4-Cylinder Lotus Emira Will Arrive In Singapore By End Of Year

If you’ve been following the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend, you’ll realise that weather wasn’t kind to petrolheads - schedules on Saturday could not proceed as planned due to adverse conditions. You could review how manic conditions were on Friday’s sessions to conclude that organisers had no other choice…

But eagle-eyed fans would still have been able to spot new production cars blasting up the famous hill, including the Lotus Emira powered by a Mercedes-AMG-sourced, 2.0-litre turbocharged motor. And unlike other cars that could take some time to reach local shores, local Lotus distributor Wearnes Automotive has confirmed that this spec of Emira will make its debut here by year end.

Just like the Emira V6, two chassis settings are available - Tour and Sport. Tour is optimised for road use, offering softer springs and dampers, while Sport is track-focused with stiffer springs and dampers, together with increased camber and toe angles to maximise grip.

Let’s start things off with how much it weighs - 1,446kg, 12kg lighter than the V6-equipped Emira. Wait, only 12kg worth of savings for 2 less cylinders? Ah, now it makes sense - the 2.0-litre Emira is only available with a (traditionally hefty and more complex) 8-speed dual clutch, while the V6 came with both manual and automatic options.

Lotus’ obsession with lightness could be seen in its adoption of a new cast aluminium rear subframe to optimise the packaging of the powerplant within the chassis structure, which is in place of the steel assembly used on the Emira V6. It also houses a new rear suspension.

It might be 40bhp less powerful than the V6-powered Emira (360bhp vs 400bhp) and sprints to 100km/h a touch slower (4.4 vs 4.3 seconds), but as with force-fed motors, more urgent shoves can be felt on full pelt. 430Nm of peak torque from 3,000rpm is 10Nm more than the supercharged V6. But in all fairness, numbers alone do not tell the full story of Lotus - it’s ability to devour corners has always been a priority for the brand.

Gavan Kershaw, Director, Vehicle Attributes and Product Integrity, Lotus, said: “We’ve meticulously tuned the suspension settings for the 2.0-litre Emira to deliver the superb body and control that’s a Lotus hallmark without the car ever feeling harsh. We’ve calibrated engine and transmission mapping, in tandem with the Drive Modes, to create a refined and relaxed character in Tour, and with incredible launch performance, superb driveability, even quicker throttle response and kickdown in Sport and Track. We’ve also taken the opportunity to refine how the powertrain is linked to the traction and stability control systems to deliver the high-performance feel and connection that Lotus drivers expect.”

Complementing the changes to the chassis hardware is a completely new calibration for the Electronic Stability Control system. There’s also an e-Diff function which can apply modulated brake pressure to the rear wheels to maximise traction by the transfer of torque to the one with the most grip.

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