The Lotus Exige Race 380 Is A Badass Track Toy

One day, Lotus will stop endlessly tweaking its current line up. It’ll have an all-new range, and we won’t be writing these articles where we open with some joke about Hethel’s incessant fiddling and the never-ending deluge of new-ish models.

But that hasn’t happened yet, and guess what? There’s another version of the Exige. And as usual, we don’t really care that it’s once again derived from an ageing product, as it’s another suitably badass derivative of Lotus’ grown-up track toy.

It’s called the Exige Race 380, and the phrase ‘track toy’ is particularly relevant here, as it’s not road legal. It’s intended for competition use and track days, tipping the scales at just 998kg thanks to a weight loss programme that’s seen it lose 68kg over its road car brother.

It’s powered by the familiar Toyota-sourced, supercharged 3.5-litre V6, putting out 375bhp to the rear via a six-speed Xtrac sequential gearbox. It’ll do 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds, and thanks to an overhauled aero package, it’ll give 240kg of downforce at 170mph.

On the inside there’s a full, FIA-spec roll cage, a HANS-compatible carbonfibre driver’s seat with six-point harness, a fire extinguisher and a battery isolator switch. Because actual race car.

Predictably, this doesn’t come cheap: the Race 380 costs £99,500 plus VAT, and is available to order now.