Lotus Exige GT3 Road Car - new pictures

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Holy hell, this car is rediculous. There's still not too much information about this car, but wait for a press release from Lotus, maybe accompanying the officially-released one for the 211 this week. Here's what we have so far:

The Most Extreme Exige Variant To-date
Geneva, Switzerland (6th March 2007), Lotus Sport, the race car
performance arm of Lotus Cars Ltd, today unveiled the Lotus Exige GT3
concept road vehicle. With its debut at the 77th annual Geneva
International Motor Show, the 275 PS (271 bhp / 203 kW) Exige GT3 is a bold,
no-holds-barred, lap record-breaking, breathtaking performance machine that
embraces all that is expected of a race-bred Lotus.

Building on the Lotus racing pedigree, this concept car can deliver
more grin-factor than ever before; there are no intended compromises and no
limits except those that are self imposed by the driver.

This is one concept that commands your full attention.

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 three-dimensional 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 Exige GT3's pure bred racing brother will be again competing in
the GT race arena in 2007, taking over the mantle from the hugely successful
2006 British GT3 Championship-winning car. On road or track the Lotus Exige
GT3 winning pedigree will continue in time honoured Lotus racing tradition.

A new one-piece front clam-shell with fully masked front wheels and
wheel arch venting leads the aerodynamically cleaned silhouette of this car.
A menacing stance is enhanced by the aggressively flared rear wheel arches
and aero-efficient three-dimensional rear wing and blended end-plates. The
visual message is clear; this vehicle means business and the squat wide
hindquarters symbolise the latent power harnessed within.

That power is provided by the same charge-cooled supercharged engine
that the GT3 race car employs, producing 275PS (271bhp / 203kw) driven
through ten inch rear wheels with 255 width tyres making the final
connection to the road. Max speed (257kph / 160mph) and peak torque have
been electronically limited but acceleration is left untouched and
unimpaired. The up-rated front brakes and brake pads all round ensure that
on road or track this car's stopping ability is more than capable of
harnessing its acceleration performance.

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. The performance of this car will amaze and reward all drivers with
incredible road holding (developed with the help of its 2-way Ohlins
adjustable dampers together with Lotus Sport adjustable front stabiliser bar
and rear suspension double-shear track control arms) and stunning
acceleration.

Simply put, the Lotus Exige GT3 will redefine your concept of a road
car by re-affirming that unique proposition that is, above all else, a
Lotus.

It is intended that the Lotus Exige GT3 concept road vehicle will be
further developed into a full production car for limited markets, to go on
sale in late 2007 with an estimated price tag of between £50,000 and
£60,000.
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This is the race-car, I don't know how much will translate into the road car:



I will keep this thread updated as new information comes up. None of the people I know who have Lotus press access are willing to break the publication embargos, so your favorite blog might have info before I do (they have no respect for the rules).
 
and, before you know it, they'll come out wiht a GT1 version...
 
So now, they release both the Two.Eleven trackcar, and a more powerfull, yet less racing-based Exige? I think they loose track of what they offer, and we're the ones profiting. An extra Exige? An extra Trackcar? Great.

But seriously, it should be a blast.
 
Jim Prower
and, before you know it, they'll come out wiht a GT1 version...
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I doubt it, if Lotus do wnter GT1 it will probably be with the new Esprit when that arrives. I can't see them building a GT1 Elise that they will then have to holomogate, and GT1 racing currently requires 300 road cars I think. not like the almost prototype like GT1 class from the mid-late 90's.
 
I was only half-joking.
 
Sweet. Lotus will now be beating the big boys. And still with an amazing price tag. Please, oh please come over here!
 
I'm interested to hear about the performance specs, as the Exiege S performed exceptionally well. The extra power however, I am uncertain of how much of it is really "needed." Certainly it will draw some gaps between the high-powered track-monsters down a bit, but outside of the track, I don't see too much of a benefit...

...Although, this will probably be a track-only car...
 
The concept drawing looks a bit childish... but my god this car is going to rock. I hope it ends up looking more like the actual race car/current car than a new design.
If this is intended to be a true road car, then I don't see why they won't offer it in the US. We already have both the NA Exige and the S.
 
live4speed
I doubt it, if Lotus do wnter GT1 it will probably be with the new Esprit when that arrives. I can't see them building a GT1 Elise that they will then have to holomogate, and GT1 racing currently requires 300 road cars I think. not like the almost prototype like GT1 class from the mid-late 90's.
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The new Esprit would fit the GT1 bracket well, but it has a lot still to prove, while the Exige has proven to be a great car for track days and racing, which makes it another prime model to have a GT1 car for FIA racing. But it is good to see a GT3 model coming to the road, however a battle against the 911 GT3 and Exige GT3, will be interesting to watch.
 
The Exige is far too small a car to make a competetive GT1 car. The ammount of power GT1 cars have would be suicide in a car the Exiges size, also fitting an engine to produce that power and last the lenth of a race (let alone an endurance race like LeMans) would probably be impossible. Making an Elise or Exige GT1 would require building a bigger car that simply looks like the Eise/Exige. Then they have to holomogate it, which could be an absolute pain in the jacksie and unnecessary when you already have a car in the Esprit thats big enough, has the right engine and where the regular road cars would already cover the holomogation. If they do plan on re-entering GT1 racing, I see no better way to promote the Esprit as a performance car than to use that.
 
It looks good... but £60k is a lot for an Elise - or anything with a four-pot engine for that matter.
 
Oooow, shexy. I do seem to be noticing a trend of Lotus cashin in on one-offs and limited production cars though. First the 240R becoming the Exige R and now the one off GT3 becoming a factory model.

SouL
It looks like a fish :( hahahaha
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It does, but atleast it's not a basking shark... *Cough* 407 SW *splutter*
 
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