Tokyo 2009: Lotus Exige Stealth, complete with soft-touch paint
by Sam Abuelsamid on Oct 21st 2009 at 12:22AM 
Lotus Exige Stealth - Click above for high-res image gallery
Lotus has unveiled the latest special edition of its maximum performance, minimum everything else Exige today at the Tokyo Motor Show. We took a moment to check out the Exige Stealth (known as the Scura in Europe) on the show floor and managed to curry some time with Lotus vehicle development director Roger Becker.
The new model gains a set of comely forged alloy wheels, but the big news with the car is the unique paint. We asked Becker about the Stealth and its special finish, and as it turns out, this is more than just a basic matte paint. Lotus has been experimenting for several years with matte finishes but was never satisfied with the results. The problem – as anyone who has ever done body repairs and worked on primer-finished cars can tell you – is that matte surfaces really show marks and stone chips. Lotus wanted something more durable before putting the car into production.
To create the Exige seen here, the entire car has to be sprayed in the base gloss coat seen on the central stripes. The stripe area was then masked off and the rest of the body abraded in order to get a surface that the matte paint will grip to. Finally, a newly formulated rubberized matte paint is applied. When you touch the car, the surface actually feels soft, and according to Becker, it is four- to five-times more resistant to marking and peeling than other finishes.
Just 35 examples are planned, so get your deposit in now.
Gallery: Tokyo 2009: 2010 Lotus Exige Scura
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Photos copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid, Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Franz 12:28AM (10/21/2009)
I really like the sound of that paint. I like dark colors but can't stand scratches.
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Franz 12:31AM (10/21/2009)
* Shoulda read "I like matte finishes"
ken_aisin 10:41AM (10/21/2009)
You can wrap your car with a matte cover and protect it from scratches :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/skinzwraps/FlatBlack#
Gomi 12:29AM (10/21/2009)
badass.
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biggins 12:30AM (10/21/2009)
Jeez, it seems like there are as many variants of the Elise/Exige as there are variants of the MUSTANG.
And that's saying something.
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Shiftright 12:34AM (10/21/2009)
Cool, but how do you wash it I wonder?
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fmwso 12:44AM (10/21/2009)
Love matte black paint and it really makes the Exige even more attractive. Stealth is a nice name as well.
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UCJR 12:52AM (10/21/2009)
When I was on the Hot Rod PowerTour, I saw a matte black car that the owner let passers by write on with chalk.
I would totally buy this Lotus, and draw pictures on the side with chalk. Like flames. And NOS stickers.
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rprovo 12:59AM (10/21/2009)
this is one of the few cars that can pull off the matte black look. damn this thing is sexy!
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loudboxer 1:29AM (10/21/2009)
"soft touch" rubberized matte paint... isn't that the same stuff that has peeled off the interior panels and switches in my VW?
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groundZ 2:29AM (10/21/2009)
I can only imagine it's similar to the feel on the back of many cellphones. One of which is my Blackjack. I love it on mobile devices, I guess we'll see on cars.
Mahoro 3:43AM (10/21/2009)
Out of 31 pics, only 1 shows the interior of it.
I understand that there are nothing spectacular regarding the interior of a Lotus, but come on.....
10 almost identical pics that's taken from the front right side of the car, but only 1 for the interior....
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Luso 4:31AM (10/21/2009)
I can imagine driving this around Tokyo.
http://www.carnorama.com
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Guneenya 9:45AM (10/21/2009)
This is truly the most beautiful creation I have ever beheld. Having laid eyes on this, I am now content to pass on to the next life.
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Harrison 10:30AM (10/21/2009)
Hmm...I wonder if this feels anything at all like my Thinkpad T400, which would be awesome beyond belief.
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larry raines 10:40AM (10/21/2009)
ANOTHER version?! How many types of Exige/Elise mobiles can they possibly dream up?!
Very confusing -
This one has the 3 hp bump and the metal track day foot pedal kit, not to be confused with the last one that had a 4 hp bump over the base Exige + the rear glass replaced with Lexan to reduce weight by 4 lbs, where as this model has the carbon roof and wheel wells that reduce the weight by another 6 lbs over base but 6.9 lbs over the previous Exige S, Whereas the Exiege S boasts the adjustable dampers that are now updated with synthetic oil over the previous models regular oil. Also this model has the passenger side mirror delete, which saves 12 oz. over the base Elise and 4 oz. over the previous gen Exige carbon mirror.
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M7 11:27AM (10/21/2009)
could be intresting see this awsome car whit a 2 Lt engine...mabye whit a twin VGT turbos
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ZiggyStarkey 2:05PM (10/21/2009)
Very nice, except for the indicator stalks which seem to have come from an Opel Corsa B.
It's sad that I noticed that...
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bhtooefr 1:54AM (10/22/2009)
They probably did, seeing as the 1st-gen Elise was rebadged as the Opel Speedster, and the 2nd-gen has, IIRC, the same interior.
Casper 3:05PM (10/21/2009)
sprayed with plasti-dip?
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