Lotus Exige Sport 380

Lighter, faster and fiercer Exige revealed with 380hp and even sharper track focus

"If the founder was still alive, he'd approve of this." So says Lotus boss Jean-Marc Gales on his latest creation, the Exige Sport 380. We're inclined to agree. Just a year on from the lightest and fastest version of the V6-powered Exige range yet, the Exige Sport 350, Lotus has found ways to make it lighter and faster still.

The new model weighs just 1,066kg, produces 380hp, has a top speed of 178mph, and go from 0-60mph in just 3.5 seconds. "It's a supercar killer," says Gales. We wouldn't disagree with that, either.

It's an impressive feat from the Hethel engineers to find a way to make the Exige Sport 380 25kg lighter than the 350, but the saving is actually 40kg, with Lotus adding in an extra 15.2kg of kit once all the stripping out has been done to get to that 25kg figure. That extra comes from new barge boards (weighing 3kg) to improve the aero, new transmission oil cooler (4.2kg) to improve track durability, and a new fuel pump and a larger 48-litre tank (8kg) to boost power and improve range.

As for the weight saving, it is meticulous. Highlights include a new carbon fibre access panel and front splitter (a 1.5kg saving), new rear light designs (0.3kg), new rear wing and diffuser (with airblades, a Lotus first, for a total 1.2kg saving), the lightest forged alloys on the market (saving 10kg in unsprung mass), a polycarbonate rear window instead of glass (0.9kg saving), a lithium-ion battery (10.3kg saving), and carbon fibre sports seats (6kg saving, with the maximum weight saving coming from selecting options such as the titanium exhaust (a big saving of 9.2kg, and an improved sound) and removable carbon fibre roof panel (2kg) in place of the standard soft top.

So it's a lot lighter, but it's also a lot faster, too. In addition to the extra power for the Toyota-sourced supercharged 3.5-litre V6, there's also a 10lb ft boost in torque, which is more available in the rev range more often.

With that extra power and performance, Lotus sought to give the Exige a proper aero package. The most obvious part is that large fixed rear wing, but it also includes a front splitter and lip spoiler, the barge boards, the rear diffuser and air curtains, and lots of hidden additions of aero trickery to the otherwise unchanged body (the chassis is also untouched over the Exige Sport 350). Total downforce at Vmax is 140kg, up from the 88kg of the Exige Sport 350.

More grip from the body, then, and more from the tyres, too. Lotus has switched to Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres for the Exige Sport 380, and they are 10mm wider at the front than the 350's rubber. At the front, it wears 215/45 ZR17s and at the rear there are 265/35 ZR18s. Grooved brake discs sourced from AP Racing provide the significant stopping power. Lotus expects plenty of buyers to go for the optional Track Pack and its two-way adjustable Nitron dampers and adjustable Eibach front and rear anti-roll bars.

In the process of making the car, Lotus also took the opportunity to strip the Exige right down and rebuild it to eliminate any kind of squeaks and rattles, and ensure that the build quality is as good as it can possibly be.

The price? £67,900, an increase of around £11,000 over the Exige Sport 350. You can order one now for delivery in the new year, and an automatic version will join the six-speed manual in the spring, although the uptake for that is expected to be minimal. And we doubt the founder would be one of them. He'd love the rest of it, mind.

Words: Mark Tisshaw

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cib24

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