Exige Series 3

LOTUS dropped the Toyota-sourced 1.8-litre 2ZZ-GE four-cylinder engine-based line-up for the 3.5-litre V6 (also from the Japanese giant) in early 2013.

Called the Series 3, it brought near-supercar levels of acceleration and dynamics to the Elise-based coupe and (later) roadster, effectively denoting the biggest departure from the latter since the Series 2 version arrived in 2004.

A six-speed automatic from Aisin (U660e) was made available from 2015. As an option over the continuing six-speed manual V6, it delivered the same 257.5kW of power at a lofty 7000rpm and 400Nm of torque at 4600rpm, for a 3.9s 0-100km/h sprint-time and 261km/h top speed (roadster: 233km/h).