Now the talking about the new Lotus Emira stops – time to find out how it tackles two of its biggest rivals
Alpine A110 and 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 join the partyWe’ve had the glitzy reveal, the hype about Lotus’s big-money rebirth and the prototype drives. Now the talking stops: the Emira meets its stellar rivals.The last ever petrol Lotus, and the first truly new Lotus in yonks . It aims to be the most accessible Lotus possible, in terms of usability and with a price that’ll dip below £60k with the upcoming 2.0-litre turbo version.
First impressions are that it more than lives up to the hype. I’m on my own but I’ve the world’s chattiest steering for conversation, the octagonal wheel rim relaying all kinds of detail about the front tyres and the road surface they’re squidging into – and darting about over. That wheel needs a reasonably firm grip on a bumpy road as the Emira’s steering is more alive and excitedly prone to wandering than that of the average modern car. That’s not a criticism.
‘A Lotus without excuses’ is how Ben Barry described the Emira back in August 2021. And Ben’s homing into view now in the Emira’s mirrors in a machine that’s had sports car makers fumbling for excuse notes for a full decade and a half now: the Porsche Cayman. Its optional LMP1-inspired LED headlights look for all the world like crosshairs.
The Emira’s dramatic cab-forward, supercar-like proportions give it one drawback from a practicality point of view. The driver-forward package, together with the demands for crash structure, cooling and the clever layered aero surfacing at the front mean there’s no front boot. In the Emira you duck your shoulder under the roofline just as easily as in the Cayman and Alpine, but with that cab-forward package you must first stretch one leg a long way into the cabin, and then pick the other one over the high, broad sill that’s part of the chassis structure . Once you’re in it’s actually enormously roomy, with plenty of space for two tall adults and epic legroom for the passenger.
The Alpine’s 1798cc turbocharged four doesn’t have the same big-capacity, multi-cylinder character. But it’s still a buzzy, vibrant and keenly responsive engine that suits the car’s compact, rally-inspired character. ‘It sounds angry, in a good way,’ comments Ben Barry. The Alpine is the narrowest car here and its compact dimensions make it feel almost like a classic car to drive.
The six-speed ’box isn’t flawless. It can be reluctant to go into reverse and you do need to concentrate to execute a perfect, smooth shift. But the sense of satisfaction when you do is immense, and this gearbox is far lighter in action than the unit in the prototype car we drove earlier this year.
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