Lotus Emira with 360-hp 2.0-liter Mercedes-AMG engine coming to PH

Lotus Cars of Manila has announced that the brand’s most powerful four-cylinder sports car is coming to the Philippine market. Specifically, it's a new variant of the Lotus Emira and it will be launched sometime in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023.

Lotus Emira

As mentioned above, this upcoming variant of the Emira ditches the original version’s V6 in favor of a smaller 2.0-liter inline-4 gasoline engine made by Mercedes-AMG. At maximum, it can make up to 360 horsepower and 430 Nm of torque which was achieved thanks to a twin-scroll turbocharger. Like most Lotus models, the said engine is mounted in the middle of the car.

Managing all that power on the Emira is an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox that’s also produced by Mercedes-AMG. It sends power to the Emira’s rear wheels, and it can be controlled manually via paddle shifters or a shift lever.

Emira from the rear

Other mechanical bits of note on the Emira are its Eibach springs and Bilstein high-pressure damper. These components offer the car two chassis settings: One is “tour” and the other is “sport”. Tour is optimized for comfort, while sport stiffens the springs and dampers for enhanced performance.

Looks-wise, the Emira follows the Lotus formula for sports cars. It gets an aerodynamic look with sharp features and plenty of functional ducts and vents. Those are combined with full LED exterior lighting fixtures, gloss black exterior trim pieces, and 20-inch ultra-lightweight forged wheels.

Many of the bits you see on its exterior are functional

The Emira’s interior meanwhile is arranged to be driver-focused but is filled with plenty of convenience and comfort features. It gets 12-way power-adjustable seats clad in Nappa leather or Alcantara, as well as black Alcantara headliners. The rear of the front seats can then swallow up to 208 liters of cargo, with 151 liters of extra space via the rear luggage compartment.

Providing on-board entertainment on this Lotus is a 12.3-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Sound is then fed to the car’s cabin through a KEF 10-channel 560W premium audio system.

A peek inside the Emira's cockpit

For now, pricing details for the 2024 Lotus Emira are yet to be announced by Lotus Manila. So if you’re looking forward to this sports car, keep it here on Philkotse for more updates.