Over the course of 2 and a bit miles, the Hethel track in Norfolk, England, is the place where Lotus has been developing cars since times immemorial, Formula 1 winners included. The automaker’s “most extreme Exige” to date has also been refined in Hethel, and willing to demonstrate what the Cup 430 can do in the right hands, Lotus gave it to one of its test drivers.
Starting at £99,800 from the get-go, the Exige Cup 430 is as expensive as an Exige gets. But look at it, slippin’ and sliding’ on the damp track, dancing from the apex to the outside of the corner like it’s an overexcitable Jack Russell! Curious about the lap time in perfect weather conditions? 1 minute and 24.8 seconds, which translates to the fastest production Lotus to lap Hethel, 1.2 seconds quicker than the road-going version of the 3-Eleven.
The secret to this time comes down, in part, to big power in a small package. The extensive use of carbon fiber helped engineers shave off 12 kilograms compared to the previous most extreme Exige, with dry weight rated at a Mazda MX-5-rivaling 1,056 kilograms in the lightest of forms.
As for the belly of the beast, Toyota’s 3.5-liter V6 is supercharged to 430 horsepower of the metric variety and 440 Nm (325 pound-feet) of torque. The close-ratio manual transmission helps the car thrust to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.3 seconds, on to a maximum velocity of 290 km/h (180 mph). In addition to raw performance, aerodynamic trickery plays a huge role in the handling dynamics, with Lotus quoting up to 220 kilograms (485 pounds) of rear axle-sticking force on full song.
“This car has no rivals – inside or outside of its price bracket - and it’s no exaggeration when we say that nothing can keep up with this Exige on the road or track,” highlights Jean-Marc Gales, the chief executive officer of Lotus. And when you think about it, is there any other sub-£100,000 driver’s car that comes close to or ties the performance of the Cup 430?
The secret to this time comes down, in part, to big power in a small package. The extensive use of carbon fiber helped engineers shave off 12 kilograms compared to the previous most extreme Exige, with dry weight rated at a Mazda MX-5-rivaling 1,056 kilograms in the lightest of forms.
As for the belly of the beast, Toyota’s 3.5-liter V6 is supercharged to 430 horsepower of the metric variety and 440 Nm (325 pound-feet) of torque. The close-ratio manual transmission helps the car thrust to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.3 seconds, on to a maximum velocity of 290 km/h (180 mph). In addition to raw performance, aerodynamic trickery plays a huge role in the handling dynamics, with Lotus quoting up to 220 kilograms (485 pounds) of rear axle-sticking force on full song.
“This car has no rivals – inside or outside of its price bracket - and it’s no exaggeration when we say that nothing can keep up with this Exige on the road or track,” highlights Jean-Marc Gales, the chief executive officer of Lotus. And when you think about it, is there any other sub-£100,000 driver’s car that comes close to or ties the performance of the Cup 430?