V8 Emira being considered to replace V6

Lotus could replace the Emira's supercharged V6 with a booming V8 | Autocar

V8 power is being considered as its supercharged V6 won't pass Euro 7 emissions tests

www.autocar.co.uk

 

[geoffbland]

For reference I googled this - the AMG they talk about in this article is the AMG engine in the Vantage.
AMG M177 - in the Vantage gives V8 3.9L Twin-turbo, 650bhp, 590lb/ft. Revs to 7,200. Weights 209kg
There is a newer later version the M178 that can go up to 789bhp.
Both are fitted longitudinally and are fairly large engines and I can't see anywhere they have been fitted transverse - they would be nice (and slightly insane) but I'm not sure how you could fit this in the Emira?

 

[RoryBellows]

if they end up doing this it will end up being more of an esprit successor.

 

[Lotustoronto]

The Noble M500 did a Ford GT engine with a manual. No rear boot space however. I think the new high performance Emira with a V8 will probably have less storage space available to accommodate the longitudinally designed engine. Either that or the re-freshed Emira gets slightly larger. Either way, I think we will see a GT3 competitor in 2027.

 

[JClem]

I now have a Vantage with the M177 which replaced my Emira. The engine is fantastic, loads of character and sounds great.

Aston managed to get 50/50 weight distribution by putting the V8 up front and the ZF gearbox in the rear. My worry with putting this in the Emira is that it will make it very rear heavy on an already rear biased car as well as gobbling up all the rear storage.

It’s a big lump!

Side note, the Vantage is 3.5 years old now and has never had any issues.

 

[K_Squared]

While I'd love to have a big ole' V8 in the Emira, if there is no frunk OR trunk, it makes it borderline impossible for any real road trips with another person. I'd rather keep it the way it is if the JB4 lives up to the hype. With the added ~100whp it should be much closer to the GT3 in terms of power. Also, I personally think the V6 sounds better than most AMG V8s I've heard in person, but that's just my preference. I love the tone of the V6 + Supercharger.

 

[MiamiBlue]

While I'd love to have a big ole' V8 in the Emira, if there is no frunk OR trunk, it makes it borderline impossible for any real road trips with another person. I'd rather keep it the way it is if the JB4 lives up to the hype. With the added ~100whp it should be much closer to the GT3 in terms of power. Also, I personally think the V6 sounds better than most AMG V8s I've heard in person, but that's just my preference. I love the tone of the V6 + Supercharger.

I love the top end 'howl' of the V6 in the Emira. Prefer it to the bassy V8 sound, and it's infinitely better than a mono-tone 4cyl drone.

 

[seriously]

hmm... v8 (turbo?) with no trunk sounds like a great halo car and kind of fits with lotus' history of continually upgrading the same model.

 

[yk793]

That chassis and being a rwd car, that power output would be too much. Fitting that engine to Emira is another challenge also. I sont see it happening.

 

[dgedition]

I doubt a V8 will happen. For some reason Lotus has been caught off guard that US consumers don’t want a 4 cylinder DCT as the sole power plant. The 4 cylinder Caymans have always been a hard sell.

It probably wouldn’t fit but a B58 would be killer in the Emira.

The Mercedes euro 7 compliant V8 hasn’t even been revealed and it’s 99% going to be a mild hybrid which is more junk to stuff into a fairly small platform.

My guess is Lotus hoped that even with the 4 cylinder they’d catch the consumer that just wants a flashy car without the supercar price tag.

 

[geoffbland]

The Mercedes euro 7 compliant V8 hasn’t even been revealed and it’s 99% going to be a mild hybrid which is more junk to stuff into a fairly small platform.

There are reports that the AMG M177 is being made to be Euro-7 compliant.

 

[dgedition]

There are reports that the AMG M177 is being made to be Euro-7 compliant.

We’ll see what that transformation looks like when it’s revealed.

The other problem with even mentioning the possibility of a V8 is you’re slaughtering potential i4 sales. Who wants to be caught holding an i4 if/when a V8 gets announced?!

I think everyone interested in the Emira should give the i4 a spin though. It’s really a blast.

 

[cyanmauve]

A V8 would be awesome to drive, but I think impossible to sell in the required numbers. The price of the car would be pushed into a weird no-man’s land.

 

[seriously]

We’ll see what that transformation looks like when it’s revealed.

The other problem with even mentioning the possibility of a V8 is you’re slaughtering potential i4 sales. Who wants to be caught holding an i4 if/when a V8 gets announced?!

I think everyone interested in the Emira should give the i4 a spin though. It’s really a blast.

as long as the v8 cost is astronomical the i4 still makes a lot of sense. It’s the value exotic at that point.

 

[sixtyy]

I doubt a V8 will happen. For some reason Lotus has been caught off guard that US consumers don’t want a 4 cylinder DCT as the sole power plant. The 4 cylinder Caymans have always been a hard sell.

It probably wouldn’t fit but a B58 would be killer in the Emira.

The Mercedes euro 7 compliant V8 hasn’t even been revealed and it’s 99% going to be a mild hybrid which is more junk to stuff into a fairly small platform.

My guess is Lotus hoped that even with the 4 cylinder they’d catch the consumer that just wants a flashy car without the supercar price tag.

B58 Supra was tested to have similar speed as V6 3.5L. I am not sure a change to B58 would be better unless for a tune.

 

[OppositeLock]

If Lotus makes any major structural changes, like lengthening the car or messing with the rear to fit a bigger engine, they'll have to go through another round of crash testing, and any new engine will need emissions testing. Euro-7 is very tough, engines have to run at lambda=1 all the time. This is really difficult. Porsche is solving it with electrically assisted turbos, others are using mild hybrids, but a straight gasoline engine probably won't be able to meet it. In California, they're cracking down on particulate emissions, which are produced by modern direct injected engines, and any new car might need a particulate filter like a diesel.

I would LOVE to see a V8 in an Emira in some way. I gave up on the light weight when I sold my Elise to buy the Emira, so if I'm driving a heavy pig, I want a V8 pig. I doubt it'll happen, though.