Lotus Exige Sport 380: Supercar killer

(November 27, 2016) High powered, highly evolved, and ferociously fast, the Lotus Exige Sport 380 is the most aggressive iteration yet for the Exige model line up. Taking the fight straight to six-figure supercars, this new, top-of-the-range model carries over the lessons learned in the development of the acclaimed Exige Sport 350, launched last year, but with significant revisions including lowering weight, boosting power and enhancing aerodynamics.

Rather than relying excessively on electronics, or allow sterile interfaces to dull the experience, the extreme Exige Sport 380 offers a pure, undiluted drive that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
Faster, sharper, and more direct than adversaries, the Exige Sport 380 is definitely not for the timid. With a dry weight of just 2,345 pounds with lightweight options, and boasting a potent power-to-weight ratio, the new, pure-bred Lotus has been conceived to out perform and out maneuver so called supercars. The new Exige has a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds before reaching a top speed of 178 mph.



From the intricately engineered exposed-gear-change linkage, to the swathes of carbon-fibre components and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires as standard, every inch of the Exige has been carefully cultivated. Firmly defined as a Lotus for the enthusiast, the car can be seen as an expression of intense engineering - challenging accomplished drivers to extract the car’s true potential.

Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Group Lotus plc, commented: “We’ve saved something special for our last new car of 2016. We have built upon the foundations of the excellent Exige Sport 350 and developed a perfectly proportioned, intuitive and attainable supercar for real roads. The cut in weight is nothing short of drastic and, combined with the hike in power and its enhanced agility, we’ve created something exceptional — far greater than the sum of its parts. The Exige Sport 380 is so good, that it is no longer the best in class, it’s now in a class of its own.”


Lotus’ approach to developing the perfect sports car has allowed the Exige Sport 380 to lay claim to the title of the best sports car under £100,000. A true supercar car for the road, the Exige focuses on the three key attributes that have made the company a firm favorite with driving enthusiasts: reduced weight, higher performance and honed aerodynamics.

Raised on the roads around Hethel, and exercised on the company’s famous test track, the new car can trace its lineage back to the very first Exige, launched in 2000. Now the headline car of the range, sitting above the Sport 350 model, it is instilled with Lotus’ DNA and packed with a potent 375 hp engine into Lotus’ acclaimed two-seater.

While employing some of the high-performance components premiered on the Exige Sport 350, Lotus returned to the Lightweight Laboratory in order to cut kilos from the curb weight. Infused with carbon fibre from front to back, the Exige Sport 380 features hand-made, high-gloss visible weave components as standard to deliver a weight saving when compared to the Exige Sport 350.

In line with its illustrious lineage, the Exige Sport 380 employs Lotus’ lightweight extruded and bonded aluminum structure, as the company continues to lead in the field of advanced automotive construction techniques. Lotus is working continuously to engineer out the excess mass from its cars, and the company’s chassis technology remains the benchmark.

The company’s powertrain division has left its mark on the car, with the uprated 3.5-liter supercharged V6 engine generating 375 hp at 6,700 rpm 302 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm. Refined from extensive testing and development, it’s a design that’s proved its mettle by powering some of Lotus’ latest supercars, including the track-focused 3-Eleven and the recently revealed Evora Sport 410.

The power boost comes from a revised supercharger pulley, which increases charge pressure, an uprated fuel pump, a recalibrated ECU and the introduction of a revised exhaust system — as used in the Evora 400 and Evora Sport 410. Allowing owners to enjoy the new Exige for longer between fuel stops, it also comes with an enlarged, 12.4-gallon tank.