RE: Lotus Exige Cup 430

RE: Lotus Exige Cup 430

Author
Discussion

And9s

195 posts

199 months

Thursday 9th November 2017
quotequote all
Glad I missed out on the 380.

And9s

195 posts

199 months

Thursday 9th November 2017
quotequote all
schrodinger said:
Probably not. Lotus are really bad at this, but any Lotus buyer should (by now) expect their car to be obsolete as soon as delivered. There'll be a 450 cup fairly soon no doubt.

There's a substantial price difference too - cup 380 was around 83k base (realistically 90 with options) so this is ~17k more list.
I was on the waiting list for the 380 having gone to the dealer too late. A dealer north of the border didn’t tell me about this. I even asked them to let me know if this was going to happen early doors knowing about the Evora. Haven’t had an e mail yet.

Thorburn

2,399 posts

194 months

Thursday 9th November 2017
quotequote all
Rocket. said:
430 doesnt even get the trick dash you have in yours which it should for £100k imo.
Have to say, I agree with this. It looks ace in the 3-11 and would be a nice addition in a £100k version of the car.

Tarka

60 posts

81 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I laughed out loud when I read this release this morning...

I really wonder what Lotus is doing here?

I very nearly pushed the button on a 380 Cup when they were released. In the end I've gone for something else , thats for another post. (glad I did now!). I was lucky enough to have some fun with Lotus's 380 Cup press car and its a fabulous thing, but at the end of the day I couldn't quite get beyond the fact that its a very light car with a fairly ordinary (tuned ) Engine from a 20 year old Camry mated to a gearbox from a Diesel Avensis... North of £70K I find it difficult to ignore those facts. And we've not even got on to fit, finish, feature and warranty. (only 1 year/ 12K miles on Cup cars)

What I really wanted was the same car (380 Cup- even with the same hum drum running gear!) but turned up to max with the charge-cooled 430 unit.

I was assured by my dealer (whom I know and trust) and by Lotus themselves that it was not going to happen any time soon... By that I thought they probably meant it wouldn't happen for a couple of years until some sort of glorious last hurrah for the run out model. But here we are a few months later, (while the 380 Cups are still being delivered !)with the car that most of those customers would have liked? (leaving asside the winceful £100K price of course.... By the way its somewhat North of £100K by the time you've added the 20 year old (Vauxhall?) aircon unit, two speaker wireless and the 430 does without the desireble Nitron adjustable dampers. Call it £110K then...)

I saw my dealer only last week and mentioned the possibility of a 430 Exige and again he assured me no chance!

When I called him tody to congratulate him on his "poker" face he was not a happy man. Two 380 Cup customers (one hasn't even collected his car yet) had already called him and they are not happy bunny's at all! Its easy to understand why...

While most enthusiasts will surely applaud the launch of this car Lotus, is in danger of Pi**ing off the relatively small bunch of enthusiasts who keep them in business by actually buying new cars. They did it when the Sport 380 was launced just after the sport 350 and here we are again.

Unfortubately for all the hype around Lotus apparently making money again, I wonder if that is really an accurate reflection of what is going on? Only 22 Sport 380's were registered in the first half of 2017 and a great many of those were dealer demo's. I have been watching dealer stock for months as I wanted to truely understand the used values before comitting and new Lotus sales are glacial. So maybe Lotus is back in profit because it is selling cars to its dealers, but they are not fully trickling through to customers.?

How many 311's have actually been registered? Again dealer stock is static. Used prices of all spec V6 Exige's's remain seemingly high, but dealer stock is again static, all year. So thats great! Your new Exige will retain a lot of value so long as you want to replace it with a more expensive Lotus...

While the 380 Cup is alegedly sold out, there are at least five cars in UK dealers that they cannot sell (heaven help them now), so I think that Lotus have probably soaked up most of the free flow demand for this "special" car with the now obsolete "special" car that is still rolling off the line in Hethel. And by constantly reaffirming through their own actions that somethuing better is only just around the corner,they will I fear damage their relationship with their loyal customers (the ones that actually spend money rather than the enthusists).

Just my two peneth...

T






rare6499

661 posts

140 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I think it looks incredible. I could never afford one in a million years - but purely as a car fan, what an awesome looking car. The performance will be on another level, to the point that the price tag doesn’t seem that unrealistic to me. I for one am glad Lotus are still in a position to release this many variants of their models and I hope it continues for a long time to come!

e414078

200 posts

205 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
baronbennyt said:
As a long-term Porsche owner and recent Lotus owner I find it strange that there is constant comparison between what Stuttgart offers and Lotus.

Other than the price I think their offerings are really very different. You can't compare the two in terms of build quality, practicality and R&D depth - track-focussed Porsches still feel like they're hewn from solid granite: jump in the car, plug in your destination in the sat-nav, put the air-con on, pump up the tunes and place your coffee in the cup holder(s) as you blast down to, say, the Nurburgring. Lap for one or more days trouble free and repeat on the way home. Lotus doesn't offer that type of piece-of-mind.

However, for a Sunday morning country blast, track days and an ability to put a huge grin on your face, Lotus is king in my opinion: it's like driving a bloody go-kart on the road - not for everyone it seems, but for those that like that sort of thing pretty much untouchable.

I am seriously considering chopping my 3-11 in for this Exige given it appears to be significantly more "practical" - maybe the sweet spot between the two offerings above?. Must resist...damn you PistonHeads!





A perfect summary to compare the two brands.

Porsche911R

21,146 posts

266 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
Tarka said:
I laughed out loud when I read this release this morning...


I saw my dealer only last week and mentioned the possibility of a 430 Exige and again he assured me no chance!

When I called him tody to congratulate him on his "poker" face he was not a happy man. Two 380 Cup customers (one hasn't even collected his car yet) had already called him and they are not happy bunny's at all! Its easy to understand why...

While most enthusiasts will surely applaud the launch of this car Lotus, is in danger of Pi**ing off the relatively small bunch of enthusiasts who keep them in business by actually buying new cars. They did it when the Sport 380 was launced just after the sport 350 and here we are again.
its why I have not had one since my last 190bhp exige, they care not about customers, sales are so low in the UK as people keep what they have in Lotus land.

even if they did a car every year you might know where you stand, but Lotus will sell you the best car ever and a week later out comes the best car ever.

It put buyers off and hence like you I have watched all year and NOT one 380 SPort has sold off the dealer forcourt I can see, like wise we have 5 or 6 Cup 380 up with dealers at £95k which unless they drop to £80k no ones going to buy them now, cup 380 is such a dead horse at these values, I really do feel for buyers of that car being screwed over.

really you have to buy 3 year old cars at £30k discounts and be happy with it, buying new is a big risk, the Exige 430 cup is mega though and if another one came out not sure where they would go with it, 440/450 bhp means nothing, but the jump from the 380 cup to a charged cooled 430 Cup is big and owners must feel sick esp ones waiting for their cars to arrive.


Lotus if anything have opened the door to Models below the Cup 430 now

So a 410 Sport with a charge cooler at less money etc etc is more likely to happen than a model above the 430 Cup now.

If fact a whole new Charged cooled range, be interesting to see what the 2018 base model will be in charged cooled land.


Edited by Porsche911R on Friday 10th November 09:51

deepvolleymaster

22 posts

176 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I had a sport 350 for 6 months over the summer and it was fantastic! The only bits I didn't like were the brakes and the understeer both were sorted by Jeremy at Back on track in Guildford and the car was much improved after the work had been done. You could actually keep up with an RS3 on a country road.

The only reason I got rid of it was that I had to buy a van for my business and I didn't have garage to store it over the winter. Next year I will buy a 380 and that is all I wil lever need.

Adam3441

77 posts

141 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
There aren’t many cars with that performance that are such an event to drive on the road and that can handle track work every weekend. These dual role cars are rare. Modern Porsche GT3’s are a lot more expensive but have much more daily useable appeal and mega engines. They’d be much more expensive to maintain with track use too. It depends what you need.

I think this Exige 430 is fantastic. £100k ain’t cheap but it competes with the GT3’s & GT4’s of this world and offers arguably a more exciting driving proposition but at the expense of interior luxuries. I’m a 2-Eleven owner so this Exige is luxurious compared to what I’m used to. I’d happily sacrifice some sat nav and stitched leather sun visors in exchange for driving excitement.

These Porsche’s are limited in numbers and virtually impossible to buy new when they are released.

Swings & roundabouts but I think this car is bloody brilliant. Added to this it’s now a general production car and not limited build numbers. Wait 4 years for a new GT3 (if you can get one) or buy a new Exige now? Great thinking Lotus.






hondansx

4,570 posts

226 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I think it looks amazing.

But even I can't defend Lotus this time, it's pretty bad they have done this to 380 owners. And it is all BS, as you can EASILY get hold of a 380 despite it being sold out.

Lotus are certainly not out of the woods yet.

DJM7691

426 posts

110 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I like Lotus, but I can't help but think they are not being too wise in pissing off a lot of the customers. I get it that the arrival of a 430 doesn't change the driving expereince at all of the 380, but the extra 50 horses is quite a jump.

They desperately need a new product soon rather than just re-hash after re-hash of vehicle, the game is wearing a bit thin now.

Saying that, I would have one of these in a heartbeat, looks awesome and cant think of anything that it enters into direct competition with, proper little racer with enough manners for road use.


WCZ

10,537 posts

195 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
Tarka said:
I laughed out loud when I read this release this morning...

I really wonder what Lotus is doing here?

I very nearly pushed the button on a 380 Cup when they were released. In the end I've gone for something else , thats for another post. (glad I did now!). I was lucky enough to have some fun with Lotus's 380 Cup press car and its a fabulous thing, but at the end of the day I couldn't quite get beyond the fact that its a very light car with a fairly ordinary (tuned ) Engine from a 20 year old Camry mated to a gearbox from a Diesel Avensis... North of £70K I find it difficult to ignore those facts. And we've not even got on to fit, finish, feature and warranty. (only 1 year/ 12K miles on Cup cars)

What I really wanted was the same car (380 Cup- even with the same hum drum running gear!) but turned up to max with the charge-cooled 430 unit.

I was assured by my dealer (whom I know and trust) and by Lotus themselves that it was not going to happen any time soon... By that I thought they probably meant it wouldn't happen for a couple of years until some sort of glorious last hurrah for the run out model. But here we are a few months later, (while the 380 Cups are still being delivered !)with the car that most of those customers would have liked? (leaving asside the winceful £100K price of course.... By the way its somewhat North of £100K by the time you've added the 20 year old (Vauxhall?) aircon unit, two speaker wireless and the 430 does without the desireble Nitron adjustable dampers. Call it £110K then...)

I saw my dealer only last week and mentioned the possibility of a 430 Exige and again he assured me no chance!

When I called him tody to congratulate him on his "poker" face he was not a happy man. Two 380 Cup customers (one hasn't even collected his car yet) had already called him and they are not happy bunny's at all! Its easy to understand why...

While most enthusiasts will surely applaud the launch of this car Lotus, is in danger of Pi**ing off the relatively small bunch of enthusiasts who keep them in business by actually buying new cars. They did it when the Sport 380 was launced just after the sport 350 and here we are again.

Unfortubately for all the hype around Lotus apparently making money again, I wonder if that is really an accurate reflection of what is going on? Only 22 Sport 380's were registered in the first half of 2017 and a great many of those were dealer demo's. I have been watching dealer stock for months as I wanted to truely understand the used values before comitting and new Lotus sales are glacial. So maybe Lotus is back in profit because it is selling cars to its dealers, but they are not fully trickling through to customers.?

How many 311's have actually been registered? Again dealer stock is static. Used prices of all spec V6 Exige's's remain seemingly high, but dealer stock is again static, all year. So thats great! Your new Exige will retain a lot of value so long as you want to replace it with a more expensive Lotus...

While the 380 Cup is alegedly sold out, there are at least five cars in UK dealers that they cannot sell (heaven help them now), so I think that Lotus have probably soaked up most of the free flow demand for this "special" car with the now obsolete "special" car that is still rolling off the line in Hethel. And by constantly reaffirming through their own actions that somethuing better is only just around the corner,they will I fear damage their relationship with their loyal customers (the ones that actually spend money rather than the enthusists).

Just my two peneth...

T
that must be really annoying, if I'd ordered a car then i'd probably of canceled it and paid any penalty just on principle.

re: road legal track car alternatives - a radical or ultima would murder this car in terms of track performance

Adam3441

77 posts

141 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
There are road legal track cars and then road legal track cars. The Exige and GT* Porsche’s have a good enough blend of road and track usability so that you can actually enjoy driving the car in the UK.

Roofless cars like the Atom, radical, some Caterham’s, 2-11 / 3-11 are too compromised (for me anyway) to enjoy enough on the road. Wet track days aren’t much fun either.

Ultima seems to be very extreme and I’d imagine (never driven one) hard work on the road.

The Exige can be used happily on road and track rain or shine. Massive plus point in the UK with our climate. The Exige is the kind of car I’d use regularly and try to get my money’s worth for years to come.

These more compromised road legal track cars mean you actually drive them less than you first think.

WCZ

10,537 posts

195 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
Adam3441 said:
There are road legal track cars and then road legal track cars. The Exige and GT* Porsche’s have a good enough blend of road and track usability so that you can actually enjoy driving the car in the UK.

Roofless cars like the Atom, radical, some Caterham’s, 2-11 / 3-11 are too compromised (for me anyway) to enjoy enough on the road. Wet track days aren’t much fun either.

Ultima seems to be very extreme and I’d imagine (never driven one) hard work on the road.

The Exige can be used happily on road and track rain or shine. Massive plus point in the UK with our climate. The Exige is the kind of car I’d use regularly and try to get my money’s worth for years to come.

These more compromised road legal track cars mean you actually drive them less than you first think.
admittedly I haven't driven an Exige since the S2 but it was pretty bare bones and I personally wouldn't compare it to a comfort spec GT3 in usability

Tarka

60 posts

81 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
braddo said:
bigmowley said:
How about an R8 RWS. Price £110K so a bit more dollar. Power 540BHP lovely N/A V10 engine. power to weight 362bhp/tonne so similar ballpark. I doubt the Lotus beats 400 in road ready spec.
(991 GT3 gen 2 is 336bhp/tonne with manual box for comparison but nearer £120K). Not as quick, not as good on a track as the Lotus but bang up to date interior and fittings, virtual cockpit, decent interior and a lovely drive on the road.

Horses for courses I know but that is where my £100K has gone.
This Exige is a track focussed car. It will murder the R8 on a track day and have enough tyres and brakes at the end of the day to do the same thing tomorrow and the next day, and the next day...

The R8 is obviously the more luxurious (not necessarily more comfortable) road car.

As you say, horses for courses.
I'm with BigMowley here.

There are many jumping off points on the road/track continuum but the RWS wins my £100K prize. I'm sure it won't be too shoddy on track on Cup 2's, and it is a beautifully crafted thing. It feels worth £100K... Much as I love Lotus, the powertrain on the Audi alone feels like it is worth more than the entire Lotus... So that is the sweet spot for me personally! Each to their own...

T

hondansx

4,570 posts

226 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
I think it would take about half a lap to realise the Audi R8 is some way behind this Exige on track.

I get it, the Audi has a very sonorous - incredible - V10 behind the ear. But it would feel cumbersome and frustrating on track in isolation, and feel bloody awful compared to the Exige. That engine isn't going to sound that great if you spend the whole time indicating.

The RWS is not a R8 'track car'; it is just an R8 without a front diff.

schrodinger

201 posts

191 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
hondansx said:
That engine isn't going to sound that great if you spend the whole time indicating.
glol.

Adam3441

77 posts

141 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
It will be interesting to see what the next generation Cayman GT4 offers in terms of price and performance. I’d laugh if it ended up undercutting the price of the Equivalent Exige.

I got the latest Lotus prices emailed to me today. My spec of Exige 430 would come out at over £110k. Silly really.


SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

235 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
Adam3441 said:
It will be interesting to see what the next generation Cayman GT4 offers in terms of price and performance. I’d laugh if it ended up undercutting the price of the Equivalent Exige.

I got the latest Lotus prices emailed to me today. My spec of Exige 430 would come out at over £110k. Silly really.
Why would you laugh? The Cayman is not as good as thever Exige.

Adam3441

77 posts

141 months

Friday 10th November 2017
quotequote all
SidewaysSi said:
Adam3441 said:
It will be interesting to see what the next generation Cayman GT4 offers in terms of price and performance. I’d laugh if it ended up undercutting the price of the Equivalent Exige.

I got the latest Lotus prices emailed to me today. My spec of Exige 430 would come out at over £110k. Silly really.
Why would you laugh? The Cayman is not as good as thever Exige.
Whichever car is better is subjective. Can guarantee the next GT4 will be brilliant. It depends how much track driving you’d do I guess. For £110k + for a nicely equipped Exige 430 it would need to be one of the finest driving experiences on earth at that price. I really do hope it is.