Alex Unleashed on Cars- Lotus Exige (Elise to the Extreme)

 

The Lotus Elise is a legendary sports car, it saved Lotus from arguably it's lowest ever point and is seen as one of the best sports cars ever made. 

But what about it's hardcore hardtop sibling, the Exige?

The original Exige started out as believe it or not an even more track-focussed version of the Elise, it used the VHPD version of the Rover K-Series also seen in the Caterham 7 & Westfield FW400, the styling actually bears a remarkable similarity to the Elise Motorsport one make series cars, whether the Exige was designed as a road going version of that car is unknown. But the car most certainly looks like a race car with number plates.

The roof is just about the only civilised part of the original Exige, apart from that it's just as bare bones as the Elise, it's also incredibly noisy inside. But it's much faster, the extra power despite the weight gain means the Exige can hit 60 in 5.5 seconds and 138 MPH. 

The second Exige, the S2 had the 1.8 Toyota VVT engine also seen in the new Elise 111R, and it was just as extreme as the last one, but the S2 had an ace up its sleeve, its tyres. Much like the BMW M3 CSL, the Exige runs on semi-slick tyres, Yokohama tyres to be specific, which give it incredible levels of grip, on a mildly moist Top Gear test track, the Exige went round in 1.26.4 faster than a Corvette C6, Porsche Cayman S AND an Aston Martin Vanquish S! 

But Lotus didn't stop at just sticky tyres, the Exige S then came out with a supercharger fitted to the engine, granting 218 BHP, it's not a lot, but the power and torque hike means it can get to 60 in 4.3 seconds, faster than even the old Esprit V8. Over the S2's lifespan more powerful Cup cars such as the 240 & 260 added even more power whilst still keeping the weight below a 1000 KG. 

The last Exige came in 2012 now with a much bigger overall shape and less resemblance to the Elise, the engine, a 3.5 litre supercharged V6 was shared with the Evora S and means the Exige S was the fastest Lotus ever made barring the Elise GT1 one-off homologation special. This was also the first to come as a dedicated roadster version though the top speed was capped at 145 for safety reasons. 

The Exige was tuned to be even more extreme over it's 3rd generation, with the Cup 430 being the pinnacle, packing (you guessed it) 430 BHP and weighing in at just 1093 KG giving it a power-to-weight ratio on par with a Ferrari Enzo, 0-60 is in just 3.2 seconds, 0-100 in 8 seconds and a top speed of 188 MPH, a special 'Final Edition' was made in 2021 before the Exige ceased production.

The end of the Exige and it's Elise twin sparked a new and difficult era for Lotus and it's ever continuing challenge of staying afloat in a shifting market. Let's hope the Emira can keep the spirit of both alive.

Year Produced: 2000 - 2021

Engine: 1.8 Litre 4-Cylinder K-Series - 3.5 Litre Supercharged V6

Top Speed: 138 - 188 MPH

0-60: 5.5 - 3.2 Seconds

Power: 178 - 430 BHP

Torque: 127 - 325 Ib/ft

Weight: 785 KG - 1166 KG

Rivals: 

Series 1: BMW M Coupe, Noble M12 GTO, Renaultsport Clio V6

Series 2: Mitsubishi EVO VIII, Noble M12 GTO-3R, Ariel Atom

Series 3: Porsche Cayman GT4, BMW M4 GTS, Caterham R400

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Long-Term Review- Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec

Image
Since it has been 3 years since I got my first car I decided to write up a big long-term review on what life is like with my car covering all areas of driving and owning this vehicle.  Driving On the road the Fiesta is a joy to drive indeed. The 1.4 Zetec engine gave 79 BHP new, and it certainly feels like it still has 79 BHP, overtaking even in 4th or 5th gear isn’t as difficult as you’d think. But it’s in the corners where the Fiesta really shines. On sweeping bends, it feels stable and the lack of body roll in corners just encourages you to keep on driving with enthusiasm and the steering is nicely weighted as well, the words poised and balanced describe this cars handling perfectly. The gearbox is also fantastic, it has a nice firm action that encourages you to drop a cog and give it some welly out of bends, it’s also a nice and tall lever rather than short and low down, you know where it is aand can shift gears effortlessly. Then there’s the brakes, their strong and the pedal ...
Read more

Alex Unleashed on Cars: Mercedes SLR McLaren (Black Sheep of Hypercars)

Image
  The Mercedes SLR McLaren (or McLaren Mercedes if you prefer) is a bit of an oddball in the world of hypercars and the 200 MPH club. It has an automatic gearbox, the engine is in front of the driver and it packs a lot of Mercedes creature comforts. And yet, we're talking about the 2nd fastest Mercedes ever made (AMG-ONE is fastest), about a car that can stop from 120 MPH in the distance the Highway Code says it should stop from 60 and a car that packs a mighty supercharged V8 engine. The SLR owes it's existence to the 15 year long partnership between McLaren and Mercedes in Formula 1 that gave Mclaren 3 world titles: '98, '99 & '08 before Mercedes became a team on it's own, though McLaren still mostly used Mercedes engines after the split. The SLR project, owing it's name to the old 300 SLR that Sir Stirling Moss & Denis Jenkinson won the 1955 Mille Miglia was first unveiled in 1999 with a projected release in 2003, the concept had a smaller 5 litre...
Read more

20 Top Gear Magazines You Need to Read

Image
Issue 1- The very first one and it’s a great way to start, the cover and the story about trying to get every new car in Britain on the front is an impressive feat in of itself, even if Ferrari refused to lend any of their cars. But that aside, the first car to be road tested is the new Fiat Punto, we get a group test of some superminis, a look at cheap used cars but most importantly a test between the TVR Griffith 500, Ferrari 348, 911 Turbo, Corvette & Toyota Supra. What a way to start things. Issue 5- It’s all about weird cars in this issue, a Mazda RX-7, Subaru SVX & Renault Alpine A610 go sideways on Pendine Sands, Quentin tells you how to buy an oddball car, we get a look at Dubai car culture and the mega fast Dauer 962 LM, not to forget a test between the Escort Cosworth and Delta Integrale, there’s also a turbocharged Jaguar XJ-S and the Renault Clio Williams. Issue 21- The big test is the Ferrari F355 vs Porsche 911 Turbo that takes us across Thruxton and Brunting...
Read more