Back in late 2021, British marque Lotus announced that it would be bidding farewell to its petrol-powered offerings in favor of an all-EV lineup, though, before doing so, the Hethel firm revealed it would be giving its gas-engined supercar, the Emira, one final sendoff with a limited run of track-only GT4-spec race cars. Fast-forward roughly half a year later to today, and Lotus has now revealed the limited-production version of the Emira GT4.
While it may no longer be guided by Colin Chapman’s “simplify and add lightness” ethos, the GT4-spec Emira nonetheless sticks to Lotus’ principle of shoehorning a powerful engine into a lightweight car. Built exclusively for national and international GT4 class competition, the Emira GT4 is powered by a Lotus-tuned 3.5-liter Toyota 2GR engine with a Harrop TVS 1900 supercharger. Mated to a paddle-shifted Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission, this Lotus-tuned V6 puts down 400hp and redlines at 7,200 RPM.
Weighing in at only 2,866lbs (dry), the car is built around an extruded and bonded aluminum chassis that’s been draped in composite bodywork and an aero kit that boasts a prominent front splitter, a rear diffuser, and a massive rear wing. Razor-sharp handling is made possible through the use of a forged aluminum double-wishbone suspension setup backed by two-way adjustable Ohlins TTX dampers, up-specced bushes, and anti-roll bars fore and aft. Created by Lotus’ Advanced Performance division, the Emira GT4 also gets an FIA-approved 96-liter fuel cell, a Motec display with data-logging capabilities, competition-spec brakes with six-piston front calipers and adjustable Bosch Motorsport ABS, a six-point roll-cage, an FIA-compliant HANS-ready seat with a six-point harness, and forged aluminum wheels shod in Pirelli GT4 rubber.
Produced in small batches once each model year, the 2023 Lotus Emira GT4 Production Race Car has been priced at £165,000 (~$203,750). And while this year’s run of these competition-spec cars has already sold out, Lotus will be increasing production in 2023, so you’ll eventually have another chance to buy.
