What's the news?
No-one reveals new cars at such a rate as Lotus these days. Well, they're not brand new cars from the ground up, but they are pretty serious pieces of kit nonetheless. Lotus used to just make light things that handled well, but now they make light things that handle well and go very, very fast.
This latest machine is the Exige Cup 430, and with a new supercharger, chargecooler, intake and larger throttle body fitted to the ubiquitous V6 engine, it produces 430hp and 440Nm of torque. That's good enough for a top speed of 290km/h, and a 0-100km/h time of 3.3 seconds.
Of course, Hethel hasn't forgotten about the chassis. The adjustable Nitron dampers are almost as trick as full race items, and with bigger brakes, adjustable anti-roll bars and forged wheels wrapped in the mandatory Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber, mechanical grip is assured.
Nor has Lotus forgotten to throw stuff in the bin in the name of weight saving. The list is as long as your arm, ranging from the carbon composite body panels to lighter seat runners. You can even specify the car without an airbag to save a further 3kg, bringing the dry weight down to 1,056kg and resulting in a power-to-weight figure of 407hp per tonne.
The aerodynamic addenda and body panels help to give 220kg of downforce at maximum speed, with 36 per cent of that over the front axle to aid high-speed turn-in. Ebullient as ever, Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales commented: "The Exige continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of performance, agility, aerodynamics and rapid covering of ground from A to B in a production road car. There isn't another car on sale that can match the new Exige Cup 430; it will go down as a ground-breaking car in the history of Lotus."
While there's no Irish pricing details, it's set to cost around €128,000 in mainland Europe. Of course, our beloved VRT system will add a fair whack onto that...