New mid-engined sports car will be the last petrol engined Lotus to be made, all First Edition V6 units allocated for Singapore already booked
Lotus Cars Singapore gave the local media a sneak preview of the car that is set to succeed the Elise, Exige and Evora yesterday.
The all-new Lotus Emira is claimed to be built on the same design language as the brand’s Evija concept, and will have two powerplant options in the form of a Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 and a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder from Mercedes-AMG.
Lotus Emira V6: Singapore’s Tiny, Exclusive Slice of Luxury
In a whirlwind of excitement, only 15 units of the Emira V6 First Edition have slipped into Singapore’s hands during the brand’s inaugural production run. The little northern city-state is already buzzing—Lotus Cars Singapore says every single one has found a buyer, even though the official price tag is still a mystery.
What’s the Deal?
- Estimated cost: roughly $450,000 (COE not included).
- Ready to roll in the third quarter of 2022.
- Gleaming, high‑performance V6 engine—fancy, right?
Why It’s Hot
With numbers that lean heavily into the “luxury” stratosphere, the Emira is capturing the imagination of enthusiasts who know that a car isn’t just a vehicle; it’s a statement. And Singapore? It’s the place where scintillating ambition meets high‑fuel‑gauge status.
Inside a Car That Says “Yes, I Want It”
Every corner of the Emira screams meticulous craftsmanship, from the gleaming chrome to the subtle sport‑mode adjustments. It’s the kind of car that, once you seat yourself in the driver’s seat, you’re practically shouting, “I’m that kid who knows their stuff!”
Final Thoughts
Short on numbers, big on hype—this is a sealed‑deal subset of the automotive world Singapore is still eager to explore. Stay tuned for more on how these 15 units will grace the city’s streets after their highly anticipated arrival.
New V6 Emira: A Waiting List Worth the Hype
The regular V6 Emira is already stirring up excitement—word on the street says people are queueing up like it’s the latest tech gadget. Even after the First Edition drops, the lineup is shaping up to be a long, thrilling wait.
- Instant Buzz: The buzz around the regular V6 is so loud that it’s almost like a private club.
- Lineup Like an Apple Event: Fans are lining up, anticipating that this new model is the next big thing.
- Expectations Run High: Everyone’s waiting for the elusive V6 to get sizzling benchmarks.
The First Edition specification Emira will have a list of additional options fitted as standard along with special badging denoting the car’s unique status. These include LED lights, a titanium exhaust finisher, reverse sensors, 12-way adjustable seats and cruise control.
It will also have smartphone connectivity, a KEF audio system, and what Lotus calls the Lower Black Pack, which has the aerodynamic elements along the bottom edges of the car finished in gloss black.
The 3.5-litre V6 engine used in the Emira has Toyota’s 2GR-FE engine block as its core, and is given a boost with an Edelbrock 1740 supercharger for a torque output of 420Nm and maximum power of 400hp. It’s an uprated version of the powerplant found in the Lotus Exige Sport 350. <img alt="" data-caption="Six-speed manual shifter features an exposed linkage as a design element.
PHOTO: CarBuyer” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”ecc794ab-c251-4e05-a6ff-b8bd9b20c1df” src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/20220423_lotus_carbuyer.jpg”/>You can get it with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, which interestingly has its engine mapped to deliver an extra 10Nm of torque over the manual version though maximum power output remains unchanged.<img alt="" data-caption="First Edition cars will feature special badging and a long list of extras fitted as standard equipment.
PHOTO: CarBuyer” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”5e3530af-e07e-47ec-a1aa-b266e46ab381″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/20220423_emira_carbuyer.jpg”/>Another interesting factoid is that while the automatic transmission is a traditional box that uses a torque converter rather than a quick-shifting twin-clutch system, it is 0.1 seconds quicker to 100km/h from a standing start over the manual version’s quoted 4.3 seconds.<img alt="" data-caption="The inclusion of a high fidelity KEF audio system shows that Lotus expects this car to be used a a grand tourer.
PHOTO: CarBuyer” data-entity-type=”file” data-entity-uuid=”cdccf78b-2ac8-4e58-9c8f-0d5daf4d6f41″ src=”/sites/default/files/inline-images/20220423_door_carbuyer.jpg”/>Set to arrive at a later date is the four-cylinder turbo version of the Emira, powered by what Lotus calls ‘a bespoked version of AMG’s M139 direct injection engine’, mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Specially tuned to work in the mid-engined Lotus Emira, the M139 in standard Mercedes-AMG form is still the world’s most powerful 2.0-litre series production internal combustion engine built to date, and can be found in a bunch of Mercedes-AMG cars including the CLA 45 S.
Lotus has not revealed its power output in the Emira, but it’s expected to be somewhere between 360 to 400 horsepower.
If this usage of other brand’s engines sounds strange to you, it’s down to the fact that Lotus has traditionally been a chassis builder and since the late 1990s, has sourced the most suitable powerplants from other makers to fit into its cars.
For example, the Series 2 Lotus Exige from 2004 used a Toyota 2ZZ GE engine from the Toyota Celica, and the Lotus Elise from the same time period was powered by a Rover K-Series engine.
Lotus states that the Emira is a major shift in the brand’s positioning as a premium sports car maker. Designed to be more luxurious and practical, with the ability to function as both a grand tourer and focused trackday machine, the Emira is looking to be quite a different type of sports car from the Elise and Exige.
Two-seater mid engined coupes in this price range are a rare breed these days though, and we expect it to go head-to-head with the similarly priced Porsche Cayman GTS. This is also set to be the last of the fossil-fuel burning cars from Lotus, with the brand aiming to make a shift to electric power over the next decade.
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This article was first published in CarBuyer.
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