Lotus Exige Cup 430
The lightest, fastest and most expensive V6 Exige yet. Does that also make it the best?
Track-focused and brilliant
You’ll likely know the score with Lotus’s ‘Cup’ models by now: it takes an already track-focused sports car to almost racer levels of performance through a thorough overhaul of the chassis, powertrain and aerodynamics. The results have been, as was planned, totally compelling sports cars.
The same is largely true for this new Exige Cup 430, only rather more so. Where previous V6 Exige Cup models have had 345, then 355 and then 375bhp, this car makes the leap to a far more potent 424bhp. Power is produced using the intercooler and Edelbrock supercharger from the Evora GT430, with spectacular results: 0-60mph in 3.2sec and 180mph flat out, plus a lap time at Lotus’s Hethel test circuit of 1min 24.8sec – 1.2sec faster than the old Exige Cup 380. Interestingly, the 430 is 12kg lighter than the 380 thanks to 29kg being saved in (mostly carbonfibre) body parts, a saving that partly offsets the additional weight of the new engine components, stronger clutch and thicker brake discs.
On a brief drive on a road, the Exige is exhilarating, ferociously fast and intensely engaging to a level no modern Lotus has ever reached. It’s firm, no doubt, and buyers after a Lotus that glides should look elsewhere. The fact this Lotus comes with track-car towing eyes as standard should offer another hint of its sporting intent.
With that firmness, though, comes impeccable control and composure from the three-way adjustable Nitron dampers. Those, as well as the Eibach anti-roll bars, can be tweaked to each buyer’s tastes. The brakes, using a new design of disc from AP Racing, are beyond reproach.
This Exige is primarily made to perform off the public road, and it’s at Hethel where the majority of our test driving is done. And be in no doubt: the Exige Cup 430 is a phenomenal track car. A kerb weight that would embarrass a supermini not only has benefits for acceleration, agility, braking and balance, but also in terms of circuit stamina. In a fairly hard half an hour or so on track, nothing got too hot or began to fade or gave even a hint of losing one jot of performance. It was lap after lap of ceaseless acceleration, staggering brake performance, towering grip and impeccable finesse.
There was an element of fear too, the additional power certainly noticeable on a greasy track; that there felt to be so much more to learn about the Exige only made it more endearing, however. You will not master this car in a day, and will have a huge amount of fun learning it.
With a motorsport edge to an already superb sports car, the Cup 430 takes the Exige above and beyond where it has ever been before. As well it should, you might argue, for £100,000. Which is a sticking point, granted. The trouble is that, to many, the Exige is a £60k car and considered in that light, this variant may appear expensive.
However, as a driving experience, this Lotus feels worth every single pound. That it can deliver circuit performance on par with the thoroughbred 3-Eleven track car while also offering a degree of road amenability, should tell you all you need to know.
Should it not, let’s conclude instead this way: anybody considering a sixfigure super sports car, from GT3 to GT R to GTS, must look at this little Lotus too. It’s sensational. MATT BIRD @PHMATTB3