Even Less Weight, Even More Fun!
Words by Antonio Iafelice
Lotus has been always accustomed to a minimalist style that doesn’t know frills. Perhaps this is why in Hethel, to name their newborn, they limited its name to just a word and a number: in fact “Sports 350” is the abbreviation chosen to identify the highest level of “performance, agility, dynamic handling and exhilarating driving experience” reached with this last Exige. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus, claimed this when talking about the birth of the Exige Sport 350: “The Exige S is already one of the best sports cars around and is the benchmark for performance and driving dynamics, both on road and track. To give life to the Sport 350 we took the Exige S, which is already extremely fast, and we’ve made it even faster, more dynamic and more responsive to the Lotus philosophy!” The new Exige Sport 350 is in fact the end result of the magic formula “to add speed, add lightness”, so dear to the father and founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman; it’s lighter than ever and the overall weight stops at only 1,125 kilograms, marking a further saving of 51 kg compared to the Exige S. The perfect shape has been achieved by filing any excess gram (that you can even drop down to 1,115 kg drawing on extensive “underweight” options): the more substantial changes concerned the back, which has no longer a glass panel, but provides some ventilation slots (-3 kg), a racing battery (-3.5 kg), the brand new gearbox with open gate (-1.5 kg), the new engine air intake (- 1.5 kg), the different rear diffuser (-1 kg), the ultra-light forged alloy wheels (-5 kg), the ventilated and perforated brake discs (-5 kg), new body panels (-12 kg) and the new drilled small frame (-3 kg).
The new Exige Sport 350 is not only the result of an extreme diet: chassis and aerodynamics have been developed to further enhance the steering precision. The new suspension geometry is updated too with stiffer shock absorbers, in order to ensure an even more direct handling, while new aerodynamic details, such as the rear wing and the bottom plate, ensure no less than 42 kg of downforce at 160 kph. No need to underline that the features that have made the success of the Exige since its first appearance remain unchanged: aluminum chassis, composite body and a 3.5-liter V6 engine with supercharger able to output 350 hp. In this way, the new Exige Sport 350 can reach better performance than the Exige S: the press release talks about a 0-100 kph in just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 274 kph. Not only the new Exige Sport 350 also debuts the new automatic transmission, a 6-speed, which allows you to complete the 0-100 kph in 3.8 seconds, even though at the expense of a top speed of “only” 261 kph. Then, even ahead of its official presentation, that the Exige Sport 350 has already set a record, making a lap of the home track in Hethel in 1’29″8, not only 2.5 seconds faster than the best lap time set by the Exige S, but it has been the first Lotus ever to go under a minute and thirty seconds! The new Lotus Exige Sport 350 is synonymous with extreme performance, exceptional driving dynamics, driving pleasure and incomparable charm …! Beyond the minimalist style and the many technological innovations that distinguish the Sport 350 it can also provide that special charm thanks to a sort of vintage interior (optional) with sports seats and door panels in the classic red or yellow “Heritage Tartan”. What else? Nothing else, and never as in this case “less is more” … do you agree?