Lotus Exige Sport 410 awarded Roadster of the Year 2018
Audi sales fall in 2018
AUDI delivered around 1,812,500 automobiles to customers worldwide in 2018, 3.5 percent less than a year ago. In Europe, sales fell 13.6 percent in the past 12 months. On the home continent, Audi had replaced almost a third of its deliveries with important model changeovers for the A1, A6, A7 and Q3 since the start of the year. In China, the Ingolstadt-based carmaker reaffirmed its position as the most successful premium brand for the 30st year in succession. In North America, the company closed the year on a par with the level of last year (- 0.9%). Around 154,550 customers worldwide chose an Audi in December, a decrease of 14.3 percent. EVO Magazine has announced that the Lotus Exige Sport 410 has been awarded Roadster of the Year 2018.
In the words of EVO, ‘It’s a genuinely fabulous piece of kit, engineered with an obsessional zeal for driver entertainment and finished with the sort of care normally reserved for vehicles with far more chunkier price tags.’
Developed directly from the track focused Exige Cup 430, the Exige Sport 410 is designed to be the ultimate road drive, unrivalled in its class.
Packing the advanced chassis, suspension and powertrain set-up from its more powerful stablemate, the track focused Exige Cup 430, with a recalibrated engine producing 410 hp (416 PS) at 7,000 rpm and 420 Nm (310 lbft) on tap from 3,000 rpm to 7000 rpm. The high-performance 3.5-litre, supercharged and charge cooled V6 engine combined with a dry weight of just 1,054 kg (lightest possible dry) delivers a class-leading power to weight ratio of 389 hp / tonne, and makes the Exige Sport 410 the lightest V6 Exige ever.
Capable of 0-60 mph in just 3.3 seconds, it records fierce in-gear acceleration before reaching a top speed of 180 mph / 290 km/h (Coupe configuration) – equal to the range-topping Exige Cup 430.
The Exige Sport 410 has been developed to generate 150 kg of downforce, sharing design cues from the Exige Cup 430, adopting a visually arresting revised lightweight front clam panel incorporating wider grilles and carbon fibre air curtains and front splitter.
As with all Lotus cars, the Exige Sport 410 has out- standing handling and lightweight agility engineered into its very DNA. Conveying an extraordinary level of tactility and precision, it’s developed to perform at its very best with maximum enjoyment and driver feedback on the road.
The final word comes from EVO magazine, ‘the extremely talkative steering (unassisted of course) is heavy at first but once up to speed requires nothing more than wristy inputs, the Exige diving through corners fast and flat, its sense of balance simply sublime.’
Meanwhile, the all-new Kia Stinger has been awarded ‘Sports Saloon of the Year’ by the same magazine.
The Kia Stinger is the brand’s first grand tourer and rear-wheel-drive car in the UK. The range topping ‘GT S’ is powered by a 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 engine which is capable of 0-60 mph in 4.7, making it the fastest accelerating car Kia has ever produced.
Stuart Gallagher, Editor at evo magazine commented on the Stinger’s win:
‘The combination of grunt, just enough grip and a long wheelbase deliver approachable, old-school rear-wheel-drive thrills. It engages and entertains more than the competition and stands out for not being the default choice. Yet what’s really exciting is that this is Kia’s first attempt at cracking the quick saloon formula, so it’s only going to get better.’