LOTUS SPORT EXIGE

470 hp/tonne Race Ready Sport Exige Debuts at Autosport International Show

Lotus Sport, the performance division of Lotus Cars Ltd., has developed the new Lotus Sport Exige, a direct motorsport derivative of the successful Lotus Exige.

The Lotus designed and engineered racecar was part manufactured by RTN, the team responsible for the Le Mans winning Bentley, using the latest motorsport techniques and procedures to produce a lightweight yet strong carbon-fibre bodywork structure around the standard road-going Lotus Exige Aluminium extruded and bonded chassis.

The Lotus Sport designed fully adjustable suspension system with double wishbones all round was fabricated and manufactured by Pilbeam. Power is provided by a 400 hp Swindon Racing Engines tuned GM 3 litre V6 racing engine linked to a Hewland sequential six-speed gearbox, with AP-Racing providing the braking system.

This one-off racecar has been built for a South East Asian client and is expected to race in selected sportscar races in Asia. There are no plans as yet to build further examples of the Lotus Sport Exige but the base structure has been carefully designed to comply with key motorsport regulations around the world. Adhering to the key Lotus philosophy of performance through lightweight, the Lotus Sport Exige weighs in at just 850kg.

The whole project, conducted in complete secrecy has taken less than 6 months and the car will run for the first time at the 2½ mile Hethel test track in mid January.