Lotus Exige Sport 350

The new Lotus Exige Sport 350 looks like it will compete well with the Porsche Cayman GT4 from a performance stand point. Where the GT4 provides a higher top speed and more luxury, the Exige Sport 350 offers a much quicker and even more focused ride.

As is usual with a Lotus the weight is about the same as a postage stamp which allows it to do more with less power. They are also one of the few companies that asks if each piece of the car is necessary and if it isn’t they usually get rid of it.

Powering the Exige Sport 350 is a 3.5-liter V6 producing 345 horsepower and 295 lb-ft. at 4,500 rpm. That is a good amount of power that only needs to push 2,475 pounds. That helps the well balanced mid-engined machine rocket from 0-60 mph in just 3.7 seconds and flat out it can hit a top speed of 170 mph.

The V6 power plant is mated to either a 6-speed automatic or the revised manual gearbox. Both offer the same 0-60 mph times, but the automatic is a tenth of a second faster to 62 mph.

To help achieve better track times the 350 is fitted with firmer dampers and has a revised suspension geometry. Thanks to this it was able to lap the Lotus test track 2.5 seconds faster than the previous Exige S model.

If all this wasn’t enough there are new style options available for the performance machine. Inside you can now get the retro “Heritage Tartan” interior. There are also new color options available and the rear wing and front splitter are now offered in colors that match the body.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Lotus: “The Lotus Exige is already regarded as one of the world’s best sports cars and a benchmark for performance and handling both on road and on track. With the Exige Sport 350 we took an already phenomenally quick car and made it even faster, more dynamic and more pure, perfectly demonstrating our Lotus design philosophy of ‘lighter and faster’.”

So just how much will all this twisty road and/or track ready fun cost you? US pricing is not yet available and there is no official word on if it will be released in this country just yet (although right now the answer appears to be no). In the U.K. it starts at £55,900 which would be $84,839 based on the current rate of exchange. That starting price is almost exactly the same as the Cayman GT4 which starts at $84,600. Now which would you choose?