Lotus Exige Sport 350 – the Exige gets a bit more hardcore

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The Lotus Exige Sport 350 has been revealed as a lighter and faster Exige, with the reduction in weight leading to improved performance. Costs £55,900.

Just as they did with the Elise recently, Lotus has taken Colin Chapman’s ethos of ‘What matters is weight’ and applied it to the Exige to come up with a new car – the Lotus Exige Sport 350.

The weight drop may not be enormous – just 51kg – but in a car already so light it does make a difference, with Lotus achieving the saving the equivalent of a small passenger by using lightweight engine mounts, fitting a new tail gate panel, using lighter components in the HVAC, a bit less insulation and some lighter interior trim.

The result is an Exige that weighs just 1125kg, but with the same 345bhp supercharged V6 the Sport 350 will feel nimbler, will get to 62mph in 3.9 seconds and power on to 170mph. And it’ll feel like it.

The Sport 350 has had a suspension tweak too, with stiffer dampers and revised settings for even better handling, and if you’re obsessive about weight you can shave a bit more by opting for drilled discs and lightweight forged alloys.

Inside the Exige is pretty basic, but you can titivate it by opting for bright yellow tartan trim to lift the ambience, and if you don’t care about weight you can also tick option boxes for an auto ‘box, Climate and Sound.

The Lotus Exige Sport 350 goes on sale in February 2016 as a Coupe (a Roadster will follow later) with prices starting at £55,900 – £1400 more than the current Exige Coupe.