World's Fastest Exige

[RICHBOY]

Lotus Oz presents world’s fastest Exige
Monday 27 August 2007

Lotus’ Aussie division has announced plans to launch the fastest Lotus Exige ever created, designed exclusively for the Australian market. With 240hp (179kW) on tap, the aptly named Lotus Exige Sport 240 adds a torque sensing LSD between the rear wheels, electronic launch control and Lotus Sport adjustable traction control. This latter system is similar to the set-ups used in Formula One and come as standard with the new edition of the Exige.
The new model will make its debut at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney this October, with first sales expected to start immediately after. The Sport 240 will out-accelerate the Exige S to 100km/h from rest, taking just 4.2 seconds, and will also pass the S’ 238km/h top-speed with a claimed 249km/h V-max.
One of the more interesting features that we haven’t seen before is the performance oriented air conditioning system. Weighing just 15kg for the entire system, the car automatically turns the compressor off when it senses full throttle to preserve maximum performance.

 

[Bartek S.]

Lotus Exige Sport 240


Another day, another Lotus?

They don’t quite come around that often but this is another iteration of the Exige, but it is a model exclusive to Australia. The supercharged Toyota engine receives another 20bhp over the Exige S to take it up to the headline 240.

The Sport 240 is available only in Sapphire Black or the bold Blaze Orange displayed. Torque has been upped to 170lb ft (from 159lb ft), while the six-speed gearbox runs an uprated clutch with a strengthened pressure plate, traction control and a limited-slip torque-sensing diff (a first for Lotus on the Australian market).

Anything else?

The Sport 240 features Lotus Sport adjustable traction control, developed from the UK GT3 motorsport programme, as well as launch control to help it sprint to 62mph in 4.16 seconds, only a few tenths slower than the quickest production Lotus of all time – the 2-Eleven, which clocks 62mph in just 3.9.

Braking has been improved, with braided lines and Pagid pads helping squeeze four-pot AP Racing 308mm front rotors and single piston 288mm units at the rear.

‘The majority of our customers track their cars’, explains Lotus Cars Australia (LCA) MD John Stretton. ‘We have a group of customers here in Australia that are engineering savvy’, he adds. ‘We’ve developed the 240 as a result of the sales knowledge and customer requests over the past 12 months'.

Still engineered entirely in the UK, the fact that Lotus HQ has supported an exclusive Australian model for the first time speaks volumes for LCA. Stretton said: ‘It’s acknowledgement from the factory of the market we have here’.

The Lotus Exige Sport 240 retails from AU$149,990 (£66,118). Ouch.

Damion Smy
Lotus Exige Sport 240 - First Official Pictures - Carmagazine.co.uk