The Lotus Emira has been updated with a series of refinements that promise to bring both a more engaging drive and greater levels of comfort.
The Emira V6 SE (priced from £96,500) gets retuned dampers and new alignment settings that are said to improve both its ride and handling.
Its manual gearbox also gets new mounts that are intended to improve the precision of gearchanges. Autocar previously found it prone to hesitation when slotting the gearlever into higher ratios when rushing a shift.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes-AMG-powered four-cylinder Emira Turbo (from £79,500) gets a reworked dual-clutch automatic gearbox that is said to change gears more quickly and be smoother in its delivery.
Both versions get updated cooling systems with rerouted lines, improving flow to the gearbox oil cooler and the main radiator.
Lotus said this reduces temperatures and sheds weight, although it has yet to specify how much lighter the new Emira is.
It has also recalibrated the engine thermostat so that it doesn't open until 75deg C – up 10deg C on its current specification – to improve performance in hotter climes.
As well as technical updates, Lotus has introduced a new Racing Line trim for both the Turbo and V6 models. This adds a lower-body pinstripe in yellow, red or silver, mirror caps painted the same colour and monochrome exterior badging. It costs an extra £3000.
Join the debate
Add your comment
If your into Lotus your not going to blanche which to the buyer isn't a huge increase, I'd like to have been in that financial position to buy cars like this and others,I've always liked sports cars etc,so they'll sell,and as for Autocar doing a favourable test, go find one somewhere else, I'm sure there'll be plenty on the net.
These minor changes sound like they could be applied to existing models. But then maybe the idea is to get those owners to exchange the whole car for a new one and keep dealers happy!
And of course there will be a full road test in an upcoming issue of Autocar to remind us all of this car's outstanding capabilities.
Do you not mean keep the manufacturer happy who is selling the cars to the dealers?
You can say that about updates to most cars if you're willing to do a sufficiently extensive stripdown. What point are you actually trying to make?