It’s even got a Bat-Wing.
Hethel has rolled out a new mid-tier Exige. Called the Sport 410, it straddles the line between the ‘entry’ level Sport 350 and the bananas Cup 430 in Lotus’ range of superpowered go-karts, taking some of the aero nuttiness (of the 430) and mixing it with the more sedate and daily drivable manners of street-focused Exiges (such as the 350).
What aero? Surely the car’s patented bi-angle fixed wing has not gone unnoticed, lending the car some credo to Batman fans. Add to that the more aggressive carbon fibre front splitter and rear diffuser, the 410 isn’t messing around where downforce is concerned (150kg total at speed).
The engine situation is pretty much standard fare for Lotus at this point, with their ever-flexible Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 petrol, transversely mounted and supercharged to, in the Sport 410’s case, 410hp or 305kW. Torque, meanwhile, peaks at 420Nm, which is more than plenty to motivate the 1,074kg car - 10kg of which can be further removed by selecting the optional titanium exhaust.
In terms of performance figures, at 3.3 seconds, the 430hp Exige Cup 430 manages to be ‘only’ 0.1 seconds quicker in the sprint up to 100km/h. In hard top guise, the the top speed is a manic 290km/h. It would be interesting to know how much separates the 430 and 410 on a track, especially one as technical as Lotus’ own proving grounds.
Those acceleration figures assume one to be ideally practiced in the subtle art of manual transmission launches, given that the Sport 410 (and every other Exige on sale today) isn’t offered with anything but three pedals. However, it’s most definitely aided by the extra sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, wrapped around the 17-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels.
The Exige Sport 410’s suspension has been revised as much as the rest of the package, taking some necessary bits from the 430, specifically its three-way adjustable Nitron dampers and Eibach variable front and rear anti-roll bars.
As you’d imagine, there’s not much by way of creature comforts in the Exige Sport 410, as with any Lotus bar the Evora (arguably). Every touch point has been lined in Alcantara, including some of the scarce accents of leather should that option also be selected.
Speaking of which, customers can of course tailor their Exige to also include ‘comforts’ such as thicker carpeting, air conditioning, an actual stereo system, additional sound insulation, and even cruise control. The 410 is a street car, after all.
For more on Lotus cars, check out our Showroom.
