Emira vs Blackwing

[NJemira85]

I've had 2 5v BlackWings, sold my last one for an Audi R8 V10+. The Audi was badass looking and so much faster feeling than the Blackwing. Not very comfortable and cushy for a 6'4" guy though.

Just traded the Audi for a 24 V6 Emira manual and it's so different. Stock Emira was a letdown when I test drove it back a few years ago, so I cancelled my order. This Emira is modified a bit with more power, better looks, and importantly, Tillet bucket seats. I fit much better, the power is much improved, and it's gorgeous

I miss the Blackwing for the torque, amazing shifter, and comfort for cruising. I miss the Audi for V10 sounds and insane power. I love the Lotus for uniqueness, beauty, direct-feel, and fun. Think if I can convince my wife to trade her model Y for a Rivian R2 next year we will be good. That will be a more comfortable cruising car for road trips and I can have my impractical sports car for fun little drives.

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It’s important to note that Nic is straight fire at ai art.

Coincidentally, i also cross shopped 5bw manual (with precision pack) vs emira. I wanted both and will have both but my wife somehow finagled a corvette.

The manual in the blackwing is orders of magnitude better, and of course it makes 680hp and pulls 1.13 on a skidpad. It’s basically god in sedan form.

But the emira has 3 fundamental advantages which cannot be modded into a 5bw:

1) weight
2) hydraulic steering
3) sex

I can add tons of power (once warranty expires) Nitron coilovers, monoballs, tranny mounts, short shifter and @kitkat eggplug supershifty, etc etc to fix emira problems.

I too had a 4bw and it’s glorious little sport sedan

 

[Gprodigy]

Completely different cars, they would be better in tandem with the Emira as a weekend car. I agree with everyone else, the Emira gets significantly more aggressive once broken in.

 

[me73]

When my 2015 Porsche Macan S aged out in 2022, I was very interested in getting back in a manual trans car and was smitten with the Emira.

What do you mean by "aged out"?

 

[JimV]

What do you mean by "aged out"?

I loved my 8 years with the Macan S. It was basically the due anything car and still always fun to drive. As happy and capable around town as on a long freeway trip. Even though it was an SUV, much of the Porsche DNA is still there: solid, quality, reliable, incredible to drive. But when I had to decide to stick with the practicality of an SUV vs getting back in a manual closer to the ground, the Porsche needed about $10k-$13k of work: brakes, tires, major maintenance, broken trunk switch, loose roof liner. It was hard justifying putting that much money in it, even though I only had about 25k miles. Now, if I had waited to get the GTS instead of the S -- maybe different ending.

 

[me73]

I loved my 8 years with the Macan S. It was basically the due anything car and still always fun to drive. As happy and capable around town as on a long freeway trip. Even though it was an SUV, much of the Porsche DNA is still there: solid, quality, reliable, incredible to drive. But when I had to decide to stick with the practicality of an SUV vs getting back in a manual closer to the ground, the Porsche needed about $10k-$13k of work: brakes, tires, major maintenance, broken trunk switch, loose roof liner. It was hard justifying putting that much money in it, even though I only had about 25k miles. Now, if I had waited to get the GTS instead of the S -- maybe different ending.

At only 25k miles it needed $13k of work? Ouch. This is and the clinical nature of their driving experience are reasons that I shy away from German cars for general use. They're significantly more expensive to maintain than cars from any other country, save maybe the Italians. A car that "aged out" at 25k miles sounds like one that I wouldn't go for again.

 

[JimV]

At only 25k miles it needed $13k of work? Ouch. This is and the clinical nature of their driving experience are reasons that I shy away from German cars for general use. They're significantly more expensive to maintain than cars from any other country, save maybe the Italians. A car that "aged out" at 25k miles sounds like one that I wouldn't go for again.

Well to be fair to the Macan, it was very trouble free and reliable for all 8 years -- even though it was a first year model. But I'm a one car guy and 8 years with one car is a record for me -- and as much as Porsche made an SUV fun to drive, I still wanted to get back in a manual and closer to the ground -- even Porsche can't change the laws of physics when it comes to height/center of gravity.

Your point is valid though: Macan oil change was always minimum of $1,000; Cadillac oil change is about $125. And to fix the trunk switch on the driver's door was just under $800. Ouch indeed.

 

[1031ent]

Keep the Black wing.

Wait a few years journalists seem to have a grudge against the Emira, a very vocal few owners had problematic issues they have posted about frequently, and Lotus seems to be having issues with finance and parts. My guess is this will add to depreciation over the next few years. There is a large sunset of people who seldom drive there Emira. You should be able to find an Emira with low miles fairly cheap in 3-4 years.

Eventually the Emira will age and the same journalist will write pieces about how great the Emira was after it is out of production. People like to pile on to trends.