two lotus emiras, two very different cars.

13 Jun

When lotus asked if I would be interested on having a lotus Emira Turbo SE for a day I jumped at the opportunity. Mostly because this was a great chance to shoot one of my favourite cars on the road right now, but also I was really interested in discovering the differences between this turbocharged, AMG powered, automatic Emira and my own supercharged, Toyota powered, manual variant.

BEFORE: the fear of the unknown

So the deal was, I would drive to HR Owen Lotus in Hatfield for 10am and collect the car. I would then have 5 hours to do with the car what I wanted as long as I was back to the dealer at 4pm. So I had 5 hours to get a few locations and as much content as possible, in a part of the world I had never been before. This excited me but also worried me at the same time, I didn't want to let Lotus down but I had zero knowledge of this area and no time to get up there before the day to look for decent locations.

So I did all I could and took to Google Earth which is a great tool for viewing locations in advance. Its got super high resolution satellite images of nearly all of the world and the 3D view gives you a good idea of elevation of the land and in some cases even lets you get rough compositions. Its not perfect but its not bad at all. Pair this with street view and you can see where you can and cant get to by road to eliminate any private roads.  I knew I couldn't go too far from the dealer as I didn't want to waste too much time driving rather then shooting. I also wanted to keep at least an hour to experience the car fully. I found a handful of potential locations all quite close to each other and then just prayed for good weather. All I wanted was some bright sunshine with lots of fluffy white clouds that maybe turned to darker stormy looking skies later in the day to add mood to the shots. Little did I know just how lucky I would be with the weather.

DURING: HOURs 1 - 2 - St peters church - TEWIN.

The 1st location was St Peters church in a village called Tewin. it caught my eye on google earth because of its long straight driveway. This car despite its German engine is as British as it gets so I wanted to try and capture it nestled in that quintessential English country landscape and this church ticked that box perfectly.

The long Driveway leading into St Peters Church

during: the perfect place to ease the nerves

It turns out that this new career path brings with it, things I thought I was over. I'm my past role I had 20 years experience and rarely experienced nerves anymore even when dealing with huge global brands like Pepsi, Swatch, Coca Cola, or Microsoft. However as a photographer, now with Lotus as my responsibility, I felt really nervous and this church was the perfect place to give me time alone with the car and my camera and start shooting uninterrupted for an hour or two. 

It was so quite I could really concentrate without the feeling of treading on anyone's toes or getting in the way. The church warden did make an appearance at one point but she was so nice and really interested in what I was doing and of course the car. She also gave me an brief history lesson on the church which was unexpected and really interesting. 

The church provided two solid locations, the little roundabout Infront of the church and a long straight driveway leading up to it lined with lovely hedges framing the car perfectly.

couldnt believe my luck when i stumbled across this open field with this magnificent oak tree and moody sky.

a Dissused barn is always a nice backdrop

Sometimes just stopping by the side of the road works.

DURING: HOUR 3-4 - back to winging it!

The next hour I winged it a bit - heading towards another location I had found on Google Earth I stumbled across some nice spots. Old barns, cool tunnels and open fields that I could just drive on into, all completely uninhabited and and all interesting in one way or another. The weather had also taken a turn - the sun had gone in and the fluffy white clouds had turned dark and ominous just like I had wished for. It couldn't have gone better to be honest.

Train tunnels are always interesting locations - just wish i had slightly harsher light at this point

AFTER: AN HOUR OF DRIVING THE TURBO SE

So I had an hour before I had to return the car I was about 30 mins away from HR Owen so I decided to take the scenic route and really test out this new version of the Emira. Here are my thoughts.

APPEARENCE: Apart from the obvious aesthetic differences which are up to the buyer when they spec the car the V6 and Turbo SE are identical to look at. This one was entirely blacked out in Cosmos Black paint which had a lovely silver fleck running through it and glistened in the sunlight. It also had blacked out lotus badges which are a nice touch but for me the yellow lotus badges are more recognisable and us lotus drivers are usually proud to drive such a British brand with racing heritage. 

This did have yellow touches however, the break callipers and the contrast stitching throughout the cabin all aligned nicely in lotus yellow. On the interior, this was decked out in Alcantara throughout which is lovely. The seats especially, but it also had the Alcantara steering wheel with the yellow leather 12 o'clock marker... a rather expensive optional extra at £400 for 5cms of leather! I really liked the Alcantara but I think the leather steering wheel is better. As lovely as Alcantara feels it does leave my palms quite clammy whereas the leather breathes and stays dry.

This however is where the similarities end.

DRIVE: This version of the Emira drives very differently. First of all, the sound. I love the sound of the V6. I would describe it as a beautiful sound that gradually and consistently builds through the rev range. The Turbo SE is more of an angry, chaotic sound, don't get me wrong its loud and whack it into track mode and the revs raise and so does the noise, but it doesn't quite have the orchestral nature of the V6. It does however have a great turbo flutter which sounds a bit like a tie fighter buzzing round your head, its very cool and I found myself running through the gears just to hear it kick in with every shift and acceleration.

Apart from a little inevitable turbo lag this car has a lot of power. When you need it, the gearbox drops you down and off you go. You notice this even more when in higher gears the power is noticeably more visceral and it was hard to shake the smile from my face when I planted my foot on the pedal.

They handle the same, the hydraulic assisted power steering is pin sharp and gives you tonnes of feedback and the suspension felt the same across both cars they handle as you would expect a Lotus to handle.

The best way to sum up the difference between these two lovely cars is that I feel the V6, equipped with the Lotus Supercharger and manual gearbox does exactly what you tell it to do, instantly. The Turbo SE on the other hand will do the same with a little extra but you kind of have to ask it nicely. I guess that's the same if you compare any supercharged manual to a turbo charged automatic but when comparing these two variant's of the same car it becomes even more noticeable.

VERDICT: I've spent a lot more time in my V6 so this isn't an entirely fair verdict but as great as the Turbo SE is and even with that extra power which is verry addictive I will say I prefer the driving experience of the manual V6. You feel more connected to the car its down to you to get gear shifts right and it builds a more harmonious relationship with the car. Its way more rewarding and the mechanical nature of it just feels more "Lotus"

That said if I had bought the Turbo Se and never experienced the V6 I would be more than happy bashing around in it. The Emira in my biased opinion is one of the best sports cars on the road right now, if you love driving. It handles brilliantly, it has more than enough power for British country roads and it looks as pretty if not Prettier than some Ferrari's. I cannot go out in this car without turning heads and having groups of inquisitive kids coming up to me asking me to "REV IT" motorcyclists almost always pull up next to me and comment on the car and are almost always surprised that its a lotus and not a McLaren or something fancier. 

This car has brought me miles of joy and I have no plans to sell it. I genuinely feel this will become a long term partner. If you are in the market for a mid engine sports car I recommend you try it and if you can try both I'm sure the two options of this car will appeal to different drivers in different ways, but I guarantee which ever one you choose it will leave your cheeks aching from the fixed grin you cant help but wear when you take it out on the road.