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

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

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

Bentley Continental Supersports

What’s this? Bentley’s answer to the Renault R26R? Well they’re not exactly rivals, but the concept is similar: more performance, less weight and much less seating thanks to the deletion of the rear chairs. And to save everyone else having to peer into your car to confirm it’s a Supersports, the exterior features extra air intakes in a redesigned bumper, more vents in the bonnet, different tailpipes and arches flared by 50mm. And just how much less weight and how much more performance does the Bentley Continental Supersports have? Ditching the back seats and fitting lightweight fixed-rake fronts contributed massively to a 110kg weight reduction. Impressed? You’ll be less so when you hear that this whale still weighs 2240kg, over a tonne more than the Renault. Okay, that comparison is stupid, but you get the picture – this is still a grotesquely heavy car. Which only makes the rate at which can devour tarmac all the more gob smacking. The standard G...
Read more