Corvette Z06 vs Lotus Emira // DRAG RACE, REVIEW & LAP TIMES

you're watching throttle house I'm Thomas and I'm James and in the fall of 1877 we ordered a Lotus am miror that was spec not unlike this one yes and had we gone through with that order it would be arriving about now but upsettingly we can AR mirror order it's a sad day it's a sad day and there are lots of little reasons that we're going to go over in a bit but there are some main reasons one of them is the Monumental delay it took to get here this much yeah we ordered it over 2 and a half years ago and we were told it would be here well over a year ago and we had content we wanted to make with it there was a certain time frame we had to do it in and they just it just didn't happen it just didn't happen in that time I've procreated I have a baby now that's almost one already yeah and yeah it just didn't make sense to have two sports cars in the driveway that was one of the other reasons meata is not a sports car meata is a sports car okay anyway we also haven't got unlimited money so we had to allocate Amira funds well actually less than half of the Amira funds to two we think really special cars exciting cars yeah that we're going to be taking on a road trip adventure Full Throttle House adventure at the end of the summer but that's not what today's about today is about pitting the 2023 car of the year against the 2022 car of the year and even though they're not matched in performance horsepower or Price our car enthusiasm for them is equal so we kind of want to see what happens when you put them side by side yeah we're going to drag race them we really and we're going to do lap times and we're going to take them on the track Y and we're going to actually answer answer the question if they shared the same year which one of them would be car of the year and we're going to answer the question if James is an idiot for canceling an airror order I no we're not answering that question you first of all you were the one this is stupid told James I wanted to compare the cars of the year not drag race them [Music] yeah it is yeah it is there's literally a butterfly around it it's like oh it's so pretty I'm just going to Flap my wings whimsically am I watching you do an impression of me [Music] 5 4 3 2 1 go traction traction traction and we're up I'm losing really really really badly losing oh my God that s [Music] that is an experience that everyone should should have in their [Music] lifetime it's not a slow car this is not a slow car that's just a really really fast one we've proven something yeah I don't know what it is three race why cuz I have launch control and that's cheating I have launch control I got my hands and feet baby well it didn't work out for you no let's remove some of you from the equation then yeah all right 3 2 1 who yes boys and he's gone that is an absolute Rush Oh my god that car is fast fliping [Music] it worth a try no it wasn't okay so we knew yeah we knew that was going to happen the question is yeah which brings the most Joy what you don't know that yet we haven't got to that bit of the video [Music] [Music] ladies and gentlemen the Lotus Amira you've probably heard that these days Lotus the company famous for simplifying and adding lightness has been very busy doing just the opposite thankfully there's still a few chaps with some sense over there and we're all blessed with this car light mid-engined analog it has all the buzzwords that make us car folk feel a little funny in our downstairs and this Samir with its sport package suspension and on some fresh cup two tires thanks to Michelin Canada is as ready for the track today as it'll ever be now I've never driven this on a racetrack before only on a Canyon Road where it was brilliant and right away I can tell you out here it's brilliant too there's just so much communication world class levels of communication it's a benchmark these cars lotuses are a benchmark for what it means to tell a driver what a car is doing oh the brakes are oh excellent every little Nuance of the tires locking up the ABS kicking in is communicated through to my foot and of course the steering I do wish it had more revs I do wish the car had a few more revs I feel like it's just getting going just getting going when I have to shift but the power band is nice and I really enjoy the [Music] noise oh the damping is excellent this is the a sport suspension so that means the spring rates and the dampers are stiffer to go along with these extra sticky tires they're cup twos and there is a lot a lot of [Music] grip that's fun that is really fun but you know what we're not on a Canyon Road anymore AR we so let's make sure everything's turned off off trying to have a little bit of [Music] [Music] fun right away I encountered a problem since the Samira is on the extra sticky cup two option it was way too difficult to unstick the rear for the most part it would just under steer boringly in the corner and maybe if you're lucky you get a little touch of rear end silliness I was left wanting more so I decided I needed to give it a little extra all right I figured out how to slide it you have to go into the corner way too fast begin to have an accident and then drift on the way out there it goes all right seems like some brakes on the way in that's how you get it to [Applause] move so while I was struggling but managing to misbehave in the Lotus James was having no such problems in the Z06 this is just so much fun what a brilliant brilliant car noing Wonder this was our top of the year I haven't tracked this car yet the last time we had it on the track I was in a Ford GT and I'm not complaining cuz that car was Sensational in every single way and we criticized the Z06 for having less than perfect steering feel and I know the chassis is and the engine they're all so good that it makes up for it but it's sort of like learning that your girlfriend's only ayous Zone is her nostrils for me it just doesn't cut the mustard but these ridiculous cut to our tires just like we experienced in the Dark Horse there's so much surface area to them that it's actually forcing so steering F and I feel quite confident in this oh yes I love this car I love this [Music] car we get stuck in the Supercar versus not Supercar debate and right now I'm not sure there is much debate to be honest this thing it's twice as exciting as an Audi R8 and if that was already borderline superc car what the hell does that make this stupid stupid quip through the tires stupid this is going to put down one hell of a lap time I struggle to think how the ZR1 and the zor or whatever are going to be any more emotional than this I get the lap times but I just don't know how you can beat [Music] this all right let's take a look at the fastest lap of the three in the Lotus first as I mentioned this is an incredibly communicative car to drive and with those cup two tires the traction from the rear is huge so much so that I pretty much never had an issue with any rear end slip on the way out of the corners I would personally prefer a slightly more aggressive alignment though it does rotate a little if you Trail the brakes in perfectly but most of the time I was just fighting under steer but even so it's still extremely fun to drive just because of how connected you feel to it let's watch the rest of the lap [Music] come [Music] [Music] okay time for the Z06 obviously this is a totally different Beast the levels of grip in both the high speed and low speed Corners thanks to arrow and the cup two RS was mindboggling and I really loved the handling balance it was so easy to adjust the attitude of it mid corner and you never have to struggle to get to an Apex it's also extremely fun to drive it requires you to just give these little dabs of opposite lock to keep the rear where you want it and with all the systems turned off it's one of the best and most rewarding cars I have ever driven and of course that engine is absolutely perfect as is the transmission honestly I don't think I can find any fault in the way this car drives let's watch the rest of the lap [Music] [Music] okay that was really sweaty no air conditioning on a day it's really hot today it's hot today actually my feet are starting to hurt through like the the tarmac um cuz it's so hot now that does mean though the tires are really grippy I felt that so that does mean that the times are you're not ready for this I think I'm ready you're not ready let's do the Amir first let's do the Amir first okay I'm actually not ready for that um I think the Amir on cup tw's yes with the horsepower it's got it it's a GTS four leer rival yeah however the GTS 4 liter is nutty it's a very very very very good car I want to I'm going to go 111 eight you're getting better at this thank you it did a 111 50 oh it beat the Cayman it beat the Cayman that's huge what's up that's awesome no it's honestly a sensational car when you're when you're really really on it I love all the nuances of the communication it's just it is really really fun to drive you said most communicative car most communicative car I think I've driven it's new period I think that's out there right now and that that's a lot of value to that there's a lot of value to that but did the Amira beat the cool that okay so this is going to be the news of the year um cast your eyes to the leaderboard everybody they going to say castrate I don't know why castrate yourself I like to prostrate myself before this because it did okay so same ties as it GT3 RS same Tire as the G3 RS technically GT3 RS fighter right arrowed naturally aspirated what does the GT3 RS do 10667 10667 but it has more power and I felt this thing and I have a feeling that this is going to be the new number for one 10 737 was the second fastest lap you don't fing do us like that actually it was the third fastest lap like that actually it was the third fastest lap what is the first fastest the only one that matters 106 56 number one number one on the leaderboard Numero Uno everybody the Corvette ZO6 top of the leaderboard he gave you the the American Z on that the Canadian Z did it for you God Bless America here it is mindboggling speed seriously and it really feels unbelievably yeah yeah it does the same thing that the the the GT3 RS did in the corner that is hurt yes it hurts it's just G forces it's just oh but I think what made up the difference and we're talking like tenths right yeah I think what made the difference is other than maybe you was slightly better conditions today perhaps who knows is that I could turn this better than I could turn the 911 GT3 RS because mid-engined so I just as especially in the tighter stuff I was it was easier for me to use the engine and not get it really out of shape to just get some slip angle and tuck it in perfectly right I think not to take away credit from this and the GT3 RS those cup two RS are cheating they're cheating tires seriously they're they're a seriously impressive Tire uh but here's the thing though in order to do that what they needed was downforce and as a result of that this is just filled with stuff look at this there's these there's that there's this there's these there's that there's this thing and that there and this thing and that intake and this wing and that it's just completely absurd looking I I think I agree compared to our other car of the year which is just so beautiful perfectly simple this isn't the track version though this isn't the Z6 of the Amira that will probably come eventually right hopefully unless they do all EVS from now oh God I don't say that I know I know we sort of went through a few of the reasons we didn't get this yeah it was not one thing we didn't say it wasn't easy like I really struggled Thomas thought I had canceled the order six months before I had I just kept he lied I kept going back and forth you did lie to me I'd get calls from the Lotus dealer saying are you sure and I'd be like no just wait so when people asked like are you are you getting it I was always like I don't know but then it would have been canceled even earlier but you know you called the Lotus dealer and they didn't pick up well cuz it went through to it went through to poar and they didn't pick up and then you called a different dealer and they didn't pick up and then you know you go to where the dealer was and it's just like an old like Factory there's no in there anymore to be fair Lotus Vancouver at the end got very responsive and gentry Lane here in Toronto were great they they knew I hadn't ordered it with them they still let me just come look at a mirrors I was like a little kid tear I love this car it's beautiful I think it makes sense it still makes sense that we didn't own it and that's and you know what Harry's Garage did a great series on it he did road trips he has already sold it that's how long this whole thing has taken and then Todd from everyday driver has just bought one and that was a super cool Vlog as well so good for him see I'm going to watch his journey I will say that after finally getting it out here in a track and you know trying to play around with it as you saw it was a bit of a a thing TI SK it around yeah it was tired for sure but at the same time I was hoping that it would be a little bit more goofy yeah just a we said when we drive the avora GT that it's like the fact that it's not the fact it's more of a precision based vehicle that means you can you don't have to be a good driver can rip a canyon with confidence 100% you can with this yes that's a nice thing yeah and it's just so pretty it really does just kind of come down to that doesn't it in the end but it doesn't fail anywhere you look at it no it doesn't fail anywhere it's brilliant all this is one of the best sports cars ever I love it so much but I just wish that I could be a bit stupider with it easier that's fair do you know what I mean that's all I think slight negatives having now lived with this thanks to the owner is the supercharger wine on the highway is constant it sounds like there's a washing machine cycle happening behind you yeah that's fair the seats are okay yeah the sound system is okay the carplay crapped out on me multiple times it did some Lotus things but it's just it's such a masterclass in design isn't it and it's more fun than a Cayman it is way more fun than a Cayman I I know I just and it beat it around the track so it's not less capable yes but remember the Cayman wasn't on cupt oh true true I really enjoy I really enjoy looking at it it's just little stuff too like you don't really notice until you really pay attention but it doesn't have see that doesn't have a look at the rubber sill on that window yeah yeah that's like the Range Rover it's like the Range Rover just goes right up the blue goes right to the black such a subtle design in the nose it's just stunning but really we're being cowards why because at the beginning of the day we posed the question of okay so first of all yeah did we pick the right cars of the year for the I still think we did first of all out performance incredible amount of engineering I just cranked my ankle on this huge huge splitter so strong his ankle's broken already my ankle is now broken um and this is the most engaging car I think on sale okay so then the bigger question performance engagement if they share a year they were to share a year oh my God which one gets car of the year before today it was this one after today it's actually this one because this one at the limit is more fun to drive I agree okay so the good news is the more expensive car is better or at least it is more car the Lotus Amira with its manual gearbox Superior steering and smaller footprint does feel like the more connected car but the ZO6 more than makes up for it in experience and performance that was a GT3 RS lap time for half the price no question these are two of the most desirable cars of the decade were it not for the delays oh and James has added here Canada's luxury tax residual concerns Facebook pages lited with quality control issues in the general direction of the company one of these cars would already be in our garage our question now is which new car is going to take the 2024 Car of the Year spot these two take some beating and there's less than half a year of testing left to figure it out hm I guess we'll see what we do know is that we are incredibly grateful for the time we had to spend with with both of these cars so a huge thank you to the owner of the Amira your Legend and of course to leget Auto Group the same lovely team that entrusted us with their 918 spider for letting us feature their Corvette ZO6 and also to Michelin for replenishing the tires used to make this day all the grimier thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Throttle House

Views: 78,378

Keywords: corvette, z06, corvette z07, corvette z06, c8 corvette z06, car of the year, thcoty, throttle house car of the year, lotus Emira, 2024 Lotus Emira, lotus emira vs corvette, best sports car, best 2 door, best track car, best performance car, best looking new car, Chevrolet corvette, corvette z06 0-60, corvette z06 sound, corvette z07 laptime, corvette z06 drag race, lotus emira drag race, lotus emira laptime, car of the year battle, lotus emira sound

Id: QzGWral8Jn8

Length: 24min 1sec (1441 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 12 2024