Lotus had a very impressive display (one of the largest there) with cars ranging from the elise to the current f1 cars. In this blog I will be focusing on the new exige s and the new evora Gte,although there are photo's of the other cars :) .
Lotus Exige S
Let's start with the facts and figures of this new model:
3.5 litre supercharged v6
345bhp
295lb ft
1176kg kerb weight
The above giving a very impressive power to weight ratio of 298bhp/ton
Priced at £50,850 for the standard car.
The new Exige s is here and arrives with some startling figures the first, weight, 1176kg which is light for any modern car but this makes it a full 256kg heavier than the model it replaces (standard exige s) this grabbed my eye at first but my eyes soon moved onto the 345bhp output, alot for a small and still light car. The exige sounded fantastic up the hill, with abit more substance from the v6 than the previous model.
Onto the lotus stand I had my chance to sit in the new car, it looks alittle bigger but this is typical lotus, there's no dignified way of getting in (for the first 20 attempts) the sill still dominates entry and exit. Once in the seating position is perfect just the right height and there is no mistaking it's an exige. One other thing of note inside was the gearchange felt much more positive from the old model which could be a pain at times.
I am torn with my opinion of this car and will reserve judgement fully until I drive one. The price is a big issue for me and people I have spoken to about the car,the previous exige s cost £35,000. This car will effectively be most people's second car, used for the odd weekend blast or trackday and therein lies the problem. a supercharged atom 3 can be had for £42,000 or even the caterham superlight rs500 for £41,000 as a purely fun car. On the other hand you can have a car which can tick alot of boxes, the e92 m3 can be had for £54,000 list, the tt rs £45,000 these cars can do comfortable everyday driving but also be let loose for some fun at the weekend or when the mood takes you. I understand alot of engineering went into the car and the performance of it is staggering, purely performance related it's a bargain but living with the car could be different. I drove a Lotus Exige 260cup in germany (another blog coming soon) and was blown away by it, the power,steering and the ride were all so much more than I was expecting but not once did it feel £46,000 worth of car. At the end of the day if you have the cash this isn't a problem,the car is arguably on a very fine line between road and track car but I would rather travel in the exige than the atom or the caterham. I have no doubt it will put a smile on the face of every owner on any trip out.
Lotus Evora Gte
The new lotus evora gte was present with 2 static cars and one doing runs up the hill in the supercar club. Lets first start with the facts and figures of the new car:
3.5 litre supercharged v6
438bhp
370lb ft
1277kg kerb weight
A mighty 342bhp/ton
Priced at £130,000 - £135,000
I will start by saying this new evora gte is a beautiful car in the flesh, the car on display seemed to have carbon everything and really has a presence, the car just sits right with 19 inch front wheels and 20 inches at the back. A quick peep inside revealed a very plush looking interior quite driver focused but not lacking in expensive materials,once again very lotus like to get in.
The car looked very composed up the hill, obvious lack of body roll as you would expect but the ride also looked quite soft as the driver clipped the grass, which in a car of this type tends to have an effect for 5 seconds after as you reign it back in. It wasn't audibly loud but produced a nice rasp with the blips on downchange.
As with the exige s, the price is very high but what is good is the exclusivity and the fact it's something different. Goto the nurburgring and you will be assaulted by all manner of porsche gt3s, so much so it becomes tiresome but dare to be different with the evora gte.
In summary I think Lotus are really moving along the right path, the new models are stunning to look at and I can only imagine the same to drive, they both get great reviews and hearing the public speak of them at goodwood the comments were very positive.
Tomorrows blog will featured modified cars from the festival of speed 2012 inc the fabulous twin turbo sls from brabus :) so check back tomorrow.
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