RE: Lotus Exige Cup 430: Driven

RE: Lotus Exige Cup 430: Driven

Author
Discussion

GFWilliams

4,941 posts

207 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
craig2003 said:
The 620R starts at £50k before the on the road package is added on.
I took mine across Europe with a little less than 1000 miles on the clock, managed to get as far as Austria before heading back via the ring for a few laps. It was a week of travelling very light but what a trip and that was without a windscreen!
As you know, I have had a Caterham and now have my Exige. I drove my Caterham all the way to Croatia and back when I had it and it was a huge adventure. Having said that, I'd rather take the Exige any day of the week, it's more comfortable, it has Air Conditioning, it's faster on Autobahns and has more usable boot space.

The 430 Cup looks like a great car, I hope Lotus have finally put an LSD in it as I can say now that it's needed!

Looking forward to seeing how they perform in the real world against modified Exiges which have cost significantly less...

cib24

1,117 posts

153 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
andy_s said:
....or the heavier clutch, bigger brakes, better discs, lighter body panels, better aero, 3-way springs and a few other bits and bobs...
Meh. You would have more power, the brakes are already tremendous, add stickier tyres like the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's and it wouldn't matter that the Exige 430 Cup had 3-way Nitrons or bigger brakes or lighter panels. You would still be lighter because you don't have all of the extra weight from the charge cooler and other bits and you would still kill it around a circuit with an equal driver.

andy_s

19,400 posts

259 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
cib24 said:
andy_s said:
....or the heavier clutch, bigger brakes, better discs, lighter body panels, better aero, 3-way springs and a few other bits and bobs...
Meh. You would have more power, the brakes are already tremendous, add stickier tyres like the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's and it wouldn't matter that the Exige 430 Cup had 3-way Nitrons or bigger brakes or lighter panels. You would still kill it.
Yeah, I don't know why Lotus didn't just do that then...

RobM77

35,349 posts

234 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
blasos said:
Noble made this car 13 years ago.

M400:
3.0 V6 Twin Turbo
425 bhp
1060 kg

And 40 grand cheaper.
Good point. I drove it shortly after launch at at a Noble event at Bedford Autodrome and I've driven a standard Exige V6 on the road. The two are reasonably comparable, yes, but the Lotus feels like a better finished item and the big thing for me is that the Lotus isn't turbocharged, whereas the M400's turbos had an annoying habit of waking up mid corner without you wanting them to (that may sound picky, but I found it a major issue in a couple of long corners I was trying to take at a steady speed). The Noble was £61,995, which was £87,350 in 2016, so I'm guessing about £90k now.

cib24

1,117 posts

153 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
andy_s said:
Yeah, I don't know why Lotus didn't just do that then...
Less profit in it and let's be honest less exciting in terms of marketing a new model. The 430 Cup is f****ing badass. Just expensive...So I offered an alternative proposal if you want to go just as quick or quicker.

:-P

suffolk009

5,385 posts

165 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
craig2003 said:
The 620R starts at £50k before the on the road package is added on.
I took mine across Europe with a little less than 1000 miles on the clock, managed to get as far as Austria before heading back via the ring for a few laps. It was a week of travelling very light but what a trip and that was without a windscreen!
Sounds like fun.

I did two track days at the Ring then another one at Spa on the way back in my SuperlightK, also with no windscreen. It was fun, but the trucks on the Belgian motorways in the torrential rain... with the 7 on those Formula Ford crossply wets....never again!


Edited by suffolk009 on Tuesday 14th November 17:38

Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
As a former S2 Exige owner, this looks amazing.

The notion of a £100k Exige seems ludicrous until you look at what it does, and what can (or rather cannot) compete.

400bhp/tonne is unparalleled at that price.

And comparisons to the Noble are fruitless. Noble's current car is £300k and they don't even sell one per month.

andy_s

19,400 posts

259 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
cib24 said:
andy_s said:
Yeah, I don't know why Lotus didn't just do that then...
Less profit in it and let's be honest less exciting in terms of marketing a new model. The 430 Cup is f****ing badass. Just expensive so I offered an alternative proposal.

:-P
There's good cars from Lotus from £30k upwards, you can add power to all of them of course, but power is just one aspect; this has had many small improvements and comes out lighter despite them... As a package it's well rounded - I don't think that's purely marketing driven; I think it improves the car in general in line with the power increase - and price increase...

Sure, add more power and you'll get a more affordable version, as you can with any car, but add 20kg and go 20bhp over the 430 and you're pretty much at square one, and that's just bhp/kg wise.

Nowt wrong with a bit of fettling though, of course.

British Beef

2,210 posts

165 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
As a former S2 Exige owner, this looks amazing.

The notion of a £100k Exige seems ludicrous until you look at what it does, and what can (or rather cannot) compete.

400bhp/tonne is unparalleled at that price.

And comparisons to the Noble are fruitless. Noble's current car is £300k and they don't even sell one per month.
Indeed the Noble is 3 x more expensive yet 'only' 50% (plus or minus) more powerful.

Personally I would struggle to walk past the Evora 430 to one of these at the same price point. Although this does look stunning!!

The Evora 430 really could be taken on long trips and for a prop-forward build chap is infinitely more accessible to get in and out of.



JMo22

99 posts

179 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Vee12V said:
Article says: "You'll know what's good about a Lotus"

The fact you can actually buy one?
Yeah but the reality is the demand for these cars is limited unless you can flip it for £30k profit!

Jellinek

274 posts

275 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
400bhp/tonne is unparalleled at that price.
New Corvette ZR1 is closer to 500 bhp/tonne and 135k dollars....

baronbennyt

900 posts

96 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
I'm seriously tempted to trade my Cayman GT4 in for this but I'm already very fortunate in having a 3-Eleven in the stable and worry the two are probably too close to one another in concept. Also, the GT4 isn't too shabby!

What would you do - hold or trade?




Ares

11,000 posts

120 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Jellinek said:
Ares said:
400bhp/tonne is unparalleled at that price.
New Corvette ZR1 is closer to 500 bhp/tonne and 135k dollars....
And it won't see which way the Exige 430 went on track wink

How much is the 500bhp/tonne ZR1 in the UK?

kambites

67,553 posts

221 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Jellinek said:
Ares said:
400bhp/tonne is unparalleled at that price.
New Corvette ZR1 is closer to 500 bhp/tonne and 135k dollars....
And not available in the UK.

Given that the Z06 ZR1 was something like £80k back when you could get two dollars for a pound, I suspect it'd end up over £150k here if it ever was made available.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 14th November 19:45

framerateuk

2,731 posts

184 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Fantastic.

I absolutely love the current range of Exiges. I'd love a standard V6 or 350. I'd have to empty most of the garage though as my Caterham barely fits as it is!

_Leg_

2,798 posts

211 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
cib24 said:
andy_s said:
....or the heavier clutch, bigger brakes, better discs, lighter body panels, better aero, 3-way springs and a few other bits and bobs...
Meh. You would have more power, the brakes are already tremendous, add stickier tyres like the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's and it wouldn't matter that the Exige 430 Cup had 3-way Nitrons or bigger brakes or lighter panels. You would still be lighter because you don't have all of the extra weight from the charge cooler and other bits and you would still kill it around a circuit with an equal driver.
The Nitrons are £3500 from Simply Lotus and make a huge difference. First thing I did to my 350. No point going faster down the straights if you can't carry all the speed you can through the corners.

suffolk009

5,385 posts

165 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
baronbennyt said:
I'm seriously tempted to trade my Cayman GT4 in for this but I'm already very fortunate in having a 3-Eleven in the stable and worry the two are probably too close to one another in concept. Also, the GT4 isn't too shabby!

What would you do - hold or trade?



Thats a very nice two car garage. I'd hold.

Maybe buy an old Elan or Europa too.

Denno B

965 posts

205 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
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Definately keep what you have!

REDCARISMINE

45 posts

91 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
was going to say same

Noble set the standard and the bar very high with the m400


noble12345

362 posts

216 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
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At first i thought, oh another "NEW" car with a bit more power for way more cash...

But this works for Pagani

But they are aimed at different customers... for now at least.

So with all this glorious carbon work, when are we going to see a £1 Million lotus hypercar? its about time they joined in.