Camposol homeowner drives supercar through Spain and has article published in magazine

Holiday homeowner drives his new Lotus Emira from UK to Camposol and has journey article published in “Club Lotus News”

Lotus sports car enthusiast and Camposol holiday homeowner Nick Rouse recently drove his brand-new Lotus Emira supercar (see image gallery below) from his home in the UK to his holiday home in Camposol, Mazarrón (Murcia), running in the car in the process and writing a light-hearted article which was published in the October issue of “Club Lotus News” with a photograph of the car gracing the front cover.

The 2024 Lotus Emira is the latest model from the legendary British sports car maker and will be the last to use an internal combustion engine. The model Nick chose is the 3.5 litre, supercharged V-6, producing 400 horsepower, reaching 60 mph in an eye-watering 4.3 seconds and with a top speed as reported by the manufacturer of 180 mph.

Nick and his wife’s journey through Spain took them from the Santander ferry port to Aguilar de Campoo, Burgos, Madrid and Albacete, where, after staying the night, they continued on to Camposol via the city of Murcia.

Nick described part of the journey: “Even before getting on the ferry, the Emira attracted significant attention by others waiting to board. And while crossing the Bay of Biscay a couple of strangers surprisingly greeted me saying they recognised me from the car. The moral here is therefore, if you are trying to travel incognito, the Emira is not for you! Once over the mountains we used the smaller roads from Aguilar de Campoo to Burgos before heading south on the A1 towards Madrid. South of Burgos we stopped for a coffee and it turned out that the Guardia Civil were also there, having their morning coffee and brandy. Before leaving they took a detour to inspect the car, and naturally the concern was that they were taking an unhealthy interest, but no, they just gave us the thumbs up and drove off. Suffice it to say that during the whole journey, wherever we went there was intense interest when stationary and even on the move, with people busting a gut to pass so that their passenger could hang out of the window (driving on the right) and take a selfie with the Emira as background.

While taking some photos by the Med, again the police stopped, and on this occasion one of the policemen insisted that he took a photo for me of me with the car. A nice gesture, but I will not share that one with you as it was not a good picture and anyway my presence dramatically detracts from the overall image.”

In another description of the journey, he wrote, “The A67 towards Palencia, although a dual carriageway, is an interesting drive because of its sweeping curves and amazing viaducts as it crosses the Picos de Europa mountains. A truly spectacular feat of road engineering.”

Also in the article, Nick made some comparisons with the Lotus Emira SE which he has also driven, the SE model has a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine.

Nick commented, “The turbo provides a buzzy dramatic experience which is easy to drive in traffic, and with excellent fuel consumption. The V6 manual provides a refined drive with a better soundtrack and plenty of power throughout the entire range, and finally a well sorted gear change.” and in relation to the engine sound remarked “I was somewhat surprised to find that the Turbo cabin noise level was for the most part quite quiet, and without the engine bay cooling fan being overly intrusive, rumoured to be an issue on the development cars. The real difference however is that the V6 makes all the right noises, and the Turbo just makes a noise.”

On the journey back, Nick commented, “On the return journey we took the ferry back from Bilbao which presented the opportunity of a minor roads route back across the mountains of northern Spain. Proper Emira territory!”

In relation to the sometimes-restricted amount of luggage space available in supercars, he said, “Luggage space is of course not extensive by any means, however a combination of the area behind the seats and to the rear of the engine provide acceptable capacity for touring. You just need to use the correct size bags to accommodate. We even managed to bring back over a case of my wife's favourite Cava and other drinks. Wine boxes are ideal!”

You can read the full Club Lotus News article below.

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Images: Nick Rouse / Club Lotus News