It needs more oomph. but it can't do that without treading all over the V6.
It's a little depressing that the 2016-2017 four-door hatchback A45, weighing 56kg more and boasting 376bhp, does 0-60mph in 4.2s. Delimited, they outstrip the i4's top speed, too. I'm sure the Emira 'S' or 'R' will be considerably quicker; I would have thought that a 440-460bhp version will drop the 0-60 time to under 4s and the top speed should start to look like supercar territory. Given that we're still on the launch editions, though, with base models coming in 2024 (at a guess), then I would imagine that an Emira S/R model is going to be 2025 at the earliest, as a last ICE hoorah before Lotus's electric sports car.
I think the £81,500 price is a bigger issue, though. I appreciate that Lotus has been seriously hit by inflation but the Alpine S and GT are both £62,500 (and the base model £52,500, being only 0.1s slower to 60 than the Emira i4). A Cayman GTS with added leather and PDK comes in at £77,500, leaving you free to spend another £4000 of options. None of these would matter too much for a Lotus enthusiast, but for an unbiased customer considering their first Lotus...