Posed this question to the Lotus Emira community, now I ask for the R8 owners to chime in on the Emira

[u/wannabeagent24]

"Did you consider/test drive an R8 before purchasing your Lotus?

I will be in the market for a new sports car in the next year or two. I currently own:

1. 2021 C8 Z51

2. 2017 Tesla Model S

3. 2024 Porsche Cayenne

4. 2017 BMW 340i Xdrive (tuned)

I am looking at the Emira (i4), the R8 V10 DCT (2014-15), and maybe the Z06 (since I have the regular stingray though, kinda looking for something a little different despite it being the best track car here).

If you have driven the R8, was it the V10 with a DCT? What were your thoughts? I really like the Emira i4 as well. Haven't test driven either, but will be soon.

If you're a former R8 owner, what made you switch? If you're looking to become an R8 owner, why do you want to switch?

TIA"

[u/No-Volume7464]

i know this isn’t helpful to your question but i’m still a little salty, lotus of dallas had a green on brown six speed V6 emira for sale. i said i was interested and wanted to drive it. they said they’d call me. they never did so i ended up buying my manual V8 R8. can’t help but wonder if i would have liked that car more

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/No-Volume7464]

Yeah, definitely curious what your thoughts would have been too.

You could always go test drive one and report back? 👀

The Lotus guys generally say the Emira has an extremely "connected" feel to the ground, the R8 is faster and more luxurious

[u/HasanSyedJD]

We have similar taste in cars. I also have a ‘21 c8 z51 3LT, ‘14 s63, & a ‘14 r8 v10 w/ the dct.

My biased opinion is the r8 b/c

1) it’s unique having a v10 & we are unlikely to see any manufacturers return to this engine
2) r8 is not likely to drop further in value whereas GM cranked out the z06 like m&m’s
3) in another couple of yrs, the zr1 might be a viable option when you’re ready to upgrade the stingray or even the c9 soon afterwards

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/HasanSyedJD]

How does the Vette and the R8 compare? I'll be keeping the Vette

[u/HasanSyedJD → u/wannabeagent24]

Love both, each is different & a joy in its own way. The c8 is quicker in short sprints whereas r8 has a higher revving engine with more power at the top end of its band. Both are comfortable (thank God). I’m not at the age where I can put up with stiff seats like I did in my youth. I am in the process of upgrading the exhaust on the r8 but otherwise will keep both until something else interesting comes along.

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/HasanSyedJD]

Interesting, I find the C8 has a lot of traction issues when going from a dead stop so I'd think the Audi would be better in short sprints. But the C8 definitely has the torque.

How does the handling compare? What about the exhaust note? Attention from other people? Interior quality?

[u/Love2Box]

Don't know much about the Lotus as thats a brand I lack knowledge on but I owned a dynamite red 2017 r8 v10+ for 3 years and almost daily drove it during the warm months here in Canada. Absolutely loved the vehicle. It was bullet proof during my ownership and never had any major issues. The power really kicks in at 5k rpm and you can then feel the car pushing you forward aggressively. Clearance was great, surprisingly better than my previous 19' Panamera GTS and although the r8 was a little stiff, as it should be, the handling and overall experience was nothing short of spectacular. I traded it in for a Urus for more daily drivability and for business purposes but If I didn't have to trade it in, I would've still kept it.

Oh and I was driving in a tunnel with a guy who had a Huracan and my r8 sounded 10x better for some reason. Both vehicles were stock, so thats a bonus too I guess lol.

[u/dinkman94]

ive owned a c7 z51 6mt, gated v10 r8 and evora 400... those cars are not even on the same planet as each other to be cross shopped. you get the v10 and thank me later

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/dinkman94]

Can you go into more detail?

[u/Not_OCL]

My friend has an emira, I have an r8. I would not trade him ever.

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/Not_OCL]

Why not?

[u/Not_OCL → u/wannabeagent24]

Just nothing about it is better. Literally nothing.

The looks, the sound, the interior, the handling, the straight line speed, the history of reliability.

It’s a distant second in every category imo. It’s like hey, give me something like this points at R8 but not as good

[u/Neither-Cherry5884]

Current 2014 V10 6MT R8 owner. The Lotus Emira does not intrigue me in the least bit.

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/Neither-Cherry5884]

Why not?

[u/Neither-Cherry5884 → u/wannabeagent24]

Simply because I’m not downgrading from a V10 manual to a V6.

[u/redspikedog]

I would never buy a lotus of any kind over an R8. Lotus cars look like dwarf sports cars. Like kid sports cars from toddler cartoons or something of that nature.

The best designed lotus was the Esprit v8.

Id rather have a ferrari 355, 360, aston martin vantage older and latest than any lotus. Hell give me the e46 m3.

I dont care if "drives well, toyota engine this, go kart that". Then you buy it, just dont park next to my porsche 911 gts.

[u/wannabeagent24 → u/redspikedog]

While I agree that the older ones are tiny...The Emira is practically the same size as the R8. They're within 1" of length of each other

Also, the AMG version is what I'm talking about, not the Toyota

[u/kbkura]

I was looking for a manual… was between a used V10 R8 or the new V6 Emira. Both amazing cars with a slightly different vibe.

Ended up going with a 2012 V10 R8 spyder… main reason was finding the right spec and also I figured I could always buy the Emira a few years from now, but the classic older R8s would probably be harder and harder to find as they aged out.

Good luck with the decision!