Though the Emira is broadly a great sports car, some die-hard Lotus fans might be a tad disappointed at the sound. The feral bark that always characterised the Toyota V6-engined cars is much more muted this time around, reflecting the more accommodating remit of the car. This is no longer an Exige of a sports car, and doubtless for some that's fine. But for anyone after a bit more volume, Milltek has already made an exhaust system available to Emira customers.
Having borrowed Litchfield’s development car to mount it on, Milltek’s new T304L stainless steel system is a couple of kilos lighter than stock (just the silencer alone saves a kilo), with an 18 per cent reduction in back pressure. It also ‘sharpens throttle response and provides a more aggressive engine note’. Sounds ideal, especially as the Emira’s throttle isn’t always the most responsive to blips. A titanium set of pipes is also in development (and something for the 2.0-litre car will follow), which will subtract something like six kilos from the standard system.
Though the new silencer is compliant with the various exhaust filters and the normal exhaust valving, Milltek is also offered an OPF/GPF bypass pipe for use on circuit. This is designed to work with its own valve control system, which can keep the valve open permanently and can be had without the bypass pipe. Of course, the video makes the full cat back system sound great, but then it’s also an exhaust for use away from the road. Milltek says this should all be fine on a track day, at least. ‘With the rear silencer, the Emira is fully track day-compliant, while even with the OPF bypass pipe and valves open, the Lotus will be within reach of the noise regulations of certain UK tracks.’ So it’d be worth knowing exactly what the decibel limit of your track day is, and what this is now belting out, before being disappointed.
Still, there are no noise limits on the road (at least not for the moment), and the Milltek exhaust does promise to enhance one of the Emira’s most emotional selling points. “Our work with Litchfield has helped us to create a system that not only enhances the Lotus Emira as a standalone upgrade, but which is also designed to work in parallel with other tuning enhancements to fully optimise the performance potential of the supercharged V6”, said Milltek Sport’s MD Steve Pound. The last generation of models showed how tuneable to the 3.5 V6 was; imagine an Emira that only sounded like an Exige, but went like one as well. That’d be some sports car. Whether you’re after just the new silencer or the full system, Milltek’s Emira exhausts are on sale now.
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