What's the news?
Colin Chapman would be proud. Lotus has given the already nutty Exige Sport 380 the full motorsport treatment, creating the track-only Race 380. "Boo, it's not road legal" you might say, but anyone who's had the misfortune of grappling with a racing gearbox on the road will understand. This thing is a proper tarmac-terrorising weapon, and will be eligible for the Lotus Cup as well as clubman racing championships.
Exterior
More downforce means higher cornering speeds, and Lotus quotes a figure of 240kg at the car's top speed of 273.5km/h, a 100kg increase over the Sport 380. This is achieved by a new front splitter, a rear wing that wouldn't look out of a place on a full-blown GT3 racer and various pressure-reducing vents dotted around the exterior. The engine cover and intake vents are naked carbon fibre, and contribute to the cars huge weight loss, with the overall figure now standing at just 998kg. You'd better hope that the track you're blatting around has floodlights however, because the headlights have been chucked in the bin...
Interior
The compulsory FIA-approved scaffolding dominates the interior and contributes toward extra chassis stiffness, and a carbon seat with a full six-point harness lock the driver in position. There's a plumbed-in fire extinguisher system fitted in case the unthinkable happens, and the side windows are now polycarbonate instead of glass. A TFT display incorporates a data logger and GPS unit, and it can be upgraded to allow compatibility with professional data analysis systems. Those looking for creature comforts need not apply.
Mechanicals
Though the 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine is unchanged (so you still get 375hp and 410Nm of torque), the transmission and chassis have been heavily revised. A heavy duty six-speed sequential gearbox takes the place of the regular item and is controlled by carbon paddles located behind the steering wheel, while an aggressive plate-type limited-slip differential and switchable traction control aid grip and stability under acceleration and braking. Adjustable roll bars and Öhlins shock absorbers allow the suspension setup to be tuned to any particular track, while big AP Racing four-pot calipers and upgraded discs nestle behind forged alloys wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber.
Anything else?
These hardcore changes make the raw figures quite interesting. The car has posted a time of 1 minute 23.5 seconds around the Hethel test track (making it the fastest Exige to date), and a 0-100km/h time of 3.2 seconds is said to be achievable. The price? A cool £99,500 (around €114,000) excluding VAT. It's pretty steep for a Lotus, but then again, this Exige also happens to be a full-blown racing car.