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CHRIS HARRIS: For the past two years, the Lotus story has
been unedifying.
It's been hard to decipher anything tangible from within
the madness, new racing cars, mostly to bizarre road car
strategies, and of course Swizz Beatz.
But underneath it all lies one irrefutable fact, when it has
time and cash, Lotus makes some of the best sports cars
in the world.
So today I'm forgetting about politics and I'm putting aside
negative thoughts.
Because we're at Hethel, the home of Lotus.
This is the new Lotus Exige S. And it might just be the best
Lotus road car ever made.
So welcome to the new Lotus Exige S. I'm really glad to be
driving this car.
What we have, basically, is an Exige with a different back
end on it, a subframe out back, a new rear suspension, a
very modified chassis, a modified body, and an Evora S
powertrain in it, which is the supercharged Toyota motor.
So 350 horsepower, 295 foot-pounds of torque, and the
car weighs 1,176 kilograms.
A bit porky for something that [INAUDIBLE]
on it.
But don't forget, a GT3 RS four-liter is
200 kilograms heavier.
So it's still a lightweight vehicle.
What you need to know is this car is fantastic.
At last, we have something tangible from the new Lotus.
We don't have torque and nonsense, five model plans
that no one believes.
What we have is a car that I think takes the game to the
GT3 like nothing I've driven in the last few years.
This thing is a corker.
We're going to talk to Matt Becker, the guy that
engineered this car, about what he's done, him and his
team have done to turn the Exige into a pretty awesome
performance car.
Not that it wasn't already.
But for now, I want to talk you around some stuff that
really interests me on the track.
The circuit is very damp, as you see
from the outside shots.
It's a bit damper than it was, when we shot those, now.
This car has some very clever systems in it.
So before we just talk about the engine performance and the
way it drives and what it feels like, we'll talk you
around the systems.
This has got Bosch's latest brain in it,
basically, with ESP.
It's got traction control.
It's got electronic brake-force distribution.
It's got understeer control.
It's got everything.
I reckon this thing will do your maths homework
if you ask it kindly.
So we're starting out in touring mode.
There are effectively four modes for the chassis.
There's touring.
There's sport.
There's race.
And then there's everything off.
Touring gives you all the help you could ever want.
So I come out of this very wet corner, although I've got my
foot absolutely buried, and it does everything for me.
Second gear into this hairpin, there you
go, flat on the throttle.
Do you hear it?
I'm absolutely flat-down.
It's doing it all for me, by winding that off.
This is a billy-proof car.
It's awesome.
I'm hear with Matt Becker.
Matt, what's your title?
What's your job title?
MATT BECKER: Chief engineer of vehicle dynamics.
CHRIS HARRIS: Chief engineer of vehicle dynamics.
So, ultimately, the way this new Exige S
behaves is your problem?
MATT BECKER: Yes.
CHRIS HARRIS: So I've got confidence in the car in a way
I would never have confidence around [INAUDIBLE], certainly
in the wet in a Lotus.
Now, obviously, we've got this new rear axle assembly.
Talk me through that.
MATT BECKER: Yeah, what we've done with the new Exige, we've
increased the rear axle stiffness by,
roughly, about 100%.
So what that does is, as you put steering input into the
car, the rear gives you much more information much quicker.
So what that does is that actually gives you more
confidence when you're driving around the circuit.
CHRIS HARRIS: How much is the tire technology constantly
progressing?
How much is that helping as well?
MATT BECKER: [INAUDIBLE] tires, yes, they have
progressed significantly.
But also our knowledge of suspension systems has also
progressed significantly as well, which balances the whole
system together.
CHRIS HARRIS: So, if you want it to, the Exige S will pretty
much drive itself for you, courtesy of Bosch and some
calibration work from Matt Becker and his team.
Next step, sport.
This is quite interesting.
So sport, as you'd think, it gives me sharper throttle.
It opens a bypass valve in the exhaust, so we get more noise.
And as you'll see, it gives some slip.
So let's try a bit of slip, shall we.
Just moving around a little bit.
I feel the tires nibbling away at the asphalt a bit more.
So we're breaking into the chicane,
found the second gear.
I'm going to give it a boot-full now.
And do get some slip, but not much.
I just have to make a little correction, and
it's there for me.
Again, breaking--
great breaking performance from this Pirelli Corsa tire.
Flat on the gas.
I've got a bit of slip, but I'm really having to do
not an awful lot.
A bit more aggressive.
I've got a bit more exhaust noise, but I don't really get
that inside the car.
Really, I've a bit more wind rush, supercharger noise,
stuff like that.
The car feels very exciting.
What happens next, though, when we go to the next mode,
takes the Exige S away from conventional chassis systems
that work in this way.
When I go to race mode, now, instead of getting what you'd
expect to be, which is more slip, what you get is the full
brilliance of the traction control.
So we lose the understeer control.
That wasn't there in the sport mode either.
That's only there in the touring mode.
This is barking now, what happens.
Get this.
The sensors and the brain, the ECU, will now learn the Mu
level-- that's engineering speak for grip level--
on the surface.
And it's a really slippery day today.
So what's happening is the computer is learning.
So I go into second gear, and I just bury the throttle.
And I get-- look at that-- hardly any slip, less slip
than I had in sport mode.
And I just keep it buried, and it does it for me.
And I really have to tell you how slippery it is out there.
It's amazing.
This is the most sophisticated chassis system or chassis
electronics I've driven on a road car.
I honestly think it is.
The only car that comes close is the 458.
But the 458 still doesn't give you this feeling of having
almost the hand of God helping you through each corner.
God, it's incredible.
You know what?
It's impressive, but is it enjoyable?
Yes, it is.
It's not what I personally want.
I want to be in control of the car.
But I can't help but admire it.
Again, slipping second gear, hairpin.
In fact, you can hear the torque being cut, can't you?
Again, I'm going to come into this corner wide open.
I'm absolutely wide open now.
I have to make a few alterations, but otherwise,
it's doing it for me.
Very impressive.
OK, We'll take a break there for a minute and talk about
the actual performance of the car, 0 to 100 miles and hour,
8.5 seconds.
It's fast.
Is it a great engine?
It's an effective engine.
It's not an engine like a GT3 that makes you think, oh my
god, I need to marry this car.
It gets the job done.
It revs really hard to about six and half, and then gets a
bit breathless.
It's got loads of torque, though.
And on the road I'm sure that's very, very helpful.
Steering, beautiful, they've made some big alterations to
the steering.
And I just think this car steers beautifully.
It's geared just the way your brain thinks the car wants to
go through the corner.
It's just right.
Gear box--
Lotus always struggled with gear changes, because,
obviously, you've just got a cable going back to the back
of the car.
This one, again, for them, as good as I've felt from them.
As a performance car package it is mighty impressive.
Mark my words, at the end of the year when the magazines
start doing all their car of the year tests, this thing is
going to be right up there with the very best of them.
It's still quite a small car isn't it, inside?
I mean, in performance terms, it's right up with
the GT3, isn't it?
It's a fast car.
MATT BECKER: Yeah.
CHRIS HARRIS: How do you think someone that's been in a GT3
is going to respond to a small cabin, lack of luggage space,
that sort of stuff?
I mean, do you think that just the dynamic capability of the
car is going to be enough to impress them?
I, personally, feel it probably is.
MATT BECKER: I think it is, because you obviously have
driven and owned GT3s as well.
I mean, to drive a GT3, I think you need to be a more
experienced driver.
This car gives you all the information you need.
It's a very easy car to drive quickly.
It doesn't scare you, but it just rewards you.
CHRIS HARRIS: We think-- what--
750 is possible at the ring, maybe?
MATT BECKER: I think around that number, yeah.
Somebody who's braver than me, maybe yourself.
CHRIS HARRIS: I got to have a go at it, man.
MATT BECKER: Yes, [INAUDIBLE].
CHRIS HARRIS: I'd love to have--
MATT BECKER:[INAUDIBLE].
CHRIS HARRIS: So you've sold 332 of these.
I think you could sell more.
And--
and I'll leave this with you-- you know at the end of the
year when they do the magazine, who's going to be
the best tests?
I think that's in with the strongest shout for
Lotus in a long time.
Would you agree?
MATT BECKER: Absolutely.
CHRIS HARRIS: Would you think I was mad if I said it was the
best Lotus I've ever driven?
MATT BECKER: No.
Not at all.
CHRIS HARRIS: Well, what's better?
I can't think of a car that's better than
that, that you've done.
Well done, man.
MATT BECKER: Thank you.
CHRIS HARRIS: I just can't remember the last time I drove
a car at Hethel and I felt so secure in these conditions.
If I'd been driving a Series 1 Exige now, I'd have had about
four or five proper gusset eating moments.
But I'm not in this, because it's just helping me so much.
It still has an open differential.
I suppose my only gripe is that, in the wet now, I think
it needs a little bit of locking assistance.
Because they've got so much more support on the back axle
now, with the rear roll-bar, that it could just do with
being able to have a little bit more traction when you're
coming out of second gear.
But I'm splitting hairs.
This is a great car.
It really feels alive underneath you
and, yet, helps you.
And the last chassis mode, well, that's to turn
everything off.
And then, you can argue this thing does come alive one
further stage.
OK, it could do with some kind of a locking diff when you're
doing that kind of stuff.
But it proves the inherent balance of
the chassis is there.
The car feels supple.
It feels balanced.
It just feels--
yeah--
very, very talented.
I'm so glad Lotus has made this car.
It exists.
It's real.
It's not part of some [INAUDIBLE] five year plan.
Oh, god.
You've got to love it.