you will be able to read our more in-depth drive in the spring issue of 66 Magazine – but the car certainly feels alive beneath me and with the roar of that very sonorous, 400hp supercharged V6 and the delightful snick-snack of the manual gearbox (a paddle shift auto ‘box will also available), it’s a car that encourages the driver to press on.
The Emira has the widest track of any Lotus to date. That, along with a low center of gravity, means it delivers superb stability, especially in the wet. The mid-engine balance also makes for a very engaging and confidence inspiring drive.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is available on the Emira First Edition also, which includes adaptive cruise control, anti-collision system, fatigue alert, road sign information, vehicle speed limiter, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and lane change assist.
Customer deliveries of the Lotus Emira V6 First Edition start in October and Lotus Auckland will have demonstrators available then. In the meantime, you can check out the stunning display vehicle at Lotus Auckland. 174 Great North Road, Grey Lynn.
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