Lotus Emira V6 review

Traditional V6 sports car finally meets the Autocar timing gear, write Illya Verpraet and Felix Page

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The Lotus Emira had a moderately tumultuous start to life. You could argue this makes it an authentic Lotus from the off, even if that probably wasn’t the intention. However, more than two years into production, it seems an oversight not to have road tested the current Lotus sports car, so let’s do that now, and see how the Emira performs, and what it's like to live with.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

Lotus says the Emira is based on a new lightweight bonded, extruded aluminium chassis. This continues a legacy that started with the Elise in the 1990s, and closer inspection shows it is fundamentally based on the Evora’s chassis. It is indeed fundamentally stiff and light, so there's not much wrong with that.

As such, the mechanicals are similar as well, particularly in the case of the supercharged V6. The Toyota 2GR-FE is carried over as well, as is the choice of a six-speed manual gearbox with a limited-slip differential or a torque-converter automatic with an open differential.

A slightly cheaper, lower-CO2 option (important for markets where high outputs carry a big tax penalty) is the Turbo SE, which is powered by the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder from Mercedes-AMG and its associated eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. This was launched a year after the V6, in 2023, with 360bhp, but has since been uprated to 400bhp — closer to what it makes in the A45 S.

As with the Evora, suspension is by double wishbones all round with fixed-rate dampers. On the V6, customers can choose between a softer, more road-biased Tour set-up and a more tied-down, track-ready Sport one. The latter comes with the Driver's Pack, which includes a switchable exhaust, ESP Track mode and, on the automatic, launch control. Confusingly, our First Edition test car had the Tour suspension with the Driver’s Pack, a combination that is no longer sold.