RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
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 carbon fibre 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. The Sport 380, as a result, chucks out 375bhp, 302lb ft and will hit 62mph in 3.5 seconds. Despite generating 140kg of claimed downforce (check out those 997 RS-style front aero flics), the top speed is 178mph. Adjustable suspension is standard. Thought the Exige was a dainty little performer, did you? Forget it.So, it"s a lot faster and lighter than a Porsche Cayman GT4 (which is sold out), and would stay with a Porsche 911 GT3 (which is sold out). Maybe the BMW M4 GTS wouldwait, no that"s sold out too. So, if you want your track day kicks, the Exige (not sold out, and yours for 69,700) looks like a mighty good option. It"s 11,000 more than the current Exige Sport 350, but the numbers are positively supercar-spec. If you like the sound of all that, stay tuned to TG.com later this week, when we"ll get the first drive of Lotus" ultimate Exige. In November. GulpShare this page: FacebookTwitterGoogle+WhatsAppMailtoCopy link
Date written: 23 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5883
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 carbon fibre 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. The Sport 380, as a result, chucks out 375bhp, 302lb ft and will hit 62mph in 3.5 seconds. Despite generating 140kg of claimed downforce (check out those 997 RS-style front aero flics), the top speed is 178mph. Adjustable suspension is standard. Thought the Exige was a dainty little performer, did you? Forget it.So, it"s a lot faster and lighter than a Porsche Cayman GT4 (which is sold out), and would stay with a Porsche 911 GT3 (which is sold out). Maybe the BMW M4 GTS wouldwait, no that"s sold out too. So, if you want your track day kicks, the Exige (not sold out, and yours for 69,700) looks like a mighty good option. It"s 11,000 more than the current Exige Sport 350, but the numbers are positively supercar-spec. If you like the sound of all that, stay tuned to TG.com later this week, when we"ll get the first drive of Lotus" ultimate Exige. In November. GulpShare this page: FacebookTwitterGoogle+WhatsAppMailtoCopy link
Date written: 23 Nov 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5883
