Emira GT4

[NedaSay]

ACO just announced that GT3 will race at Le Mans starting 2024. I'm now hoping to win the freakin lottery only to convince Lotus to build the upgrade kit from GT4 to GT3 for Emira. Le Mans 24 is really were Lotus belong  imo. Eventhough with Mercedes Benz and Audi leaving Formula E, It would be very easy to join the electric racing arena which may align better with lotus fuure range of products.

[Bibs]

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-motorsport-division-expands-global-commitment-with-emira-gt4-race-car/

[Evotion]

Amazing!  Damn. I want one.

This is the stats as shown - which still mantions the 400, not 416 so there may be leeway,

Look at the weight!

 

EngineToyota V6 2GR-FE

Cubic Capacity3.5-litres

Power400bhp*

RPM7,200rpm

Supercharger Harrop TVS 1900       

Transmission  6-speed xTrac with paddleshift + limited slip differential

Fuel cell capacity96-litres FIA-approved fuel cell         

ElectronicsMotec-supplied dashboard with data-logging + bespoke motorsport loom

SuspensionFront and rear double-wishbone / Öhlins coil-over dampers / anti-roll bars

BrakesAlcon discs and calipers + Bosch Motorsport ABS

TyresPirelli GT4 265/645×18 (front) and 305/680×18 (rear)

Safety equipmentFIA-compliant roll cage, six-point harness and fire extinguisher

DimensionsLength 4,410mm / height 1,290mm / track 1,664mm

Dry weight1,260kg*

[simonb]

is that a body colour intake vent behind the door, looks good

[Evotion]

I can't tell for sure, my eyes are buggered. Nice if we can remove the current dark plastic one and paint or 'carbonise' it.

[TomE]

Looks great and excellent to see the commitment to racing.  How long until the posts about "underpowered" and "heavy"  

[NedaSay]

That looks seriously good. On the outside, they just added a front splitter side skirts, flat diffuser and a pulled-up wing. On the inside,we find Lotus trusted components : motec data logger, Xtrac gearbox... it is a continuation of the Evora GT4 program. The choice of the V6 for it is rational,the base mill is a proven unit in competition and fits the gt4 bill nicely, and with the supercharger it will make it more of an all rounder and less of a momentum racer Hopefully. By the way, mentioning the BHP is useless as the BOP will virtually add or remove BHP at the season first official test. If anything the BHP numbers are adequate for the category when compared to other cars and the power to weight ratio looks quite favourable.

Alcon, disc and calipers are a bit of a surprise, as the company as been using AP racing for so many years, but change is good and Alcon track record is not subject to questioning.

That kit should be quite a cost effective option for racers. Hopefully it gets picked up and Lotus can provide adequate racetrack support.

Edited September 8, 2021 by NedaSay

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Didn’t the Evora GT4 manage 400bhp without the supercharger?

[NedaSay]

it did! However the initial bhp number was only 360bhp but they had no problem getting to 400 post BOP. According to some racer it made the car a bit of a momentum racer, great at Brands Hatch where it's all curves not so great at Silverstone where you need more oomph. Adding the supercharger is a sure way to provide a less peaky ride.

[TomE]

3 minutes ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Didn’t the Evora GT4 manage 400bhp without the supercharger?

By enlarging the base 3.5 litre V6 to 4.0 litres

I think there was a weighting applied to forced-induction cars under the regulations at the time, so it made more sense to enlarge the capacity of the NA than add the SC.

[Bravo73]

It also really helped in the (very hot summer) Lotus Cup last year. The Evora GT4s romped away from the Exige V6s (which suffered dramatically from heatsoak). 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Bearing the above in mind, is this engine choice a step backward? The Evora GT4 was an NA 4 litre. The Emira GT4 will be a supercharged 3.5 litre of similar output. Surely that brings disadvantages? As we know the Supercharger on any Lotus V6 sits on top of the engine. The TVS1900 is even larger/heavier than the TVS1320 fitted to the Evora S. That will add weight and raise the centre of gravity. Secondly there is no mention of a charge cooler system in the press release. In which case, won’t the Emira GT4 also be blighted with heat soak issues like the Exige V6s? I wonder why they didn’t continue with the charge-cooled Edelbrock supercharger of the 4XX models and road Emira, which we know gives 400/430 bhp all day long and even 460bhp for the 3-11 Race with sequential gearbox.

[Evotion]

Interesting.

With the AMG I4 on heavy track use does anybody foresee any heat issues? I assume having this AMG engine in the back has not been on any other car.

[Greg | ValetPro]

What does this mean?  "*Subject to balance of performance"  statement on the linked article based on some performance spec of the Emira GT3 https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/motorsport-news/lotus-motorsport-division-expands-global-commitment-with-emira-gt4-race-car/   

Is this like saying no comment?  ie Keeping hp quite until its released?

I am pleased to see it has the V6 engine.

[TomE]

Also bear in mind the Emira layout change compared to the Evora, reducing the cabin front to back dimension and hence losing the 2+2 space.  This was done by moving the cabin/engine bay bulkhead forwards and makes the engine bay larger.  That was done so they could do better thermal management, along with the different airflow achieved with the side intakes.  I think that's all so they can get more power out of either powerplant with less risk of heat-related issues.

[NedaSay]

8 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Bearing the above in mind, is this engine choice a step backward? The Evora GT4 was an NA 4 litre. The Emira GT4 will be a supercharged 3.5 litre of similar output. Surely that brings disadvantages? As we know the Supercharger on any Lotus V6 sits on top of the engine. The TVS1900 is even larger/heavier than the TVS1320 fitted to the Evora S. That will add weight and raise the centre of gravity. Secondly there is no mention of a charge cooler system in the press release. In which case, won’t the Emira GT4 also be blighted with heat soak issues like the Exige V6s? I wonder why they didn’t continue with the charge-cooled Edelbrock supercharger of the 4XX models and road Emira, which we know gives 400/430 bhp all day long and even 460bhp for the 3-11 Race with sequential gearbox.

To your last and very good point. That maybe because they have worked a whole lot on passive cooling for the engine bay. the road car Emira' side air intakes are way bigger than the ones on Evora. The engine bay is also open on the rear deck and it has these air vents on either side of the lid. It also appears that the supercharger has its own cold air intake from the Motor1 video ( https://youtu.be/Y8Dk093fqJk) and it looks to be a much bigger diameter compared to the Evora. My understanding of things is that they much better cooling in the engine bay and that engine sits slightly lower in it. Emira road version keeps on using the Edelbrock unit. Emira GT4 uses the TVS unit maybe because at the end of the day, the BOP will make more sense with it.

 

[Evotion]

Blimey, imagine if the GT4 does have  that fabled 470 Hp - or even the road car as a huge surprise - that will shut up ALL the critics. Yummy.

[NedaSay]

On 11/09/2021 at 01:47, Greg | ValetPro said:

What does this mean?  "*Subject to balance of performance"  statement on the linked article based on some performance spec of the Emira GT3 https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/motorsport-news/lotus-motorsport-division-expands-global-commitment-with-emira-gt4-race-car/   

Is this like saying no comment?  ie Keeping hp quite until its released?

I am pleased to see it has the V6 engine.

The balance of performance will determine the final spec of the car. Lotus will need to attend a SRO Motorsport/ FIAGT4 test day when they will benchmark it with the usual suspects of the category, Cayman  GT4, Mclaren 620R, BMW M4 GT4...

Final power numbers are literally out of their hands until that test. they can only get the weight as low as can be and hope for a positive power to weight ratio. The car could end up getting 360bhp or 480 bhp.

The goal of the BOP is to make the gentleman drivers somewhat equal on track regardless of the mill they are running. That's why the Alpine sometimes win races while competing with AMG GT and its v8 twin turbo. the Alpine is a momentum car unable to get out of its own way at Monza but at Brands hatch it is a freakin weapon.

The car is said to compete with heavy hitters but the weight spec looks favorable at this point.

 

Find below a list of the cars homologated for 2019-2020 season, weight is the "homologated weight", and Emira target spec.

Toyota Supra GT4 (3.0L inline 6 N.A, 430bhp, 650nm, 1350kg)

Porsche Cayman GT-CS (3.8L flat 6 N.A, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1295kg)

AMG GT4 (4.0L V8 Twin Turbo, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1400kg)

McLaren 570R ( 3.8L V8 Twin Turbo, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1425kg)

Ford Mustang GT4 ( 5.2L V8 N.A, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1490kg)

Chevrolet Camaro GT4 ( 6.2L V8 N.A, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1420kg)

BMW M4 GT4 ((3.0L inline 6 N.A, bhp unknown, 650nm, 1430kg) same engine as the Toyota Supra GT

Audi R8 LMS GT4 (5.0L V10 N.A, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1460kg)

Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 4.0L V8 Twin Turbo, bhp unknown, nm unknown, 1435kg)

Alpine A110 GT4 ( 1.8L inline 4 T, 360bhp, nm unknown, 1080kg)

Lotus Emira GT4 (3.5 V6 Supercharged, 400bhp, nm unknown, 1260kg)

 

When I say unknown i mean that the numbers are not officially communicated but you can find the numbers on the website of each car company under their motorsport tab... I guarantee thought that the advertised numbers are not the numbers they race at.

[jimichanga]

The Evora GT430 road car weighed 1258kg dry. That’s road car. GT430 Sport was 10kg lighter still. The Evora GT4 race car was 1190kg.

Edited September 11, 2021 by jimichanga

[NedaSay]

The company did not say that 1260 kg is the lightest the car can be, it is only the homologation weight they want to be at. There's a fair bit of faffing  around with weight in GT4,  on behalf of manufacturer that is, and in order to make the car compoetitive vis a vis the BOP, that's why the Camaro is lighter on paper than the carbon intensive 570R...

[jimichanga]

Numbers are there for anyone who wants to read them. Hopefully one day Lotus will get a little more appreciation for what they achieved with Evora. The 1260kg dry figure seemed to get one or two excited here so stands to reason that they should be impressed that you can already buy a lighter and more powerful Lotus road car than the proposed Emira GT4 race car.

Nothing new here many McLaren and Ferrari road cars are more powerful then their GT3 counterparts of course. But excitement about Emira GT4 should also come with some recognition about what was being offered with the later Evoras and Exiges.

[steveoexige]

https://www.simplysportscars.com/emira-gt4-available-in-australia/

Finally launched, deposits being taken in Oz. Shouldn't be long before Europe follows suit.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Bravo73
Changed title to be Emira GT4 thread

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Looks like it could be the quickest way to get behind the wheel of an Emira! Will RML be manufacturing them? I guess they need them to be seen out and about competing at race tracks by the start of the motorsport season in Europe. By the way the net price equates to GBP 162,000.

[alfapork]

Great way to use up the validation build bodyshells.

[Bravo73]

Is @Evotion going to move to Oz now?