The Nurburgring is now closed - from various parts of the track getting resurfaced to snow covering the circuit, we'll have to wait for 2018 for the Green Hell to welcome mortals once again. Nevertheless, the Ring news keeps flowing, with the latest event of the sort involving a lap time for the Lotus Exige Cup 380.
The British automaker's track-savvy tool, which can be considered Lotus' take on the formula that has given us machines such as the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, has set a Nordschleife chronograph number of 7:48.
The stunt took place back in July, with Sport Auto having hooned the British track tool. For those of you who aren't aware of the mid-engined beast's specs, we'll just mention a few numbers: 1,057 kg dry weight (1,130 kg kerb weight), 380 hp coming from a supercharged V6, a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 281 km/h (175 mph). Oh, and let's not forget the 200 kg of downforce generated at the said velocity value.
For the record, we're talking about a Lotus that comes with a price of GBP95,000 (EUR109,253 or $128,298 at the current exchange rates), options included.
As such, you don't need to be a Nurburgring junkie to figure out that the stopwatch number mentioned above leaves some serious room for improvement.
And, of you check out the piece of footage at the bottom of the page, which shows the full lap from an onboard perspective, you'll get a few clues on how the lap time could be improved.
While the German mag's Christian Gebhardt has delivered plenty of sweet Nurburgring numbers over the years, it's obvious that the gearshift work displayed here could be improved and we're not just talking about the few misshifts.
And we must also factor in the real-world factor of these tests - for instance, despite the 918 Spyder having held a Ring lap record with an official time of 6:57, the 7:13 Sport Auto lap time means the magazine's Mercedes-AMG GT R Green Hell blitz (7:10) allowed the Affalterbach toy to one-up the Zuffenhausen halo car.
As for the Exige Cup 380 itself, the thing appears to pack a pretty small understeer safety net, which, in today's sanitized automotive realm, is a massive bonus. Nevertheless, the demanding layout of the Ring does seem to see the Lotus struggling to accelerate once it gets past 200 km/h (124 mph), which obviously affects its overall performance.
So while we may never get an official Nurburgring lap time for the Lotus Exige Cup 380, we need to keep an open mind.
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News