Lotus Emira arrived with a shockingly high price

We look closer at what makes this new sports car high on the desire list.

When we first got the images of the all new Lotus sports car we were very taken by its sleek lines and typical Lotus design language. This was the first new Lotus under its new ownership and the very last Lotus car to carry a full petrol powered engine.

So, in many ways this was going to be a future classic. But at what price? That was the question many were asking from its birth home in England to its last parental home, Malaysia.

This Lotus Emira was built under Lotus Cars new owner, Geely Auto which holds 51 percent since 2017 after its take over of the sports car company from Malaysia’s Proton (where Geely also holds almost half of the company).

In the near future, all Lotus Cars will be powered by a battery electric system and will be built at a brand new state of the art facility in Wuhan, China. The Emira comes from the historical Lotus factory in England and this is why we say it will be a future classic. 

Meanwhile, let's look at what this Emira delivers. In the middle of 2021, the Lotus Emira was unveiled with its mid-engine petrol engine driving the rear wheels in typical Lotus fashion.

It was a well proportioned sports car and it was longer, wider and also slightly heavier than the retired Lotus Evora, Exige and Elise. Yes, the Evora, Exige and Elise names were sent to a retirement home despite their iconic status and the Emira was the first new name plate from Lotus Cars.

Take a closer look at the Emira and it looks more like a replacement model for the Evora. However, unlike the single engine option Evora, it carries two engine options, the first being the very same engine that was used by the Lotus Evora. The Toyota sourced but Lotus tuned 3.5L V6 engine will later be joined by a newly sourced 2.0L inline 4 turbocharged petrol engine built and tuned by Mercedes-AMG.  

Yes, for the very time, Lotus will be powered by AMG engineering. Seems obvious since Geely and Mercedes are in partnership on a few projects like the smart #1 electric crossover which is targeted to land in Malaysia later this year.

 The Emira with the AMG engine is said to deliver a standing to 100 kmph acceleration time of just 4.5 seconds and a top speed where possible of 290 kmph.

What is surprising is the launch price in Malaysia. The outgoing Lotus Evora 3.5 V6 was priced around RM 600,000 but this Lotus Emira 3.5 V6 is priced at RM 1,131,800 which is almost double. Is this economic cost or just the new owners insisting they have a luxury sports car rival in their possession? This persuades us to think about buying a used Lotus Evora right now before its used market price rises.   

Also read:  World’s first all-electric hyper-SUV, the Lotus Eletre detailed in pics