2009 Lotus Exige Cup 260

(from Lotus Press Release) 2009 Lotus Exige Cup 260: Add Lightness to Increase Performance

Extensive use of carbon fibre and lightweight components for the latest homologated-for-the-road Lotus Exige Cup 260.

Lotus Cars Ltd, has unveiled the MY2009 Exige Cup 260. A direct development of the 2008 Exige Cup Car, this years' car uses advanced light weight components and carbon fibre body material, to reduce the overall weight by 38 kg to a total mass less than 900 kg. Maximum power output of 257 hp (260 PS), remains the same as the 2008 car, but with careful attention to weight reduction detail, the 2009 Model Year Exige Cup 260 provides a more agile and dynamic track focused drive and is more than capable of taming Europes most challenging race circuits.

Unusually for such a focused track and road machine, the 2009 Model Year Exige Cup 260 is fully homologated for road use in Europe and key markets in Asia - a must have for many race competition programmes where a road legal car has to be entered. The Lotus Exige Cup 260 is also eligible to compete in the newly announced 2009 Lotus Cup Europe race series organized and run by LoTRDC.

The Exige Cup 260 exploits the Lotus philosophy of using weight reduction to increase performance and reduce emissions.

Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive of Group Lotus commented, Lotus is now recognised globally as one of the leaders in the green automotive revolution. Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus is attributed as saying Adding power makes you faster on the straights; adding lightness makes you faster everywhere and this statement is more relevant today than it ever has been, as decreasing weight increases the cars performance and most importantly efficiency.

© Source: seriouswheels
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Former McLaren designer targets Lotus with new sportscar

It turns out that the McLaren F1 project was a point of departure for its creators. Gordon Murray, the chief designer, went his own way and is preparing to revolutionize the city car. Several of his colleagues stayed at McLaren's road car division to develop the Mercedes SLR, while others presumably returned to the racing division. A few former McLaren engineers went on to work on the Caparo T1, and now another one of the designers, Jim Dowle, has revealed plans for his own sportscar.

Although the car is just entering the clay-model stage and doesn't even have a name yet, PistonHeads has some preliminary details. Dowle's sportscar will reportedly carry a £35k price tag and will target the Lotus Exige but be more usable. The target weight is 870kg, and while the definitive powertrain has yet to be determined, the package calls for 200 horsepower mounted in the middle of the aluminum/carbon chassis. We'll have to keep our eyes pealed, because if the project ever makes it to even limited production, it promises to be one hell of a ride.

© Source: autoblog
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Lotus Exige

So the Italians get a Gallardo, the Brits get a 612 Scaglietti, and the Aussies get... a Lotus Exige.
We're talking police cars. Racked off with lagging behind their northern hemisphere counterparts in the jam sandwich department, police in Sydney have laid their hands on an Exige to assist their fight against crime.

Having been inspired by the good bobbies of Norfolk, who were donated an Elise to help round up the Fen lowlifes, the New South Wales police force plan to use their Exige to, erm, encourage locals to slow down.

"The Lotus Exige will help break down barriers between our officers and youth in the area. It gives them a discussion point and a way of breaking the ice," said Superintendent Dave Darcy.

"We have a large proportion of car enthusiasts in the area and it is a challenge to influence them to drive safely. Whilst its easy to give this group tickets to slow them down, we would prefer to influence young drivers to take care on the roads."

Quite how one of one of the quickest cars to come out of Hethel in recent years is going to help errant speeders to realise the errors of their ways, we're not quite sure. But we're not going to argue with the logic of an Aussie policeman. He probably has a big gun and beats kangaroos with his bare fists.

Anyhow, the Sydney police say they're also looking forward to the fuel savings that the Elise will provide over their standard patroller - a 6.0-litre V8 Holden Commodore which struggles to top 20mpg. Strewth.

© Source: topgear
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