Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Lotus Exige


The Lotus Exige (pronounced /ɛxzij/) is a two-door, two-seat sports car made by Lotus Cars. It is essentially a coupe version of the Lotus Elise, which is a roadster.
The original Exige (NA or naturally aspirated Exige) was launched in 2000 and had a 1.8 L Rover K Series engine in VHPD (Very High Performance Derivative) tune. It produced 177 bhp in standard form and 192 bhp (143 kW) in the "track spec" version.
In 2004, the Series 2 Exige was introduced. It features a 1.8 L 16-valve DOHC Toyota/Yamaha engine that produces 190 bhp with the Toyota engine designation of 2ZZ-GE. Compared to the Series 2 Elise, it has a front splitter, fibreglass hardtop roof with roof scoop, rear engine cover, and rear spoiler. The sole purpose of these aerodynamic additions to the base Elise is to create more downforce (almost 100 lb of downforce at 100 mph (160 km/h) in the Exige versus 13 lb at 100 mph (160 km/h) in the Elise).
In February 2005, Lotus announced a limited production run of 50 Exiges, using the Toyota engine with a supercharger, that increases the power output to 243 bhp. These vehicles were only available in yellow or black, representing the colours of Lotus Sport, and are badged 240R. They have a projected 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) time of 3.9 seconds and 0-100 mph (0-160 km/h) of 9.9 seconds, with a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h) at a cost of £44,000.00 (approximately $76,500.00 or €65,000.00).
The North American Exige was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January 2006. In February 2006, Lotus announced the Exige S model which used a supercharged Toyota engine producing 220 bhp.The S was also made available in North American markets as a 2007 model.For 2008, the Exige S will have a 240bhp option and will be sold alongside the regular Exige S (220hp). The package includes upgraded AP racing brakes from the Exige Cup 240 and a larger roof scoop from the Exige Cup 255. 0-60mph (0-97km/h) is trimmed to under 4 seconds with this option. The 2008 USA Exige S 220 will feature a non-intercooled supercharger identical to the Elise SC.The 2008 UK Exige S 220 AND The 2008 Exige S 240 will retain the intercooler for the supercharger.

No comments:

Post a Comment