The Exige range has changed a good bit through the years, nevertheless now starts with the 345bhp Sport 350, before moving up to the 410bhp Sport 410, and topping out with the track-focused 430bhp Cup 430. But it’s far more of a thriller than either of the two and is much more compromised. All models make their power from a Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine. The 2021 Lotus Exige is just a rival for similarly priced high-performance coupes just like the Porsche 718 Cayman and Audi TT RS. Unlike its lightweight predecessor, it’s powered by a supercharged 3.5-litre V6, so performance has brought a huge leap forward. Previous models are the Sport 380 and Sport 430.
In addition, it features adjustable springs and Lotus dampers, and offers one of the purest driving experiences available today. The Lotus ExigeSport 410 of 2018 is more convincing, however. 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.
Being small and positively anorexic by having an incredibly mechanical setup, it communicates its surroundings in a way only a Lotus can. The Lotus Exige is really a British two-door, two-seat sports vehicle produced by Lotus Cars. The Exige is an exquisitely engineered sports car. Its damping is nothing short of delicious. The Lotus Exige Sport 350 adds V6 capacity to the lightweight sports car to create one of the finest handling cars on the market Originally a more-hardcore coupé version of the Lotus Elise roadster, because the Series 3 the Exige has been the larger-engined type of the household, utilizing a V6 engine instead of the Elise’s straight 4 with convertible versions of both available.
It looks very aggressive and stands out far greater than a Porsche Cayman on the road. Inside 2021 Lotus Exige, the cabin does away with modern-day luxuries such as for instance electric seats, adjustable steering column and touchscreen infotainment system but Lotus do provide a Convenience pack which adds a cup-holder added sound deadening. Air-con can be available being an optional extra. Inside, the cabin is stripped out and almost identical to that of the Elise, with a lot of switchgear borrowed from mainstream manufacturers, thin racing seats and exposed aluminium. Take an Elise, add a longer wheelbase, wider track, new rear subframe, pumped-up bodykit with vast aerodynamic additions and larger wheels.
The 2021 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. It doesn’t sound as tuneful as a Cayman’s flat-six, but it certainly delivers with a lot of low-rev punch and high-rev urge. But we don’t think its worth forking out the extra £11,000 Lotus asked for it when this model was offered. Sport 380 adds a supplementary dose of performance, with and additional 30bhp and even less weight. It gets from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds — two tenths quicker compared to the Sport 350.
The supercharged V6 makes a world of difference to the smoothness of the car. With a heavier mid-mounted engine you might expect the Exige to feel tricky on the limit, but on wet roads it would swing progressively either with a raise or by maintaining your foot in. The quicker steering is precisely what you would expect from Lotus – high in feel and it dances in both hands as the vehicle follows the cambers of the road. The Sport setting on the DPM was perfectly judged on the highway, Lotus allowing an interesting amount of slip before reigning things back beautifully calmly. It is a stunningly strong engine and throttle response is scintillating, regardless of where you stand in the rev range. 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. Last however, not least, Lotus the new V6 sounds great – there’s something of the historic racecar about its rich growl and there’s no overpowering supercharger whine either. It had been simple to catch too, that will be not a thing you could say of the old four-cylinder car.
Supercharged 3.5-litre engine aside, the biggest bit of technological trickery is the brand new Dynamic Performance Management system. Exige prices start at £52,900, with the cup requiring an additional £10,000. The latest generation is of Lotus Exige is longer and wider compared to original, and comes with notably more potent V6 power. It feels just like a mini supercar and proved exciting enough to fairly share our 2012 Car of the Year honours with the Pagani Huayra. Annually later, a Roadster version accompanied the Exige S in the purchase price lists (and is almost identical to drive) while there is now the offer of the hardcore Exige V6 Cup.
It’s the exact same Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 with the same 345bhp peak output. 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. The excess ten grand you will have to find for the Cup doesn’t buy you any extra power. Performance gains have instead been made on one other side of the power-to-weight ratio, with a thorough 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 switches for the battery isolator and fire extinguisher where you’d normally find the speakers (which isn’t even an option).