Lotus Debuts Lightweight Exige Cup 260

A special edition of a Lotus seems like a redundant concept. I mean, a Lotus is special.  So a special Lotus is...?  Regardless of the existential question therein, there's a new special Lotus out, and you can bet your overweight German sports sedan that I would absolutely kidnap someone's mother for one.

Called the Exige Cup 260, it's to the Exige S what the RS is to the Porsche GT3.  Which means that it's a slightly more mental track-weapon version of the range's already mental top-of-the-line track weapon.  Which brings me back to the concept of redundancy.

I don't so much care if there's a point to the Exige Cup 260, though.  What they've done is taken a car that was basically as light as feasibly possible, and then they went and took some more weight out of it.  Now, 34kg (75lbs) doesn't sound like a big weight reduction, until you realize that the Exige Cup 260 tips the scales under 2,000 pounds (890kg to be precise).  The lengths that Lotus had to go to cut out 75 pounds is what's really impressive, though.

What I really love about Lotus press releases are how exact and precise they are - almost sorta German.  They included a detailed breakdown of where the weight loss came from on the Cup 260, down to every component.  They rendered the roof, seats, dashboard, rear tailgate, center tunnel, front access panels and splitter, side air ducts, and rear spoiler out of ultralight carbon-fibre composite for a weight savings of 12kg.

Additional weight savings can be found elsewhere on the Cup 260.  For instance, it's equipped with forged aluminum 5-spoke alloy wheels, which Lotus claim are the lightest production wheels on a roadgoing car ever. Which makes you think "who cares?" until you realize that unsprung mass (outside of the hub) has a much greater effect on performance than sprung mass (inside the hub.)  So not only is there less weight, but it's been taken out of where it counts the most.  Then there's the revised rear engine subframe which is both lighter and 30% stiffer than the standard unit.  And the motorsport lithium-ion race batter, and the solid composite replacement panel for that heavy rear window...  And a lightened flywheel.  They even took weight out of the intercooler pipes while they were at it.

Ahh, yes.  Intercooler pipes.  The Exige Cup 260 is powered by the same engine you find in a normal Exige S, which is a supercharged and intercooled version of Toyota's 2ZZ-GE, the Yamaha-designed high-rpm masterpiece that powered the Celica GT-S, as well as the Matrix XRS - and the Pontiac Vibe GT.  So yeah, the Exige Cup 260 has the same engine as a Pontiac Vibe, but it's making 257bhp@8,000rpm and 174lb-ft of torque @ 6000rpm.

While power output is the same as the Exige S, the Cup 260 has two advantages over it's little brother:  a lightened flywheel, and the addition of Lotus Launch Control built into the traction control system.  This means the sub one-ton Exige can rocket to 100km/h (62.5mph) in 4.1 seconds, which is serious supercar territory.  It's aided by a strengthened clutch plate and pressure plate, a standard helical limited-slip differential, and super-sticky Yokohama A048 racing slicks.  A plate-type limited slip differential is optional, but not recommended for street use with the sticky racing slicks - go figure.

But we're not done.  A Lotus isn't just about accelerating hard - in fact, that usually falls in third place behind cornering hard and braking hard.  On the cornering-hard front, Lotus didn't fool around and dropped in Ohlins adjustable coilovers, which have more settings than you can shake a stick it.  Static ride height is 10mm lower than the Exige S, and the front swaybar is also adjustable.

Brakes are equally serious, with 4-piston AP Racing calipers squeezing 308mm 2-piece cross drilled and ventilated rotors up front, and 282mm rear dicsc with 2-piston  Brembo calipers.  There are track-biased Pagid RS14 pads and braided stainless steel brake lines too.

In other words, it's a purebred racecar that you can conveniently put a license plate on, too.  If that sounds good to you, bring €64,000 and change, or £45,000 in the UK.