Exige S V8?

[articulatedj]

With all the GT4/Exige discussion, it made me wonder:

Why doesn't Lotus do an Exige with a Hayabusa-based V8? link

That engine has been a bit overkill in Ariels, Radicals, and Caterhams, but it is perfect for an Exige S. It has all of the following:

- 500 hp
- Naturally aspirated
- Incredible sound
- crazy redline
- Lighter (and lower CoG) than the Toyota V6.

Lotus could do a great special edition V8 Exige, and finally blow off the GT4 (and GT3) once and for all. They may as well take advantage of their low volume status by doing something Porsche could not do.

What say you, Lotus?

[Impasse]

Didn't the V8 Atom cost £150k? And that's without worldwide type approval.

[articulatedj]

Impasse said:

Didn't the V8 Atom cost £150k? And that's without worldwide type approval.

It would be expensive, no doubt, but it would outperform similar cars and get press. Also, the Exige doesn't have worldwide approval anyway, so they don't have as much to lose.

[kambites]

Can you imagine what PH's "Lotus should only charge £10 for their cars" lot would say if they released a £200k Exige?

[rodericb]

kambites said:

Can you imagine what PH's "Lotus should only charge £10 for their cars" lot would say if they released a £200k Exige?

For sure. And then whinge when the thing needed servicing every second time you even thought about driving it. They could probably get near 500 horses out of the Toyota donk if they put some forged pistons and good conrods into it. But that'd add to the cost etc...

[RobM77]

I think Andy Walsh was working on something very similar a while ago with an RST V8 (based on two Yam R1 blocks IIRC). I don't know if it ever came to fruition.

I don't think an established car manufacturer could take such a risk, especially when they're teetering on the edge of survival! Plus I expect it'd only be road legal in a few countries. Best left to men in sheds I think

What is likely is a 400bhp Exige V6 at some point, now that we have that power from the Evora, or perhaps even a '3-11'...