Lotus Exige S gets six-speed automatic gearbox option

The Lotus Exige S – the Exige with the heart of an Evora – is to get a new six-speed automatic gearbox option, on sale January 2015 at £2k premium.

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A new car from Lotus is about as rare as hens teeth – despite Dany Bahar’s efforts to change that – and until Lotus get back in shape post Bahar we have to make do with tweaks to the current range – and ‘Special Edition‘ cars – to make the cars more appealing.

Whether hard-core Lotus fan-boys will see the arrival of an automatic gearbox for the Exige S as a welcome addition is doubtful, but buyers considering it as an option to a Cayman R – particularly in North America – may find the new self-shifting option an extra reason to pick the Lotus.

The auto-box Lotus are offering for the Exige S is the same Toyota unit the Evora gets (which,as the Exige S has the Evora’s 3.5 litre supercharged V6, makes sense) but with tweaks to make it more suitable for the Exige.

Lotus say the new Exige S auto is just as quick as the manual version on the track, and its 0-62mph is actually 0.1 seconds quicker at 3.9 seconds.

Offered with Sport and Race modes for the best performance – and flappy paddles –  the Exige S auto will cost £2k more than the manual version (which should mean £56.5k for the coupe and £57.5k for the Roadster) and is expected to go on sale in January 2015.