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Written by Ollie Kew
In the last couple of years, Lotus has steadily worked through its range of light, fast cars, making them lighter and faster.We"ve had the Exige Sport 350, the Elise Sport 250, and the Evora Sport 410. Less weight, more power. Heartland Lotus stuff. So much fun, in fact, they"re going around again.Meet the brand new Lotus Exige Sport 380. Somehow, Norfolk"s techies have shaved 25kg out of the old Exige which was hardly plush with equipment, dropping it down to 1066kg dry, or 1100kg ready to go. That"s damn light for a car with a big ol" 3.5-litre supercharged Toyota V6 bolted between the axles, wearing wider Michelin Pilot Cup tyres.Lashings of carbonfibre add the lightness: the Elise Cup rear wing and diffuser, plus new splitter and front panels, save 2.7kg. Slimmer seats save 6kg.Fancy going lighter still? You can spec lighter brakes to chop out 26.3kg, and save a further 10kg with a lithium-ion battery. Short of filling the cabin with helium, it"s difficult to know how much lighter the Exige can get.To this flyweight recipe, Lotus has added power. A revised supercharger pulley (for higher charge pressure), an uprated fuel pump, a recalibrated ECU and shoutier exhaust team up to add 30bhp and 7lb ft to the Exige Sport 350"s heady totals.
Date written: 23 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5884
In the last couple of years, Lotus has steadily worked through its range of light, fast cars, making them lighter and faster.We"ve had the Exige Sport 350, the Elise Sport 250, and the Evora Sport 410. Less weight, more power. Heartland Lotus stuff. So much fun, in fact, they"re going around again.Meet the brand new Lotus Exige Sport 380. Somehow, Norfolk"s techies have shaved 25kg out of the old Exige which was hardly plush with equipment, dropping it down to 1066kg dry, or 1100kg ready to go. That"s damn light for a car with a big ol" 3.5-litre supercharged Toyota V6 bolted between the axles, wearing wider Michelin Pilot Cup tyres.Lashings of carbonfibre add the lightness: the Elise Cup rear wing and diffuser, plus new splitter and front panels, save 2.7kg. Slimmer seats save 6kg.Fancy going lighter still? You can spec lighter brakes to chop out 26.3kg, and save a further 10kg with a lithium-ion battery. Short of filling the cabin with helium, it"s difficult to know how much lighter the Exige can get.To this flyweight recipe, Lotus has added power. A revised supercharger pulley (for higher charge pressure), an uprated fuel pump, a recalibrated ECU and shoutier exhaust team up to add 30bhp and 7lb ft to the Exige Sport 350"s heady totals.
Date written: 23 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5884
