RE: Lotus Exige S Roadster: Review

RE: Lotus Exige S Roadster: Review

Author
Discussion

Twincam16

27,646 posts

257 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
Gary C said:
What's the point?

To me the exige was the much more track focused ( and therefore solid roofed ) Elise.

Having an open topped version undermines this.
I think the roof of the Exige is more about aerodynamics than rigidity. The upper structural rigidity will be provided primarily by the roll bar and the windscreen header rail - the roof is a relatively flimsy non-structural piece of plastic.

However, with the roof on and working in conjunction with the various aerodynamics and weight-reduction measures, the Exige S is ballistic on track as a result. What they've done with the Roadster is made it more road-focused - the removable fabric roof is easier to live with as it's easier to get in and out of the car, the interior is much more plush, and the lairy motorsport aero addenda has been deleted, making the car look gorgeous in the process.

The result is a need to restrict the top speed as the altered aero will tear the roof off (and I suspect it won't be quite as stable without the rear wing), but Lotus knows the average Exige Roadster buyer won't get anywhere near the top speed anyway and won't care.

The Roadster would seem to be a very sound set of commercial decisions. I've no doubt in years to come we'll look back on it as 'Lotus's comeback car' in the way we saw the original Elise, and before it, the Turbo Esprit.

braddo

10,399 posts

187 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
big_rob_sydney said:
Not really a fan. 53k for 0-60 in sub 4 is good, but this includes compromises for seating multiple people.

A Litchfield subaru will be just as quick, for 40k, and give you 4 doors, and a big boot.

Alternatively, the second hand market has plenty to offer. I've seen some GTR's at 40k that are positively tasty, with a few upgrades.

This?

Pass.
Bizarre. Myopic.


GroundEffect

13,815 posts

155 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
big_rob_sydney said:
Not really a fan. 53k for 0-60 in sub 4 is good, but this includes compromises for seating multiple people.

A Litchfield subaru will be just as quick, for 40k, and give you 4 doors, and a big boot.

Alternatively, the second hand market has plenty to offer. I've seen some GTR's at 40k that are positively tasty, with a few upgrades.

This?

Pass.
You must love cars like the Zafira VXR. As said above my reply...your comments make no bloomin' sense:

"I would really love a fast, great handling sports car that I can take the roof off of"

"I know, I'll buy a Japanese family hatchback with a plastic interior and an aftermarket tuning pack!"


Gary C

12,312 posts

178 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
Twincam16 said:
Gary C said:
What's the point?

To me the exige was the much more track focused ( and therefore solid roofed ) Elise.

Having an open topped version undermines this.
I think the roof of the Exige is more about aerodynamics than rigidity. The upper structural rigidity will be provided primarily by the roll bar and the windscreen header rail - the roof is a relatively flimsy non-structural piece of plastic.

However, with the roof on and working in conjunction with the various aerodynamics and weight-reduction measures, the Exige S is ballistic on track as a result. What they've done with the Roadster is made it more road-focused - the removable fabric roof is easier to live with as it's easier to get in and out of the car, the interior is much more plush, and the lairy motorsport aero addenda has been deleted, making the car look gorgeous in the process.

The result is a need to restrict the top speed as the altered aero will tear the roof off (and I suspect it won't be quite as stable without the rear wing), but Lotus knows the average Exige Roadster buyer won't get anywhere near the top speed anyway and won't care.

The Roadster would seem to be a very sound set of commercial decisions. I've no doubt in years to come we'll look back on it as 'Lotus's comeback car' in the way we saw the original Elise, and before it, the Turbo Esprit.
Thank for that info about the roof not being a stressed member, but I suppose for me exige means race car for the road, and this car seems to move away from that towards the Elise's field of expertise.

I'm sure is a marketing naming ploy to trade on the cachet of the exige name and open the car to a wider market ( like VW has with the 991 gt3).

Still a nice car though.

Sford

427 posts

149 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
It depends on what you want from the car;

Pub bragging rights - you can get faster for cheaper.
Build - buy your Porsche Cayman/Boxster.

etc.

The Lotus is about the unfiltered feedback from unassisted steering, the rawness and involvement of the drive. I know the more modern models have abs and traction control but these are safety features and to help when things do go a bit squiffy. The car is still trying to stay true to it's roots in the restrictive environment that it is being sold into.

Look at the newest GT3. A car made to be a track/fastest lap weapon. To make it faster they've embraced the electronic paddle gearbox so that it is as fast/faster than it's rivals. If it fell short people would mention that it isn't as fast as the current gen Aston/Lambo/Ferrari it's to compete with. One of the things slowing it down was the speed in which the gear change took place and that has been fixed by the use of the PDK box.

If someone wants the Exige Roadster they can go buy one, if they would rather the Porsche/GTR/Subaru then no one is stopping them; you pays your money blah blah. Look at the S1 Exige and the premium they now command, a low volume (let's face it, they probably won't sell a huge quantity) modern Exige is bound to retain a fair amount of it's original price over the more mass produced counterparts. I am sure the Exige Roadster with give a huge amount of smiles per mile to whoever owns them. Personally I'm not in the target market and couldn't afford to buy one.

peter450

1,650 posts

232 months

Monday 8th July 2013
quotequote all
DJRC said:
big_rob_sydney said:
Not really a fan. 53k for 0-60 in sub 4 is good, but this includes compromises for seating multiple people.

A Litchfield subaru will be just as quick, for 40k, and give you 4 doors, and a big boot.

Alternatively, the second hand market has plenty to offer. I've seen some GTR's at 40k that are positively tasty, with a few upgrades.

This?

Pass.
It looks better.
Its a roadster.
It handles better.
It rides better.
It DOESNT seat 4 ppl.
People look at you and dont think "there goes a complete "

Nobody ever bought a Lotus because of its 0-60 time ffs.
If the last line were true, they'd cost cut the engine to a 1.0 litre with 90hp, in fact the guy who signed off on that weedy 1.6 they saddled the last elise with probably believed the same thing

Le TVR

3,092 posts

250 months

Tuesday 9th July 2013
quotequote all
What cannot be forgotten is the public view of such marques. There will always be the ‘lots of trouble…..’ comment about Lotus just as there was the ‘so unreliable’ comments about TVR.
A lot of people could live with that if they could reply ‘yeah well it only cost 35k’. The public believe in Germany representing quality and Italy representing performance because the vast majority of them have never driven or owned any to make direct comparisons.

peter450 said:
Lotus build quality has never really matched there competitors, they have always done best, when selling for a lower price and offering more performance for it

The Esprit Turbo SE was a good example and was one of the higher selling varients of that car.
A 25 year old model is not representative of current production. My V8 is vastly better than any SE I have ever been in. It is also better than most Ferraris that I test drove before making the choice.
However, the comment “they have always done best, when selling for a lower price and offering more performance for it” is exactly the point I was making above.

unpc said:
Am I the only one who thinks this is spectacular VFM? OK the ingress egress issue is still a pain but this is GT3 fast and a Boxster/Cayman wouldn't see which way this went..
You are not alone. This is the level of performance of the last TVR Sagaris and look at the prices they were sold at – again 7/8 years ago.

chevronb37 said:
The thing is absolutely batsh*t mental, the way it covers the ground is borderline unhinged.
Absolutely, unfortunately it is also British so we are obliged to knock it and find fault.

I can imagine people buying French cars today from PSA Peugeot Citroën without even realising that their financial standing currently makes Lotus look like a gold plated surer than a sure thing investment….

Twincam16

27,646 posts

257 months

Tuesday 9th July 2013
quotequote all
Le TVR said:
However, the comment “they have always done best, when selling for a lower price and offering more performance for it” is exactly the point I was making above.
Thing people always forget is, the 'lower price' of the Lotus is ALWAYS relative to the performance, rather than representing a low price itself.

It has always been this way. The Elan cost not far off E-type money in the Sixties, but that didn't matter because it offered E-type performance despite only having four cylinders. Sixties Lotuses also offered the public genuine single-seater-derived technology - the Lotus twin-cam may have had a Ford block, but it was essentially a Formula 3 engine. The modern equivalent would be a Millington Diamond on throttle bodies, or a crate NGTC engine. The first 'cheap' Lotus was the Renault-engined Europa, and even that was canned pretty quickly after they realised people preferred it with the twin-cam.

So yes, the Exige may seem expensive, but given that it offers GT3 performance, it's cheap for what it is.

toppstuff

13,698 posts

246 months

Tuesday 9th July 2013
quotequote all
Really, people who think the Exige is expensive need some kind of reality check, something is wrong with their perception.

This is a very sophisticated car now. It has the very, very latest state-of-the-art Bosch management systems, in some respects more modern and effective than a 458, and with the same kind of control switch on the dash. This is NOT some low-tech "made by blokes in a shed" tubular scaffolding pole chassis and a big engine style pseudo kit car.

It is very fast. Made in limited numbers in the UK, not some low wage corner of the developing world.

It is a Proper Sportscar.

And it does 0-100 in 8 seconds or so.

It is a bloody bargain.

gashead1105

558 posts

152 months

Tuesday 9th July 2013
quotequote all
toppstuff said:
Really, people who think the Exige is expensive need some kind of reality check, something is wrong with their perception.

This is a very sophisticated car now. It has the very, very latest state-of-the-art Bosch management systems, in some respects more modern and effective than a 458, and with the same kind of control switch on the dash. This is NOT some low-tech "made by blokes in a shed" tubular scaffolding pole chassis and a big engine style pseudo kit car.

It is very fast. Made in limited numbers in the UK, not some low wage corner of the developing world.

It is a Proper Sportscar.

And it does 0-100 in 8 seconds or so.

It is a bloody bargain.
This. I'd chop my S2 Exige (MRSP new in 2008: c£44k - which puts the new Exige in a further positive light in my opinion) in for one tomorrow if the wife would authorise it. Look how some German manufacturers have increased their prices for their current generation of cars compared to the previous one.

Edited by gashead1105 on Tuesday 9th July 10:23

disco666

232 posts

145 months

Tuesday 9th July 2013
quotequote all
swanny71 said:
Lovely and the only thing I could imagine swapping my Chimaera for (in about 10 years time and £30k of depreciation)
As above.

Just how much luggage space is there in one of these?

mikey k

13,011 posts

215 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
Found this thread researching used Exige 350
7 years on they seem to hold value well and still stand up as bargain for their ability. smile

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
mikey k said:
7 years on they seem to hold value well and still stand up as bargain for their ability. smile
In my opinion one of the "quickest" 4-wheeled vehicles on this planet - if that's your thing.