What the U.S. Doesn’t Get: Lotus Exige v6 (video)
By Mike Garcia
Lotus has been in the United States awhile. Sales have slowed down in recent years. The release of the Evora and Evora S hasn’t captured the market in the same way that the Exige and Elise did. They stick to purist, lightweight sports cars. The Evora was a bit of an exception.
Don’t get me wrong. The Evora is a great car. It’s lighter than most cars on the road with chassis rigidity that is nearly unrivaled. It allows for comfort for daily driving while permitting great use for track time. The stiff chassis allows the suspension to do the work.
Lotus is great at tuning suspensions.
But, the United States doesn’t get their best car to date, the Exige V6. It incorporates the chassis rigidity of the Evora with a more, purist, driving focus.
Chris Harris, formerly of /DRIVE and EVO magazine, reviewed an Exige V6 over two years ago.
XCARfilms reviewed the hardcore track version of the same Exige V6.
Not only did the Lotus get suffient power, but the Bosch traction control systems allowed for progressive learning for the driver. Although this is the top performance car of Lotus’s performance line up, it allowed people new to performance car market a safe chance to learn as they drove.
The V6 still has 350 horsepower, which knocks on the door of the current Porsche base 911 series. Still, there is a simplicity and driving dynamic that can’t be matched in a Lotus.
Safety standards are important for modern road usage. However, this car is considered for limited production numbers. Aston Martin, most recently, acquired the exception from the U.S. government.
The Lotus brand is ahead of their time. They focused on lightweight and performance to an extreme level, a level that current manufacturers are still catching onto. That modern Porsche 991 is still roughly 500lbs. more than the Exige V6.
They are the small team that could. They are the small, niche automotive manufacturer, that has a past of six F1 championships.
We want Lotus to survive, and part of that survival is bringing their best cars the U.S. market.
Save the manuals.
Bring back purist driving.