The launch of the Lotus Emira in 2021 marked the beginning of a new era for the Hethel-based manufacturer. With this car, the British brand went away from building its uncompromising, radical, ultra-puristic driver’s cars to manufacturing still exotic, but more mainstream sports cars. The OEM Emira comes as a well-balanced daily driver with many luxurious amenities. This helped Lotus to sell their cars to a broader audience, but also came with some downsides: the more tamed Emira is heavier than its predecessors and does not provide the agility, dynamics and emotion of former Lotus models. The Emira is a great sports car, but many fans of the brand still miss the ultra-agile, lightweight approach that Lotus cars were known for.
JUBU Performance, a car tuning company from Austria wants to bring back the original Lotus-vibes in the Emira and has now released their Emira 600 Clubsport. This special edition is lighter, more powerful and more agile than the Lotus base model, but – according to JUBU – still maintains all features and amenities of a modern daily driver supercar.
From Sportscar to Supercar
Nothing stayed untouched to achieve an impressive overall performance of the Emira ClubSport. JUBU rebuilt the whole powertrain, reduced the weight of the car, improved aerodynamics as well as brakes, suspension and safety. According to JUBU the Emira ClubSport edition feels now more like a supercar than an exotic sports car.
High-Performance Powertrain
The Emira ClubSport comes with the well known supercharged 3.5L V6 Lotus engine, but has undergone a major upgrade procedure. Basically all internals have been changed or reinforced by JUBU to be able to deliver 600 horsepower. To tame this brutal force, the car comes with a 6-speed HD gearbox or an optional 7-speed Dual Clutch system. JUBU also installs a Drexler LSD as well as an high-end dry sump lubrication system ex works. The powertrain control unit was developed in partnership with Syvecs engineering. To improve the weight distribution and the center of gravity, the engine in the Emira ClubSport is lowered and slightly tilted. Martin Jung, CEO of JUBU Performance: „This powertrain is based on over 20 years of experience and many of its components come strait out of our Pikes Peak winning drivetrain. Especially with the 6-Speed manual gearbox, the solely petrol powered performance feels so much purer than anything you can get from one of these digital cars of our time.”
Added Lightness
According to Colin Chapman’s mantra “Add lightness“, the Emira ClubSport is approximately 120kg lighter than an OEM Lotus Emira. JUBU has exchanged many parts on the exterior and interior with ultra-lightweight carbon fibre components. This helps to improve the overall agility of the car massively. The (optional) forged magnesium rims help to reduce weight furthermore, especially on unsprung masses.
Advanced Aerodynamics
In the 2,5-year development process, JUBU was also focused on improving the aerodynamics of the car. The Emira CS comes with an integrative aero pack, consisting of a massive front splitter, front canards, a redesigned diffusor and a 11-way adjustable swan-neck rear wing – all made of carbon fibre. The aero pack adds lots of downforce and also helps to improve the balance of the car. Martin Jung: „Our team spent lots of time with CFD-simulations and uncountable hours of testing on roads and tracks with different characteristics to find the perfect aero-balance for the Emira ClubSport.”
Improved Overall Dynamics
To improve the overall dynamics, JUBU partnered with Ohlins to create a custom 3-way adjustable suspension, designed a cooled high-performance braking system and equips the Emira CS with Michelin Pilot Sport CUP 2 tyres.
Reliability & Daily Driving Capabilities.
The Emira ClubSport was designed to maintain all the daily driving capabilities of the OEM Lotus Emira. All comfort features stay untouched and the drivability for daily use on roads remain fully intact – but within the blink of an eye, the Emira ClubSport is ready for heading to the track and providing astonishing laptimes. „The Emira Clubsport is pretty easy to drive, no matter if you cruise around the block, enjoy a mountain road or perform on track. All components are built to last and the car is pretty easy to maintain. It’s a real daily driver but also a spectacular arrive-and-drive tracktool.“, says CEO Martin Jung.
Variants
The Emira ClubSport Edition is available in a 530hp and a 600hp variant.
Engine: V6, supercharged
Displacement: 3456 cm³
Max. Power: 600 hp at 7400 rpm
Max. Torque: 620 Nm at 4900 rpm
Max. rpm: 7400 rpm
0-100 kph: 3,9 s
0-200 kph: 11,5 s
Top Speed: 309 kph
Lubrication: Dry sump
Engine & gearbox control: Syvecs/JUBU ecu
Transmission type: Rear-wheel drive
Gearbox: 6-speed manual or 7-speed dct
Aluminium Space-frame Chassis
GRP & CFRP body panels
Carbon front splitter
Carbon front canards
Carbon diffusor
Carbon rear wing clubsport (swan neck, 11-way adjustable)
Roll bar
Carbon race seat
Schroth 4-P harness
BASE MSRP Emira 600 CS €199,000
ABOUT JUBU PERFORMANCE
JUBU Performance was founded in 2005 and specializes in upgrading of Lotus and Caterham cars. The company designs and manufactures a huge variety of tuning kits and tuning parts for those vehicles. With their development subsidiary (JP Design & Innovation), JUBU offers engineering and development services for motorsport projects, small OEM manufacturers and special purposes. In 2020, the company released its JP ZERO, a full carbon GT2 race car. In 2023, JUBU has developed the drivetrain of the class winning Radford P62-2 Pikes Peak for Jenson Button and Ant Anstead.
