Friday 24th October 2014

Lotus Exige S Automatic - UPDATE

Lotus Exige S Automatic announced and it's apparently quicker round Hethel than the manual (UPDATED STORY)

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Reading the original Jean Marc Gales PH Meets again we really should have predicted this. He spoke of the Exige being Lotus's best seller and about making both the Exige and Elise more useable day-to-day. Just a few weeks later and here we have the two-pedal Exige S.

Remember how many buy auto Porsches...

The car is officially known as the Exige S Automatic but the interior pic here is called 'Exige S IPS Interiors 23_10_14'. Using finely honed powers of journalistic deduction we would therefore suggest it's the gearbox used in Evora and Evora S IPS. [See update and clarification from Lotus on this below - Ed.] The 3.5-litre V6 used in all three is originally mated to a six-speed auto so the engineering effort is actually reduced over the manual.

The Exige has three gearbox modes with normal, sport and race offered. Lotus has promised that 'optimised gear selection response deliver quicker all-round performance when a sportier experience is desired'. The PH review of the supercharged Evora IPS wasn't exactly brimming with praise for the transmission but Lotus assures us the lessons have been learned and the calibration and control software is significantly improved and updated. We're also promised the character of the gearbox is much more in keeping with the Exige's more aggressive positioning.

Lotus says the auto is quicker to 62 than manual

As with the Evora, an auto Exige will probably have most appeal in the US and Middle East. Gales himself said: "We have expanded the Exige product range to make it more accessible to customers worldwide". But there will surely be appeal in the UK too when you look at the popularity of PDK Porsches and S Tronic Audi TTs and R8s. Whether it can match those cars as automatics remains to be seen.

The Exige S Automatic is in its final testing weeks now with the car on sale in January. Lotus claims a 0-62mph time one tenth quicker than the manual at 3.9 seconds plus an identical Hethel lap time. There is nothing yet on any efficiency benefits or weight gain. For reference both the IPS Evora models recorded less CO2 and fractionally better economy. On the supercharged car the auto added 5kg but there's a 54kg penalty on the standard 3.5 V6. As we're on numbers the auto option will cost £2,000 including VAT on both Exige S and S Roadster. We'll hope to drive one as soon as possible!

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UPDATE: Lotus got in touch to say that the engineering changes to the gearbox are sufficiently significant they want to put clear ground between the Exige S Automatic and Evora IPS, hence the rebranding. Although still a torque converter automatic transmission the engineers have been "back to the drawing board" when it comes to the calibration and operating characteristics and we're promised an auto that is entirely in keeping with the Exige's track focused ethos. Proof, as ever, will be in the driving!

 

[Oz83]

Article says: 'But there will surely be appeal in the UK too when you look at the popularity of PDK Porsches and S Tronic Audi TTs and R8s.'

All those cars can be used as daily drivers, hence the popularity of the auto box. You would have to be pretty keen to use an Exige as a daily, and in that case you are probably keen enough to use a manual gearbox too. Are lotus missing the point of their own cars?

[Oz83]

4oClock said:

Lotus can't afford to develop a fancy dual-clutch system, and this opens up part of that market. day-to day I barely use 50% of the elise's ability, let alone using a much more capable car. so in real terms, an auto exige is going to be a very usable car. and Lotus need usable cars to survive.

Dunno if it's the gearbox that makes these cars less usable than the competition for daily use. Who climbs over a tall, 8" wide door sill, lowers them self into a very low, fixed bucket seat in a cramped cockpit that's virtually devoid of any luxuries, then thinks 'wait a minute, this would be much better if I didn't have to change gear today'.