2022 Lotus Emira

As a two-seat mid-engine sports car, the Emira (pronounced eh-meer-ah) effectively replaces the Elise and the Exige but is larger than both and is more similar in size to the recently discontinued Evora. With Lotus' move into the world of fully electrified supercars and crossovers, the Emira represents the company's last vehicle to be powered solely by an internal combustion engine.

Pricing for the initial Emira Launch Edition starts at $93,900, with the plan to roll out lower-priced (but lesser-equipped) models in the near future. Given that, we expect the Emira will rival the likes of the Chevrolet Corvette and Porsche 718 Cayman.

The Emira's exterior design is a real success. This is a far more glamorous car than the Porsche. It has exotic proportions, beautifully resolved contours around its side air intakes, and intriguing air intakes and outlets in the nose, hood and rear.

The alternative engine arrives in the spring of 2023. It's a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine cranking out around 360 horsepower. This engine also has roots with another manufacturer, in this case Mercedes-Benz. This is the engine that Mercedes puts in its AMG CLA 45, and Lotus says it worked in partnership with Mercedes to adapt this engine specifically for the Emira.

We've sampled the AMG engine's potency in the AMG CLA 45 and we're sure it will be ferocious in the relatively lightweight Emira. It will be paired with a dual-clutch automatic transmission. With the DCT and slightly lighter overall weight, this might be the version that laps a race circuit the quickest.

The V6 engine, because it's supercharged rather than turbocharged, serves up a progressive delivery with no lag. For a sports car, the 6,800-rpm redline seems a little mean, and you'll accidentally bounce off it in your early miles in the car. You soon learn to operate mostly in the engine's generous upper-middle revs. Its voice is a strong harmonious tenor. The gear ratios suit this, as there are no wide gaps between the ratios, so you can keep the engine in your chosen rpm band. And a fairly short axle ratio means the upper gears aren't too fast for road use.

We haven't yet put the Emira through our own test-track regimen, but Lotus claims it can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 4.3 seconds. It also says curb weight is around 3,200 pounds for the First Edition with the manual transmission. Combine that with our on-road impressions and Lotus' acceleration figure seems realistic. It's certainly quick, though, for context, the Corvette with the Z51 package checks in at around 3,650 pounds and, with the help of its automatic transmission, sprinted to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds in our testing.

The steering uses hydraulic assistance, which is unfashionable as it demands a small fuel economy penalty versus the electric sort, but the rewards come in weighting and road feel. Around the straightaway, the Emira's system has very little self-centering. That means you feel intimately connected with the tires as they ride road markings, or change weighting over crests or dips. It also means the car is wonderfully eager to begin a turn.

Deep into the curve, there is simply massive grip, both from the front and the rear as it propels itself from the apex. Thank the well-balanced weight distribution, wide track, double-wishbone suspension design, and the 295/30R20 rear and 245/35 20 front Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport tires. Lotus says the car's bodywork generates significant downforce at track speed, though we'll have to take the automaker's word for it as so far we've only driven the Emira on regular roads.

And yet this is on the Tour tire-and-suspension setup. You could also opt for a slightly stiffer Sport suspension and even gripper Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires. This Tour suspension is firm but never uncomfortable, and it has terrific control even over bucking, heaving roadway at speed. We never wished for the other setup.

Indeed there's so much grip that you'll surely not broach it on the road, and with that comes our slight disappointment with the Emira. It's mostly operating so far within itself that it has lost some of the traditional Lotus cornering involvement. You don't feel enough nuances of the tires working beneath you.

The two seats can be specced with either four- or 12-way electric adjustability and strike a balance between day-to-day comfort and support for high-performance driving.

Concerns over long-distance comfort have also resulted in increased attention to lowering interior noise levels. Lotus has partnered with the British high-end audio company KEF to design and construct a premium sound system for the Emira. It's truly a fine-sounding setup, although it does have to work hard overcoming tire noise on coarser road surfaces.

A slick-looking 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen takes care of the usual navigation, phone mirroring, trip computer and configuration duties. (We say "the usual"; it might be usual for the big automakers, but for Lotus it's a huge step forward.) Smartphone integration through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto works seamlessly.

Other modern features include rain-sensing wipers, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise control, among others. This Lotus is certainly more than just a track-day special.

The Emira is clearly the best all-round Lotus of an entire generation because it combines those driving smarts with a reasonably usable all-round package. And as it represents the final Lotus to be powered solely by an internal combustion engine, it will doubtless end up a collector's item.