XCAR Takes the Lotus Exige V6 Cup Around the Track

Lotus certainly knows how to make very quick, lightweight sports cars and the standard Lotus Exige S meets all those criteria with a 0-to-100 km/h (62 mph) time of just 3.8 seconds. But XCAR had the chance to take an even more aggressive Lotus around the track: the Lotus Exige V6 Cup. It has the same mid-mounted 3.5 liter supercharged V6 with 345hp, but, as XCAR puts it, the V6 is what happens when the Exige S “loses weight and adds anger.”

With a 6-speed close-ratio gearbox built for racing, and by shedding over 130 pounds compared to the Exige S, this car is ready to attack the nearest circuit or zip around your neighborhood in style. Lotus removed some of the normal niceties to reduce weight, like some of the car’s sound deadening, a radio, comfort seats, and even the airbags. They did add a safety harness, a fire extinguisher, and even a front tow hook for those days you take it to the track. But the car remains road legal (except, of course, in the United States).

Alex Goy takes the car to the track and falls in love with the car’s reduced weight, retuned shifting, improved brakes, and overall improved track feel, dubbing it the ultimate Lotus. For those drivers who are willing to give up some of the comforts of the Exige S for greater performance and speed around the track, the Exige V6 cup sounds like the perfect way to go, if you’ve got the extra $17,000 USD to spend for the upgrade from the Exige S, that is.