Lotus cars are well known for being track day gems but now they have brought out a featherweight version of the roadgoing Exige Sport 380 that is purely designed for track and competition use. It is called the Lotus Exige Race 380 and it packs the same supercharged 3.5-litre V6 engine as the road car, but the stripped-back model is 68kg lighter, weighing in at 998kg dry. This increases its power-to-weight ratio by 24bhp over the Sport 380’s, up to a total of 376bhp/ton.
The gearbox is also swapped so the 380 Race now packs an Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission. Combined with the weight loss, this helps to trim the 0-60mph time to 3.2sec – 0.3sec quicker than the road car. As one would expect it gets more aggressive bodywork which includes a large front splitter, a wider rear wing and a more effective rear diffuser.
The Exige Race 380 is available to order now, priced from £119,400. First deliveries are scheduled for May 2017.
