Highest Performing, Limited Edition Exige:
Lotus Sport, the performance division of Lotus Cars Ltd., has
developed the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, a limited edition high
performance sportscar with total global build volumes kept strictly to
50 cars.
Lotus Sport will build the Lotus Sport Exige 240R within its
facilities at the Group Lotus Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk. This
facility, located in the centre of the famous Hethel Test Track, has a
great history of producing bespoke versions of Lotus products and can
list the Lotus Sport Exige 400 hp racecar and over 100 Elise and Exige
racing cars in its portfolio.
With a supercharged and intercooled high revving engine producing over
240 hp and over 170 lbft of torque, the Lotus Sport Exige 240R reaches
60 mph in less than 4 seconds and 100 mph (160 km/h) in less than 10
seconds before topping out at 155 mph (249 km/h). At this top speed
the advanced aerodynamics produce 113 kg of downforce increasing grip,
stability and safety.
The 50 versions of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be built as post
registration official factory conversions of new Lotus Exiges. Up to
40 of these cars will be sold in the EU and the balance is intended to
be predominantly sold in Japan. The suffix of 240R indicates the
approximate horsepower of the engine, conservatively rounded down from
the actual figure of 243 hp (181 kW, 247 PS). The total unladen weight
is approximately 930 kg and the power to weight is approximately 261
hp / tonne (195 kW / tonne, 266 PS / tonne).
All 50 cars will be built to order and to further identify and
maintain the exclusivity of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, they will only
be available in Sport Yellow or Sport Black - both unique and
exclusive colours specifically blended to denote the brand colour
scheme of Lotus Sport.
The Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be sold at a Recommended Retail Price
of £43,995 (62,000 Euros).
The Lotus Sport Exige 240R also has a unique interior trim in black
with Lotus Sport Yellow highlights in leather. A unique numbered Lotus
Sport build plate is fitted to the aluminium chassis member on the
passenger side.
The interior also includes sports seats, driver and passenger
four-point harnesses which are fitted to a cross bar that is part of
the motorsport specification T45 roll bar.
New lightweight five spoke forged alloy wheels are of a slightly wider
section to the standard Exige wheel to accommodate the optional extra
track only specification slick tyres as well as the Yokohama A048
tyres, which come as standard. These wheels are painted in "Satin
Black" for the Sport Yellow painted version of the Lotus Sport Exige
240R and "High Power Silver" for the Sport Black painted version.
In addition to the powerful four-cylinder engine, the Lotus Sport
Exige 240R also includes specially developed Lotus Sport parts
including upgraded brakes, stiffer springs and 2-way adjustable Ohlins
dampers with ride height adjustment, an adjustable front anti-roll
bar, twin oil coolers and an Accusump.
Clive Dopson, Managing Director of Lotus Cars Ltd. is very
enthusiastic about the new Lotus Sport Exige 240R: "The Lotus Sport
Exige 240R is a classic example of Lotus' focused attitude to
performance through lightweight. We believe that this car, even though
it will be built in small volumes, is a very significant addition to
the Lotus product portfolio and will go down in history as such. I am
sure that the fortunate fifty customers of the car will agree."
Chris Arnold, General Manager for Lotus Sport comments: "The Lotus
Sport brand has been around for a number of years, and in that time
has developed a number of performance upgrades for customers. The
Lotus Sport Exige 240R is probably the most complete in-house Lotus
Sport product that has been developed. It is a testament to the
capability of the Elise platform and the competence of the standard
Exige that we haven't had to make any structural changes to the car to
accommodate the power of a 3 litre engine, albeit in the guise of a
1.8 litre engine."
Chris Arnold continues: "These fifty cars are unique, both in
appearance and in equipment levels. After we have made these fifty
cars, we will not be building any more to this complete specification.
Lotus Sport has the Lotus product experience to be able to chose the
right components for the Lotus Sport Exige 240R so if customers want
the ultimate road going Exige, I recommend that they do not delay and
contact their nearest Lotus dealer as soon as possible!"
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