Lotus Exige S Performance Pack : PERFORMANCE REVIEW

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For those who feel the standard Exige S is a bit sluggish, Lotus now offer a special Performance Pack version. Andy Enright reports

By most accepted measures, the Lotus Exige S is a fantastically rapid and scalpel sharp sports car. Then the Lotus 2-Eleven track car came along and showed what the chassis was capable of in extremis. Now Lotus has closed the gap between the two cars with the Exige S Performance Pack, a model that goes harder, sounds better and represents great value.

Expressing to somebody who has never driven a state of the art performance car quite how high the handling limits of the Lotus Exige S are is not straightforward. They will have little comprehension of the face-warping amount of lateral g the car will generate through a corner, nor will they appreciate the feel of its manic acceleration as throttle meets floor. To most mortals, its all a bit too much to process at once but Lotus has never been a company interested in the lacklustre median. Instead it aims at the vanishingly small percentage of buyers who want something extreme and a yet smaller slice of this sliver will feel that the Exige S, great as it is, could be even more focused.

Hence the Exige S Performance Pack, a tuned special that is most at home on a circuit but which can also serve up plenty of fun at more modest speeds on the road. Its easy to get very confused with all the limited edition versions of the Exige that Lotus produces but this model is the one you should be considering if you want the best compromise between value for money and sheer balls-out capability. The headliner is that the Exige S Performance Pack gets another 19bhp to add to the existing cars 221bhp. With 240bhp on tap, this Exige pulls noticeably harder at the top end with a meatier induction roar now complementing the familiar supercharger whine.

Theres a bit more torque on offer too, up from 158 to 170lb/ft. The result is that this powerplant will catapult 935kg of car to 60mph in just 4.0 seconds and on to a top speed of 150mph. Straight line speed isnt the point of the Exige S Performance Pack though.

Theres also Lotus brilliant new traction control system that really allows you to lean on the car safely out of high speed corners and comes with a launch control function for a flawless leap off the line. Cornering levels remain extremely high and only a back to back drive in the 2-Eleven track car will highlight where the Exige is in any way compromised.

"Think of the Exige S Performance Pack as a car that offers a similar level of performance and capability as a Porsche 911 GT3 at half the price"

Only the slightly larger roof-mounted air scoop betrays the presence of 240bhp on board, the Exige S Performance Pack otherwise looking much like its more humble brethren. Drop inside and theres the federal dashboard that was previously only offered as a Super Touring option with twin airbags and round air vents. The instrument pack is easier to read and the materials quality has improved to boot. Other additions include a starter button, change up lights and a more straightforward LCD multi function display.

In an age when many of the most capable track-day specials look like they were designed by an axeman locked in a shed, the Exige remains a thing of some beauty. Its blade-like spoilers and arcing intakes burst with aggression but the essential shape of Lotus from its voluptuous curves to its muscular haunches is well proportioned and nearly elegant. Nevertheless, theres still not much in the way of luggage capacity, visibility out the back is similarly non-existent and any small objects that are in your pockets when you sit down are consigned to rattle around the inaccessible reaches of the cabin floor for eternity. On the face of it, paying £37,550 for a Lotus Exige seems like a big outlay for not much car in return.

In fact, in terms of how much you per pay kilo, youre actually buying a more expensive commodity than a high-end Mercedes S Class but the value proposition remains strong. The incremental cost of the performance pack is £3,000 which represents decent value, although it is possible to get a bit excitable with the tick boxes on the options sheet and easily add on anther £3,000 for paint and wheels, rendering the whole exercise a tad spendy. Direct competitors are few. If youre looking for a lightweight trackday-oriented car with a roof, you can pay less and go for a Renault Clio 197 Cup or mortgage yourself up to the hilt with a Porsche 911 GT3.

The Clio will never approach the Exiges organic levels of feel and unless you are super wealthy, the Porsche will tend not to get driven so hard and will usually be slower as a result. Alternatively you could do without the roof, buy yourself some goggles and thermals and go shopping for an Ariel Atom or a banzai Caterham but these cars really should be compared to Lotus equally fruitcake 2-Eleven. The Exige S Performance Pack takes the lightweight route to world beating performance that has been at the heart of everything Lotus does since day one. Aside from the obvious advantages in terms of acceleration and nimbleness on the limit, this approach also has less obvious advantages in terms of running costs.

Compared to the hulking powerplants found in other models with equivalent performance, the Lotus 1.8-litre engine is both small and economical. The low mass of the Exige also means it treads lightly on its tyres and its brakes which dont take as much punishment, so costs are reduced further. As a result, you should see an average of around 31mpg from the Exige which is remarkable given that this is a car that will keep a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera honest.

Insurance is Group 20 and tyres arent cheap either, the weird sizes worn by the Exige S (195/50 ZR16s at the front and 225/40 ZR17s at the back) meaning that bargains are hard to find. Emissions are very reasonable, but one suspects that target buyers couldnt really give much of a hoot about the cars environmental credentials and not too many company car approved lists are going to have a Lotus Exige on them either. For many years, car enthusiasts have been wondering what the Esprit would have been like if it had continued to be developed by Lotus. We missed the Esprits searing acceleration and presence, the original Elise and Exige models being just too dainty to cut it as top drawer performance cars.

Cars like the latest Exige S Performance Pack put that speculation to bed. Any development of the Esprit would have had its trousers taken down by this rather special car and perhaps thats one reason why Lotus is taking so long to develop bigger and more expensive product lines. Think of the Exige S Performance Pack as a car that offers a similar level of performance and capability as a Porsche 911 GT3 at half the price and with an even more intense feel and youre not too far off the mark. Savagely quick, seriously good looking and a rare and pleasant example of the engineering department putting one over on the suits from marketing, this Exige nudges perfection in so many ways.

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Lotus Exige S
PRICE: £34,945 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 208g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 148mph / 0-60mph 4.1s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 22.9mpg / (extra urban) 39.2mpg (combined) 31mpg
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 3797/1850/1159mm