The last gas-powered Lotus also may be the first you don’t have to make excuses for.
The English county of Norfolk may not be an exotic location, but it could hardly be more relevant for driving the new 2023 Lotus Emira, which we’re finally getting a chance to sample in production form after recently driving a prototype. The challenging highways and byways around the company’s Hethel factory have been used in the development of every one of its roadgoing cars since Colin Chapman moved his fledgling company there in 1966. The challenges of Norfolk’s twisty, bumpy roads are a large part of the reason that Lotuses drive the way they do.
The Emira we drove was in a similar spec to the prototype version, featuring a supercharged 3.5-liter Toyota V-6 behind the cockpit that sent power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission and a mechanical limited-slip differential. A six-speed automatic transmission with a torque converter will be optional. This is basically the same engine that was used in the Lotus Evora, retuned here to develop 400 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. Lotus also will be launching a lesser variant with a Mercedes-AMG-sourced 2.0-liter turbo four, though that engine will be paired exclusively with a dual-clutch automatic.
While the prototype Emira rode on the softer Tour suspension, this one has the firmer Sport setup. As Lotus eschews adaptive systems on its sports cars, choosing between these two configurations will be the most significant decision buyers make. The production model also featured track-oriented Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. It quickly becomes evident that, on public roads, the Sport suspension feels much firmer than the Tour setup, yet big bumps and high-frequency vibrations are handled without drama and the Emira never comes across as harsh. But at gentler speeds over lower-quality asphalt, the ride has an edginess that likely could be tempered by the fitment of adaptive dampers.
Still, even the Sport-suspended Emira feels slightly softer than that of the late-model Evora, and hard cornering brings the unmistakeable sensation of gentle body roll. However, the Emira’s cabin plays in an entirely different league than its plasticky predecessor’s, with plush materials and evidence of some careful ergonomic consideration. The Volvo origins of the switchgear might be a little incongruous for anybody who recognizes it, but Lotus is well known for raiding various parts bins. The digital instrument cluster and the 10.3-inch center touchscreen are bright and crisply rendered, and there’s a good range of driving-position adjustments. The round metal knob atop the manual shifter sits exactly where a searching hand expects to find it. The Emira also brings the novelty of having such luxuries as power-adjustable seats and adaptive cruise control in a Lotus.
However, the Emira’s real-world merits do raise one issue, one that it shares with the Chevy C8 Corvette: Anything you stow in its tiny five-cubic-foot storage area behind the engine will get cooked under harder use. Usable cargo space under the frunk is virtually nonexistent, though small, soft-shell bags can be crammed into space behind the seats. It’s one area where the Emira still feels comprehensively beaten by the packaging miracle that is the Porsche Cayman.
While the Emira’s blown V-6 is effective, it’s somewhat lacking in character. But the supercharger does help provide linear responses and solid midrange grunt, which means you can short-shift the six-speed and not lose much speed. This engine doesn’t feel hamstrung by its relatively low 6750-rpm rev limiter. The Emira’s shifter is nicely weighted, and you can see its linkages working through a mesh panel beneath it, though we did notice some stubbornness in its action when shifting from a high to a low gear and vice versa.
Unsurprisingly for a Lotus, the Emira’s steering is beyond reproach. Lotus has persisted with the use of hydraulic assistance for V-6 models in the name of dynamic purity (four-cylinder versions will employ electrohydraulic assistance with an electric pump.) This old-school setup allows for plenty of low-level feedback to reach the microfiber-wrapped steering wheel, the Emira’s helm happily reporting surface textures and small camber changes that pure electric systems often filter out. Though not hyper-quick in its action, the steering’s responses are linear and resistance builds progressively as lock is added. Over rougher surfaces you can sense a small amount of kickback through the wheel, but this feels like a price worth paying for such a tactile connection.
While the softer-sprung Emira prototype was a compelling companion on the track, the production car’s combination of firmer spring rates and massive grip made it almost feel over-tired on the road. There’s a huge amount of stick available, and although it would be hard to grow tired of the Emira’s reassuring front-end bite, its chassis lacks some of the playfulness that comes from being able to adjust its attitude with the accelerator; cornering lines can be opened or tightened with the right pedal, just not as prominently as with the softer Tour suspension. The Emira’s brake pedal also stood out for feeling a bit wooden and short on resistance under gentle use.
On Lotus’s 2.2-mile handling track, the Emira was able to maintain a serious pace, delivering more than 1.0 g of cornering grip in the wet, according to its onboard computer. But on a dry, warm track, the Sport-equipped Emira’s adhesion peaked at an indicated 1.7 g’s. We’ll need to harvest our own figures before we get too impressed, but that’s a huge number for a street-legal car without significant levels of downforce. The larger and more sustained loadings possible on track made the Emira more enjoyable than on the road. The mass of the engine behind the passenger compartment provides it with a willingness to quickly change direction, and there’s a definite rearward bias to its handling balance in longer corners. But the Cup 2 tires are always happier gripping than slipping, which likely makes the softer Tour setup the better choice on the road—and a bit more fun on the track, if not as quick overall.
As Lotus’s final combustion-powered model and almost certainly the last that won’t feature a multitude of drive-by-wire systems, the Emira is the end of an era for the brand. It definitely still drives like a Lotus. But it’s everything else about the Emira that has massively improved. For all the handling brilliance that we’ve come to associate with Lotus’s cars, their limited usability and iffy quality never made it hard to find excuses not to buy one. The Emira makes that much more difficult to do.
