THE Exige was already a fast and furious sportscar. Benefiting from a high-revving 1.8-litre Toyota powerplant, the lightweight Lotus coupe was, and still is, a treat to drive. Now Lotus has decided to create something even more delightful by bolting a supercharger on to the Toyota powerplant. That pushes power up from 141kW to 162kW and raises torque from 181Nm to 215Nm. Given the Exige S weighs just 935kg, such a boost is significant to say the least. Official sprint figures show the Exige S can blast from 0-100km/h in just 4.3 seconds. The Exige S costs $114,990, which is $15,000 more than the naturally-aspirated version.
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Lotus Elise roadster
Released: January 1997
Ended: June 2000
Family Tree: ExigeALTHOUGH it looks markedly different, the Exige S can trace its roots back to the original Elise convertible launched here in January 1997. As with most Lotus models the Elise’s heavily sculpted "clamshell" body was made from lightweight glass-fibre composite materials and designed to capitalise on the sleek two-seater’s excellent aerodynamics. Like the true sportscar that it was, the Elise was a "back to basics" drive. It had paired-back interior fittings, slim-line seats, manual window winders - all fitted around a bonded aluminum chassis. So pure was the Elise that on the base model there was no ashtray, cigarette lighter or radio. Various updates have kept the car fresh even today.
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