Lotus Exige 265E

[lightweight]

Lotus Engineering today unveiled the Lotus Exige 265E.

Lotus says car is not only probably the world's fastest ethanol automobile, it's also the most powerful road version of the Lotus Exige ever made. The research vehicle weighs just 2,050 pounds, runs on E85 fuel, and has an output of 265 horsepower at 8000 rpm, and peak torque of 184 pound-feet at 5500 rpm.

The engine is a modified version of the Exige's existing Toyota powerplant. It will reach 60 mph in just 3.88 seconds, and 100 mph in 9.2 seconds, for a top speed of 158 mph. Key changes have been made to the fuel system, the engine calibration and the four fuel injectors mounted on the inlet manifold have been enlarged. Two additional fuel injectors have been fitted at the supercharger inlet to increase the amount of fuel being injected in to the engine under higher engine loads and to further cool the charge air prior to combustion.

The next stage of the project will include allowing the car to run on multiple fuel types, rather than just E85.

Currently, there are no plans for production.

[6speed]

Ewww. Way to ruin a nice Exige.

[Jack_Bauer]

Ewww. Way to ruin a nice Exige.

By making it more powerful, faster and more efficient? That's some nice logic you've got there.

[6speed]

By making it look like that.

[Street_Dreamer]

i think it looks the business... nice changes they've made as well... faster/more powerful AND more efficient

[Bob]

By making it look like that.

two stripes ruin it? It still looks better than 99% of cars on the road

[lightweight]

I think that it's PR for Lotus Engineering. I doubt that something like that will ever make it to production. After all Lotus Engineering contributes more than Lotus Cars to the income of Group Lotus.

But good effort though!

[2ndclasscitizen]

You'll find it's more likely to be a Lotus Works aftermarket model like the 240R than a production model

[Vindesh17]

They should make it, it should sell a fair bit.

[:Exige:]

They should make it, it should sell a fair bit.

Would cost too much to produce.

[Vindesh17]

Would cost too much to produce.

How much do you reckon that would be?

[teatako]

tesla roadster, eat your heart out

[lightweight]

You'll find it's more likely to be a Lotus Works aftermarket model like the 240R than a production model

It's no aftermarket model. It's Lotus approved, but produced in small quantities

I am not familiar with Lotus Works.

[:Exige:]

How much do you reckon that would be?

It's a new technology for the company. Lotus is a fairly small company. Too much is the answer to your question. This would cost only a tiny bit less than the Tesla which to my knowledge is based around an Elise. The Tesla is 3 times the price of an Exige S. I don't think anyone is willing to pay 3 times as much on an Exige purely for 0.5 seconds improved acceleration and fuel that isn't actually that commercial yet and thus would be hard to get fixed etc.

It's no aftermarket model. It's Lotus approved, but produced in small quantities

I am not familiar with Lotus Works.

The 240R is Lotus Approved too. Lotus have their own aftermarket parts. Most companies do ... which brings us onto Lotus works. Last time I checked it was actually called Lotus Sport, who are bascially the same people as Lotus Cars, except they also do development for other companies (ie. Proton, Vauxhall/Opel, those Tesla people, the people with the McLaren engined Viper).

[Coventrysucks]

It's a new technology for the company. Lotus is a fairly small company. Too much is the answer to your question. This would cost only a tiny bit less than the Tesla which to my knowledge is based around an Elise. The Tesla is 3 times the price of an Exige S. I don't think anyone is willing to pay 3 times as much on an Exige purely for 0.5 seconds improved acceleration and fuel that isn't actually that commercial yet and thus would be hard to get fixed etc.

In the case of the experimental Lotus Exige 265E that we’ve just test driven, power rises from the standard Exige S’s 218bhp to 264bhp, while the torque climbs 16 per cent to 184lb ft. All this is with very few changes to the 1.8-litre, four-cylinder, supercharged Toyota motor; there are a couple of extra fuel injectors on the inlet side of the supercharger, reprogrammed engine management, and that’s pretty much it.

How do you reckon that would stack up to 3x the price of the Exige?

Maybe this one-off development cost that much, but I doubt series production would be as expensive.