Just my opinions and .02 regarding my car and experience.
I specced and ordered my 2026 V6 SE at the end of January 26, took delivery June 30th, roughly 5 months later. Placed my order with Lotus of Nashville TN/Carlock fwiw. Good experience with them throughout the process and delivery.
This is my first Lotus. I’ve been fortunate enough to have owned some very nice cars from most of the German marque brands, and several beautiful Maserati GT’s. Very different animals but all with various strengths and weaknesses.
I researched the heck out of the Emira before I pulled the trigger. I must have watched 30 videos, read countless threads here and elsewhere, read all the car magazines etc, so I had a really good idea of what I might expect and experience.
Having driven the car now pretty extensively, as the title says, 2700 miles in about 3 months I have to say I’ve been very impressed and really enjoying it! I’m no journalist or auto reviewer, not my skill set, but at almost 62 and a true car enthusiast with a fair amount of driving experience, I’m so far loving the car. I won’t bore people with my novice insights, but the hype regarding the Lotus driving dynamics, feel, feedback, surgical type precision this car is capable of is amazing to me. I hadn’t owned a car, P car or other that feels so planted and even composed when being driven very spiritedly. No I haven’t tracked it yet, but am so fortunate to live in an area surrounded by hundreds of miles of pretty sparse population and great roads to push the car within reason. I just love the sound, gearbox, and overall feel/experience of the drive.
When choosing my options, like many others, I agonized over tour vs sport setup. I ended up ordering the touring which I also feel for me was the right choice. I think the ride quality is an ideal blend for serious canyon carving or street driving with just the right amount of compliance. Certainly not soft, minimal body roll, and again superb overall feedback and driving dynamics. I know Lotus tweaked the 26 suspension setup and alignment specs a bit for this 26 model year, and although I can’t compare it to previous years, I think they nailed it.
I also had difficulty deciding between privacy glass or not. I opted for it and I’m also happy with that choice as well. The engine/supercharger are still very visible through the glass, but I think it looks sharp and probably helps with interior cooling a bit.
Thus far I’ve had no real negative issues/problems. Occasionally the Limited Telematics message has come up but very sporadically and goes away in short order. Haven’t seen it for 3 weeks now so not an issue that I’m concerned with. I’ve done 1 break in oil change at about 1200 miles, will probably do another at 5k just because.
I immediately put on the rubber protective tubing along the side of the seat cushions to prevent wear from the plastic base and have my 3rd Cat delete pipe in the garage ready to install. Also did full Xpel PPF and ceramic which I’m also very happy with.
The ADAS stuff/Nannie’s are obviously a hot topic with this car. I get the concerns and frankly while waiting for my car to arrive, I was nervous that I’d made a bad decision and they would drive me crazy. But fortunately that hasn’t been the case at all. Hate to beat a dead horse because it’s a current discussion in various threads but the only annoying feature is the audible traffic sign/speed recognition feature. It’s so easily mitigated and silenced, doesn’t bother me in the least really, unless you forget to turn it off. Then 2 clicks and it’s gone once again. I may do the now available software delete for all of it but certainly not a rush item for me due to the lack of intrusiveness most of the time.
It’s taken me some time to get used to the drive, the car keeps you honest and on your toes, forgiving of mistakes within reason but humbling a bit to drive smoothly and well. I love the challenge of any manual gearbox/clutch interface while carving canyons and mountain twisties, along with the reward when done correctly, just so fun, especially in the Emira. Lastly, it’s such a great looking car!! Not many in its price point and well beyond, can compare to its beautiful curves, shapes and lines. I love to look at it. I also find the seat position very nice. And although I’ve read complaints of a stiff clutch, I don’t find that’s a valid point either but to each his own.
Really hoping the overall ownership experience continues to be positive. I’m sure issues will arise and that will be a huge test not only for the brand but my dealership. However, as of now I couldn’t be happier, been terrific thus far.
I specced and ordered my 2026 V6 SE at the end of January 26, took delivery June 30th, roughly 5 months later. Placed my order with Lotus of Nashville TN/Carlock fwiw. Good experience with them throughout the process and delivery.
This is my first Lotus. I’ve been fortunate enough to have owned some very nice cars from most of the German marque brands, and several beautiful Maserati GT’s. Very different animals but all with various strengths and weaknesses.
I researched the heck out of the Emira before I pulled the trigger. I must have watched 30 videos, read countless threads here and elsewhere, read all the car magazines etc, so I had a really good idea of what I might expect and experience.
Having driven the car now pretty extensively, as the title says, 2700 miles in about 3 months I have to say I’ve been very impressed and really enjoying it! I’m no journalist or auto reviewer, not my skill set, but at almost 62 and a true car enthusiast with a fair amount of driving experience, I’m so far loving the car. I won’t bore people with my novice insights, but the hype regarding the Lotus driving dynamics, feel, feedback, surgical type precision this car is capable of is amazing to me. I hadn’t owned a car, P car or other that feels so planted and even composed when being driven very spiritedly. No I haven’t tracked it yet, but am so fortunate to live in an area surrounded by hundreds of miles of pretty sparse population and great roads to push the car within reason. I just love the sound, gearbox, and overall feel/experience of the drive.
When choosing my options, like many others, I agonized over tour vs sport setup. I ended up ordering the touring which I also feel for me was the right choice. I think the ride quality is an ideal blend for serious canyon carving or street driving with just the right amount of compliance. Certainly not soft, minimal body roll, and again superb overall feedback and driving dynamics. I know Lotus tweaked the 26 suspension setup and alignment specs a bit for this 26 model year, and although I can’t compare it to previous years, I think they nailed it.
I also had difficulty deciding between privacy glass or not. I opted for it and I’m also happy with that choice as well. The engine/supercharger are still very visible through the glass, but I think it looks sharp and probably helps with interior cooling a bit.
Thus far I’ve had no real negative issues/problems. Occasionally the Limited Telematics message has come up but very sporadically and goes away in short order. Haven’t seen it for 3 weeks now so not an issue that I’m concerned with. I’ve done 1 break in oil change at about 1200 miles, will probably do another at 5k just because.
I immediately put on the rubber protective tubing along the side of the seat cushions to prevent wear from the plastic base and have my 3rd Cat delete pipe in the garage ready to install. Also did full Xpel PPF and ceramic which I’m also very happy with.
The ADAS stuff/Nannie’s are obviously a hot topic with this car. I get the concerns and frankly while waiting for my car to arrive, I was nervous that I’d made a bad decision and they would drive me crazy. But fortunately that hasn’t been the case at all. Hate to beat a dead horse because it’s a current discussion in various threads but the only annoying feature is the audible traffic sign/speed recognition feature. It’s so easily mitigated and silenced, doesn’t bother me in the least really, unless you forget to turn it off. Then 2 clicks and it’s gone once again. I may do the now available software delete for all of it but certainly not a rush item for me due to the lack of intrusiveness most of the time.
It’s taken me some time to get used to the drive, the car keeps you honest and on your toes, forgiving of mistakes within reason but humbling a bit to drive smoothly and well. I love the challenge of any manual gearbox/clutch interface while carving canyons and mountain twisties, along with the reward when done correctly, just so fun, especially in the Emira. Lastly, it’s such a great looking car!! Not many in its price point and well beyond, can compare to its beautiful curves, shapes and lines. I love to look at it. I also find the seat position very nice. And although I’ve read complaints of a stiff clutch, I don’t find that’s a valid point either but to each his own.
Really hoping the overall ownership experience continues to be positive. I’m sure issues will arise and that will be a huge test not only for the brand but my dealership. However, as of now I couldn’t be happier, been terrific thus far.
I’m ready!
