Review / Looks like a supercar, but at half the price: meet the Lotus Emira – Geely’s British brand releases its last gas-powered sports model before going electric, and it will only set you back US$105,000
- Lotus just released its last gas-powered model: the 2024 Lotus Emira, which comes with a supercharged V6, 400-horsepower engine – and ‘supermodel’ good looks
- The car is narrower and shorter than the Ferrari Roma and McLaren Artura, but it still beats an entry-level Porsche 718 Cayman with its top speed measuring an impressive 290km/h
Lotus recently started deliveries of the Eletre, an electric SUV that is all the rage in China, where parent company Geely is transitioning the British brand to go all electric.
“Electric-shmelectric,” I think as I downshift and lean in, dancing my way toward Laurel Canyon Boulevard. The Emira (e-meer-uh) is the last gas-powered model Lotus will ever make. It’s a must-drive for anyone who loves the old-world totems of stick shifting and internal combustion.
With scalpel-precise handling and a supercar body style that looks far more expensive than its US$105,000 price tag, the Emira delivers a poignant farewell performance.
The Lotus Emira: a sports car in supercar clothing
The last modern Lotus I drove was the Evora GT, in 2019. (Lotus has a patchy history selling – and not selling – cars in the US.) The Evora’s successor offers significant improvements over what I called the best, affordable British car I drove that year.
Foremost among the Emira’s upgrades are supermodel good looks. Where the Evora GT looks like a toy cut from the same cloth as such sub-US$70,000 sports cars as the Toyota Supra and Alfa Romeo 4C, the Emira is for adults. It looks as if it came from a fashion shoot: front-wheel arches curve up into a naughty grin, and a seductive darkened glass roofline down the back partially obscures the 400-horsepower engine underneath it.
