We've driven the Lotus Emira prototype. Spoiler alert: it's brilliant.
. But that's still to come: the combination of a new Lotus sports car, the track at Hethel and the genial presence of Gavan Kershaw to talk me around the new car is as traditional as the fact it's raining.
VP007 is a VP2 level prototype borrowed from the pool of cars being used to test driver assistance systems ahead of the Emira's launch. It was chosen for media use both because of its visual niceness, but also because it is in what Kershaw reckons is the ideal spec to meet the Emira for the first time.
The digital instrument pack and central touchscreen are crisply rendered and nice to look at, although Lotus has sensibly retained conventional heating controls plus a selector for the switchable drive modes. Ergonomics feel immediately good, with a decent range of driving position adjustment, reasonable headroom and a view forward that includes the visual reference of seeing the tops of the front wings.
The V6 remains more effective than operatic, the redline set at a relatively lowly 7,000rpm, and although it feels more than muscular enough to make Hethel interesting, we live in the mad world where a 280hp/ tonne power-to-weight ratio no longer qualifies as particularly spiky. Interestingly, Kershaw says Lotus is expecting a significant amount of Emira custom from those trading out of junior supercars having been frustrated by their inability to fully exploit them on road.
While grip is strong, it's the margins that surround the Emira's transition into losing adhesion that really stand out. Tour mode maintains order in the slippery conditions, fighting the understeer that's easily picked up on the greasy Rindt hairpin at the north end, while also preventing any obvious rear-end slip on the equally tight Andretti corner that marks the southernmost part of the track.