The Cup 430 Will Be The Most Hardcore Lotus Exige For At Least A Month

Hethel's relentless tweaking programme has given birth to the £100k, 424bhp Lotus Exige Cup 430
The Cup 430 Will Be The Most Hardcore Lotus Exige For At Least A Month

Remember the Lotus Exige Cup 380? Upon release it was the most extreme version of the Exige ever built, and now it’s, err, not.

Just over six months on from the the 380’s reveal, we have the Cup 430. If you’ve kept even a vague note of Hethel’s relentless stream of new-ish products over the last few years, you’ll know the score: it’s a more powerful, even more focused version of an already powerful and rather focused car.

The 3.5-litre, supercharged V6 now matches the specifications of the Toyota-sourced six-banger found in the Evora GT430, which means 424bhp makes itself known at 7000rpm, while peak torque of 325lb ft is felt at 4500rpm. That results in an Audi R8-troubling 3.3sec 0-62mph time, and a 180mph top speed.

It’s been thoroughly tweaked in the aero department (but you already knew that, didn’t you?), sporting a new lightweight front clamshell with a redesigned front splitter and a drag-reducing “air curtain mechanism”, plus a new rear clam with a particularly serious looking wing attached.

The Cup 430 Will Be The Most Hardcore Lotus Exige For At Least A Month

All told, dry weight is down by 12kg to 1059kg, while peak downforce is 220kg. Thanks to these two factors plus the extra power, the 430 is fastest production car to ever lap the Hethel test track. Yep, faster even than the road-going version of the 3-Eleven, by an impressive 1.2 second margin.

The best part is, unlike the Cup 380 - which was limited to 60 units - Lotus won’t be putting a cap on 430 production. It’s available to order now for £99,800 plus on-the-road costs.

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Comments

Tomislav Celić

Lotus, how about a new model?

11/09/2017 - 18:08 |
32 | 6
BenPaye(JDMSquad)(MX5Squad)(LFAsquad)(Subie Squad) (Rotary F

In reply to by Tomislav Celić

That’s what I want

11/09/2017 - 18:12 |
0 | 0

Well its not that cheap to create a new platform

11/09/2017 - 19:41 |
6 | 0
My Name is Joel

Lotus, people are going to start wising up and stop buying your hardcore vehicles because you know they are just going to come out with a more hardcore variant next week.

11/09/2017 - 18:09 |
46 | 2
GTRTURTLE 🔰 🐢(Oo \ S K Y L I N E / oO) (Koen

In reply to by My Name is Joel

Next week on CT: new lotus 500 CUP will be on sale

11/09/2017 - 18:23 |
54 | 0
Zubayer Rezoan
11/09/2017 - 18:09 |
184 | 4

Bites the dust..

11/09/2017 - 18:39 |
48 | 10

And I still want one badly :(

11/09/2017 - 22:41 |
4 | 0

atleast theres a great supply of lotus cars around

11/10/2017 - 00:49 |
0 | 0

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11/10/2017 - 08:25 |
0 | 12
ロータリー | [ T O Y O ]

In reply to by Zubayer Rezoan

Damn it, beat me to it.

11/11/2017 - 00:33 |
0 | 0
SirJamjaxIsGoingAgain-PeaceOutChaps

Orange is the new black
Lotus is the new Porsche

11/09/2017 - 18:10 |
16 | 2

Lotus has been doing that for longer than Porsche

11/09/2017 - 18:19 |
0 | 4

Lotus has been doing that for longer than Porsche

11/09/2017 - 18:19 |
2 | 6

Lotus has been doing that for longer than Porsche

11/09/2017 - 18:19 |
2 | 4

Lotus has been doing that for longer than Porsche

11/09/2017 - 18:19 |
2 | 6
JenstheGTIfreak (pizza)

Has it been a month already?

11/09/2017 - 18:10 |
30 | 2
Anonymous

Dude just take a break and make a new car already…..

11/09/2017 - 18:14 |
8 | 2
HAYABUSA

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I don’t think they have the capital for that. I mean they’ve had plans of new models in the past and they had to abandon those pretty bitterly

11/09/2017 - 22:47 |
2 | 0
ThatGuyInWhite

Not another one……

11/09/2017 - 18:17 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Tjeu02

11/09/2017 - 18:50 |
0 | 0
Darth Imperius/Anthony🇭🇷

Impressive, new and innovative. Never seen before

11/09/2017 - 19:21 |
0 | 0
Anonymous
11/09/2017 - 19:25 |
0 | 0