2005 Lotus Sport Exige 240R

(from Lotus Press Release)  Lotus Sport, the performance division of Lotus Cars Ltd., has developed the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, a limited edition high performance sportscar with total global build volumes kept strictly to 50 cars.

Lotus Sport will build the Lotus Sport Exige 240R within its facilities at the Group Lotus Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk. This facility, located in the centre of the famous Hethel Test Track, has a great history of producing bespoke versions of Lotus products and can list the Lotus Sport Exige 400 hp racecar and over 100 Elise and Exige racing cars in its portfolio.

With a supercharged and intercooled high revving engine producing over 240 hp and over 170 lbft of torque, the Lotus Sport Exige 240R reaches 60 mph in less than 4 seconds and 100 mph (160 km/h) in less than 10 seconds before topping out at 155 mph (249 km/h). At this top speed the advanced aerodynamics produce 113 kg of downforce increasing grip, stability and safety.

The 50 versions of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be built as post registration official factory conversions of new Lotus Exiges. Up to 40 of these cars will be sold in the EU and the balance is intended to be predominantly sold in Japan. The suffix of 240R indicates the approximate horsepower of the engine, conservatively rounded down from the actual figure of 243 hp (181 kW, 247 PS). The total unladen weight is approximately 930 kg and the power to weight is approximately 261 hp / tonne (195 kW / tonne, 266 PS / tonne).

All 50 cars will be built to order and to further identify and maintain the exclusivity of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R, they will only be available in Sport Yellow or Sport Black - both unique and exclusive colours specifically blended to denote the brand colour scheme of Lotus Sport.

The Lotus Sport Exige 240R will be sold at a Recommended Retail Price of £43,995 (62,000 Euros).

The Lotus Sport Exige 240R also has a unique interior trim in black with Lotus Sport Yellow highlights in leather. A unique numbered Lotus Sport build plate is fitted to the aluminium chassis member on the passenger side.

The interior also includes sports seats, driver and passenger four-point harnesses which are fitted to a cross bar that is part of the motorsport specification T45 roll bar.

New lightweight five spoke forged alloy wheels are of a slightly wider section to the standard Exige wheel to accommodate the optional extra track only specification slick tyres as well as the Yokohama A048 tyres, which come as standard. These wheels are painted in "Satin Black" for the Sport Yellow painted version of the Lotus Sport Exige 240R and "High Power Silver" for the Sport Black painted version.

In addition to the powerful four-cylinder engine, the Lotus Sport Exige 240R also includes specially developed Lotus Sport parts including upgraded brakes, stiffer springs and 2-way adjustable Ohlins dampers with ride height adjustment, an adjustable front anti-roll bar, twin oil coolers and an Accusump.

Clive Dopson, Managing Director of Lotus Cars Ltd. is very enthusiastic about the new Lotus Sport Exige 240R: "The Lotus Sport Exige 240R is a classic example of Lotus' focused attitude to performance through lightweight. We believe that this car, even though it will be built in small volumes, is a very significant addition to the Lotus product portfolio and will go down in history as such. I am sure that the fortunate fifty customers of the car will agree."

Chris Arnold, General Manager for Lotus Sport comments: "The Lotus Sport brand has been around for a number of years, and in that time has developed a number of performance upgrades for customers. The Lotus Sport Exige 240R is probably the most complete in-house Lotus Sport product that has been developed. It is a testament to the capability of the Elise platform and the competence of the standard Exige that we haven't had to make any structural changes to the car to accommodate the power of a 3 litre engine, albeit in the guise of a 1.8 litre engine."

Chris Arnold continues: "These fifty cars are unique, both in appearance and in equipment levels. After we have made these fifty cars, we will not be building any more to this complete specification. Lotus Sport has the Lotus product experience to be able to chose the right components for the Lotus Sport Exige 240R so if customers want the ultimate road going Exige, I recommend that they do not delay and contact their nearest Lotus dealer as soon as possible!"