Lotus Exige S ("V6")

[Corsugone]

Aucun des canards Anglais raconte que c'est mieux qu'une GT3, ils disent simplement que la chose s'en rapprochent pour moitié prix et qu'elle ne démérite pas, en résumé une GT3 Low Cost. Indirectement, ils promeuvent la GT3 ! Certains préfèreront toujours l'original et ceux qui ne peuvent pas se la payer chanteront qu'ils ont aussi bien pour moité prix. Tout le monde est content, Lotus et Porsche.

[Corsugone]

Lotus se fait sa pub avec les articles presse. Y a pas de petites économies.

[Corsugone]

Pour le plaisir des oreilles ....

[ze_shark]

On dirait Bovingdon au Karrussel.

[Corsugone]

Jethro Bovingdon (EVO), fort probable.

Pour ceux maitrisant l'allemand, quoique pas nécessaire pour comprendre que la chose pousse fort.

[jalbert355]

J'étais déjà convaincu de cette nouvelle variante de l'Exige mais plus ça va et plus je la trouve aussi belle que performante. Les premiers essais semblent élogieux, même ceux de Sport auto, c'est dire. J'espère qu'elle n'est pas le chant du cygne pour la marque.

[Corsugone]

Je ne reprends jamais les posts, mais celui-ci sans tellement le "vécu" que je vous le partage.

Essai de l'Exige S par un Briton, proprio d'une Lotus 211. Tout est dit. Well done !

Spent nearly an hour in the V6 Exige this arvo. I’ll compare it with my 211 rather than the Elise, as it’s too far away from the latter performance wise. I’m lucky in that I know James from Lotus really well, as I do the guys at B&C, and I know the roads round here like the back of my hand, so I probably got longer, went further, and had more choice over the routes I chose than most.

I deliberately aimed for roads that I avoid at all costs in the 211 – bumpy, not even B class in some instances – twisty with crappy, slippery surfaces, under trees and narrow with leaves and horse crap everywhere, to see what it made of them.

First thoughts were just laughter as it’s so quick. When I first got the 211 and was driving it everywhere and anywhere, just because I could, I remember driving along laughing like an idiot with the sheer fun of planting my right foot. This car would be the same. On my own, the temptation to be a hooligan would be almost unbearable….. I managed it a bit on the test drive with James at my side saying go on, boot it here, but alone in the car it would be irresistible. We started off down the main roads from B&C in Sport mode, having bypassed Touring and soon moved into Race mode once we got to the interesting roads. In 2nd, 3rd and 4th power delivery is instant, and even cruising in the higher gears you can put your foot down for an overtake without having to worry about which gear you’re in. Being a fundamentally lazy driver on the road this suits me nicely.

It’s incredibly civilised in terms of the way it puts the power down. No scrabbling for grip, or wiggling its bottom – just instant tractable oomph. Equally impressive is the braking – it stops you very very swiftly with minimum fuss – no grab at all – just smooth and very efficient. The braking is what blows people away on track with the 211 – this feels as stable and swift to stop. The extra weight of the car felt irrelevant to me – couldn’t feel it at all.

It soaked up the bumps very well – no crashing, no moving from the line it was on, just seemed to absorb them. On roads that in the 211 I’d be creeping along on, struggling to keep my feet in contact with the pedals, we made rapid yet seemingly unhurried progress - with no drama in the way the car coped with the conditions. On smoother tarmac it was very easy to make licence losing progress.

On the down side, there wasn’t much noise about it all – none of the crackling exhaust sound I like so much on the 211, but equally I’ll probably get on any track day I like in it without a care. The gearbox is what it is – I improved the change in the 211 by moving to the Letsla linkage – if I bought a V6 I would probably investigate what improvements could potentially be made.

Ref the complaints from some about the cabin - well yeah it's an Exige cabin. Hey ho. I've never disliked it - I fit in nicely, I know where everything is and it's all within reach - can't see what the problem is - I wouldn't be buying it for it's interior after all.....

Would I buy one? Yes. They start making the Roadster this Autumn – without a roof I’ll be seriously, seriously tempted. The car would do the job of both my Elise (holidays in the Alps, nipping to the shops, wet trackdays when I don’t want to get soaked in the 211, going out for a drive just for the hell of it) and the 211 (on track). One car, one insurance policy, one set of road tax, one space in the garage – instead of two of everything. Come the Autumn, if the Roadster does go into production, I might just find myself weighing up the options……

Big thanks to Jamie and Bobby at B&C, and to James from Lotus for letting me out for a proper play. And also to B&C James for the Lotus sign for Friday. Much appreciated.

Bon, je sais, Requin va me faire une rage d'aileron arguant qu'une GT3 s'est forcément mieux, surtout pour son prix d'ami

[Etton]

Super, j'attends l'essai dans le EVO en français, je n'ai pas trouvé la version anglaise en kiosque.

[Corsugone]

Vidéo sympathique HD, avec en épilogue un petit bonus, l'esprit 100% pistard

[Corsugone]

[flyspin]

Vivement qu'on l'aperçoive sur nos routes avec différentes couleurs, notamment cet arrière avec des couleurs exotiques.

[Corsugone]

Dépucelage ce week-end ....

[Corsugone]

Cartonne dans les champs .....

.... comme à la ville.

[Corsugone]

Petit balade d'une Exige V6 R-GT, voiture ouvreuse d'un rallye champêtre. A regarder en Full Screen Full HD.

[Mykadams]

En caméra embraquée pour une spéciale.