Lotus Quietly Makes More Powerful Emira First Edition Available In America

Lotus has quietly added the Emira First Edition four-cylinder to its US website. What piqued our interest, however, is that the AMG-powered Emira is listed on the website with a higher power rating than the one we drove at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. More importantly, it retains the $99,900 price, which means you’ll essentially get more performance at the same price as before.

Specifications found on the Lotus US website show that the Emira First Edition now makes 400 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque, a tad higher than the previous 360 hp and 317 lb-ft. Quite more interesting still, is how the AMG-powered Emira upends the more-expensive Emira V6 in terms of claimed performance figures. It’s quicker to 60 (3.8 versus 4.2 seconds) and has a higher top speed (182 vs 180 mph).

Is This The Recently Announced Emira Turbo SE?

Curiously, Lotus has announced a revamped Emira range for markets outside the US this week, specifically for the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. The lineup now consists of the AMG-powered Emira Turbo and Emira Turbo SE, and the Toyota-equipped Emira V6. The Emira Turbo SE matches the Emira First Edition that we found on the US website, increased by 40 hp and 37 lb-ft.

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Moreover, all the new options for the Emira Turbo SE are also available for the Emira First Edition on the configurator for the US market, such as the Zinc Grey paint, Alcantara headliner, black pack, and red brake calipers. Lotus has practically made the Emira Turbo SE available in America as the First Edition, though we still need an official confirmation for this to become gospel.

We Expect An Official Announcement Soon

While the more powerful Emira First Edition is already on the Lotus US configurator, it’s still not available to order at this time. All you can do for now is to choose options and packages, but you won’t be able to place an order. You can, however, save your configuration. Your best course of action if you really want this version of the four-pot Emira is to reach out to a dealer and share your configuration code.

Curiously enough, the Emira V6 drops the First Edition designation, previously priced at $105,400, and doesn’t come with an MSRP on the configurator. There maybe changes coming to Lotus’ final ICE-equipped sports car, so we expect an official announcement from the automaker soon. As always, we’ll try to keep an ear on the ground for future developments.