Amid the turmoil surrounding the leadership at Lotus, one thing remains unchanged. Lotus really know how to make great cars. The latest incarnation of the Exige is receiving critical acclaim. Comparisons against the latest derivatives of the BMW M3, Porsche 911 GT3 and Nissan GTR have concluded that the Lotus is on par with the competition, both on road and track.
Whilst on paper, the car has gained weight (1176kg) and a sizeable increase in price (OTR £50,850), the redesign of the wheelbase and use of a six cylinder engine has enhanced the driving experience as well as taken performance up to a new level.
Lotus has also worked with Bosch to install the latest traction ad stability electronics. The Ferrari manettino style dial has 3 choices, Touring, Sport and Race. The most intriguing is Race, unlike most cars that define this as “no driver aids”, Lotus has taken a very different route. The car constantly measures individual grip levels and uses this info to learn the road and apply the maximum useable power to the road without breaking traction, the lightning fast feedback enables incredibly effective driving and on the Lotus Hethel test track the electronics cut around 0.5 seconds off a lap time compared to electronics switched off.
The Lotus Exige S is a real leap forward for Lotus, and placed securely in the junior supercar category.