IT'S FAIR TO SAY THE EMIRA DIDN'T have the smoothest of launches. And I don't mean the soaking that managing director Matt Windle got when the heavens opened over Hethel as he introduced Lotus's first 'all new' sports car since the Elise. Our first drive in the summer of 2022 yielded mixed results, and the same was the case for other magazines.
A mismatched specification for the preproduction test car presented us with a V6engined, six-speed-manual First Edition with a Sport-spec chassis - stiffer springs and dampers - but equipped with the more road-biased Goodyear Eagle Fl tyres from the Tour-spec car in place of the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s that Sport models leave the factory with. It made for a strong on-road car, albeit one that reached the limit of its tyres quite quickly when pushed on the road and even quicker when driven on track.
A solid four stars was the result, with a strong desire to drive a finished production car as soon as possible, hopefully in time for eCoty 2022. Which didn't happen due to Lotus experiencing supply-chain issues, which pushed back customer deliveries and therefore the availability of a test car. We've still not been able to get behind the wheel of a production-spec Emira V6. Few have.
However, this is a production-specification four-cylinder Emira, or i4 in Lotus-speak. It's powered by a Mercedes-AMG 2-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine that's hooked up to an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, just as it is in the AMG A45 S hyper hatch (see page 28).
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