As standard, Lotus Exige 2021 the only thing steering clear of the Cup from off-the-shelf competition use is having less a roll-cage for leading of the cabin, but Lotus will sell this as an option; apparently several buyers are intending to race their cars in the Lotus Cup. The Exige S feels stunningly quick, to the stage where the claimed 0-62mph time of 3.8sec seems almost conservative. It would not have the most charismatic V6, but it posseses an addictively rich seam of punchy torque thanks to that particular supercharger.
The Exige Cup is really a committed car and may be effort in the actual for some — it feels much more firmly suspended than some other Lotus we’ve ever taken on the road. The Exige’s price point puts it up against tough rivals — those seeking a road and track capable sports vehicle can get a Porsche Cayman GTS (or its Boxster sibling) or the brand new BMW M4 coupe for similar money. The Lotus is really a deliberately dedicted choice, though, and when you can forgo some day-to-day practicality it delivers bigger thrills and higher highs than any one of its less compromised foes. Almost literally – the firmness of leading end implies that everything gets through, both good and bad, with bumps and camber changes doing their finest to tweak the wheel out of my hands. The steering is alive, too.
It gets from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds — two tenths quicker compared to Sport 350. Sport 380 adds an additional dose of performance, with and additional 30bhp and even less weight. It doesn’t sound as tuneful as a Cayman’s flat-six, but it certainly delivers with plenty of low-rev punch and high-rev urge. The Lotus Exige supercharged 345bhp 3.5-litre V6 of the Sport 350 offers searing acceleration, thrusting the now 1,125kg sportscar – the Sport 350 version is 51kg lighter compared to old Exige S – from 0-60mph in just 3.7 seconds and on to a 170mph top speed. But we don’t think its worth forking out the extra £11,000 Lotus Exige 2021 asked for it when this model was offered.
The Lotus ExigeSport 410 of 2018 is more convincing, however. It also features adjustable springs and dampers, and offers one of many purest driving experiences available today. Sitting on a retuned version of the track-focused Cup 430, the Sport 410 takes just 3.3 seconds to go from 0-62mph, and tops out at 180mph.
Performance gains have instead been made on another side of the power-to-weight ratio, with a comprehensive stripping-out reducing the Cup’s mass to just 1110kg – 66kg less than the Exige S.Trim is predictably minimal, with the cabin floor and sills in bare alloy, and Lotus Exige 2021 switches for the battery isolator and fire extinguisher where you’d normally find the speakers (which isn’t even an option). There’s a correspondingly serious-looking fire extinguisher bottle filling most of the passenger footwell, as the seats are carbon-framed motorsport buckets with four-point harnesses. It has the same Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 with a similar 345bhp peak output. The additional ten grand you should have to locate for the Cup doesn’t buy you any extra power.
Still, a lot of people don’t obtain a Lotus to operate a vehicle on an everyday basis. The Lotus Exige includes a driver and passenger airbag and ABS with stability control, but that’s about this for safety aids. Lotus has never had the most effective reputation for Lotus Exige 2021 reliability either, with numerous gremlins creeping in after a couple of months of ownership. It’s based on the Elise, and despite the larger price tag, that you do not have more safety kit for the money.
The quicker steering is strictly what you would expect from Lotus – saturated in feel and it dances in both hands as the automobile follows the cambers of the road. It had been easy to catch too, that will be not at all something you could say of the old four-cylinder car. Even in sixth gear on the motorway the Exige will leap forwards eagerly at the slightest prod and on an A- or B-road it can be as fast as you might realistically want. It’s a stunningly strong engine and throttle response is scintillating, regardless of what your location is in the rev range. The supercharged V6 makes a world of difference to the smoothness of the car. The Sport setting on the DPM was perfectly judged traveling, allowing an interesting number of slip before reigning things back beautifully calmly. With a heavier mid-mounted engine you may expect the Exige to feel tricky on the limit, but on wet roads it’d swing progressively either with a lift or by keeping your foot in. Last however not least, the new V6 sounds great – there’s something of the historic racecar about its rich growl and there’s no overpowering supercharger whine either.
The Lotus Exige is just a rival for similarly priced high-performance coupes such as the Porsche 718 Cayman and Audi TT RS. But it’s a great deal more of a thriller than either of those two and is even more compromised. The Exige range has changed a good bit over time, but now starts with the 345bhp Sport 350, before moving around the 410bhp Sport 410, and topping out with the track-focused 430bhp Cup 430. Unlike its lightweight predecessor, it’s powered with a supercharged 3.5-litre V6, so performance has taken a large leap forward. Previous models include the Sport 380 and Sport 430. All models make their power from the Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine.