Lotus Exige

Lotus Exige at a glance

The Exige is based on the Lotus Elise and shares its basic structure. All models of the brand are listed in the Lotus catalogue.

Series 1 (2000–2001): the Elise with a roof

The first Exige was developed from the Series 1 Elise, which had been on sale since 1996. Lotus gave it a fixed hard top, a fastback rear and a wing mounted on pylons above the tail. The engine was a 1.8-litre Rover K-series four-cylinder in its VHPD tune, with 132 kW (179 PS) at 7,800 rpm, or 142 kW (193 PS) in track specification. It drove the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

Wikipedia gives 0–100 km/h in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 219 km/h for the Series 1. Only 604 were built before production ended in 2001.

Series 2 (2004–2011): Toyota power

The Series 2 returned in 2004 on the basis of the second-generation Elise, with a Toyota engine. The 1.8-litre 2ZZ-GE four-cylinder, designed by Yamaha, has variable valve timing and lift (VVTL-i) and a compression ratio of 11.5:1. In the Exige it produced 142 kW (193 PS) at 7,800 rpm and 187 Nm at 6,800 rpm, through a close-ratio six-speed Aisin gearbox. The car weighed 914 kg and reached 237 km/h.

Compared with the Elise, the Series 2 Exige has a front splitter, a hard top with a roof scoop for the engine air and a rear spoiler. These parts produce about 45 kg of downforce at 161 km/h, against 5.9 kg for the Elise.

Supercharged versions followed:

Lotus also showed an Exige 265E that ran on E85 bioethanol, with 197 kW at 8,000 rpm and 249 Nm; it was a demonstrator, not a production car. North American production of the Series 2 ended in August 2011, with Final Edition models of 25 and 30 cars.

Series 3 (2012–2021): supercharged V6

The Series 3, launched in 2012 as the Exige S, was a much bigger step. It uses a 3.5-litre Toyota 2GR-FE V6 with a supercharger but no intercooler, producing 257 kW (350 PS) at 7,000 rpm and 400 Nm at 4,500 rpm. A six-speed Toyota manual gearbox was standard, an automatic was optional. The car is 4,052 mm long, 1,802 mm wide and 1,130 mm high — about 25 cm longer and 5 cm wider than the four-cylinder car — and weighs 1,176 kg. Its top speed is 277 km/h. A Roadster with a removable roof followed in 2013.

Lotus developed the V6 car in a long series of steps, each a little more powerful or lighter than the last:

The Sport 350 replaced the Exige S and was 51 kg lighter. The Sport 380 added polycarbonate side windows and two rear lights instead of four. The Cup 430 was the most extreme version: its Edelbrock supercharger with a charge cooler raised the output to 316 kW (430 PS), it produced 220 kg of downforce, ran on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres and was offered only with a manual gearbox.

Final Editions (2021)

On 9 February 2021 Lotus announced the last Exiges, three Final Edition models:

Production ended in 2021. The Exige's successor is the Emira, launched on 6 July 2021 and on sale from March 2022.

Special and limited editions

Over two decades Lotus built many special Exiges:

• Exige GT3: a Series 2 version with 202 kW (275 PS) at 8,000 rpm, an Eaton M62 supercharger and a six-speed C64 gearbox; Wikipedia gives 0–100 km/h in 4.0 seconds and an electronically limited 257 km/h.
• Exige LF1 (2014): 81 cars, one for each Grand Prix win of Lotus in Formula One, in the colours of the Lotus F1 team.
• Exige 360 Cup (2015): limited to 50 cars, 257 kW (350 PS), 1,120 kg dry.
• Exige Type 25: 25 cars based on the Cup 430, a tribute to the 1963 Lotus 25 that Jim Clark drove.
• Exige Sport 240 (2007): six cars for Australia, with 179 kW (243 PS) and 0–100 km/h in 4.2 seconds.

Legacy

The Exige carried Lotus's lightweight philosophy for more than twenty years. It started as an Elise with a roof and ended with a supercharged V6, up to 321 kW (436 PS) and up to 220 kg of downforce, while the weight of most versions stayed close to 1,100 kg. Its long list of special editions also shows how the company used one platform to serve both road drivers and track-day customers. The background of the brand is told in our history of Lotus.

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