Lotus Exige S Roadster Unveiled, Not Heading to America
Truth be told, the majority of us are anxiously awaiting the release of the next generation of Lotus vehicles. But until the British automaker releases the new range, we’ll have to settle for the new Exige S Roadster. Or rather we won’t, since it won’t even be making its way to American shores.
Lotus is calling this their fastest convertible ever, powered by a supercharged 3.5L V6 and mated to a six-speed manual transmission, or a six-speed paddle-shifted automatic. Even though exact figures weren’t released, the Toyota-derived V6 will deliver roughly 345-hp and 295 lb-ft of torque – the same as in the Evora S model.
Speaking of the Evora, this “new” Exige S Roadster is actually the front section of the old Exige mated to the rear section of the new Evora. Either way, Lotus claims that the Exige S Roadster will hit 60-mph in just 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 145-mph. Weighing in at a scant 2,425 lbs it is one of the world’s lightest six-cylinder convertibles available. But alas, it’ll only be going on sale in Europe and Asia, yet another fun-packed roadster American will miss out on.
GALLERY: Exige S Roadster
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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Lotus needs to get it's head out of it's arse and stop designing more and more cars. Sportscars, family cars, family sportscars, change the bodywork here, add a few cylinders there, do this do that, special edition. Good grief Lotus. How about you sponsor some grassroots racing in the United States? It's relatively inexpensive and gets a LOT of attention. I bleed BRG and Yellow, and even I'm starting to wonder what they heck you're thinking!
The root of all evil is money and I think taking the lotus name down is immoral, thats sinful very sinful, you can see the line up is looking very agreeable and the cars need to make the USA in order to exploit the world market, The Elise or Exige cars should have made a larger impact in the USA market, it should still be there.Putting the car into the same arena with Porsche was a good market, but the execution of it was poor Example the Porsche dealer carrying the lotus name is bad very bad You have 35 solid years of successful income for the sells staff at most Porsche dealers, if you look at a lotus to buy, forget it. You have 6 sells people selling a Porsche over the lotus. Even if you walk to the lotus sells side, the lotus staff is not capable of selling the lotus correctly such as the Porsche salesman is.1. Dont market a lotus with a Porsche dealer2. Dont take the low budget exotic car from the market3. Sell the car in county seat size dealers in each USA state ((that 5-6,000 cars a year sells)) building brand name and awareness.4. Sell the car at operational expense only ((brand the name)) you have six years of, what is that cool car.5. Every USA person thinks the Exige or Elise was a 100,000 plus car, thats just one more reason you could not sell 5-6,000 cars a year.6. Show the car at the county seat size towns with a trailer transporter and set up financing for the cars on the road, sell three to five cars at each county seat city location in the USA a week Look you could go on and on, Just a 10 minute idea