Lotus Emira Turbo SE - Better than the V6?

13 Aug

Some people like Ferraris, others Lamborghinis, Bugattis, you name it. Me? I’m a tart for British stuff, specifically Aston Martin, Morgan, and Lotus. The new Lotus Emira Turbo SE should be right up my street then, and if you’re a Lotus person, it should be up yours too.

The state of play

Here’s the top line: The Emira lineup’s been given a gentle tickle, and while the V6 is still top of the range, there’s a new SE spec turbo inline four pot with 400 horsepower and 354lb ft. It’ll crack 0-62mph in 4.0 and tip 181mph given the space. It gets an eight-speed dual clutch transmission, which means it’s good for people who live in big cities and are lazy, but it’s also got all of the usual Lotus handling dynamism built in, so it’s fun when you get out of town to find interesting roads. Being a turbo four, it’s not bad on fuel either, promising more than 30mpg on a run. It is, on paper, a perfect sports car for modern buyers. It even has CarPlay. And a reversing camera.

The Emira’s run hasn’t been what I’d call mighty. It launched with much promise, but it’s not quite found its way to the top of the sales charts. Demand was high on launch, but various delays shot it in the foot a touch, as did its price. What was supposed to be a £60k-ish car turned into, well, more than that. Which put people off a bit. Today, spotting an Emira is a treat. V6 or Turbo, it’s pleasingly different. The Turbo SE is…more different, but also had me scratching my head. You see, it’s either the best deal in the world, or the opposite.

Choices & Prices

At £89,500, it’s slap bang in the middle of the range. The base Turbo, at £79,500, comes with less power, a slightly slower 0-62mph time, a lower top speed, and fewer toys. But it gets you into a Lotus sports car. The £96,500 V6 SE gets the toys, a slower 0-62mph time, and a touch more weight, but it also gets a blinding manual gearbox and the sort of noise people sell body parts for. The car in the middle makes sense if you want outright grunt and toys, but whether you do or not is down to preference.

Positives

The Turbo SE is excellent fun. At 1,457kgs it’s not as light as the Elise, etc, but that argument gets rather tiresome when you drive the thing on a daily basis. Its seats are cosseting and comfortable, there’s HVAC that works a treat, sound deadening so every little stone you go near doesn’t bounce around the wheel arches and deafen you. It’s a grown up car for grown ups. The Infotainment is well thought out and easy to use, so you won’t end up lost in menus searching for radio stations or the seat heater. Its KEF sound system sounds wonderful when you’re doing boring motorway miles. It’s a car you (and anyone, really) can use regularly, and with that comes weight.

Negatives

There are a couple of snagging points. The first is how communicative its engine can be. A slight adjustment of the throttle and it’ll make lots and lots of noises. Noise is good. I enjoy noise. But when I’m looking to up my speed by a couple of mph, a cacophony of turbo chatter isn’t really what I’m after. It can be a bit wearing. Blessed be the KEF that drowns it out. The biggest issue is the gearbox. It’s excellent 90% of the time, but for the last 10% it’ll bug the crap out of you. The paddle shift is a bit flaccid - it doesn’t click or feel purposeful, which is a bit of a letdown, but not the end of the world. The bigger annoyance is how long it takes to go from forward to reverse. It’s a standard DCT set-up - so it should be easy. Pop your foot on the brake, and tip the lever in the direction you want the gearbox to fire you, and off you go. It does not do this in good time. If your foot is on the big pedal enough to slow the car to a standstill, you might not be applying enough pressure for the ‘box to do its thing, so you’ll end up slipping into a neutral, revving the knackers off it, and getting side eye from passers by. Once your foot is plunged as far into the bulkhead as you can muster, and it does let you change direction of drive, it takes far, far too long to make up its mind. If you’re not very good at parallel parking, you’ll end up despising it.

An utterly delightful driving experience

The good thing is, as soon as you’re actually driving it, you’ll likely fall for it quite hard. The power on offer, while a touch turbo noise-y, is good fun. The 354lb ft, twinned with its lightish weight, doesn’t half make it shift. You can well believe its 4.0-second 0-62mph time. It effortlessly fires you along, giving no impression that the motor’s under any sort of strain at all. Of course, at full chat, it sounds rather wonderful. Then, the handling. Oh man, Lotus’ decades of know-how shines through and then some. The steering is pin sharp, and will stick with you for days after each drive. It’s not too heavy, nor too light. As ever, it’s a triumph. Punting it into corners and firing it out the other side brings grin after grin after grin. An utter delight. You feel delicate weight transfer with your inputs, enough to let you know the car’s doing its thing, but not so much you’ll worry it’s going to fall over.

Set up options

You can spec the Emira with a Sport or Touring chassis set up. The Turbo SE comes with the harder Sport option (though you can have the other if you ask nicely), and I found it a bit chunky over the UK’s awful roads. I’d go softer given the choice, but that’s personal preference.

Drive modes

The Turbo SE comes with a handful of drive modes - its most inert setting, Tour, is fine for a bimble around town, knock it up to Sport for more noise and an angrier drivetrain, and into Track for everything turned up to lots - bar the traction control - it’ll give you a little bit of slip.

Overall thoughts

As a car to drive, I’d recommend it until I ran out of breath, frankly. Not just because I’m a Lotus person, but because it’s damn good. I’d have to mention its odd ‘box, but then happily point people in the V6’s direction. The only thing I’d struggle to get past potential buyers is the price. It’s so, so expensive for what it is. Porsche’s Cayman and Boxster may not be long for this world, but the GTS variants offer a similar experience for a bit less cash (before options).

Is it a good deal, then? Or should you stick to the base car? Or go straight for the V6 for noise and manual engagement? That one, I’m afraid, I’m going to be pondering for a while myself. While dreaming of Lotus steering.

words: Alex Goy
pictures: Henry Faulkner-Smith

Alex Goy

Alex Goy is a journalist, scriptwriter, and presenter. He's been covering fast, silly, plush, and shiny cars for fifteen years, and is increasingly concerned when he spots something he's driven in a museum (it's happened more than once). He's covered cars for Top Gear, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Autocar, Carfection, CNET, GQ, Motor1, Road and Track, and plenty more besides. You're likely to find him with a cup of tea in hand opining about the brilliance of British sports cars, or the Dacia Duster. And the odd Porsche.