This New Lotus Emira Is Both the Calm and the Storm

When Lotus chassis guru Gavan Kershaw is asked how the Emira 420 Sport feels to drive, “calm” seems a curious choice of adjective. After all, he’s talking about the ultimate Emira: faster, more powerful, lower, and lighter. Surely it should feel fervent and intense—an assault on the senses. Right? If I wanted “calm”, I could buy a Toyota Camry. 

Only later, after experiencing the 420 Sport on the road and track, do I understand what Kershaw was expressing. This is a vehicle that takes time to appreciate, with a very “Lotus” way of going about its business. It won’t appeal to everyone, but in a sports-car market that feels increasingly barren—both the Porsche 718 Cayman and Toyota GR Supra have now ceased production—the Emira continues to fight in its corner. 

The Lotus Sport sub-brand originated in North America in the early 1990s, when the Esprit entered the SCCA and IMSA racing series—later winning the 1992 SCCA championship. This spawned a limited-run Esprit Sport 300 road car, followed by Sport derivatives of the Elise and Exige. Lotus Sport even helped win an Olympic gold medal for Great Britain, designing the radical carbon-fiber bicycle that Chris Boardman pedaled to victory in 1992.

The new Emira Sport 420 leapfrogs the Turbo SE and V6 SE  variants of the Emira model (both of which develop an identical 395 hp) to become Lotus’s flagship sports car. Its mid-mounted, turbocharged four-cylinder AMG engine serves up 420 metric horsepower (414 hp) and drives the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. The extra oomph makes scant difference in a straight line, but Kershaw says he can lap Hethel’s handling circuit in 1 minute 27 seconds—two seconds quicker than a Turbo SE.

Lotus has also introduced more options for personalization, plus a Lightweight Handling Pack offered exclusively for the 420 Sport. We’ll delve into the details shortly, but this uses custom, high-spec components to make the Emira more agile and reduce weight by 55 pounds. Think along the lines of the Weissach Package offered by Porsche.

The 420 Sport start at $122,900—$16,000 more than a base Turbo SE. Add the Lightweight Handling Pack and you’re looking at $135,990. Sticking with our Porsche analogy, that elevates the Emira perilously close to 911 territory. For some, that will be a line that a Lotus with four cylinders cannot cross. However, if you’re the kind of person who’d rather drive a Cayman GT4 than a 911 Carrera, do carry on reading . . . 

Design

Lotus design director Russell Carr’s first assignment when he joined the marque was the Esprit Sport 300. Some 34 years later, he also helped shape the Emira 420 Sport. Carr says the aesthetic and aero changes are examples of “form and function working together—that is the Lotus way.” 

Starting at the front, you will notice larger mesh-filled intakes in the bumper, plus a deeper splitter with air ducts to cool the front brakes. Slash-cut vents at the top of the fenders reduce pressure inside the arches and increase airflow through the radiators. “You can see them from behind the wheel,” explains Carr. “Lotus calls these the Becker points, named them after Roger Becker, our chief test driver for many years, who insisted on having these visible peaks to gauge a car’s width and place it accurately in corners.”

Elsewhere, the Emira’s sills are more sculpted, and its side intakes now sit within a scoop, force-feeding a greater amount of air to the AMG engine. At the rear, you’ll find a louvered tailgate—a nod to the classic Turbo Esprit—along with tinted taillights, a lip spoiler, and a more aggressive diffuser. 

If you so wish, you can have the splitter, sill extensions, arch vents, side scoops, spoiler, and diffuser all finished in bare carbon fiber. There are also various livery options, plus a vivid new Tangelo Orange color scheme reserved solely for the 420 Sport. 

In common with the rest of the Emira range, there is now a targa roof option with a removable glass panel that unclips, zips into a bag, and slots behind the two seats. Lotus also offers more scope for personalization inside the car, such as color-matched Alcantara trim and a carbon shroud for the instrument cluster. 

In the metal, the Emira looks low, dramatic, and emphatically mid-engined. However, it is rather spec-sensitive, particularly in 420 Sport guise. Add contrasting pinstripes and exposed carbon fiber and, to these eyes at least, it starts to appear fussy, your gaze distracted by the aero addenda rather than appreciating the car as a whole. Go for something more subtle and the Emira flaunts its crisp curves and wedgy profile, doing a convincing impression of a full-fledged supercar.

Power Train and Hardware

The highly strung, turbocharged engine in the Emira 420 Sport is more frequently found in the Mercedes AMG A45 S hot hatchback. More recently, it has also served in the AMG GT 43 coupe, where it delivers a near-identical output (416 hp), albeit in a very different, more laid-back sort of sports car.

Basing the Sport on the four-cylinder Emira, rather than the supercharged V-6 version, seems an odd decision at first, but Kershaw says the AMG mill has a suitably energetic character, while the car’s rapid-fire dual-clutch transmission is well suited to track driving. For the record, a zero-to-62 mph time of 3.9 seconds is a tenth quicker than the Turbo SE. Top speed is 186 mph.

The 420 Sport sits 0.2 inches lower than its siblings, with revised suspension settings aimed at quicker turn-in and tighter body control. For the full Sport experience, though, you need the Lightweight Handling Pack. This swaps the Bilstein shock absorbers for manually adjustable items from Multimatic: the Canadian company that engineered the Ford GT and currently supplies most of the Formula 1 grid. Kershaw notes that, thanks to spool-valve technology, these offer “a far more settled and responsive feel.” Keen owners can tweak compression and rebound rates separately to suit their preference or a particular circuit.

Equally beneficial when it comes to lap times are unique, Lotus-stamped Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires: street-legal rubber that’s resolutely focused on the track. Further parts included with the Lightweight Handling Pack are a carbon-fiber tailgate, a lithium-ion battery (saving 22 pounds), and a titanium exhaust system with twin tailpipes that glow burnished blue when hot. They look fantastic. 

Performance

Lotus’s home county of Norfolk might be the flattest region in England, but its crumbling, mostly rural roads are a stern test for any sports car. They are where Lotus has honed its vehicles’ handling since the 1960s—and these byways have helped fine-tune cars for General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Volvo, and many more.

The 420 Sport jostles and squirms on these surfaces at low speeds, but the payoff is unfiltered, no-nonsense feedback. While the car transmits every ripple in the road, its trick Multimatic dampers round off imperfections beautifully, so the chassis never feels discombobulated. “We talk about turbulence—the harsh, thudding sensation you sometimes feel aboard an aircraft,” explains Kershaw. “It’s the opposite of what we work to achieve. You should never feel like you are fighting with the car.” 

The other key ingredient in the Sport’s dynamic arsenal is its steering. Along with McLaren, Lotus is among a tiny minority of car manufacturers who have persisted with hydraulic assistance, rather than a fuel-saving electric setup, and you feel that difference right away. Without being unusually quick or heavy, the Emira’s steering has a clarity that swiftly builds your confidence in the car.

Admittedly, the AMG motor isn’t the most characterful of engines, but then nor is the gruff, Toyota-sourced V-6 alternative. And while it might look under-endowed on paper, those 2.0 liters and four cylinders are mightily effective on the road. Like a puppy let off the leash, the 420 Sport feels explosive and insatiably energetic. If you have driven the rabid AMG A45 S, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

Lotus seems to have ironed out the hesitancy that previously afflicted the dual-clutch ’box, particularly when parking. The 420 Sport’s new elongated carbon-fiber shift paddles also have a more positive, mechanical action, which encourages you to use manual control and stretch out each ratio. From A to B on real roads, I’m not sure even a “proper” supercar with a few hundred extra horses could really go any faster. 

And on a circuit? Hethel is fast, hard on the brakes, and quite technical, so any weaknesses in the car are soon exposed. Yet the Emira doesn’t feel phased. In Tour mode, it is very difficult to unsettle the vehicle, while switching to Sport allows more slip, occasionally braking an inside wheel to trim your cornering line. In Track mode, Kershaw says it is “possible to spin the car,” although the stability control doesn’t switch off completely.

See Also

Porsche Is Sellling Its Stake in Bugatti Rimac

Whether I’m pushing on through the circuit’s Clark curves or coming in hot to the 180-degree Rindt hairpin, what impresses me most about the Emira is its unflappable poise. There’s very little body roll, and it rides Hethel’s serrated curbs with unwavering focus. Despite its speed and the sheer kinetic energy at work, the car feels calm. There’s that word again. 

For those who expect to take their 420 Sport on track, the Dynamic Handling Package seems like a must-have option. I’d love to experiment with the damper settings (a simple case of putting the wheels on full lock at the front, or jacking the car up at the rear), but there simply isn’t enough time. Like all good sports cars, though, the Lotus has left me wanting more. 

Is It Worth It?

I’ve driven every version of the Emira since it was launched in 2022, and the 420 Sport is undoubtedly the best. It ratchets everything up a few notches without making the car feel less like a Lotus. For the first time, arguably, the Emira delivers the driving experience promised by its looks.

If you’re looking for a sports car to use every day, a Porsche 911 is more comfortable and easier to live with. If you want a weekend toy, a car to savor on Sunday mornings or at track days, the Emira gets my vote. It’s less well-rounded than the Porsche, but ultimately more engaging to drive, not to mention rarer and more exciting to look at. Nobody will give you a second glance at Cars & Coffee in a 911 Carrera. So, bringing us back to where this story started, the Emira 420 Sport is a car that won’t appeal to everyone. But what great Lotus ever has done?

Specifications

Vehicle Type

In Production Since

Power Train

Performance 

Price:

Click here for more photos of the Lotus Emira 420 Sport.