Lotus
Exige

The Lotus Exige built upon the Elise’s engineering prowess, doubling down on power while fine-tuning the handling to deliver responsive, track-optimised thrills.

Perfection,
evolved

Launching in 1996, the Lotus Elise was the most popular car Lotus has ever produced. And its iconic design and chassis technology inspired a new generation of performance-oriented Lotus racecars. As the millennium approached, Lotus had not been competing in motorsport for a number of years. With the British Touring Car Championship growing in popularity, there was the perfect opportunity for Lotus to return to the track.

Initial concepts for the car that would become the Lotus Exige iterated upon the Elise chassis, with a more powerfully tuned engine and hard top roof. But then the Lotus Design team sketched a radically new concept, and the Lotus Exige was truly born.

Bred for
the track

Although road legal, the Exige is a track car through and through, with a stripped-back cockpit that prioritises feedback and control.

The Lotus Exige broke from the Elise’s roadcar spirit to create a truly race-optimised sportscar. The Exige debuted a more aggressive full coupe design with flared wheel arches and a roof-mounted air scoop. The new design proved popular and broke new ground as an engineering concept – all the new body panels could be fitted to the existing Lotus Elise chassis

The Lotus Elise gearbox was swapped out for a non-synchromesh racing box and the Exige was fitted with a single centre-mounted seat, non-removable hardtop roof, kamm-tail rear bodywork and a pylon-mounted rear spoiler. The Exige implemented its own version of the Elise’s pioneering, bonded aluminium chassis, adding a unique rear subframe and forged aluminium double wishbone suspension at the rear of the car.

Under the rear panel, the Lotus Exige packed the same Rover 1.8-litre 118bhp K-Series engine as its predecessor, tuned for more power output. This generated a top speed of 136 mph and a quick 0-60 mph time of 4.6 seconds.

Following its positive reception, a more road-friendly version was developed. The Lotus Exige was still a track car at heart, but this new variant added an extra front seat, as well as a track-derived front splitter and rear wind, as well as road-legal Yokohama track tires. Luxuries such as air conditioning were notably absent. Leaving its status as an Elise variant behind, the Lotus Exige was officially unveiled at the Autobytel series race in 2000 – with the name derived from the French ‘exiger’, meaning demanding.