Say hello to Lotus’ entry-level Emira. It uses the same turbocharged 2.0-litre ‘M139’ four-cylinder lunatic of an engine that powers AMG’s hottest hatch. Except, whereas it makes 415bhp in the A45 S, here it’s reined in to a sensible 360bhp.

But, despite being entry-level, it is not a cheap and cheerful door to Lotus ownership. Right now Lotus will only sell you a kitted out ‘First Edition’ model, and it’s priced from a chunky £81,495. That’s £4,500 less than the adjusted pricing for the V6 ‘First Edition’.

It’s gone from dicing with the basic, brilliant Alpine A110 to asking well-seasoned Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0 money. You could buy a BMW M2 manual – or the car that the Emira owes its engine to – and save £10,000.

So, is this the Emira to have? Top Gear Magazine’s Ollie Kew finds out.
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Chapters

00:00 Emira Intro
00:45 Emira i4
01:36 Engine
03:45 A45 S Drive
06:22 Emira Drive
07:24 Numbers
10:50 Gearbox
11:20 Controls
13:10 Rivals

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