At Geneva: Lotus Exige S
The Lotus Exige is a masterpiece of modern motoring. No, it doesn’t have satellite navigation with traffic re-route functions, seats that massage you, or mood lighting, but that’s not the point of this car; the Exige just isn’t that sort of vehicle. Instead, it’s marked its stake as the definitive motorcar for ripping down open road and racetrack, thanks to the unbreakable grip of its air-manipulating downforce, perfectly-tuned suspension and high-revving nature of its 190-horsepower Toyota engine.
For the Geneva Motor Show, Lotus has announced a new model of the Exige called the S. It looks like a standard Exige, which in itself appears like something out of a science-fiction novel. The only distinguishing feature is a centrally mounted exhaust pipe.
But as with all Lotus products, there’s more than what initially meets the eye. After cranking things up with the limited edition (40 units) 2005 Exige 240R, which featured a low-pressure supercharger to boost output to 240-horsepower, Lotus decided it had something worthwhile on its hands. The new Exige S is essentially a detuned version of this very rare vehicle, which uses the same state of the art components, but produces a slightly more relaxed 218-horsepower. It’s also now a full-fledged production vehicle that can be purchased at any Lotus retailer.
Even though the Exige S is 22 horses down on the 240R, it’s still a blindingly fast machine; 100 km/h from standstill ticks by in a mere 4.3 seconds, making it the quickest Lotus currently in production. The car also has a top speed of 238 km/h (147.9 mph). The options list for the Exige S include Lotus’ in-house developed traction control, a lightweight 15 kg (33 lb) air conditioner unit and a Touring Pack which includes a basic stereo system, leather-wrapped steering wheel and carpet, amongst other luxuries. And while this news is simply fantastic, nearly bringing me to my feet in applause, the final line of the press release made me return to my normal and somewhat comatose state: it won’t be available in North America. Darn.