Lotus Emira vs Lexus GS350

What's the difference?

If this really is the final petrol-powered Lotus sports car then it’s a sad day for fans of the brand and its history. But it’s also worthy of celebration because they have made a car that is genuinely impressive.

It may not be perfect, and it will have to fight hard to lure buyers away from Porsche, BMW and co. but for anyone who enjoys a dynamic, engaging and incredibly fun sports car the Emira should be on your short-list.

Alternatively, if you’ve always dreamed of buying a traditional Lotus sports car and haven’t got around to it until now, this is your last chance so don’t wait too long.

Weirdly, given all the good things I've had to say about the GS F Sport, it doesn't quite hang together. It's missing that certain something the Europeans have in their chassis, particularly the BMW 5 Series, and with ageing interior tech, it's struggling to keep up.

It's a car built for specific tastes, and they're more California than Straya. And that's perfectly okay, but unfortunately, that doesn't translate to a stampede of buyers. Having said that, none of its German rivals (or its beleaguered Japanese counterpart, Infiniti) could claim wild sales success either.

The GS is a terrific car, underrated but also just not quite there for my taste. The GS F, though, that's another thing altogether.

As mentioned earlier, the Emira is meant to be a bridge between Lotus’ past and its future - combining elements of its previous sports cars while also laying the visual tone for future models.

The design does a good job of that, because there’s clearly a link to the Exige and Evora of the recent past, but it also takes heavy influence from the limited-run Evija hypercar.

In turn, this new design language will spread out across the all-new electric models, including the Eletre SUV and Emeya sports sedan.

The styling does a good job of making the Emira look and feel like a premium sports car, without the need for any flashy wings or similar. It’s a simple, compact but stylish sports car.

This trend carries over to the cabin, with the more premium finish with the carpets, leather and good quality switchgear, as well as the digital instrument display and 10.2-inch multimedia touchscreen. Gone are the days of a Lotus having a minimalist, exposed aluminium interior with only the bare necessities. This is a proper premium sports car.

The GS is ageing well, but it's still a bit heavy-handed around the headlights and a little on the slabby side along the flanks. It doesn't look poised for action, even with the F Sport additions, but nor does it look frumpy, mostly due to the whopping blacked-out spindle grille, a Lexus signature. 

The rear end is good looking but a bit bluff, again neither surprising or delighting.

Little has changed inside, but it's still a very nice cabin, and always will be apart from a couple of clangers (the gear shifter looks super-cheap). 

What's more, it's welcoming, lots of very nice materials, comfortable, seats - it's exactly what it needs to be. Whatever you might think of the looks, one thing is absolutely certain - if anyone builds cars better than Lexus, it's a very, very short list.

While it’s a more luxurious Lotus, it remains a compact and impractical sports car - and that’s very much on brand. In terms of storage inside the cabin, there are two cupholders and a small lidded console box, but the size of the cabin means everything is quite narrow and feels a little tight for space.

There is a decent sized, although not very deep, shelf behind the seats, so you can put smaller, softer items there and hope they don’t slide around too much.

In terms of actual luggage space, there isn’t much. There’s a small boot behind the engine, and while deep, it’s pretty narrow so you’ll only get soft bags in there if you plan on taking your Emira on a road trip.

Being a big car, there's plenty of room inside. Four passengers will be very comfortable although rear legroom was a bit on the skinny side given the car's size.

The cabin contains a good-sized console bin, four cupholders and each door pocket into which you could conceivably slot a bottle.

The 520-litre boot is a useful shape, with a sensible load height and a space-saver spare under the floor. The 5 Series and E Class both best the Lexus by 10 litres, so the GS isn't far off the norm.

We had the pleasure of the GS 350 F Sport for the week, which is well over $10,000 cheaper than the Luxury and is therefore the 'default. If you're not sure what F Sport means, it's Lexus' answer to an M Sport or AMG pack, without all the high-powered engine shenanigans to go with it. If that's what you're after, the V8-powered Lexus GS F is definitely for you.

Starting at $95,300, the F Sport has a spectacular standard features list - 17-speaker stereo, 19-inch alloys, variable-geared four-wheel steer (!), adaptive suspension, dual-zone climate control (with moisturising function), hectares of leather trim, head-up display, electrically-operated heated and ventilated front seats, rear sunshade, F Sport instrument screen, auto LED headlights, keyless entry and start, sat nav, front and rear parking sensors with around-view cameras and a space-saver spare.

The media system is run from Lexus' 12.3-inch screen embedded in the dashboard and controlled from an infuriating console-mounted mouse-clicker with a couple of shortcut buttons. It really is spectacularly irritating and made worse by the rotary dial stationed next to it that acts as the drive mode selector. Why not use that instead? 

As ever, the system is mildly baffling to use and hard to look at, but the sound is absolutely lovely from the Mark Levinson-branded speakers. Lexus is persisting with a DVD player but it also has DAB+.

The MY24 Emria first arrived in Australia with the same Toyota-built 3.5-litre V6 engine Lotus had used in recent years in the likes of the Exige and Evora. However, this new AMG-built four-cylinder provides a fresh choice.

Importantly, while built by Mercedes-AMG, the tuning and calibration is unique to Lotus (but we’ll discuss that in detail later).

That means the 2.0-litre unit is tuned to make 268kW/430Nm, which is less potent than AMG offers in its 310kW/500Nm A45 hot hatch, although a more potent version of the four-pot Emira has been confirmed for MY25.

The engine is paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission, which you can either leave in automatic mode or change gear manually using the F1-style paddles on the steering wheel.

Lexus fits a 3.5-litre (2GR-FKS) naturally-aspirated V6, delivering 232kW/380Nm to help shift the 1745kg GS. Power goes to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic. Lexus claims the sprint from 0-100km/h is completed in just six seconds.

Given the Emira is a sports car, the four-cylinder turbo is tuned for performance over economy and that’s reflected in an 10.1L/100km return on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle. That’s not too bad for a sports car, but is relatively thirsty given the engine capacity and the overall size of the car.

The Emira is equipped with a 60-litre fuel tank, so it has a driving range of approximately 594km.

A real world 13.7L/100km is a solid miss of the claimed 9.3L/100km, which itself is hardly earth-shattering. It's a big heavy car and that's the penalty. It drinks fuel fast, so the 66-litre fuel tank does drain quickly and it's worth knowing you have to fill it with the 95 RON or better.

Just to be clear right up front, the score for this section is heavily biased towards the car's dynamic attributes, because frankly the Emira can be hard to live with at times.

At urban speeds the powertrain feels like a dog straining at its leash, which can result in some awkward moments.

For example, there were multiple instances where the gearbox refused to change out of second gear when exiting a roundabout, letting the engine rev quite hard and likely annoying my neighbours.

Some of the gear changes can be clunky too, not slotting as sweetly as they should on a sports car costing in excess of $200K.

However, you forget all that when you get the Emira onto a stretch of twisty, winding open road (preferably smooth tarmac) and move it from the 'Tour' to 'Sports' mode. The car comes alive, revving hard, shifting with precision and feeling like a puppy running through a field in pure ecstasy.

Like the great cars to come before it from Lotus, the Emira is in its element carving through corners. The steering is incredibly accurate, direct and responsive - as good as any sports car I’ve driven in recent memory. The chassis responds to those inputs with immediacy, too, feeling nimble, agile and engaging.

This is Lotus at its best.

There are things you expect in a Lexus. Quietness. Composure. Smoothness. The GS delivers all three of those things effortlessly. But it has a few extra things in its bag that I can't say I was expecting.

For a start, the 3.5-litre V6 moves the car without any carry-on and in doing so, I was constantly amazed at how quickly the speed in the head-up display reached the posted limit. It just doesn't feel or sound like a six second car, but there you are. The transmission is virtually faultless, the engine sound distant and refined, the power impressive.

It's a heavy car, no question, but two things work to make it feel much lighter. First - and it doesn't matter which mode you choose - the adaptive suspension somehow knocks about 200kg out of how heavy the car feels. The brakes, while a little soft on pedal feel when you first step on them, are very effective and again help to make the car feel lighter than it is.

The four driving modes are quite distinct. As usual, Eco makes everything soft and doughy or as I prefer to say, unpleasant. Normal is great for every day, with just the right throttle response and steering weight.

Moving to sport ups the aggro slightly while Sport+, while never harsh, firms everything up to the point where it starts to feel like a different car. Sport+ makes the car feel race-car pointy, the suspension holds the body in check and the power seems readily available without jerky progression

The all-wheel steer is a big part of the change in feel. It's is especially sharp in Sport+ mode. The steering's gearing changes up quite a bit, meaning a lot less steering lock required for your favourite hairpin bend. Of course, at real speed it all calms down because neither you nor Lexus are fond of sneezy lane-changes or Armco-swiping. At first I thought it just made the big car feel a bit too nervous but as I got used to it (and was able to dial it down by switching back into a less racy mode) I found it fun but a little bit out of character with the car itself.

And just because it's the F Sport, that doesn't mean it can't do all the things you'd expect from a Lexus. You can still waft, you can still creep up on people and it's really very comfortable when you're cruising or stuck in traffic. 

The GS scores 10 airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, forward AEB, active cruise, auto high beams and lane departure warning with lane keep assist.

The GS doesn't have an ANCAP or Euro NCAP rating while the USA's IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) rating is good for each key crash-worthiness measure. The IIHS suite of tests is quite rigorous but differ from our ANCAP/Euro NCAP standards.

Lotus Australia offers a three year warranty, which is in line with Porsche's cover, so that’s competitive in the sports car market. 

However, the brand does not offer capped price servicing, so you’ll need to discuss with your local dealer how much regular maintenance will cost you. The service intervals are every 12 months/15,000km.

There's one area where Lexus smashes the Germans and that's after-sales. While the warranty is hardly ground-breaking at four years/100,000km and service intervals are reasonable at 12 months/15,000km, it's how it all comes together.

For the duration of the warranty, when the car needs a service, Lexus will either come and get it then return it to you, or give you a loan car. Anecdotal evidence suggests this continues long after the warranty runs out. Like, 10 years after the warranty runs out. 

This is a small thing, but if there's one thing I hate about car ownership, it's the servicing experience. If I was a betting man, I'd dare you to find someone who genuinely has a problem with Lexus after-sales care.

On top of that, you get a generous roadside assist package for four years.