The last Lotus with a combustion engine is the heaviest ever produced with this setup. The lightest Emira weighs 1,405 kg (3,097 lbs) “in its lightest form,” while the lightest Evora – the GTE F1 Team Limited Edition – tipped the scale at 1,243 kg (2,740 lbs). The heaviest Emira will probably be its convertible version, and the rendering artist Theottle helped us have a glimpse of what it can look like if it ever makes it into production.
Cabrio versions are usually heavier than hard-top derivatives because of structural reinforcements. They are necessary so that the body does not bend like an open shoebox. Very few vehicles in automotive history did not require those reinforcements.
That said, we believe the Emira could reach something around 1,500 kg (3,307 lbs) in the Spider derivative Theottle created for it. The Ferrari 488 Siracusa 4XX Spider was used as the basis for the rendering, and we can see some of its design cues in the final result. They matched surprisingly well with what Lotus created.
A spider version of the Emira would make perfect sense. The most iconic Lotus vehicles were born as convertibles, such as the Seven, the Elan, and the Elise. They are almost a tradition to the brand, but so was low weight.
The Emira is 4,41 m (14.46 ft) long, 1,90 m (6.23 ft) wide, 1.23 m (4.03 ft) tall, and has a wheelbase of 2,58 m (8.46). The new Lotus can have two engine options: the supercharged 3.5-liter V6 made by Toyota that we have already seen in the Evora and a 2-liter four-cylinder engine, the M139 produced by Mercedes-AMG. This is the world’s most powerful four-pot mill, and it will give the Emira 400 ps for a 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) time inferior to 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 290 km/h.
Now that you have checked the images, make sure you also watch the video to check what the Emira Spider would look like in red. If the base price for the hard-top will be less than £60,000 (less than €72,000), expect a possible cabrio version to cost more than that.
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