Emira

[Phil S1]

I'm excited about it although I doubt I'll ever be in a position to afford a new one.

From what I understand it'll share the same architecture as the Evora but be more compact and lightweight since it will only be a two seater. Styling derived from the Evija. Same Toyota V6 in manual and auto initially then followed up with a 4 cylinder turbo engine, possibly from the A35 Merc with 300bhp but dct only, no manual option.

The tie up with Alpine will create an all electric version.

[MG4Lotus]

If it is more compact than the Evora why would the mule vehicle have the Evora shell but with wider arches?

[Phil S1]

On 30/04/2021 at 19:23, MG4Lotus said:

If it is more compact than the Evora why would the mule vehicle have the Evora shell but with wider arches?

That's very true, by more compact I was meaning the length more than anything.

[Eric]

On 29/04/2021 at 16:54, PJT said:

Thought the forum would be alive with Emira chat.

No-one interested?

Yes, yes, yes!  Very interested!  Can't wait for the public reveal on 6th July, closely followed by it's first public appearance at Goodwood FOS on the 8th.  We've bagged tickets for the 8th already, along with a parking spot in the West "Supercar" car park (far better than the dodgy East).

Camera battery fully charged and ready to go - yehaaa (and I've even invested in a spare camera battery - now that's dedication 😍).

 

[MG4Lotus]

There's a lot of speculation in the press and other online places. Some of it is contradictory so must be inaccurate. Unless lady luck is good to me I can't afford one but I'm looking forward to the reveal. If it takes it's styling cues from the Evija I think it will be enticingly impressive.

[Steve J]

Last chance to get a petrol Lotus before they go all electric and fill it with electronic gadgets. Price will be a big factor in its success as most potential buyers will be existing Lotus fans. They’ve tried for decades to appeal to Porsche owners but had little success even though the products have been good.

[Eric]

Semi-interesting article in this month's evo magazine (Issue 286 - June) which discusses some details about the Emira, and of particular interest here - engine supplier(s).

They say that the super-charged 3.5 V6 from Toyota will continue to be used (presumably for the top-end variants, given that an easy 430 bhp is available), and a new inline four cylinder engine from a "world-renowned engine builder" - oooooooh, err.

Now "world-renowned" really does raise expectations, and I can only think of two possible candidates; Ricardo and Cosworth.  Ricardo designed, builds and supplies all V8 engines to McLaren, and Cosworth, of course, really are the best of the best, and designed and will be building and supplying the V12 for Aston's Valkerie, plus they also designed and will be building and supplying the V12 for Gordon Murray's T50.

I reckon either of these would be capable of designing and building a highly efficient, comparatively small capacity - maybe as small as  1.6 or 1.8 litre - with an incremental power range of around 300 to 350 bhp.  Turbocharging will be pretty much mandatory, but it's now reasonably easy for these guys to completely eliminate the dreaded turbo lag, whilst at the same time taking advantage of the massive efficiency gains that come from turbocharged forced induction.

Any more ideas?  Must be "world-renowned" though!

[Phil S1]

Very interesting Eric, thanks for sharing. On TLF someone said that EVO article mentioned that this 4 cylinder version would also be available in both dct and manual which if true would be a real bonus for dinosaurs like me who still want a manual 👍

[Eric]

1 hour ago, Phil S1 said:

Very interesting Eric, thanks for sharing. On TLF someone said that EVO article mentioned that this 4 cylinder version would also be available in both dct and manual which if true would be a real bonus for dinosaurs like me who still want a manual 👍

Ha ha, yes, me too.  I've just replaced my daily with a Ford Puma ST (only available with manual gearbox 😀), but this really does show what's possible with a recently designed but still mass produced car (albeit a crossover), both in terms of technology and engineering.

The ST variant has been developed by Ford Performance who know a thing or two about what it takes to develop world-class drivers' cars.  For example, the tyres - Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (as fitted to latest Evoras as standard, but co-developed by Ford and Michelin for the Puma), the dampers - trick Hitachi twin tube items, the differential - a Quaife mechanical item, fitted thanks to the essential Performance Pack.

Ford have also fitted their awesome little 1.5 turbocharged triple, pumping out 197 bhp and 320Nm!

B&O ten speaker sound system, Recaro seats, fully digital dash.............. heck, the car even reads (yes reads) speed limit road signs................. The list of bundled tech. is huge but it's all been beautifully integrated and intuitive.

Having been a RenaultSport fanboy for many years, it's been sad to see that division of Renault hit the skids and now at rock bottom.  Thankfully, and in my very humble opinion, Ford Performance is the new King.  Long live the King!!!!

[Phil S1]

Sounds like they've really gone to town on it; you should have plenty of fun with that by the sounds of it 👍

[Daveb99]

We were chatting to Scott Walker on Saturday night at the Caffeine & Machine Evija promo event.

It sounds like the front of the Emira is going to be a carbon copy of the Evija, and the rest pretty similar too.  Scott also said he’s had to learn and memorise loads of new acronyms for all the equipment in the car, so it sounds like it will be pretty high tech and well equipped.   And no more raiding the parts bins of Ford / PSA etc for switchgear.

Exciting times.  There will be limited supply in the first year apparently, so if you want one, better get in quick.

[hartleyj]

On 15/05/2021 at 08:23, Eric said:

Semi-interesting article in this month's evo magazine (Issue 286 - June) which discusses some details about the Emira, and of particular interest here - engine supplier(s).

They say that the super-charged 3.5 V6 from Toyota will continue to be used (presumably for the top-end variants, given that an easy 430 bhp is available), and a new inline four cylinder engine from a "world-renowned engine builder" - oooooooh, err.

Now "world-renowned" really does raise expectations, and I can only think of two possible candidates; Ricardo and Cosworth.  Ricardo designed, builds and supplies all V8 engines to McLaren, and Cosworth, of course, really are the best of the best, and designed and will be building and supplying the V12 for Aston's Valkerie, plus they also designed and will be building and supplying the V12 for Gordon Murray's T50.

I reckon either of these would be capable of designing and building a highly efficient, comparatively small capacity - maybe as small as  1.6 or 1.8 litre - with an incremental power range of around 300 to 350 bhp.  Turbocharging will be pretty much mandatory, but it's now reasonably easy for these guys to completely eliminate the dreaded turbo lag, whilst at the same time taking advantage of the massive efficiency gains that come from turbocharged forced induction.

Any more ideas?  Must be "world-renowned" though!

I wish I believed that it would have that sort of pedigree, and whilst the Toyota 3.5 V6 is almost a dead cert, my money for the smaller engined option is, unfortunately, on a Volvo unit. I appreciate that this doesn't sit well with the 'world-renowned' engine builder, but a one-off engine from, say, Cosworth for likely Lotus volumes for only 5-6 years isn't going to make financial sense for the engine builder. So therefore it has to follow that it will be an existing engine already produced in volume. Geely probably haven't got an equivalent of the Toyota V6 so they are probably happy to let that arrangement continue. 

Personally, I hope that whatever engine it is, it's a whole heap better than the 1.5 3 Pot in our XC40, which frankly is quite rough, especially compared to the 1.0 Ltr 3 pot in the Focus which preceeded it,  which although lacking in a bit of grunt was absolutely turbine smooth, almost silent and was capable of pretending to the uninitiated that it was a 1.6. ANd boy would it rev. Haven't even tried that option with the Volvo, it's just too painful to the ears!

Here's hoping for the best...

[Eric]

On 25/05/2021 at 21:08, hartleyj said:

Personally, I hope that whatever engine it is, it's a whole heap better than the 1.5 3 Pot in our XC40, which frankly is quite rough, especially compared to the 1.0 Ltr 3 pot in the Focus which preceeded it,  which although lacking in a bit of grunt was absolutely turbine smooth, almost silent and was capable of pretending to the uninitiated that it was a 1.6. ANd boy would it rev. Haven't even tried that option with the Volvo, it's just too painful to the ears!

Here's hoping for the best...

On the subject of 3-pots, my new daily driver is a Ford Puma ST with that naughty little turbocharged 1.5 litre 3-pot motor first used in the latest Fiesta ST.  As a quick reminder, this pumps out 197 bhp and 236 lb ft (thanks to a torque increase over the Fiesta ST's unit).  Now that's pretty impressive, and really does demonstrate the massive steps forward in engine design and engineering that have taken place in recent years.  My previous daily was a Polo GTi with VW's ubiquitous EA888 motor in 1.8 litre form, but this had identical power and torque outputs (and I mean exactly the same) as Ford's little gem!

I digress a little from the Emira flavoured thread, but am I happy with the Puma?  Hell yes!  It's a cracker - heavily breathed on by Ford Performance to make it go round corners very swiftly indeed (aided by a Quaife LSD - ha), and with a huge list of tech. bundled as standard.

But now back on topic.... If a mass manufacturer can produce a drivers' car this good, and loaded with intuitive tech., it does kind of set the bar pretty high for up-market, hot off the CAD and CAE "drawing board" products such as Emira.  Exterior design wise, if it does turn out to a Russian doll" replica of the Evija, then that's ok I guess, but hopefully it will have enough differentiation to self-position itself in the hierarchy of "new Lotus".

Would I swap my beloved Evora for an Emira though?  Hmmmm, that's a toughie  The answer is probably going to be no, but let's wait and see how good the Emira is.  Fingers crossed it'll be bloody brilliant 🤞.

[lotus111]

https://instagram.com/stories/lotuscars/2590730329817847349?utm_medium=copy_link
 

A steering wheel with radio controls that’s definitely a move forward lol. Seriously am looking forward to seeing the new car now.

[lotus111]