Geneva 2009: Lotus Releases Most Powerful Exige Ever, S 260 Sport

Another day, another Lotus Elise/Exige variant. It seems like the arrival of the newest, latest, greatest Exige/Elise is about a bi-weekly event; but it's still a Lotus, so who's going to complain?  Lotus is the flag-waving prime example of evolution, not revolution, improving the breed.  The latest evolution of the hard-top Exige has evolved just a little bit more, and it's the most powerful factory Exige yet.

The flyweight mid-engine hardtop coupe, based on the resin-bonded aluminum spaceframe chassis of the Elise, fills the "track day" niche in the Lotus lineup.  I think.  Anyway, this year Lotus has boosted output on it's Toyota-sourced four cylinder powerplant again, from 240 horsepower to 257.  Lotus uses a proprietary supercharger setup on the Toyota 2ZZ-GE, which was used in everything from the Celica to the Matrix wagon, along with an air-to-water intercooler to keep things from blowing up.

Other changes to the Exige this year are trickle-down effects from last year's Exige GT3 concept.  Mostly reworked aerodynamics; the Exige has a redesigned fixed rear wing which makes 93 pounds of downforce at 100mph.  The front fascia has been revised to provide more air to the oil cooler as well as the radiator, giving the Exige that ever-popular "mouth breather" front bumper look.  Woo-hee.  There's also an integrated front splitter that wraps up around the front fenders, which looks amazing.

All you need is your Storm Trooper helmet and some Nomex underwear, and the Exige S 260 Sport is ready for track time!  Now if only I could find the money for one...