Lotus Emira i4 vs Emira V6, which is better? Father & son review 

The grey one is my favourite.

just love the fact that in almost every video from harry, you can see a Ferrari F40 and a F50 sitting there casually in the garage like it's the most normal thing in the world

That was me in my Elise at 9:13! Very cool to see the Emira out and about!

the nimbus grey should be called British sky blue

Nice to see a father & son Enjoy doing the same hobby/passion at the same time on screen together, should show others what’s possible in that respect.

Harry, really liking what Charlie brought to the table on this one. A straight shooter with great insight. Really good to see Father & Son together. I wouldn’t be opposed to more of this. Cheers from America!

Wish I could talk to my dad like that. Like a conversation, to a friend.

I must say, the addition of Charlie's perspective really took this review to the next level. It's refreshing to see a father and son duo sharing their insights and opinions on these fantastic cars. Charlie's candid views, combined with Harry's wealth of knowledge, create a perfect balance. And that garage setup with the Ferrari F40 and F50? It's like a dream come true. Keep up the awesome content, Harry and team! Looking forward to more great reviews and comparisons like this one.

A 25% increase in price is so disappointing. At over £80k with no good pcp rates for the foreseeable future, this has now become far too expensive to justify.

Having you and Charlie as sound boards felt good. He may not be a journalist but the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. Wouldn’t mind seeing more of that.

Thank you for the comparison. You have done more for the Lotus brand than their marketing department.

Harry, love the way you value your son's opinion. You are so proud about him and that force is magic. Cheers from Greece

Charlie pulls no punches and says it like it is. Bravo!

Like father, like son. A nice 'two-watch' insight on how these match up. Your grandson might have to decide which one he prefers!

Great to see father and son comparing. I bailed out last week buying the i4, due to the increased waiting time, poor customer service and THAT PRICE INCREASE. I've also seen the V6 selling now at 12% below list price for a 1 year old car which make the i4 expensive.

I would like to suggest having Charlie over more often. His 'younger' views and wordings complement your knowledgeable points of view perfectly. This format would work great for classics as well, I think. Thank you both (and all others involved) for all the continued hard work.

Your son has definitely learn to use your words Harry, he is a great communicator. Lovely video and greatly described by both of you.

Guess sleep has to wait for another 29 minutes!

Great review of two fabulous cars by father and son, sharing and discussing their thoughts about cars on test. Good to see Charlie again.

Such a great dynamic having Charlie on - you both pick up on specific and very different thoughts and feelings which is really cool.

You can always see the love in Harry's eyes when he is with his son.

It’s great to see Charlie with Harry. Great team. 😊

More content with Charlie! Great conversation between the two of you on the differences and summary, great job Harry

Such an excellent comparison with well rounded views/opinions. I'm here for more Charlie content!

Great seeing your son. Time for another track session with Charlie.

Fantastic video, Harry! You and Charlie really gave me an insight into the flavors of Emira. Much appreciated.

Loving this father/son type of video. A great addition to the channel Harry.

Charlies contribution was a very helpful. Just felt right. Please keep him on the channel as a regular!

Wonderful to see you Charlie! Absolutely brilliant review We need more of these reviews together as the points of difference discussed are fascinating! Well done indeed 😊

This was the comparison video I've been waiting for for 2 years, thanks. It would be perfect if you also did a head-to-head race

Great to see these two in a direct comparison Harry, thanks for sharing

Always great to see and hear from Charlie. Thanks Harry great video 👍🙏👏🏁

Flippin love that car, (either of them) absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Thanks Harry. Great stuff.

I have a V6 Emira and i have absolutely no intention of changing it for the i4 thats for dam sure!!!

what a humble and sincere young man your son is!

Thank you both. Really been looking forward to this comparison.

Well done Charlie, very clear commentary and good to hear your thoughts. Not that I can really afford one, but I think if I really wanted a DCT sports car it would be the Porsche and save myself £20K to spend on insurance, fuel, roadtax and servicing.

I do love the Emira. Looking forward to driving one. Interesting comparison between the two models. Sounds like both have their pros and cons.

Really enjoyed the Q&A / troubleshooting between the two of you. Very engaging to watch, well done 👍🏻😊

Great video as ever, and once he got warm how lovely to hear Charlie’s input and counterpoints to your regular summary! Hope to see him again in future videos 😊👍👍 Cheers

Ah Harry, you've just turned this into the perfect sports car comparison test, younger driver giving unbiased and very technical review of both flavours of an incredible new Lotus, tempered by an old hack who you can planely see is incredibly proud of his son and is quick to point him back in the right direction as regards where Lotus are going with these two gorgeous cars. Harry of course these cars are both very much more expensive than planned and therein lies the rub, when a very well regarded Porsche is less expensive there is a problem. Review was exceptional as always, and Harry's son just added to the driver involvement, thanks as always Harry, top notch.

2 in a week we are lucky, Thanks Harry

Let's see more of Charlie, that conversation between the two of you is a really interesting feature. Watching the two of you discussing the cars, really teasing out details that you had both experienced over a period of time provided far more insight than your usual (and very good, I might add) summing up. As ever, another great video on the roads of my old stomping ground...

Really enjoyed Charlie's input. Brought an extra dimension to the comments.

I have to say that it was great to have Charlie along for a second (and critical) opinion. And those side by side and overtake shots were spectacular

Thank you for a great review, Harry and Charlie! I’d be very interested to see you compare the i4 with the V6 Automatic. I’m lucky to have a V6 Auto as my daily driver. Very quick shifts and much better than the manual in the real World, which is full of traffic jams. If you’d want to try my dark verdant car, come to Ghent, Belgium, and I’d be happy to have you drive it. Keep them coming, Harry, always very insightful! Thank you, Bart

I would like you to include Charlie on more of your car reviews. He's very insightful, and he adds to the analysis that you, Harry, ,are so thoroughly good at!

Lovely to see your son on camera and more involved Harry - great video and very interesting the differences!

Its very unfortunate what has happened to the price. This is dipping into territory that is better fulfilled by other sports cars.

Nice Elise photo-bomb at 9:14!

Very informative amd entertaining to hear Charlie's view, the duo works well, he's definitely your protégé. Well done!

Great review Harry, I really enjoyed both you and Charlie's rapport. Let's have some more please.

What a great video Harry! The involvement of Charlie is a really good idea. It gives a different perspective on the cars more of a layman's view, so interesting to see how the experience is interpreted between you both. That's no bad thing as it is the view that the the great part of the buying public would relate to.

I think Charlie is spot on with his take on it. Would be a fantastic every day car if you had to have just one of them and use it for everything.

Love the father and son exchanges. Adds a lot

Yes thank you! I have been waiting for an I4 verse V6 review. Great job you guys. Love this car. Putting order in for V6 ASAP!

If it fits I would like to see some more videos of you both together. Very well done, Harry, and Charlie with his own very nuanced view on the matter. Two Lotus in comparative competition but two car enthusiasts in very good complement. About the cars, I hope Lotus doesn't overprice the Emira now to sell enough of them. At 60K I would think about it but at 85K no more. I'd rather keep my 2007 Elise. You can't compare it to the Emira for many reasons but I have the fun too, maybe even more at 830 Kg.

A great review, I had intended to try both before deciding but delays with the i4 and price increases, meant that I went V6, which I've had for a week now. Got in before the latest price hike and absolutely love the car, it's a brilliant drive (even though I'm still limited to 4k revs atm) and a real eye catcher.

Great video , good to have Charlie’s input.

I was just looking for videos of the i4 vs v6 sound 😄 love you guys 🔥

Great video and comparison 👍🏽 I’m fortunate to be the owner of a V6 Emira (same colour as Harry’s.!) Very happy with it, one of the best things about it is the engine, it properly howls at the top end and makes the car feel very special. Even bumbling around town in sport mode, it has a lovely crackle through the exhaust. I initially had an order for the i4 but cancelled and got a lightly used V6, and after seeing this video I’m glad I did. It looks like Lotus have had to do an awful lot of heat management with the AMG engine in a mid engine layout, and I can’t imagine higher outputs will be feasible as a result, but I may proven wrong! I considered the Porsche route but I’m very happy with that V6 and manual box 😊

Really interesting comparison and it’s great to hear Charlie’s thoughts on both Emiras too. I think both are beautiful but I can’t see how the i4 is worth £20k more than a Cayman. Bonkers.

What a wonderul video! I think the discussion from two perspectives works absolutely great. Would love to see more team videos from you two.

always love your reviews, this one seemed extra special involving your son. Keep it up!

Great to have your feedback on the i4. Like you, I opted for the V6 manual and would like to try the i4 for comparison, but as I don't 'daily' mine then your thoughts seem to back up my choice of V6.

Great review! Viewed from armchair perspective here, the sound of the V6 excites me more, more special, and tbh I like that “pause” in the sound-track on gear changes. The i4 sound-track is less well defined and I’ve never really liked the shot-gun gear change exhaust sound on sporty dual-clutch changes - although lifting off the throttle slightly on up-changes may soften that. My own experience is of 2.0 diesels with dual cutch (all VW’s), and having had these for the last 16 years am very much a fan of dct. I really never get on well with “sport” setting on dct, it’s just annoying, so flick between auto and manual changes as the road conditions and my mood suits. I’d go for i4 for daily use, economy, convenience. But would hanker after the sound-track of the V6.

GREAT Vid.... watching cars drive in 25fps was a bit hard, but you are one of the only people showcasing the sound of the i4

what a lovely review. not just beautiful cars but a lovely father/son dynamic

You two work much better than Top Gear. More of this please.

That's me in the black gtr. Thought I'd spotted you that day! For me the dual clutch is a must have because when acceleration reaches a certain level you would effectively be driving one-handed as you are changing gear so often. The driving experience at that point becomes better with a dual-clutch and paddles

More Father & Son Reviews please. You Two are a Very Good match.

Woke up early to watch this review, safe to say I wasn't disappointed, cracking review and insight into both cars, with them looking awesome in the same colour, also Charlie has a great input and was lovely to see both father and son talking cars, Also worth mentioning that gtr giving it the beans too 😂

Great to see the father-son interaction.

At the announced 60K price I was super excited about the I4 version, but that 20K increase placed it out of reach. When the actual pricing became clear I went and bought a nearly-new A110 for over 30K less; and aside from a garbage infotainment system, I've been very pleased with it. It delivers exactly what I wanted/expected the I4 Emira to be.

Fantastic father and son fun and reviews! Charlie has the best dad in the World!

More Charlie please! I like the chemistry.

If I had £100k to buy a car this would 100% be it. Forget an M3, 911 and all those usual contenders which you could just about get a base model without any options for that money, with this you'd get change from your £100k and it's just a beautiful car in every way.

Bravo for bringing in Charlie and his point of view! You know he is quite good! The difference in fuel efficiency is not surprising, but it is significant. V6 or I4? A very difficult choice, unless the transmission dictates a preference. Very interesting review, thank you both.

Great video and good to have father and son review! I had noticed the fan on the video which if you can hear when driving is a shame, but I'm sure it wont detract from the driving experience too much!

Great Video and comparison between the two . I think I’ll be happy with either. Charlie’s comment at the end “ I’m not a journalist “ not needed , came across very well 👍

That price hike is really disappointing: £60k sounded like a bit of a bargain, and was probably a bit optimistic/ headline grabbing. I expected the reality to be £10k more, but £20k+ is a very large increase - that's a third more, and will have lots of people going back to look at the Cayman again, I think. Great video, as always, and lovely to see the father/son interaction. Cheers.

Thanks for this video Harry and Son! Way cool. At its new price point, the i4 will have a hard time competing with the Cayman 4cyl.

That was very interesting to hear Charlie's opinion and I would love to see Charlie appear in more videos? It is amazing to see here a real Father and Son review with 2 awesome cars ! 🙏🙏😁😁

Love to hear both your comments on the cars, healthy different opinions but very practical 😍

Having the price jump by nearly 50% is a right kick in the teeth - I feel it needed to hit that price target to be competitive against the Cayman. That said, it still looks wonderful and with a 4 pot I feel its the more authentic model in terms of Lotus lineage.

Absolutely love this new Lotus. I think the V6 comes across more or less spot on. I don’t mind the sound a character of this turbo i4, though I do think the gear box needs some sorting. As Charlie put it, a simple map update should sort the ratios and general behaviour of the box. I do think Lotus missed a trick with the stick though. If you get the mapping right and combine that with an intuitive pull to go up the gears and a nudge forward to go back down the ratios, you could end up with a relatively satisfying driving experience. Especially in a car as small and chuck-able as the Emira. Funny thing is and from these videos, I do get the impression that the V6 comes across as a more sport touring type prospect. Where as the i4- with some the aforementioned gearbox revisions- could really hit the spot as a more racy track day tool. Its a shame you cannot option the four banger with a manual gearbox. Likewise, the V6 with a nicely sorted flappy paddle box. I'm thinking if Lotus could sort all that and bring the price down a tad ;)) they could have and absolute hit on their hands with these lovely cars. Regardless, nice work Harry and Charlie!! Lets have more in this father son format!!

You trained him well Harry!! Ought to do more stuff together! Very enjoyable Father and Son stuff - thank you!

Love the father and son thing, great video guys ✌🏻👍🏻

Was pleasantly surprised by the lovely engine note of the i4 and feel Lotus have judged this very well. For me though, you still can't beat that great v6 sound and so that would be the one for me. Great video as usual Harry, and including your son was a really good thing in getting the younger generation insight and would be very interesting on some future posts, certainly with newer cars.

7:07 Harry, its a safety thing. Actor *Anton Yelchin* was the highest profile case of an accidental gear engagement when his Chrysler reversed into him as he was opening his gate. From then on, cars have now got some kind of way to prevent accidental gear engagement.

Great review, I like to see more to Come. Father and some, Two generations with different thoughts and opinions. Useful for two generations!

Another great , Honest, Review with a new added generational twist. Lotus have really put a very difficult choose for the buyer, but ultimately it sounds like they will be happy with whatever they choose. I think I would go i4 for just get in and go but fully understand Harry’s choose based on what his planned use would be. Excellent watching 👏🏼👏🏼

There's also an automatic for the v6 that uses a torque converter. Hope to see a review of that soon

A very good comparison, I think the I4 is more of an all rounder with the joy of an old school turbo charger, while the V6 is a more of a pure driver’s car with a sweet engine note.

The grey one is my favourite.. It’s great to see Charlie with Harry. Great team. .

Really enjoyed Charlie’s contributions. I would like to see him in a few more or even his own channel.

That road is turning into the Nurburgring of England.

I think Charlie summoned it up for me (thanks) As a daily which is what it would be in modern traffic the i4, although having now driven the i6 manual my heart is with that. Combining later this week chaps ? Si.

Nice to have Charlie's input.

Aside from seeing the main focus of a back to back comparison, it’s fun spotting all the other ’interesting’ cars around Harry’s local roads