REVIEW: The Lotus Emira gains a state-of-the-art I4 as the sports car maestros' final combustion model - is it a worthy send-off?
Lotus was founded by a man so preoccupied by lightness that even rivet spacing represented a battleground between him and his design engineers. AMG, on the other hand, is celebrated for contract-killer saloons with nicknames like 'Hammer'.
Here we start to appreciate just how busy Geely has been behind the scenes. In 2018, it bought a stake of roughly 10% in Mercedes-Benz, mainly because it was interested in the Germans’ electromobility vision. At around the same time, AMG was deep into the development of an engine known as M139. This was about as highly strung as mass-market 2.0-litre units get, so much so that it was meant to supplant even the fabled V8s.
Foot on the conspicuously centred brake pedal, drag the artful, leather-on-metal gear selector into drive, hit the start button and your first taste of Lotus-featuring-AMG is… docile and understated. Pull off the mark and the motor burbles and thrums gently, and you really have to sharpen your ears to appreciate the waspish tension that hints at its outrageous, more-than-200bhp-per-litre output potential. Admittedly, here the M139 isn’t wound up as bombastically as in the Mercedes-AMG A45 S.
The Emira may be heavier than we would like, but soft suspension springing marshalled by resolute damping still gives it a deliciously supple gait on the road . Craters and crests are mollified as they disappear beneath the wheels, yet really fling this chassis down a B-road and it’s amazing how little bump-stop action there is. Cornering photos show quite dramatic levels of roll and squat, but this doesn’t tally with what you feel in the cockpit.
So why the reservations? It stems from the fact that this powertrain isn’t quite equal to the chassis in terms of precision and outright responsiveness. The best Lotuses are always at one with themselves, but in this instance we have an excellent chassis and a stonking powertrain that don’t quite match.
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