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Welcome To The Jungle … Of Lotus Models
Once it was easy to lose some precious detail due to the lack of information about specifications available and also for the fact that very often the same varied depending on the person in front of you. Today, despite the Internet and an impeccable media structure, there is so much confusion, which very often seems to be created by car makers to mix cards and attract the public’s interest on the model to which it is intended to give a wider visibility (and sales volume) in a specific given time.
Lotus has always been synonymous with lightness and driving pleasure, and now has expanded its price list but in the very moment you’re starting to know a particular model, it puts out a more hardcore version, with some subtle aesthetic difference and everything seems to start over again. Let’s clarify the offers available today.
3-ELEVEN: naked to the bone. The 3-Eleven is the heir of the 2-Eleven, produced in only 311 units and with a 410-HP supercharged V6 is able to offer super-sports performance, uniting them to a man-machine relationship typical of a racing car, but it is regularly registered for road use. It takes 3.3 seconds for the 0-100 kph and maintains its weight around 925kg. There is also a RACE version that can be used only between the curbs and has 460 HP (+50) and 525Nm of torque (+115 compared to the Road version), adjustable carbon fiber rear wing and 6-speed sequential gearbox with paddles behind the wheel.
ELISE: Hethel’s little beauty is the one that offers the widest range, starting from the Elise Sport driven by a 134-HP 4-cylinder of 160Nm of torque, weighs 829kg and goes from 0 to 100 in 6 seconds and a half. If it does not seem quite lively, there is the Elise Sport 220 that virtually keeps unchanged the main features boosting its power up to 217 hp and 250Nm, offering a significant increase in performance which translates into a 0-100 of only 4.6 seconds and a top speed 233 kph.
The Elise Sprint pays homage to the Elan, returning the Sprint signature to the purest Lotus currently in production. In this regard we are witnessing a further saving of pounds on the scale, stopping the needle at 800kg – with 134 hp it takes 6.2 seconds for the 0-100, while the Elise Sprint 220 delivers 217 hp. Both differ from the Sport for a series of details visible on the outside and the inside, where we find a lot of alcantara and a manual transmission with exposed mechanism.
To complete the Elise range, we find the Cup 250 (reviewed on ACM #59) and the Cup 260, released between 12 months the one from the other and offering a much more aggressive aerodynamic kit, with conspicuous spoilers at the front and at the rear, side skirts, wide use of titanium and carbon fiber and respectively 243 hp and 250 hp. In both cases, everything is aimed at maximum sportiness and the visceral relationship between driver and car. Ideal on track, but also suitable for a beautiful mountain road.
EXIGE: even in this case there is to lick your fingers, because the new Exige is on the list starting with the Exige Sport 350 (tested on ACM #55) and so with a V6 supercharged grounding 345 hp and 400Nm of torque. The look is of those that leave no room for doubt, with black details and in contrast to the body color, alcantara in the cockpit and everything you need to move from A to B in the shortest possible time, but especially with the most fun possible. Reactive, fast and alive, the Exige is the link between sports cars and supercars, guaranteeing performance and drivability that are difficult to find elsewhere. 3.8 seconds for the 0-100 and top speed of 261 kph. The next step is occupied by the Exige Sport 380, which thanks to an optimization of the ECU and the use of a revised exhaust system delivers 375 hp for 410Nm of torque. Always available with manual or automatic transmission, it does not exceed 1,100kg of weight and requires only 3.7 seconds for the 0-100.
If the Sport 380 does not seem enough and you usually wear a helmet instead of a tie, the Exige Cup 380 will be your ultimate weapon. Supercars killer by name and fact, thanks to a further refined aerodynamics and able to generate up to 200kg of downforce at 280 kph, is recognizable by a different arrangement of the rear lights and an even more pronounced aero kit, as well as to save a few kilograms of weight. Finally, the Exige Cup 430 is all that you could ask for: even lighter, even more aerodynamically devoted to a perfect marriage with the air flows, earns 55 horses compared to the 375 of the Sport 380, thus arriving at 430, exactly as the name suggests, titanium exhaust and takes just 3.3 seconds for the 0-100, with a maximum speed of 290 per hour. This is the definitive Exige, at least up to this precise moment – it maintains the unmistakable look of the less anabolic sisters, but is able to offer an uncompromising driving experience.
EVORA: as for the 2+2 there is now the possibility of losing a few more hours when speccing it. The Evora 400 (tested on ACM #58) is an exceptional sports car, available with the same manual transmission as the Exige, or with the automatic IPS g’box. Much easier to get in and out and perfectly at ease on any type of road, has a supercharged V6 capable of delivering 400 hp and 410Nm of torque, while the frame can still communicate what is going on beneath you, but without breaking a couple of vertebrae at each hole in the ground. There is also a sat-nav, better dashboard finishing and a seat able to grind hundreds of kilometers to get to your favorite roads or tracks. 4.2 seconds for the 0-100 and 300 per hour of top speed, which in 2016 made it the first street legal Lotus to overcome the barrier of 300.
A bit later, the 400 has been joined by the Evora Sport 410, characterized by aerodynamic profiles typical of the Lotus Sport range, such as the engine compartment cover by a single carbon fiber panel with horizontal profiles and the recalibration of the suspension, obviously alongside a boost of 10hp and 10Nm. It will not change radically in terms of numbers, but once you get behind the wheel, the sensations will be even clearer.
At the top of Hethel food chain there’s the Evora GT430 and the GT430 Sport. We are dealing with the maximum evolution of the concept of performance, with the use of adjustable Ohlins suspension, increased braking system, Torsen limited slip differential and even more power with 430hp and 440Nm of torque. Both are available with manual or automatic transmission, while the difference in weight between the two is 10kg with the GT430 weighing 1258kg and the GT430 Sport at 1248kg. Talking about aerodynamic, the GT430 is able to generate 100kg of downforce at around 300 kph, which is a good 56% more than the already exceptional Evora Sport 410, while the GT430 Sport reaches up to 250kg in total. Optional the huge rear spoiler that overhangs the one integrated with the engine hood, more accentuated than what we are used to see on the other Evoras.
Obviously, it’s a very quick overview, because every single model really differs for small but numerous details that make the driving experience more vivid than the model you are going to upgrade. What they have in common is the ability to attack any kind of road, hairpin bends, alpine passes, or the fast turns of no matter what race track. Choosing a Lotus makes you sign a pact with your desire for adrenaline and knowing how to juggle the many proposals can help you find the model that’s right for you.
Words by Carlo Brema
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