911T vs Emira

[seriously]

Speaking of polar moment the cayman is even more mid-engined that the emira. The emira while technically mid-engine has a lot of weight over the rear axel. Theoretically this is ideal for launching the car. No wonder the i4 with DCT posts such strong 0-60 times.

911s also launch really well due to all the weight over the rear axel.

 

[Ohio Enthusiast]

The closer to the center more weight exists, the more neutral the car becomes whenever you want to rotate it (i.e. turn under acceleration or braking). In the 911's case, the weight is more unevenly distributed and further away from the center

You're explaining fore-aft center of gravity position (better known as weight distribution) and polar moment of inertia. These are completely unrelated to center of gravity height, which was what you claimed the Emira has much lower one. Also, both the 911 and the Emira share a similar weight distribution (~40/60), so that's unrelated as well. The only difference between the two is the polar moment of inertia, which will explain the difference in handling between cars in different engine configuration, even if their weight distribution and center of gravity height are the same (front, mid and rear engine). (neglecting other things like suspension type, curb weight and chassis tuning).

If you have center of gravity height numbers for either car, I'm sure we'd love to see them as they are extremely rarely published by manufacturers and rarely measured by anyone else.

(rear engine sits on top of the rear axle). This is why it's tail happy (in general).

The engine is not on top of the rear axle, but behind it and only slightly higher than the hubs (as opposed to the Emira and other transverse mid engine cars where the engine does indeed seat on top of the rear axle). The tail-happiness of a 911 is mostly due to the high polar moment of inertia with the heavy part being in the rear (the same thing that promotes understeer in front engine cars - high polar moment of inertia with the heavy part in the front).

911 (991):

Emira:

 

[NorCalEmira]

Fun fact. The 911 and Emira have the same weight distribution (approx 60% rear, 40% front).
If you want something close to 50:50 the Cayman is near perfect.

The difference from the 911 is that the Emira puts that weight ahead of the rear axle.

 

[F1 SML8R]

I was paraphrasing for purposes of simplicity. However, I like that you attached the diagram which further reaffirms my point. the engine is further away from the center and to your point behind the axle making it exceptionally easy to getting the tail to slip. My whole point is getting more weight towards the center is better. The emira compared to my old Carrera T accomplishes this better than the T.

 

[ShootingSight]

When cars turn, they do not rotate about the center of the car. They rotate about a point on the line you get from projecting the rear axle out some distance, so the effect of weight on polar moment is a little more complicated than people are discussing. Also, oversteer/understeer is really a discussion of the amount of grip the tires get, which is only partially influenced by static weight distribution, as you rarely corner under a completely neutral throttle. Braking or accelerating shifts weight on or off the wheels. You need to drive a 911 slower into a corner, and apply more acceleration coming out of the corner. Coming into a corner under breaking will lead to oversteer.

I think Lotus got this right. Porsche probably never will, as the marketing department still hold sway over the engineers. The 911 is tail-happy, always has been, but it is the flagship of the Porsche brand. They tried replacing it once, with the 928, but that flopped. Since then, they have stood by it and defended it's tradition. The Boxster and Cayman have a much better design from a weight distribution POV, but have been relegated to being the poor man's Porsche with less powerful engines, lest they start outperforming the 911. Only recently has the GT4 been given a 6 cylinder, and it is still downsized from the 911.

 

[Tomwa]

I bought a 2019 911T last May, and a 2025 Emira last week. I got the 911 used with 30k miles, and paid about the same as I did for the Emira.

Dunno about outright acceleration, as I am still breaking it in, so cannot go above 4k RPM, but the driving is better in the Emira. Suspension has a little less sway, steering feels lighter, cornering is flatter. I like!

Just an FYI if that's what you read or dealer told you, it's a misinterpretation. You absolutely should "explore the rev range" and do some hard engine braking while in break-in miles.

If you read the manual it just says no "sustained" revs over 4k this means don't cruise down the highway at 4200 rpm in 4th gear. Not "don't crack over 4k". Your ring seating will be better if the rings experience engine loads.

 

[Nelumbo]

Speaking of polar moment the cayman is even more mid-engined that the emira. The emira while technically mid-engine has a lot of weight over the rear axel. Theoretically this is ideal for launching the car. No wonder the i4 with DCT posts such strong 0-60 times.

911s also launch really well due to all the weight over the rear axel.

Braking benefits for the same reason. Because of weight transfer, each brake handles a more equal percentage of the load, so there’s less likelihood of exceeding the amount of grip available from the tire.

 

[allenyao09]

I thought about getting a 911 T instead of Emira before, but nowadays Porsche is going for crazy high prices, which I don't think is really worth it. 130k for a base Carrera and 140k for a T without any options? No thank you.

 

[seriously]

I thought about getting a 911 T instead of Emira before, but nowadays Porsche is going for crazy high prices, which I don't think is really worth it. 130k for a base Carrera and 140k for a T without any options? No thank you.

Same. Porsche has gone nuts with the pricing. More like $100k base.

 

[R1272]

I own a 992.1 T and it's pretty hard to break the rear free. You can of course, but you really have to try. The mechanical diff and Porsche torque vectoring really help keep things balanced.

@allenyao09 is correct on pricing. A base car with no options starts at $130k.

 

[luciddaydream]

I own a 992.1 T and it's pretty hard to break the rear free. You can of course, but you really have to try. The mechanical diff and Porsche torque vectoring really help keep things balanced.

@allenyao09 is correct on pricing. A base car with no options starts at $130k.

WEird I had a 992.1 GTS and I could break that puppy free on every corner if I wanted, maybe because I had tuned it...

 

[Luminated67]

I am fortunate enough to have both the Emira SE Turbo and the 992.2 Carrera in the garage so comparing both is quite easy. There are areas where the Porsche completely destroy the Lotus and areas where the Lotus is superior.

The Porsche has by far the better dual clutch transmission and the sweeter sounding engine, it also has the more settled slow speed ride and that indestructible feeling that it will last forever, but where the Lotus trump it is the steering feel which whilst busy at slow speeds and on poor surfaces it is a total delight at a decent turn of speed that fills you with confidence, as does the suspension that tackles all bumps regardless if on the straight or mid corner.

Out of the two if I were to drive it daily I would take the Porsche no question but for that special occasion it’s the Lotus hands down, it makes every journey an event.

 

[NorCalEmira]

Speaking of polar moment the cayman is even more mid-engined that the emira. The emira while technically mid-engine has a lot of weight over the rear axel. Theoretically this is ideal for launching the car. No wonder the i4 with DCT posts such strong 0-60 times.

911s also launch really well due to all the weight over the rear axel.

Most mid engined cars have significantly more weight over the rear axle. Close to 40/60 is probably the most common. What distinguishes a mid engined car from a rear engined car is that the engine placement is in front of the rear axle in a mid-engined design. A front-engine/rear-drive car tries to achieve 50/50. A mid-engine car typically achieves a rear-biased setup, which is generally better for handling, despite a 50/50 reputation in marketing. The rear bias improves traction for acceleration, manages weight transfer during braking, and aids in rotation, though center-of-gravity height and centralized mass often matter more.

 

[NE12SD8]

I've never driven a Porsche that did anything for me. They do everything except that one thing a sports car needs to do, which is excite you and make you want to take it on a winding road somewhere.

And did I mention that the 911 is a thousand year old design with a engine waaaay the f over the rear axle that makes it inherently unstable on the edge?

And not for nothing but have you ever met a Porsche guy who actually knows how to drive? Sorry to say but most of them seem to be guys who made some $ at age 50 and think "Now its time to buy myself a sports car" so you see them on the highway going 65 in a 65 listening to the Alan Parsons Project.

you hit the nail on the head. Absolutely no design to talk about on the exterior but the newer 911 have a very nice design in the interior.

 

[allenyao09]

I thought about getting a 911 T instead of Emira before, but nowadays Porsche is going for crazy high prices, which I don't think is really worth it. 130k for a base Carrera and 140k for a T without any options? No thank you.

2026 prices have gone even more nuts: a base Carrera starts at 138k and a 911T starts at 150k now.

 

[OppositeLock]

you hit the nail on the head. Absolutely no design to talk about on the exterior but the newer 911 have a very nice design in the interior.

 

[OppositeLock]

I've never owned a Porsche sports car, since the ones that I like are too expensive, but I have a Cayenne Turbo, which sells for 1/3 of MSRP when it comes off a 4 year lease, and my wife drives a Macan S, and the quality of these cars is really top notch. I can only imagine how solid one of their sports cars feels to own. They make really nice cars! I have driven a GT3 on the track when I was coaching someone, and I prefer the steering feel and interior design of the Emira over that of the GT3, however, the GT3 felt much more solid, cornered ridiculously flat (not sure if I like this), and the engine was a thing of beauty. You can feel the aero, it's like it's on rails on high speed corners where the Emira dances around. Of course, neither Emira or GT3 come close to Elise steering feel.

 

[Luminated67]

Haven’t been in the 992.2 Carrera for a while so the chance to drive it today with fine weather was nice as it also allowed me to refresh my memory as to how this and the Emira differ.

Again as I remembered the Carrera’s low speed ride quality is better than my Emira SE Turbo despite it being equipped with the Touring suspension, but as the speed builds so does the preference switch and its the Emira that glides over the bumps that unsettle the 911 and not only that but you feel them more in the Porsche, it’s subtle but the difference is there. Next is the steering and again low speed over poor surfaces the Emira steering continues to fight your grip where as the Porsche is way more settled yet despite each car sharing similar weight distributions the feel you get through the Lotus is remarkable compared to the Porsche, one feels like a well honed sports car whilst the other feels like a race car for the road by comparison, probably why I prefer driving Lotus when I don’t have anywhere in particular to go and just go out for a drive instead.

I love my Emira SE Turbo but compared to the Carrera it’s sound especially inside is just too ordinary, yes there’s lots of mechanical noises but the overall sound isn’t as thrilling as it should be in a sports car this exciting to drive, in a way I wished they could have enhanced the noise to sound a little more exotic through the speakers but maybe that’s not the Lotus way. From the outside it’s great, just wished the inside matched but hey that’s just me.

Lotus have came a very long way from previous models especially with their interiors and I hope this trend continues to the point that they match that of Porsche, IMO their Eletre has already done this so the Emira replacement should be a worthy rival to the 911 when it comes.

 

[spats]

Haven’t been in the 992.2 Carrera for a while so the chance to drive it today with fine weather was nice as it also allowed me to refresh my memory as to how this and the Emira differ.

Again as I remembered the Carrera’s low speed ride quality is better than my Emira SE Turbo despite it being equipped with the Touring suspension, but as the speed builds so does the preference switch and its the Emira that glides over the bumps that unsettle the 911 and not only that but you feel them more in the Porsche, it’s subtle but the difference is there. Next is the steering and again low speed over poor surfaces the Emira steering continues to fight your grip where as the Porsche is way more settled yet despite each car sharing similar weight distributions the feel you get through the Lotus is remarkable compared to the Porsche, one feels like a well honed sports car whilst the other feels like a race car for the road by comparison, probably why I prefer driving Lotus when I don’t have anywhere in particular to go and just go out for a drive instead.

I love my Emira SE Turbo but compared to the Carrera it’s sound especially inside is just too ordinary, yes there’s lots of mechanical noises but the overall sound isn’t as thrilling as it should be in a sports car this exciting to drive, in a way I wished they could have enhanced the noise to sound a little more exotic through the speakers but maybe that’s not the Lotus way. From the outside it’s great, just wished the inside matched but hey that’s just me.

Lotus have came a very long way from previous models especially with their interiors and I hope this trend continues to the point that they match that of Porsche, IMO their Eletre has already done this so the Emira replacement should be a worthy rival to the 911 when it comes.View attachment 79271
View attachment 79273

Agreed regarding noise, I fitted a mach5 downpipe and catback recently which improves things quite abit, adding some more aural drama which the standard car lacks.

 

[Luminated67]

This sort of thing is irrelevant to choosing which car to buy when it’s the driving experience etc that reflects your decision but the son and his wife grabbed our 911 and the wife and I took the Emira for a wee run around the country, on the two occasions we stopped for coffee and a walk about it was the Emira that attracted all the attention. On the coffee break we unwittingly pulled into a carpark where there was a local car meet and despite both cars parked beside each other it was the Emira everyone was taking photos of and coming to talk to me about. Dare I say the son was deflated because he prefers the 911.

I have never owned another car that attracts so much attention.