North America, let’s give the Emira some love!

[nickorette]

Love mine!

-Engaging
-Loads of Feedback
-Fun at low speeds
-Looks
-Design
-Sound
-6 Speed
-Exotic
-Compact
-Confidence inspiring

I feel like there's so much negativity on these forums, or even the feeling like the Emira is somehow inferior to other choices. With a stable full of other supercars, GT's etc, this gives me just as much joy as anything else, and has a permanent place in the stable for me.

 

[@Life411]

I've been looking for the best place to share this and I think this thread is it! One of the questions I asked in the USA/CAD Customer Delivery Tracker (see my signature below) was "First impression of your Emira" and here's what I've captured so far (please take a minute to complete if you haven't already). Enjoy!

First impression of your Emira

1. Perfect end-of-an-era daily sportscar.
2. It is worth the wait!
3. "It looks stunning in pictures, and looks gorgeous in real life. I hit a few snags after the delivery - A/C issues and EVAP system throwing a CEL - hope these get addressed soon.
4. Looking forward to taking it to the local cars and coffee events and taking it to the tweeties in the north east. It might see some track time too."
5. In love! Can't wait to hit 1000 miles to start ripping her. A/C issue and fused brake issue, other than that smooth sailing (so far)
6. Can't really comment since it's been 15 years since I last drove a stick, still getting back in sync.
7. An absolutely sublime driver's car that doesn't sacrifice comfort to get chassis performance. Outstanding to drive.
8. giving stunning looks and exhilarating engagement. Roads have never been so enjoyable.
9. Love
10. Great looking, easy to drive and sounds great.
11. Beautiful. Suprizingly comfortable ride
12. Awesome
13. Awesome looking, excellent driving experience
14. Stunning
15. Amazing
16. Amazing
17. love
18. Fabulous
19. Everything I wanted it to be
20. Love the car
21. Awesome handling, very fun at low speed
22. Beautiful and absolutely loved my 1st drive home
23. Awesome
24. Too early to tell!
25. Pros: stunning, exciting to drive, responsive. A lot more refined and "tight" than the preproduction car I drove a year or so ago. Cons: could use more power, would like more supportive sport seats, some build quality issues with interior creaks or tiny rattles.
26. Disbelief that it’s finally here!
27. 🥰
28. Spectacular, worth the wait
29. Amazing! But sound system stinks
30. Gets tons of attention and drives very well.
31. Amazed
32. First CEL at 69 miles but I absolutely love it!
33. Awesome
34. Everything I hoped and expected it to be. Love it.
35. Very pleased
36. Love it.
37. Gorgeous
38. So far it been great!
39. Great value for the money. Best looking car < $250k.
40. 10/10. Absolutely love everything about it.
41. Mindblowing design inside and outside. Decent build quality. Several problems I will need to fix to truly enjoy the cars.
42. Much love
43. Absolutely LOVE it
44. Love it
45. Amazing!
46. Very impressed. Very well built car. Great styling and engine sound. Handles like a go-kart.
47. Great fun
48. No fun when the transmission cooling lines blow!!
49. Over the moon happy
50. Incredible and well worth the wait. Special car.
51. Great interior, great inputs, poor trunk space
52. Love
53. Love it, not as sharp as Elise, but more livable.
54. Love it, it is a Lotus!
55. Emotionally stunningly beautiful, steering stunning, incredible front end. My perfect spec
56. Awesome
57. Wonderful vehicle
58. Love it
59. Better looking in person.
60. Build quality much better than expected. Driving experience wonderful.
61. Love it!!!
62. Absolutely perfect (except the broken AC)
63. Spectacular
64. Better than expected
65. positive
66. Fabulous!
67. Feels great, not as raw as an Elige, but still has enough of the "rawness" that makes it feel like a sports car.

 

[Maurice R]

I've been looking for the best place to share this and I think this thread is it! One of the questions I asked in the USA/CAD Customer Delivery Tracker (see my signature below) was "First impression of your Emira" and here's what I've captured so far (please take a minute to complete if you haven't already). Enjoy!

First impression of your Emira

1. Perfect end-of-an-era daily sportscar.
2. It is worth the wait!
3. "It looks stunning in pictures, and looks gorgeous in real life. I hit a few snags after the delivery - A/C issues and EVAP system throwing a CEL - hope these get addressed soon.
4. Looking forward to taking it to the local cars and coffee events and taking it to the tweeties in the north east. It might see some track time too."
5. In love! Can't wait to hit 1000 miles to start ripping her. A/C issue and fused brake issue, other than that smooth sailing (so far)
6. Can't really comment since it's been 15 years since I last drove a stick, still getting back in sync.
7. An absolutely sublime driver's car that doesn't sacrifice comfort to get chassis performance. Outstanding to drive.
8. giving stunning looks and exhilarating engagement. Roads have never been so enjoyable.
9. Love
10. Great looking, easy to drive and sounds great.
11. Beautiful. Suprizingly comfortable ride
12. Awesome
13. Awesome looking, excellent driving experience
14. Stunning
15. Amazing
16. Amazing
17. love
18. Fabulous
19. Everything I wanted it to be
20. Love the car
21. Awesome handling, very fun at low speed
22. Beautiful and absolutely loved my 1st drive home
23. Awesome
24. Too early to tell!
25. Pros: stunning, exciting to drive, responsive. A lot more refined and "tight" than the preproduction car I drove a year or so ago. Cons: could use more power, would like more supportive sport seats, some build quality issues with interior creaks or tiny rattles.
26. Disbelief that it’s finally here!
27. 🥰
28. Spectacular, worth the wait
29. Amazing! But sound system stinks
30. Gets tons of attention and drives very well.
31. Amazed
32. First CEL at 69 miles but I absolutely love it!
33. Awesome
34. Everything I hoped and expected it to be. Love it.
35. Very pleased
36. Love it.
37. Gorgeous
38. So far it been great!
39. Great value for the money. Best looking car < $250k.
40. 10/10. Absolutely love everything about it.
41. Mindblowing design inside and outside. Decent build quality. Several problems I will need to fix to truly enjoy the cars.
42. Much love
43. Absolutely LOVE it
44. Love it
45. Amazing!
46. Very impressed. Very well built car. Great styling and engine sound. Handles like a go-kart.
47. Great fun
48. No fun when the transmission cooling lines blow!!
49. Over the moon happy
50. Incredible and well worth the wait. Special car.
51. Great interior, great inputs, poor trunk space
52. Love
53. Love it, not as sharp as Elise, but more livable.
54. Love it, it is a Lotus!
55. Emotionally stunningly beautiful, steering stunning, incredible front end. My perfect spec
56. Awesome
57. Wonderful vehicle
58. Love it
59. Better looking in person.
60. Build quality much better than expected. Driving experience wonderful.
61. Love it!!!
62. Absolutely perfect (except the broken AC)
63. Spectacular
64. Better than expected
65. positive
66. Fabulous!
67. Feels great, not as raw as an Elige, but still has enough of the "rawness" that makes it feel like a sports car.

68. Great fun at any speed. Especially at high speeds.
69. Once run in sound is fantastic at 5500 to 6500rpm

 

[Blackthought_]

So I’ve owned the Emira for about a month now. Drove it home over 12 hours and it performed perfectly. In the next 2 weeks, I started to get minor annoyances like the trunk warning light, the SOS light, and the check engine light light due to faulty o2 sensors (per the dealer). All will be fixed soon and the car is still drivable.

The car now sits at 1300 miles so it’s past its break in period and I decided to take the Emira to Vermont from NJ, about a 6 hour ride. On these rural Vermont roads, all I can say is WOW. Before this, I didn’t really push it but on this trip, I really decided to push the car and it was truly amazing. The sport suspension was perfectly firm for mountain carving yet soft enough to hit a few potholes along the way.

The way the steering feels - simply amazing. Every ripple in the road you feel through the steering wheel. The car is nimble on its feet and cuts through the roads like a surgeons knife.
As you approach red line it screams and wails; as you shift gears, it is reminiscent of an action bolt rifle. When you lift off the throttle the exhaust gives you a few burbles that sound intoxicating.

I used to think my Evora GT was top dog but man is this thing giving it a run for its money. Loving it!

 

[Maurice R]

So I’ve owned the Emira for about a month now. Drove it home over 12 hours and it performed perfectly. In the next 2 weeks, I started to get minor annoyances like the trunk warning light, the SOS light, and the check engine light light due to faulty o2 sensors (per the dealer). All will be fixed soon and the car is still drivable.

The car now sits at 1300 miles so it’s past its break in period and I decided to take the Emira to Vermont from NJ, about a 6 hour ride. On these rural Vermont roads, all I can say is WOW. Before this, I didn’t really push it but on this trip, I really decided to push the car and it was truly amazing. The sport suspension was perfectly firm for mountain carving yet soft enough to hit a few potholes along the way.

The way the steering feels - simply amazing. Every ripple in the road you feel through the steering wheel. The car is nimble on its feet and cuts through the roads like a surgeons knife.
As you approach red line it screams and wails; as you shift gears, it is reminiscent of an action bolt rifle. When you lift off the throttle the exhaust gives you a few burbles that sound intoxicating.

I used to think my Evora GT was top dog but man is this thing giving it a run for its money. Loving it!

Cannot agree with you more on what you posted. WOW Just did an 850 mile to Arkansas. Left Dallas Friday morning arrive home Saturday 6.30 pm
Will post my experience tomorrow.
Agree absolutely with your last paragraph.

 

[Genosite]

I’ve been fortunate enough to have had probably 40 cars and my interest is in beautiful driver’s cars. The range goes from 1950’s Triumphs and MGs, Miatas, BMWs, Ferraris, McLarens, Alfas and Porsches. My love affair with Lotus began with an Elise and has progressed to the Emira. This is hands down one of, if not the best, cars I’ve ever owned. It’s daily driven which is impossible for many of my cars and yet is as exotic as the best of them. The stereo is very good, the air conditioning actually works well, the sat/nav/carplay is generally very reliable, the handling is 10/10, the manual is 10/10 (more Ferrari gated feel than the Japanese snick snick of a Miata or S2000) the sounds are the perfect blend of not annoying on a road trip and open up in sport modes for a satisfying bark, stunning interior, good long distance comfort, surprisingly good visibility and the exterior is perfect from every angle. I’ve driven or owned everything that the magazines compare it to and honestly I don’t get many of the reviews or the general complaints. The car has been very reliable, with only one easily fixed issue with the steering wheel lock. I just think this car needs a positive rant because it is the waning swan song of a tremendous type of car and it’s bold because of that. More amazing is that it actually delivers on the promise! If possible, it has truly been worth the three year wait. Kudos to Lotus

 

[Emira8206]

Love my yellow. Only 120 break in miles along way to go until 1k

 

[Davebeats]

Got our first random jogger thumbs up

 

[KCDarkV]

Just hit 3000 miles. Goal is to be the first US Emira to 100k.

 

[robrmon]

I’ve got a lot of attention in my car today. I had it parked near where I live, and loads of people were stopping by and admiring it, taking photos… talking to their friends and family members about how beautiful it was.

There was this old guy seemed to be there a while. So I went outside from the store I was in to see if he had any questions… at which point I realized I was getting a parking ticket!! 🤣

 

[zoomdaddy]

My car just completed 2500 miles. Drove from Dallas to Durango, with my wife following in her Porsche. It handled magnificently.
Xpel XR plus was installed on side windows and winshield before the trip. Seems to make a diff in the cabin driving through the bright, high elevation desert. The air conditioning is more than adequate with or without tint. Interior space is ample and super comfortable. Fantastic driving experience that only gets better with time.

 

[kertong]

Ok, going to take a little time to rant here!

I took delivery of my FE1.0 on 4/26. I believe I was one of the first to do so in Northern California. I almost always buy my cars used/preowned too (I've had many), so buying a new car really is a special experience - it only had 3 miles on the odo when I got in to drive her home, and I really enjoyed the fact that nobody else had owned and abused the car before I. I could take care of her the way she deserves....

Anyways - never, ever, buy a condo if you can help it! I know it's a great way to get a "starter home", build equity, and use it to help move into a proper single family home, but if I had to do it again, I'd just have jumped straight to a single family home. Easier said than done here in the Bay Area of California, but still, this HOA has been more headache and pain than it is worth.

What does this have to do with the Emira?

Well, one week into ownership, while only at ~400 miles or so, hardly broken in; we get a notice that garage work will begin. You see, last year, we were charged a "special assessment" of $12k or something insane on top of the insane HOA monthly fees, because back in the 90s, the idiots who built these condos cheaped out on the metals used for the garage fire sprinkler systems, and this type of metal was "susceptible to microbial corrosion", which they found evidence of in a few of the buildings. So out of the 6 buildings they've been fixing it one at a time, and now it's our building's turn.

It'll take 6-8 weeks for them to tear down the drywalls, install the new system in parallel, get it approved and permitted by the city's fire marshall, tear down the old system, and then patch up all the drywall. During that time, they expect us to park in the outside guest parking spots - spots designed in the 90s for smaller cars, and only beaters/daily commuters park there and it is pretty much door ding derby.

We had to clean out our garages and remove all the shelving we installed, so while I was doing that, i moved my wife's boxster gts 4.0 to one of the rightmost corner spots with an empty spot to the left. 15 minutes later I come back and see this:

Yeah, no. I'm not subjecting the Emira (nor the Boxster) to this 7 days a week for 2 months.

Thankfully - a friend of mine who lives a couple hours south farther away from this mess, has a large enough garage with a spare spot in it. He graciously offered to a store the Emira there for a couple months; and of course, in return I have given him driving privileges - he's a good enough responsible friend that I have complete trust in him. But still hurts to give up this brand new car after a couple weeks to have somebody enjoy, haha. Fuck this HOA. To add insult to injury, when I was driving the Emira down to my friend's I got my first huge smile and thumbs up from a fellow enthusiast in a new BMW Z4 convertible, right before giving up my Emira for the next couple months. Oh well.

Here she is tucking away in her temporary new home, next to a sweet suzuki bike in an excellent color:

Anyways, on the upside; before I got the Emira, I was refreshing the USA/Canada Delivery thread and test drive thread multiple times per day watching the replies roll in, counting the days down until I took delivery of mine.

I feel like that again now, and can't wait to "take delivery" of my Emira again, haha! I have a dashcam and some nice GRP machined carpet buttons waiting for its return.

For those of you who have your Emiras, enjoy!! Sorry for the novel, I've been holding this in and it's been about 3 weeks without the Emira now and I hate every day of it.

One more photo of the Emira before I stored her away:

 

[scc.131.fe]

View attachment 44215

If it's any consolation, I believe you've posted my favorite Seneca Blue pic on that last photo!

 

[kertong]

If it's any consolation, I believe you've posted my favorite Seneca Blue pic on that last photo!

thank you! i have many more!

in spirit of this thread please allow me to add a few more of my favorites:

and, delivery day, sitting in my emira for the first time ever:

 

[Cobra 427]

Je cherchais le meilleur endroit pour partager cela et je pense que ce fil est celui-là ! L'une des questions que j'ai posées dans le Customer Delivery Tracker USA/CAD (voir ma signature ci-dessous) était « Première impression de votre Emira » et voici ce que j'ai capturé jusqu'à présent (veuillez prendre une minute pour terminer si vous ne l'avez pas déjà fait). ). Apprécier!

Première impression de votre Emira

1. Voiture de sport quotidienne parfaite de fin d’époque.
2. Cela vaut la peine d'attendre !
3. "Il est époustouflant sur les photos et magnifique dans la vraie vie. J'ai rencontré quelques problèmes après la livraison - des problèmes de climatisation et le système EVAP lançant un CEL - j'espère que ceux-ci seront bientôt résolus.
4. J'ai hâte de l'emmener aux événements locaux de voitures et de café et de l'emmener aux tweeties du nord-est. Cela pourrait aussi entraîner du temps de piste."
5. Amoureux! J'ai hâte de parcourir 1000 miles pour commencer à la déchirer. Problème de climatisation et problème de frein fusionné, à part cette navigation fluide (jusqu'à présent)
6. Je ne peux pas vraiment commenter puisque cela fait 15 ans que je n'ai pas conduit un bâton, toujours en train de me synchroniser.
7. Une voiture de pilote absolument sublime qui ne sacrifie pas le confort pour obtenir les performances du châssis. Exceptionnel à conduire.
8. donnant des looks époustouflants et un engagement exaltant. Les routes n'ont jamais été aussi agréables.
9. Amour
10. Superbe, facile à conduire et sonne bien.
11. Beau. Conduite étonnamment confortable
12. Génial
13. Superbe look, excellente expérience de conduite
14. Superbe
15. Incroyable
16. Incroyable
17. amour
18. Fabuleux
19. Tout ce que je voulais que ce soit
20. J'adore la voiture
21. Super maniabilité, très amusant à basse vitesse
22. Magnifique et j'ai vraiment adoré mon premier retour à la maison
23. Génial
24. Trop tôt pour le dire !
25. Avantages : époustouflant, excitant à conduire, réactif. Beaucoup plus raffinée et « serrée » que la voiture de présérie que j'ai conduite il y a environ un an. Inconvénients : pourrait utiliser plus de puissance, aimerait des sièges sport avec plus de soutien, certains problèmes de qualité de construction avec des craquements intérieurs ou de minuscules hochets.
26. Incroyable qu'il soit enfin là !
27. 🥰
28. Spectaculaire, ça vaut le coup d'attendre
29. Incroyable! Mais la sono pue
30. attire beaucoup d’attention et conduit très bien.
31. Étonné
32. Premier CEL à 69 miles mais j'adore ça !
33. Génial
34. Tout ce que j’espérais et attendais. Aimer.
35. Très heureux
36. Aimer.
37. Magnifique
38. Jusqu'à présent, ça a été génial !
39. Très bon rapport qualité/prix. La plus belle voiture < 250 000 $.
40. 10/10. J'adore tout à ce sujet.
41. Un design époustouflant à l’intérieur comme à l’extérieur. Qualité de construction décente. Plusieurs problèmes que je devrai résoudre pour vraiment profiter des voitures.
42. Beaucoup d'amour
43. J'ADORE absolument
44. Aimer
45. Incroyable!
46. Très impressionné. Voiture très bien construite. Excellent style et son du moteur. Se manipule comme un kart.
47. Très amusant
48. Ce n'est pas amusant quand les conduites de refroidissement de la transmission explosent !!
49. Au-dessus de la lune, heureux
50. Incroyable et ça vaut vraiment le coup d'attendre. Voiture spéciale.
51. Super intérieur, bonnes entrées, peu d'espace dans le coffre
52. Amour
53. J'adore, pas aussi pointu qu'Elise, mais plus vivable.
54. J'adore, c'est une Lotus !
55. Émotionnellement incroyablement belle, direction époustouflante et partie avant incroyable. Ma spécification parfaite
56. Génial
57. Magnifique véhicule
58. Aimer
59. Mieux paraître en personne.
60. Qualité de construction bien meilleure que prévu. Expérience de conduite merveilleuse.
61. Aimer!!!
62. Absolument parfait (sauf la clim cassée)
63. Spectaculaire
64. Mieux que prévu
65. positif
66. Fabuleux!
67. Elle se sent bien, pas aussi brute qu'une Elige, mais a quand même assez de « brutesse » qui lui donne l'impression d'être une voiture de sport.

Very nice car

 

[jubbalandcars]

Itching to get mine past break-in. After delivery, I have been traveling a bit, and then the car was in the shop getting PPF/tint/ceramic, and now I'm finally able to drive it. Only at 400 miles but at least it's still a pleasure to drive even slowly around town, unlike some other cars which require being pushed to 7/10ths or above to be enjoyable. I still go to the garage and think "oh shit that's mine!?" Love the car