Impressions C63 Ed 507 vs Lotus Emira V6 Supercharged
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E63 S AMG, CLS550 4matic, C63 Ed 507, Volvo XC90 T8s
Impressions C63 Ed 507 vs Lotus Emira V6 Supercharged
Had a chance to test drive a 2026 Emira with the 3.5 V6 supercharged today at Concours Greenwich CT. Stick, not auto. Would I prefer to own and possibly daily drive the Lotus vs my C63 Ed 507 Coupe that I have only owned for two months now ? Answer is no, I would prefer to keep owning my 507 Coupe. Some impressions of the Lotus.
1) Looks - pretty striking - like a baby supercar. Really great to see through the rear glass window that the Toyota V6 is positioned midship so the engine is kind of behind the driver's neck.
2) Strictly a 2 seater cos of where the engine needs to be. Whereas I can still fit significant other and younger kid riding in the back of the C63.
3) Handling - the Lotus is about 3300-3400 lbs, 400 hp vs our 3850 lb 507 hp C63. My guess is for straight line speed, they will be pretty close and much will depend on how the rear tires hook up. The mid engine setup helps the Lotus in twisties.
4) The few times I could actually open the throttle on the Lotus, I feel like its power delivery is somewhat behind vs the never ending surge of power when I floor it with the M156. It's great hearing the Toyota V6 scream sort of behind your ear but I still prefer the V8 rumble and growl in our M156.
5) Instrument panel layout - interface with driver: Modern looking Lotus - TFT screens everywhere but the tach is just a little weird to me - I am used to seeing a circular tach and this one is an arc across the top of the instrument panel - I had to ask my chaperone from Lotus where the tach was when he told me to keep it at 3000 rpm and above for best results....
6) Transmission: really nice to row your own gears with the Lotus. I miss that in all my MBs. But man, when caught in traffic it is a real pain. Enjoyable managing the clutch and shifting as you want rather than have the computer manage it for you and well, our MB 7-speed MCTs are not the quickest reacting and we always knew that was not MB's best effort so ....
7) Practicality - I would be much more limited day to day with the Lotus than the C63 - even simple stuff like ability to fold down the rear seats to carry more stuff in the trunk - the C63 is just such a practical little coupe.
Bottom line - glad I did the test drive, glad to experience the Emira. It's about $125-130k fully optioned. I think I have better value in my older but very classic AMG M156 powerplant and I would be much happier as a long term owner in my C63 than having the Emira in my garage.
1) Looks - pretty striking - like a baby supercar. Really great to see through the rear glass window that the Toyota V6 is positioned midship so the engine is kind of behind the driver's neck.
2) Strictly a 2 seater cos of where the engine needs to be. Whereas I can still fit significant other and younger kid riding in the back of the C63.
3) Handling - the Lotus is about 3300-3400 lbs, 400 hp vs our 3850 lb 507 hp C63. My guess is for straight line speed, they will be pretty close and much will depend on how the rear tires hook up. The mid engine setup helps the Lotus in twisties.
4) The few times I could actually open the throttle on the Lotus, I feel like its power delivery is somewhat behind vs the never ending surge of power when I floor it with the M156. It's great hearing the Toyota V6 scream sort of behind your ear but I still prefer the V8 rumble and growl in our M156.
5) Instrument panel layout - interface with driver: Modern looking Lotus - TFT screens everywhere but the tach is just a little weird to me - I am used to seeing a circular tach and this one is an arc across the top of the instrument panel - I had to ask my chaperone from Lotus where the tach was when he told me to keep it at 3000 rpm and above for best results....
6) Transmission: really nice to row your own gears with the Lotus. I miss that in all my MBs. But man, when caught in traffic it is a real pain. Enjoyable managing the clutch and shifting as you want rather than have the computer manage it for you and well, our MB 7-speed MCTs are not the quickest reacting and we always knew that was not MB's best effort so ....
7) Practicality - I would be much more limited day to day with the Lotus than the C63 - even simple stuff like ability to fold down the rear seats to carry more stuff in the trunk - the C63 is just such a practical little coupe.
Bottom line - glad I did the test drive, glad to experience the Emira. It's about $125-130k fully optioned. I think I have better value in my older but very classic AMG M156 powerplant and I would be much happier as a long term owner in my C63 than having the Emira in my garage.
