New Exige Sport 350

[StephVG]

1 hour ago, Stephanie said:

Hello ! We have a black Exige Sport 350 

 

Belle voiture avec une superbe couleur Stéphanie, très sobre, très classe.

[sieger]

Ooooh - need some interior pics too please!...but I understand if you're just too busy driving it

[Xisthos]

Would anyone know if the standard wheels of the Sport 350 look exactly the same as the 10 spoke forged wheels or of the previous 5 Y spoke Exige V6 models?

[The Pits]

Looks amazing in black! 

[Stephanie]

It's an IPS ^^

[quantum2000]

I saw my first sport 350 at Lotus Silverstone last week.

The rear slated tailgate looks really nice in the flesh, photo's don't do it justice.
I'm not so sure about the new rear diffuser, looks a bit after market / stuck on.
New AP branded brakes, look so nice but them I am biased.
Don't like the DPM/starter button panel, the old design looks better to me.
Exposed gear shift, again photo's don't do it justice it just looks "right" and suits the stripped out look of the interior.

[Arun_D]

Thoughts on the roadster?

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-geneva-motor-show/lotus-exige-sport-350-roadster-revealed-geneva

Are the carbon bits, Cup360 front panel, Elise Cup spoiler, lightweight battery etc all going to be made available on the coupe?

If not, would people be tempted to buy a hardtop for this roadstster and enjoy something that looks cosmetically more of an evolution from the original V6 S than perhaps the Sport 350 Coupe is?

 

[The Pits]

I'm sure the carbon bits will increase the price substantially but it's staggering value at £56k basic.

The original Exige V6 prototype had loads of carbon parts so it's nice to see Lotus finally delivering on the original concept. The Roadster is now also UNDER the original target weight which is hugely impressive.

Strange for them to make it so different to the coupe Sport 350 but I guess why not? Interesting that the speed limiter remains which indicates that the rear wing still won't work well with the roof off. No idea whether it's a lower downforce wing or a higher one compared to the Coupe, it's certainly a lighter one! I'm struggling to see the advantages of the Coupe version now. I guess as long as the orders roll in it doesn't really matter to Lotus which one people go for. But I think I'd be going for the Roadster.

[DAV1D]

14 minutes ago, The Pits said:

I'm sure the carbon bits will increase the price substantially but it's staggering value at £56k basic.

The original Exige V6 prototype had loads of carbon parts so it's nice to see Lotus finally delivering on the original concept. The Roadster is now also UNDER the original target weight which is hugely impressive.

Strange for them to make it so different to the coupe Sport 350 but I guess why not? Interesting that the speed limiter remains which indicates that the rear wing still won't work well with the roof off. No idea whether it's a lower downforce wing or a higher one compared to the Coupe, it's certainly a lighter one! I'm struggling to see the advantages of the Coupe version now. I guess as long as the orders roll in it doesn't really matter to Lotus which one people go for. But I think I'd be going for the Roadster.

I would imagine we'll see those options added to the Coupe very soon.

[alias23]

The rear wing on the roadster is quite interesting.... Typically if you had a 'high downforce' wing you'd need to build in some reinforcement into the fibreglass boot otherwise it could crack under high downforce. So would be good to understand if this is actually not an issue, or if the 'new' boot has been re-inforced...

[Stubox]

IMO wing doesn't suit the roadster which I thought looked rather elegant before. Liking the carbon bits though. Looking at the 350 Sport tailgate in B n C it was noticeably lighter than the glass version. That plus some carbon bits....hmmmm

[alias23]

Agree the slated rear does looks nice in person and is noticeably lighter! Really hope this can somehow be retrofitted soon!

[Arun_D]

1 hour ago, Stubox said:

 Looking at the 350 Sport tailgate in B n C it was noticeably lighter than the glass version. That plus some carbon bits....hmmmm

Slatted section on the roadster is even lighter in carbon! (Option?)

[Arregueti]

1 hour ago, Stubox said:

IMO wing doesn't suit the roadster which I thought looked rather elegant before. Liking the carbon bits though. Looking at the 350 Sport tailgate in B n C it was noticeably lighter than the glass version. That plus some carbon bits....hmmmm

I agree about the wing. Is it "mandatory" or can it be "erased" if you don't pick the carbon fibre bits?

[Neal H]

The most interesting part for me is they've fitted a front splitter to a Roadster, which is the only bit I really like!

Clearly the rear wing isn't going to do anything meaningful if you've got the roof off, so adding a splitter obviously doesn't do anything terrible to the cars balance.

[Rancid]

Neal, you echo my thoughts completely.

Are we safe to add the splitter only to our roadsters, without the rear spoiler?

If this aero is safe for the new roadster, why were we told it wasn't safe on the 'old' one?

[alias23]

8 hours ago, Rancid said:

Neal, you echo my thoughts completely.

Are we safe to add the splitter only to our roadsters, without the rear spoiler?

If this aero is safe for the new roadster, why were we told it wasn't safe on the 'old' one?

Because its Lotus and they like to tell 'fibs' just like removing the hard top on a v6s deems it completely unsafe and will void your warranty.

[The Pits]

The speed limiter wasn't a fib and it's still there on the new Roadster. The last thing Lotus needs is a law suit. They can't afford to lose loyal customers either!

[Neal H]

1 hour ago, The Pits said:

The speed limiter wasn't a fib and it's still there on the new Roadster. The last thing Lotus needs is a law suit. They can't afford to lose loyal customers either!

I think thats more to do with keeping the soft top in place. Any lawsuit is more likely to come from the driver behind when they get a Lotus soft top wrapped around their windscreen at 150mph

[Xisthos]

Damn, good thing I waited for the show before I placed my order!

[LotusPilot]

16 hours ago, Buddsy said:

Yea that wing doesnt suit the roadster at all. Mucks up such a pretty design.

 

Buddsy

Agreed.  To my eye, they've just ruined the Roadster - which was classy, understated, with elegant lines.  

Other than a few minor style tweets, I can't now see any benefit at all in buying a Roadster over the Coupe - which can simply have its roof removed.

Lotus are clearly repositioning their offerings away from established market/customers who desire something that's visually a little kinder on the eye - but enjoy the brutal performance and ultimate handling of the V6 Exige.  I believe this was a segment that they captured with original introduction of the Roadster, but will now lose.

The existing Roadster and Coupe appealed to different buyers - the revised 350 variants have lost this differentiation.

[Neal H]

I assume the 'aero kit' is optional and you can still buy a Roadster minus all the carbon bits. Hopefully you can pick & choose - the front splitter would appeal to me but the rear wing wouldn't.

[Bibs]

Exactly that. If you don't like it, leave it off your car

 

[DAV1D]

1 hour ago, Neal H said:

I assume the 'aero kit' is optional and you can still buy a Roadster minus all the carbon bits. Hopefully you can pick & choose - the front splitter would appeal to me but the rear wing wouldn't.

From what I'm led to believe, the front splitter works with the rear spoiler to balance the car. Just the front splitter could upset the balance at speed? 

[Neal H]

10 minutes ago, DAV1D said:

From what I'm led to believe, the front splitter works with the rear spoiler to balance the car. Just the front splitter could upset the balance at speed? 

But if you take the roof off the Roadster the air flow will be so disrupted that the rear wing won't work. The front diffuser on the other hand will continue to do its job so I think this rather debunks that argument! If Lotus really believed this they wouldn't risk adding them to a Roadster, unless of course the areo kit comes with the disclaimer that if you now take the roof off you will die