Skip to main content

Lotus Exige S

The Lotus Exige S is an automotive hand grenade. Brutally fast and noisy, it prioritises the grin on your face above pretty much everything else, but apparently some people climb out of it saying: ‘You know, this is good, but what I really want is more road noise, stiffer suspension and extra performance’.

For these presumably fetishistic people Lotus has created the Exige Cup, which bridges the gap between roadgoing Exige S and race-sanctioned Cup R.

To the Exige S it adds two-piece brake discs (for better heat dissipation and reduced fade), 20% stiffer springs and Nitron two-way adjustable dampers, carbon bucket seats, and Pirelli Trofeos that normally come only with a Race Pack-equipped Exige S.

But what’s been subtracted is of equal importance, and that includes carpets, airbags – Lotus gets special dispensation because it builds fewer than 1000 units – headlining, noise insulation and leather trim.

The Cup is like an Exige S on crystal meth: the unassisted steering is constantly nudging feedback into your palms, the supercharged 3.5-litre V6 is violently quick with greedy wodges of torque almost everywhere and the already hard-wired chassis feels like it’s been hooked up to a defibrillator, so fast does it react.

Impressively, the Cup’s ride still proves far from unbearable, but you’ll pay for your fun with a mighty hangover of road-noise: if your passenger shouts, bits of what they say might just be audible.

The Exige Cup is a great drive, and those of you who commute to the Nürburgring from an internet forum will no doubt love it. For the rest of us, a Race Pack-equipped Exige S is more than enough.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

McLaren 650S Sprint

McLaren’s new 650S model now comes in three flavors, the standard road going 650S, the competition-spec 650S GT3 for serious racers, and now there’s the 650S Sprint which is aimed at track enthusiasts who still want a little bit of comfort. The 650S Sprint also replaces the MP4-12C-based 12C Sprint as McLaren’s track toy for the super-rich. Compared to the road model, the 650S Sprint features increased downforce and better cooling airflow to the 3.8 litre twin-turbocharged V8. It also features a competition-spec fuel tank and quick-fill cap, a larger radiator borrowed from the GT3 car, a new hood with additional cooling ducts for the radiator, front wing louvres for improved airflow, reduced ride height and recalibrated damping and spring rates, 19-inch center-locking race wheels with either Pirelli slicks or wet tires, onboard air jack system, and an upgraded braking system. On the inside the McLaren 650S Sprint features a stripped-out design with a FIA-approved rol...
Read more

Maserati Ghibli vs BMW 6 Series : Which Will You Buy?

When considering vehicles like Maserati Ghibli and the BWM 6 Series Gran Coupe, both reflect an effort toward blending dignified luxury with exhilarating performance. Though beholding vehicles of this caliber is always an exercise most fruitfully left to the natural eye, the image above serves as a simple example of each sedan’s inherent dignity. In lieu of experiencing each vehicle’s performance profile from behind the wheel, the table provided similarly works to demonstrate what both Ghibli and BMW’s 6 series have been engineered to accomplish. Comparing the Maserati Ghibli vs. BMW 6 Series in this regard yields a number of important emphases. Local clients will notice that both vehicles develop their identity around six-cylinder engines with a pair of strategic turbochargers. Yet regardless of identical displacement and analogous induction technology, Maserati serves its Ghibli clients with significantly greater quantities of horsepower and torque. In addition to t...
Read more

Peugeot RC

The RC concept was designed at the Peugeot Style Centre. Intended as a true enthusiasts car, the real innovation lay in the fact that the car was designed as an "affordable" sports car. The Peugeot RC was the concept car that paved the way for the 2008 Peugeot RC HYmotion4 concept. Peugeot used the 2002 RC concept to compare performance and economy differences between comparable petrol and diesel engines. As an affordable sports car the RC had to deliver not only in terms of price, but there was the engine, the size and running costs, as well as driver comforts to consider. A wide panoramic windscreen and the cab forward seating helps the driver see all around the car and compensates for the effect caused by the length of the car. In the Petrol vs. Diesel experiment, Peugeot aimed to prove that an HDi engine could match the performance levels achieved from a petrol engine. And to demonstrate that it was not unreasonable to put an HDi engine in a sports car. The 2 resulti...
Read more