Lotus' ultimate track day car "coming soon"
Now that Lotus has completed work on its upscale Europa and the new entry-level Elise S, the company has set its sights on the launch of yet another Elise/Exige variant, the much-anticipated Lotus "circuit car."
The prototype circuit car debuted in 2005, and now that Lotus has cleared the decks for completing its development, the production version should see the light of day in early 2007.
Just to refresh your memory, the track car uses a variant of the supercharged 1.8-liter Toyota engine found in the Exige S, but in a considerably lighter (read, quicker) package. According to Autocar, Lotus intend to make the first versions of the new model fully road-legal, and the company is considering exporting the car to the U.S.
[Source: Autocar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
david 4:42PM (7/20/2006)
A 50k go-cart, SWEET!
Looks like that would be fun to drive. Interesting to see how it'd go up against an Ariel Atom.
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Jim 5:18PM (7/20/2006)
So, since it is supercharged, street legal, and they are thinking of bringing it stateside, does that mean that they will finally offer the Elise with the supercharger as well? It would seem pointless to get the engine certified for a handful of track cars.
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Tim 11:30PM (7/20/2006)
Very unlikely that it will be street-legal in the US.
The limited edition Exige S supercharged cars coming over now are track only.
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speedball3 12:52PM (7/21/2006)
The only reason the Exige S is track only is because Lotus had to move the charcoal canister in order to fit the supercharger, which requires a retest for emissions. And since they sold so few, it was not worth the cost to recertify the new configuration. If Lotus plans to sell this "circuit car" in larger quantities (or sell us more Exige S's or maybe stick the engine into an elise), they very well might decide to certify the supercharged engine. Time will tell.
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All World Automotive 1:37PM (8/04/2006)
Definetly looks like a fun car.
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