Lotus Has Cooked Up A New Version Of The Exige Because Of Course It Has

You should know the drill by now. It’s a new-ish car from Lotus, which means a tweaked version of an existing vehicle forming yet another tasty derivative. This time around, it’s the Exige Cup 380.

Neatly sitting between the Exige Sport 380 and the Race 380 Track Car, the latest Exige Cup has had its bodywork heavily revised to give a massive 200kg increase in downforce at its 175mph top speed, 43 per cent more than Sport.

Bodywork changes include louvers at the front to “equalise the pressure differential within the wheel arches,” while the rear diffuser is complemented by new cut-out sections just behind the rear wheels. Lotus has even moved the windscreen wiper to a vertical position, all the name of cleaning up airflow. Thorough.

As with previous extra-special Loti, the Cup 380 is festooned in carbonfibre. The front splitter, bargeboards and larger air-intake side pods - among other bits and pieces - are all made from the stuff. All told the Cup has dropped around 8kg in weight, although you can reduce its mass by a further 10kg with an optional titanium exhaust.

The icing on the cake is wider rear tyres. The rearmost Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s are now 285s, up from 265.

With the familiar Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre supercharged V6 only having 1057kg to shunt around, the 375bhp Cup 380 is fast in a straight line, as well as around a track. 0-60mph happens in just 3.4 seconds.

Want one? You’ll have to move fast - as with previous Cup Exiges, this latest one is strictly limited, in this case to just 60 units worldwide. It’s available to order now for £83,000.