Lotus is the kind of sports car company that is a little too in love with its past and not concerned enough with its mediocre present, which is still pretty good, by the way. I mean have you ever driven a modern Lotus? Nice car! Still, the winds are changing, and Lotus is changing with them.
The Emira GT4 is the racecar version of the Emira, which is Lotus’s last internal combustion engine car as it switches to all-electric. As such, it is also maybe the last opportunity to talk about traditional car things on a new Lotus racecar, like the fact that this one has a familiar Toyota-made 3.5-liter V6 that makes 400 brake horsepower, which, at first glance, might strike you as underpowered until you remember that this is a Lotus, which means lightweight, which means 2,777 pounds dry. The transmission is a six-speed sequential from Xtrac.
Each one will be hand-built per customers’ orders. This is Lotus putting a racecar up for sale for probably anyone who is interested, per Lotus.
The Lotus Emira GT4 will be officially launched later this year at an event on the Hethel test track, the iconic 2.2-mile circuit which has hosted the development of some of the world’s most famous race cars.
Lotus aims to build a limited number of Emira GT4 race cars for the 2022 season, increasing production for 2023 in line with global demand. Interested parties are invited to contact the Lotus motorsport department directly via motorsport@lotuscars.com
There is a charming humility about Lotus; the last time I was at a track a guy with an Evora was there and apologized for having a Lotus and I was like, you know, not only stop apologizing but take some pride. You have a Lotus!
