Lotus reveals “supercar killer” Exige Sport 380
If Porsche is the kid in the class who knows the answer to every one of the teacher's questions, Lamborghini the kid taking selfies covertly for their Instagram account, and Ferrari is the girl being chased by all the boys — what's Lotus?
Lotus is most likely the quiet recluse in the corner. Rarely talked to, often overlooked, rarely making their presence known.
However, every once and a while the quiet recluse gets up and does something wild — and for Lotus that ‘something wild’ is their newly announced Exige Sport 380.
Weighing in at just a smidge over one ton, the Exige packs an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 262kW per ton. This plants it in firm supercar territory among rivals from Germany and Italy. Lotus are in fact so confident of the little fighter's ability that they've self-titled the 380 the “best sports car under £100,000” in their official press release.
Not that New Zealand pricing has been confirmed — the only pricing shown thus far being that of the UK ($120,577NZD), Germany ($135,411NZD), and Japan ($161,917NZD).
“We’ve saved something special for our last new car of 2016,” said Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc
“We have built upon the foundations of the excellent Exige Sport 350 and developed a perfectly proportioned, intuitive and attainable supercar for real roads. The cut in weight is nothing short of drastic and, combined with the hike in power and its enhanced agility, we’ve created something exceptional — far greater than the sum of its parts.”
The 380 still utilises the supercharged 3.5-liter V6 previously seen in the Evora Sport 410, as well as the utterly bonkers 3-Eleven. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. If it ain't stuffed don't fix it and all that jazz.
Changes to the engine for the 380 are minimal; in the form of a revised supercharger pulley and exhaust system, and a re-calibrated ECU. And this is a trend that spills to other elements of the car. There's been less focus on reinvention of the wheel, and more focus on simply nailing what's already there.
Above all else, the Sport 380 continues to represent what Lotus has always been about.
