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Lotus Exige Sport 380 is the quickest (and most garish) Exige ever

The British company calls it a "supercar killer," but it's basically a supercar in its own right.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
2 min read
Lotus

has a penchant for building small cars that are quite fast. That tradition continues with the Exige Sport 380, the quickest Exige ever built.

The Lotus Exige Sport 380 is all about speed, and boy howdy, it delivers. Its 3.5-liter supercharged V6 puts out 375 horsepower and 302 pound-feet of torque. Mated to a six-speed manual transmission (or an optional automatic), this plucky little Brit will hustle to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, which is properly quick.

In addition to the extra power, Lotus kept true to Colin Chapman's famous quote and added some lightness. It's packing loads of lightweight carbon fiber, from the splitter up front to the wing out back. The rear window is polycarbonate, and a lithium-ion battery drops more than 20 pounds on its own.

It might claim to kill supercars, but its brash baubles sure do make it resemble one. Red trim abounds on the lower half of the car, and it extends to the air intake and wing stanchions. In addition to the big wing out back, the front end sports a set of canards on the front bumper. There's nothing subtle about this.

If that's not enough for you, there's an optional carbon fiber package that adds a one-piece carbon roof panel and a louvered trunk lid. Ten different exteriors are available, and an optional accent pack adds one of five different colors to various pieces here and there. The interior can be finished in Alcantara suede or leather.

All this doesn't come cheap, but it's still relatively inexpensive. The Lotus Exige Sport 380 starts at £67,900, which converts to about $84,000. Considering its performance matches cars costing tens of thousands more, it's a surprising bargain.

Lotus Exige Sport 380 is a menagerie of speed and aero add-ons

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