Car Throttle

Since it’s almost been a whole month since the last one, it’s high time that Lotus introduced another slightly different variant of the Elise/Exige.  Mustangitis aside, I (generally speaking) love the Elise/Exige, and when “special edition” means “flat black paint,” I extra love the Exige.  That’s a whole lot of love.

This one’ll either be called Scura or Stealth, depending on the language spoken in your market.  Scura, by the way, is Italian for “Darkness,” and suits the Scura to a T.  This thing is blacker than a coal mine at midnight during an ink flood.  “All murdered out” is how I’d describe the Scura’s darkness, but it’s not cheap rattle-can flat black!

Just gaze in amazement at how deep and soft that paint looks.  Lotus says it’s soft-touch waterborne matt black paint, and furthermore suggest that some natural wearing will occur during the beginning of the car’s life.  Does that mean it’ll look like old black spraypaint in a year?  Who knows, you could always spray-paint it again, I suppose.  Still, whether or not you buy into the whole flat-black aesthetic (hint: I do!), you have to admit this car is gorgeous.  There are some nice touches too, like the contrasting gloss-black stripes near the air intakes on the side.

Otherwise, it’s about the same as any other supercharged Exige.  Which means it’s got the 260bhp intercooled, supercharged Toyota 2ZZ-GE (which I’m also a fan of), the Lotus Race Traction Control with Launch Control, adjustable dampers from Ohlins, some fancy carbon fibre bucket seats (below), and a 4-second flat 0-60 time.  Oh, and it’s flat black.  Only 35 are being made, so it’s probably already too late, but if you can find one you’ll have to cough up £45k, or €61k.  Which is…  a whole lot of money for a car that looks like it’s been rattle-canned, even if it’s a supercharged Exige.

Still, I want one.  Flat-black works so well with the Exige’s exotic curves aggressive aerodynamic tidbits; and it gives it the sinister appearance it’s really deserved all along.  The Scura makes its public debut this winter at the Tokyo Auto Show, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of this Vader-on-wheels.