420 Sport officially teased on social media, full reveal on 26 May 2026

 

[mrcheyl]

I've owned two 911's and enjoyed both but you see yourself coming and going in the SF Bay Area in a Porsche. My first 911 was a 997 Carerra that had an engine within the range of years that could suffer catastrophic intermediate shaft failures which could destroy the engine without an expensive service intervention. I moved on to a 991 GT3 car that was a great drive but I missed the manual transmission of the earlier car. Those cars also had a fatal engineering flaw that could lead to engine failure and the valve train has since been redesigned multiple times before they finally got it right. To Porsche's credit, they did extend my warranty but I didn't want to risk owning that car out of warranty and sold it. Yeah, Porsches have their issues not mention an abusive dealer network charging heavy premiums for the most desirable cars.

Lotus offers a great product in the Emira that is a brilliant drive with excellent handling dynamics and supercar styling that is much less common. I think that's a fair value proposition but it's a choice we all have to make for ourselves. The fact is that the Emira is a continued evolution of the Evora and earlier Elise and Exige cars that offers many improvements. Lotus has a history of offering bolt on upgrades at higher price points that add lightness and performance. Most of these could be added to any car at a much lower cost and with a greater performance improvement in the aftermarket that the factory can match but some want that exclusive factory offering and are willing to pay for it. I don't blame Lotus for capitalizing on that opportunity.

Start with an Emira, add titanium exhaust, a VF tune, a lightweight lithium battery, adjustable control arms with more negative camber and carbon seats and you have a car that will hold it's own with much more expensive alternatives on track day. Truth be told, it also does very well out of the box.

You’re too sensible for this forum. A lot of folks, and one in particular, seem hellbent on denouncing the 420 on arrival.

I’m the target demo for this car and while I’m not set on it vs the regular i4, it’s nice to have it as an option should the numbers line up.

 

[Steve24]

I've owned two 911's and enjoyed both but you see yourself coming and going in the SF Bay Area in a Porsche. My first 911 was a 997 Carerra that had an engine within the range of years that could suffer catastrophic intermediate shaft failures which could destroy the engine without an expensive service intervention. I moved on to a 991 GT3 car that was a great drive but I missed the manual transmission of the earlier car. Those cars also had a fatal engineering flaw that could lead to engine failure and the valve train has since been redesigned multiple times before they finally got it right. To Porsche's credit, they did extend my warranty but I didn't want to risk owning that car out of warranty and sold it. Yeah, Porsches have their issues not mention an abusive dealer network charging heavy premiums for the most desirable cars.

Lotus offers a great product in the Emira that is a brilliant drive with excellent handling dynamics and supercar styling that is much less common. I think that's a fair value proposition but it's a choice we all have to make for ourselves. The fact is that the Emira is a continued evolution of the Evora and earlier Elise and Exige cars that offers many improvements. Lotus has a history of offering bolt on upgrades at higher price points that add lightness and performance. Most of these could be added to any car at a much lower cost and with a greater performance improvement in the aftermarket that the factory can match but some want that exclusive factory offering and are willing to pay for it. I don't blame Lotus for capitalizing on that opportunity.

Start with an Emira, add titanium exhaust, a VF tune, a lightweight lithium battery, adjustable control arms with more negative camber and carbon seats and you have a car that will hold it's own with much more expensive alternatives on track day. Truth be told, it also does very well out of the box.

Very well said

 

[Kaz]

The list on a 25 is around $118k in Los Angeles, and they said the 420 will be around $126k...I think that's kind of no brainer to get the new bits from the factory. This assumes no deals with the older and regular cars which ymmv

 

[freefall_junkie]

Unless I have missed something it looks like it still has the stanard seats . If so it will be proof positive that Lotus does not listen to customer feedback. Forget the aero add ons, the minor power bump, and the suspension tweaks, for me the biggest single improvement they could make to how the Emira feels to drive is a good set of bucket seats mounted much lower in the car.

 

[BoardwalkLotus]

If anyone is in love with the color but want it in V6 form, we’re holding onto a rare Tangelo V6.

 

[Foxy87]

There is no way this color is worth 8 grand

 

[F1 SML8R]

It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. For context, Porsche's "standard" PTS program starts at or about $12k US but can go to $20-30K+ if you have history with them and truly ask for a color that they have never done before.

So yeah, $8k is not that far fetched. Also, it's included in the price of the car. So, ultimately it'll be whatever someone negotiates as the final price.

 

[VL3X]

There is no way this color is worth 8 grand

It's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. For context, Porsche's "standard" PTS program starts at or about $12k US but can go to $20-30K+ if you have history with them and truly ask for a color that they have never done before.

So yeah, $8k is not that far fetched. Also, it's included in the price of the car. So, ultimately it'll be whatever someone negotiates as the final price.

The Verde Ithaca paint on my Evora GT was an $8100 option.

 

[Foosh]

No manual = no interest. I'm happy to have grabbed a new '26 V6 manual while still available.

 

[VL3X]

The Verde Ithaca paint on my Evora GT was an $8100 option.

Also, my carbon pack was $10k.. total MSRP was ~$120k. With inflation from 2020 that's ~$150k today. Something to consider when estimating the price of this new 420 Sport.

 

[VL3X]

$170k+ fully loaded. This is ridiculous.

 

[StopLoss]

Insanity. Lotus has not come anywhere close to earning the privilege to command these kinds of prices.

 

[Rcktmn]

What does the $12,900 interior lightweight handling pack consist of? This seems fishy

 

[F1 SML8R]

$170k+ fully loaded. This is ridiculous.


View attachment 82480

This is a bit misleading given the probability of someone checking all the boxes is not a real world common scenario. The real price? Well if you are buying this car for its intent, it's Base + the lightweight Handling package and that's it. There are plenty of "free" colors and if you insist, $1k for the back package.

 

[F1 SML8R]

What does the $12,900 interior lightweight handling pack consist of? This seems fishy

it's mis-tagged under interior. It's in the original press release several posts/pages back.

 

[kitkat]

$170k+ fully loaded. This is ridiculous.


View attachment 82480

Almost $173K before taxes for an i4?

Bro I'm good , I've spent a bunch of money modding mine but I think I'm still like 50k short of that price total.

 

[hoho]

170k is insanely expensive

 

[VL3X]

170k is insanely expensive

Yep, a GT4RS with Weissach package just sold for that on BaT and that's a much better car.

 

[Jinba ittai]

Yowza. I’ll pile on. 172K USD currently equals 238K CAD. Almost exactly double our V6 FE launch price of 120K CAD.

 

[Jayce]

This is a bit misleading given the probability of someone checking all the boxes is not a real world common scenario. The real price? Well if you are buying this car for its intent, it's Base + the lightweight Handling package and that's it. There are plenty of "free" colors and if you insist, $1k for the back package.

So that'd be $122,900 + $12,900 for the lightweight handling pack (adjustable dampers + titanium exhaust/carbon louvred tailgate/Li-on battery for weight reduction), which is $135,800 for a 2026 i4 WITHOUT the Tangelo orange option ($8k) or the other extra carbon/aero bits or removable roof, etc...that doesn't make it better at all lol.

Again, i love the idea of the 420 Sport but stripping a majority of the features that make this variant "bespoke" just to make the price "reasonable" defeats the purpose of this variant entirely.

People can (and should) find a 2024 i4 or V6 with sub 3-4k mileage and save $45-80K+ instead (assuming a $135K low end/$170K high end spec'd), cause this pricing is absurd (assuming it's accurate).

That amount of money WILL push people more towards other manufacturers' options or cause them to wait for the Horse refresh in 1.5 years.

I'm really curious to see pricing from other potential buyers (if you're out there) cause I really want to know what Lotus is smoking lol.