Limited Edition Lotus Sport Exige 240R
Highest Performing, Limited Edition Exige:
Lotus Sport, the performance division of Lotus Cars Ltd., has
developed the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, a limited edition high performance
sportscar with total global build volumes kept strictly to 50 cars.
Lotus Sport will build the Lotus Sport Exige 240R within its
facilities at the Group Lotus Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk. This
facility, located in the centre of the famous Hethel Test Track, has a great
history of producing bespoke versions of Lotus products and can list the
Lotus Sport Exige 400 hp racecar and over 100 Elise and Exige racing cars in
its portfolio.
With a supercharged and intercooled high revving engine producing
over 240 hp and over 170 lbft of torque, the Lotus Sport Exige 240R reaches
60 mph in less than 4 seconds and 100 mph (160 km/h) in less than 10 seconds
before topping out at 155 mph (249 km/h). At this top speed the advanced
aerodynamics produce 113 kg of downforce increasing grip, stability and
safety.
The 50 versions of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be built as post
registration official factory conversions of new Lotus Exiges. Up to 40 of
these cars will be sold in the EU and the balance is intended to be
predominantly sold in Japan. The suffix of 240R indicates the approximate
horsepower of the engine, conservatively rounded down from the actual figure
of 243 hp (181 kW, 247 PS). The total unladen weight is approximately 930 kg
and the power to weight is approximately 261 hp / tonne (195 kW / tonne, 266
PS / tonne).
All 50 cars will be built to order and to further identify and
maintain the exclusivity of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, they will only be
available in Sport Yellow or Sport Black - both unique and exclusive colours
specifically blended to denote the brand colour scheme of Lotus Sport.
The Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be sold at a Recommended Retail
Price of £43,995 (62,000 Euros).
The Lotus Sport Exige 240R also has a unique interior trim in black
with Lotus Sport Yellow highlights in leather. A unique numbered Lotus Sport
build plate is fitted to the aluminium chassis member on the passenger side.
The interior also includes sports seats, driver and passenger four-point
harnesses which are fitted to a cross bar that is part of the motorsport
specification T45 roll bar.
New lightweight five spoke forged alloy wheels are of a slightly
wider section to the standard Exige wheel to accommodate the optional extra
track only specification slick tyres as well as the Yokohama A048 tyres,
which come as standard. These wheels are painted in "Satin Black" for the
Sport Yellow painted version of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R and "High Power
Silver" for the Sport Black painted version.
In addition to the powerful four-cylinder engine, the Lotus Sport
Exige 240R also includes specially developed Lotus Sport parts including
upgraded brakes, stiffer springs and 2-way adjustable Ohlins dampers with
ride height adjustment, an adjustable front anti-roll bar, twin oil coolers
and an Accusump.
Clive Dopson, Managing Director of Lotus Cars Ltd. is very
enthusiastic about the new Lotus Sport Exige 240R: "The Lotus Sport Exige
240R is a classic example of Lotus' focused attitude to performance through
lightweight. We believe that this car, even though it will be built in small
volumes, is a very significant addition to the Lotus product portfolio and
will go down in history as such. I am sure that the fortunate fifty
customers of the car will agree."
Chris Arnold, General Manager for Lotus Sport comments: "The Lotus
Sport brand has been around for a number of years, and in that time has
developed a number of performance upgrades for customers. The Lotus Sport
Exige 240R is probably the most complete in-house Lotus Sport product that
has been developed. It is a testament to the capability of the Elise
platform and the competence of the standard Exige that we haven't had to
make any structural changes to the car to accommodate the power of a 3 litre
engine, albeit in the guise of a 1.8 litre engine."
Chris Arnold continues: "These fifty cars are unique, both in
appearance and in equipment levels. After we have made these fifty cars, we
will not be building any more to this complete specification. Lotus Sport
has the Lotus product experience to be able to chose the right components
for the Lotus Sport Exige 240R so if customers want the ultimate road going
Exige, I recommend that they do not delay and contact their nearest Lotus
dealer as soon as possible!"
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