I got my chance to drive the Emira today thanks to Rybrook Lotus in Bristol.
Most things have been covered but as a previous Elise (S1 and S2) plus Evora driver there are a few things I noticed.
The car feels like a grown up Elise rather than a facelifted Evora. The difference from the Evora is very substantial IMHO. Gearbox is fine (not perfect but not a problem) the interior quality is a huge leap forward compared to anything Lotus have done before. The leather quality (Bridge of Weir) is much better than the old cow in my Evora. Ergonomics are OK but the car feels quite compact and headroom will be a problem for some. There is no way I would be able to wear a helmet in the car. The seat position and adjustment is good but it is overall set too high. I am only 6' tall ( shortish legs and long back) but there was only an inch headroom above me. The seat headrest is far too low and only sits in the nape of my neck with no adjustment. The bolstering is not as significant as my Evora was (or even my Mustang is). The low dash scuttle just seems to emphasise the high driving position.
There is a wind noise problem at the top trailing edge of the door, which seems to originate from the door seal design - but as these dealer demos are not customer cars it may have been changed. It is certainly significant at motorway speed and the biggest source of noise right by your ear.
Engine is plenty powerful enough for the road, but certainly quieter than the Evora.
The most significant difference is the handling and ride. Wow. This had the touring setup, but the ride was astonishing, handling just as good as the Evora but rolling refinement a huge improvement. No ARB knocking or general NVH problems - as good as any car on the road. Steering a little less frenetic than the Evora and less tramlining. Some may see this as less exciting, but in reality it moves the car on towards a much wider audience.
Everything worked, but I did trigger the indicator with my knee once somehow!
Central screen is too dim in the sunny weather we encountered for about 5 minutes!
Jonathon at Rybrook did mention that if you are not fussed too much about spec then Lotus CS can put you on the cancelation list which could mean a much quicker delivery. They have done over 100 test drives now, so multiply that up by the number of dealers to get an idea of UK demand. I think Lotus have just about delivered 100 UK customer cars.
I'm a way off delivery yet so will probably want to look again before final purchase to see if any of the peeves are fixed.