Throttle House names Lotus Emira 2023 Car of the Year!

 

[Lotustoronto]

Are the British press in general tougher on their own brands? Perhaps Lotus’ is just viewed under a different light in its home country. By far the worst/most critical reviews on the Emira have all been from the UK. Even Asian, Australian, EU and North American have been much more positive. I re-watched the CAR review vs the cayman and alpine and the older reviewer hands down took the Cayman GTS > Emira. Meanwhile - Everyday Driver, Throttle House, Jason Camisa, and Zack Klapman and others would decisively choose it over its rivals. Apart from Harry Metcalf and Schmee the other UK reviewers would not crown it above a cayman. This includes Henry Catchpoole, EVO, Chris Harris, CAR Mag and Autocar

 

[EZcheezy]

Are the British press in general tougher on their own brands? Perhaps Lotus’ is just viewed under a different light in its home country. By far the worst/most critical reviews on the Emira have all been from the UK. Even Asian, Australian, EU and North American have been much more positive. I re-watched the CAR review vs the cayman and alpine and the older reviewer hands down took the Cayman GTS > Emira. Meanwhile - Everyday Driver, Throttle House, Jason Camisa, and Zack Klapman and others would decisively choose it over its rivals. Apart from Harry Metcalf and Schmee the other UK reviewers would not crown it above a cayman. This includes Henry Catchpoole, EVO, Chris Harris, CAR Mag and Autocar

maybe has something to do with when they got their test vehicles and earlier modals not being as well sorted out.

i feel like they got their shit together by now, all reviews I see recently are all very positive

 

[Lotustoronto]

maybe has something to do with when they got their test vehicles and earlier modals not being as well sorted out.

i feel like they got their shit together by now, all reviews I see recently are all very positive

Well judging from the i4 I don’t know about that. The V6 manual surely is much more sorted. Two years in you would hope so at least.

 

[Nova]

Are the British press in general tougher on their own brands? Perhaps Lotus’ is just viewed under a different light in its home country. By far the worst/most critical reviews on the Emira have all been from the UK. Even Asian, Australian, EU and North American have been much more positive. I re-watched the CAR review vs the cayman and alpine and the older reviewer hands down took the Cayman GTS > Emira. Meanwhile - Everyday Driver, Throttle House, Jason Camisa, and Zack Klapman and others would decisively choose it over its rivals. Apart from Harry Metcalf and Schmee the other UK reviewers would not crown it above a cayman. This includes Henry Catchpoole, EVO, Chris Harris, CAR Mag and Autocar

It's possible, but I am not really looking for it to win above the Cayman. My issue with the EVO review is that they took a street-configured car and did a track test under questionable circumstances and just dumped on it. It's bad faith, IMO.

 

[silent cilantro]

And compared it against a gt4

 

[PsymonR]

Are the British press in general tougher on their own brands? Perhaps Lotus’ is just viewed under a different light in its home country. By far the worst/most critical reviews on the Emira have all been from the UK. Even Asian, Australian, EU and North American have been much more positive. I re-watched the CAR review vs the cayman and alpine and the older reviewer hands down took the Cayman GTS > Emira. Meanwhile - Everyday Driver, Throttle House, Jason Camisa, and Zack Klapman and others would decisively choose it over its rivals. Apart from Harry Metcalf and Schmee the other UK reviewers would not crown it above a cayman. This includes Henry Catchpoole, EVO, Chris Harris, CAR Mag and Autocar

I think part of the issue may have been around price point, with the FE being fully loaded it was a much more expensive prospect than if they'd launched with the base model. I imagine if the initial reviews had been comparing a £60k Emira to a similarly priced Cayman then it could have been a different matter.

It's possible, but I am not really looking for it to win above the Cayman. My issue with the EVO review is that they took a street-configured car and did a track test under questionable circumstances and just dumped on it. It's bad faith, IMO.

It's why I don't pay attention to the outright conclusion on a review, I look at the review as a whole and see how it compares to what I'm looking for. Problem is a lot of people do just take the headline statement without paying attention to the nuances behind it. A lot of the concerns Jethro raised in the track test for Evo I just thought, well that doesn't apply to what I'm looking for from the car. Whereas others like Harry were much closer to what I'm looking for from the car.

 

[seriously]

I like how they call out lotus service and salute those who decide to take the perilous journey of emira ownership. It’s a calculated risk!

 

[Nova]

I like how they call out lotus service and salute those who decide to take the perilous journey of emira ownership. It’s a calculated risk!

Yea, it's like adopting a pet from the shelters. You have to have a lot of patience and love and be absolutely sure that's what you want.

 

[hagen111]

V6 Emira is by far the best car vs cost I have bought over a long time! It is brilliant. (My GT3 is up for sale: https://www.premiumclassics.nl/news/1767/49/Porsche-911-991-2-GT3-Clubsport-7-000KM-CarPlay-BOSE )

UK is more used to Lotus products vs rest of the world. As as I sold my Exige V6 and waited for Emira...I found Emira initially disappointing as I was expecting a much better car than the Exige V6, which I absolutely loved!)
I think those more familiar to Lotus expected something much better...however it still ended up really really good!

 

[Green]

V6 Emira is by far the best car vs cost I have bought over a long time! It is brilliant. (My GT3 is up for sale: https://www.premiumclassics.nl/news/1767/49/Porsche-911-991-2-GT3-Clubsport-7-000KM-CarPlay-BOSE )

UK is more used to Lotus products vs rest of the world. As as I sold my Exige V6 and waited for Emira...I found Emira initially disappointing as I was expecting a much better car than the Exige V6, which I absolutely loved!)
I think those more familiar to Lotus expected something much better...however it still ended up really really good!

Are you selling GT3 because you like the Emira better or because it is a better value to drive cheaper Emira? I just bought a GT3 and find it amazing. The no clutch lift shifting is a blast. I still have Emira FE
coming but was thinking I would sell it and keep gt3. Sounds like you are going the other way

 

[hagen111]

Are you selling GT3 because you like the Emira better or because it is a better value to drive cheaper Emira? I just bought a GT3 and find it amazing. The no clutch lift shifting is a blast. I still have Emira FE
coming but was thinking I would sell it and keep gt3. Sounds like you are going the other way

Yes I prefer Emira. Many many 911 Porsches in the world, including GT3. It's a mind-blowing car, but also very expensive and just not my go-to-car when I have to pick a key to drive one of my cars. I just don't drive it. Emira so more beautiful, very nice to drive, love taking it out and driving it. When it needs to go really wild, I drive my Donkervoort GTO...that is so much more spectacular vs the GT3. So it remains untouched in the garage, which is weird as it is one of the best driver cars that money can buy.

 

[eriegz]

Yes I prefer Emira. Many many 911 Porsches in the world, including GT3. It's a mind-blowing car, but also very expensive and just not my go-to-car when I have to pick a key to drive one of my cars. I just don't drive it. Emira so more beautiful, very nice to drive, love taking it out and driving it. When it needs to go really wild, I drive my Donkervoort GTO...that is so much more spectacular vs the GT3. So it remains untouched in the garage, which is weird as it is one of the best driver cars that money can buy.

Interesting to hear this, as the GT3 is one of the few cars I plan to fall back on if the Emira doesn't work out. But it's always been in a tricky position relative to the Emira, given that it costs nearly $100k CAD more and (IMO) doesn't look as special as the Emira (even though I love every generation of GT3).

 

[Green]

Interesting to hear this, as the GT3 is one of the few cars I plan to fall back on if the Emira doesn't work out. But it's always been in a tricky position relative to the Emira, given that it costs nearly $100k CAD more and (IMO) doesn't look as special as the Emira (even though I love every generation of GT3).

Well to me the GT3 is unbelievable to drive. The first few times a drove the car I was laughing out loud it is so ridiculously fun to drive. I will give feedback comparison after I get the Emira. My current thinking is the Emira although looks better it will bore me to drive after driving the gt3. I mean from 9k to 68k RPM is going to be hard to adjust to. I bumped the rev limiter twice during the Emira test drive. I will sell one of them. I will honestly be surprised if it’s the GT3. We will see.

 

[hagen111]

99,99% of the time, I drive my cars not hitting the Rev limiter. So in my world all the fuss about rev limiters at 8k-9k rpm is a very subjective key value in a 'drivers car'. I like to take a car out because I need to go somewhere (business meeing, pick up some stuff, go and meet someone), take the misses to a restaurant, go for a fun drive on a Sunday morning. Hardly ever am I racing when not on the race track!

Emira has much better (supercar) looks, is far better to puddle through traffic on a busy day, is more special and rare, like its cabin better, is far more enjoyable on a mountain road in its midrange, its very balanced and fast without having the feel you have to push the car hard.

Agree on the GT3 smiles when you drive it hard to 9000 rpm, its hard to beat!....and for those who say it never gets boring...it does after a few times (at least for me) ;-)

 

[Green]

99,99% of the time, I drive my cars not hitting the Rev limiter. So in my world all the fuss about rev limiters at 8k-9k rpm is a very subjective key value in a 'drivers car'. I like to take a car out because I need to go somewhere (business meeing, pick up some stuff, go and meet someone), take the misses to a restaurant, go for a fun drive on a Sunday morning. Hardly ever am I racing when not on the race track!

Emira has much better (supercar) looks, is far better to puddle through traffic on a busy day, is more special and rare, like its cabin better, is far more enjoyable on a mountain road in its midrange, its very balanced and fast without having the feel you have to push the car hard.

Agree on the GT3 smiles when you drive it hard to 9000 rpm, its hard to beat!....and for those who say it never gets boring...it does after a few times (at least for me) ;-)

Oh that makes sense then. I use the car completely opposite of you. When I take out my sports car it is to flog the living daylights out if it. I never take it out shopping or for dinner. I find and explore remote roads without traffic and get as close to the redline as much as possible. When possible I do track days. I agree everything gets boring after awhile. I guess that is why they made RS model 😁