Jeremy Clarkson describes Lotus Emira as 'pretty special' in Sunday Times review
Supercar looks for saloon car money
The Lotus Emira is “pretty special” and represents surprisingly good value for such an accomplished sports car — so says Jeremy Clarkson in his latest review for The Sunday Times Magazine.
Clarkson explains that he has long been a fan of the Lotus brand since first seeing one on television as a small boy, driven by Diana Rigg on The Avengers.
The 1960s Elan “was a tremendous car and really cast the mould for Lotuses to come,” wrote The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm star, adding: “It was light and dangerous and unreliable and fun. Basically Kiefer Sutherland with headlamps.”
So too did he “adore” Lotus’ long-lived supercar, the Esprit, despite the company’s reputation for ropey build quality.
In its final guise (Jeremy’s favourite), the Esprit was powered by a turbocharged V8 engine, “so you got hours of turbo lag followed by a terrifying burst of adrenaline and speed and noise, and all the time you were sitting there thinking, ‘Is this steering wheel going to come off?’”
With his fondness for the Norfolk brand in mind, he was keen to get behind the wheel of Lotus’ latest offering, the 400bhp supercharged Emira, due to be the firm’s final petrol-powered car before it transitions to being an electric-only brand towards the middle of the decade.
“I’d heard good things. My neighbour Harry [Metcalfe] from YouTube bought one and kept making squeaking noises when I talked to him about it. So I was very excited when I learnt I could borrow one over Christmas.”
Sadly, having been struck down with an illness over the festive season, Clarkson didn’t get a chance to road test the Lotus quite as extensively as he might have liked, but added that “you don’t have to go far to realise it’s pretty special.”
Clarkson admitted that despite having become something of a proficient driver over the years, the fact that the Emira came equipped with a manual gearbox (automatic transmissions are available) left him scrabbling about like a learner driver for a little while before getting back into the swing of things, so out of practice was he and so rare in a sports car an old-fashioned stick-shift has become.
“It was like reacquainting myself with a landline,” he wrote, with the Emira leaving him “kangarooing away from junctions and stalling on hills and swearing.”
Once getting the hang of it, though, Clarkson soon realised that despite supercar looks it is actually a proper sports car — a rival for the likes of the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS.
Performance he described as “brisk, but it doesn’t tear your skin off. It’s a fun speed, a sports car speed.”
That nippy pace is down to the Emira’s 3.5-litre V6 engine, which is one of two options and found — in non-supercharged form — in some versions of the Toyota Camry saloon. It’s probably not the one to go for, he reckons.
“Yes, it’s been supercharged,” he wrote, “but it doesn’t make an especially good noise and can at times be a bit recalcitrant to get going. In the fullness of time you’ll be able to choose a four-cylinder AMG engine and I’ve a feeling it may be a better bet. Cheaper, too.”
The handling managed to live up to Lotus’ vaunted reputation and in Clarkson’s eyes exceeded the capabilities of other models from the firm, so often cited for their handling prowess.
“I know people get all wistful and interesting about the way Lotuses go round corners, but I’ve never really understood why. Even the Elise, regarded by many to be the best-handling car of all time, was awfully understeery if you really gave it the beans. And when I learnt that more than 60% of the Emira’s weight sat over the back wheels, I figured I’d be in for more of the same.”
His preconceived notions about the Emira, however, happily proved incorrect.
With a “pointy” front-end, Clarkson was able to slide the Emira’s rear out a little bit without too much effort, again affirming for Jeremy the model’s sports- rather than super-car credentials.
Underscoring this was the “no-nonsense” interior devoid of supercar fripperies such as quilted leather and hand-stitched door panels and which occupants can access easily “even if you’re tall and a bit fat.”
As frill-free as the Emira’s interior may be, it’s still quite a bit more comfortable and refined than in other Lotus models of yore such as the Evora. The Emira even features a 10.25in central infotainment screen and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.
With prices starting from £75,995 (the AMG-powered version will be “significantly” less), Clarkson felt that the Lotus offered tremendous value for money.
“You could have three for the price of one scum-spec Ferrari.”
With the Emira, then, “Lotus has proved with this car that you can build something amazing to behold and perfectly serviceable for the price of an ordinary saloon.”
Read Clarkson’s review in full at thetimes.co.uk.
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