Lotus today announced plans for the 2008 Exige GT3 — a no-holds-barred, lap record-breaking version of the lightweight sports coupe. The GT3 is the most powerful and sharpest-handling version of the car.
Power is provided by the same charge-cooled supercharged engine that the GT3 race car employs, producing 271 hp — got for a zero to 60 mph time of 3.9 seconds and a zero to 100 mph time of 9.8 seconds. Maximum speed is 160 mph.
A sports-type clutch plate and heavy duty clutch cover transfer the engine power and torque to the lightweight aluminium C64 six-speed gearbox. GT3 derived one-piece front clamshell and wide track rear clamshell with full length roof design taken from the Cup Exige 255. A large rear wing provides added downforce.
So far, Lotus has only release two sketches as a preview.
03/06, 6:00 AM
posted by:
A4
doesnt lotus keep making “no holds barred” versions of the elise? what makes this one so special?
03/06, 8:57 AM
posted by:
global_lightning
So, will it be street-legal and what kind of gas will it need? My guess is ‘no’ and ‘100+ octane’
03/06, 9:51 AM
posted by:
Renton
Would love to drive one
03/06, 11:38 AM
posted by:
lotusfire
A4: It’s special because it’s faster than the last one.
03/06, 2:05 PM
posted by:
TOZO
Same as ever.
03/06, 3:14 PM
posted by:
Aston Martin
Great performance, but I can only see it as being a toy for driving addicts and the rich. As for being a trackday car, why not get a Caterham or ariel atom?
03/06, 3:29 PM
posted by:
Cobradreamer427
AWSOME, I love Lotus! I’d bet money the real car looks just like this.
03/06, 4:06 PM
posted by:
xmnr
they finally ditched the excess grilles and the booger signals. how many versions of the elise was it going to take?! thank god. a blighted face smoothed. lovely. I’d want the same styling on the std elise front bumper and rear…. really cleans it up…
03/06, 4:47 PM
posted by:
archidictus
I wonder why they’re limiting the power production so much. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to throw a turbocharged Honda K20A in the back of this thing and make an easy 330 to the wheels at 1 BAR. If you’re already having to do engine management for a turbocharger system, why not use the most efficient engine and make more power for the same amount of hassle?
03/06, 9:25 PM
posted by:
taiter
taking a page out of Porsche’s book I see… I’m in love with the kind of “whale” tail they’ve got on this thing… gonna be ridiculous
archdictus: they don’t because they are Lotus, not Honda, and have their own parts to go in the car… why import engines when you can manufacture ones that are still of mind-blowing performance, regardless if they don’t peak past 300bhp
03/07, 4:19 AM
posted by:
archidictus
Taiter: like most of their Elise and Exige powerplants, this one was probably sourced from a major manufacturer (read: Toyota) and not built from the ground-up by Lotus. I was merely suggesting that they could have used that base engine to build from rather than whatever they decided on
03/07, 4:13 PM
posted by:
taiter
true, good point haha
guess i gotta do a little more reading
03/07, 5:21 PM
posted by:
stick2clutch
These things are hideous
03/07, 8:25 PM
posted by:
American
As long there is Radical and Ariel Atom, this new Lotus-for-the-track is just too expensive…