The Lotus Exige S gets 218 HP out of its 1.8 liter inline-4.  Its 121.4 bhp per liter makes it one of the most powerful production cars in the world for its engine size.  That much power in a car that only weighs 2057 lbs. results in a 0-60MPH time of 4.1 seconds with 100 MPH coming at 9.98 seconds.  Top speed is estimated to be 148 MPH.  Lotus believes that there is no car on sale anywhere in the world that has such good performance combined with such good fuel economy.

This is as close as you can get to a race car that is still road legal.  It shares the same supercharged engine as the GT3 race car producing 271 HP.  Top speed is electronically limited to 160mph.  The end-plate mounted three-dimensional rear wing is highly efficient and fully complements the widened and flattened rear deck shape in reducing the overall drag as well as maintaining front to rear downforce balance.  Said Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive Officer for Group Lotus plc: “The Exige GT3 concept road car is a fantastic showcase product from our race car performance division, Lotus Sport.

The car’s racing background becomes immediately obvious from its aggressive stance, extreme width of rear track and innovative threedimensional rear wing. The foundation of all Lotus products is phenomenal handling and ride characteristics, but the Exige GT3 takes these into another dimension altogether where supreme road holding and outrageous acceleration come evenly matched with sensational stopping ability.

The Lotus Exige 265E runs on environmentally friendly Bio Fuel!

Lotus Engineering, the engineering consultancy division of Group Lotus Plc has developed a
bio-ethanol E85 version of the Lotus Exige.

The research vehicle is a true Lotus (it weighs just 930 kg unladen) and is called the Lotus Exige 265E. 265 indicates the approximate horsepower and is consistent with the naming strategy of other one-off and limited run Lotus variants such as the Lotus Sport Exige 240R; the E indicates the environmentally favourable bio-ethanol E85 fuel (85% ethanol alcohol and 15% petrol / gasoline) that powers this extremely high performing sportscar.

Key to this performance is a slightly modified version of the 2ZZ VVTL-i supercharged and intercooled high revving 4-cylinder engine from the standard Lotus Exige S. This now gives an estimated set of performance figures that would thrash the majority of “Super-Unleaded” performance cars: 0-60 mph in 3.88 seconds, 0-100 mph in 9.2 seconds and a top speed of 158 mph! In fact, the Lotus Exige 265E is probably the world’s quickest road-legal E85 bio-ethanol car.

Key changes have been made to the fuel system, the engine calibration and the four fuel injectors mounted on the inlet manifold have been enlarged. Two additional fuel injectors have been fitted at the supercharger inlet to increase the amount of fuel being injected in to the engine under higher engine loads and to further cool the charge air prior to combustion.

What is Bio Ethanol E85?

Bio-ethanol E85 is a fuel which is a mixture of 85% ethanol (an alcohol) and 15% petrol / gasoline. The bio-ethanol can be made from bio-mass plant crops such as cereals, sugar beet, sugar cane and wood. As these plant crops grow, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which then partly offsets the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced during the burning of the bio-ethanol fuel in the car’s engine.

The Benefits of Bio-Ethanol

The beauty of ethanol is its ability to produce more power in the engine than with conventional
petrol / gasoline fuel. The Lotus Exige 265E now produces 264 hp (197 kW, 268 PS) at 8000 rpm, and 184 lb-ft (249 Nm) of torque (at 5500 rpm), up by 46 hp (34 kW, 47 PS) or 21% and 25 lb-ft (34 Nm) or 16% over the standard petrol / gasoline Exige S. With the total weight of approximately 930 kg (unladen), the power to weight is approximately 283 hp / tonne (211 kW / tonne, 287 PS / tonne

Ethanol has less stored energy per unit volume than gasoline so the fuel economy is less, however as E85 ethanol is 85% sourced from renewable bio matter, there is a net reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2)

A rare 2+2 mid-engined sports car, the Lotus Evora (initially known as the Eagle) was designed to provide the thrill of driving an Elise while still providing everyday drivability.  The addition of a "back seat" will obviously make it heavier, but since it's a Lotus, expect it to still be one of the lightest cars on the road.  To make up for the increase in size, Lotus increased the engine by 2 cylinders using a modified Toyota 3.5-litre V6 good for 276 horsepower and 250 lb-ft. of torque.  Lotus engineers are claiming the Evora will lap the famous Nurburgring faster than the Elise while being more stable at speed than the Exige.  The Evora is the first step in Lotus' 5 year plan to broaden the brand with more models.  I say keep 'em coming.