Photo: Lotus
You might have heard what a mess Lotus Cars is in at the present moment. Sales volume are not that great, the cars aren't aging well and there's a bit of a problem with the future of the Evora in the United States of America. So what solution did Lotus come up with to try and get out of this messy situation?
Offer an automatic transmission option for the Exige S, LOL! The British marque's founding father would turn in his grave right now. Morbid jokes aside, this move is a sort of a compromise Lotus had to make in order to appeal to a wider audience than before.
First introduced on the GT-oriented Evora, the IPS automatic transmission is Toyota-sourced, just like the force-fed 345 hp six-cylinder engine mounted in the middle, and numbers six gears. Just like any other modern automatic transmission, this one also boasts with steering wheel-mounted flappy paddles.
Maybe I'm just an old fool with an old view on what it means to drive sporty, but nevertheless, the six-speed automatic isn't that bad of a gearbox even though it waters down the driving experience of the Exige S. Coupled to the 3.5-liter supercharged V6 powerplant, this new variant of the Exige S can do the 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) sprint in 3.9 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds faster than the manual model.
As for pricing, Lotus informs that the automatic gearbox will be available as a cost option for Exige S and Exige S Roadster models in all markets where the car is on sale. Prices for U.K. customers will be £2,000 over the manual Exige S, while the rest of Europe can has it for a €2,185 premium.
First introduced on the GT-oriented Evora, the IPS automatic transmission is Toyota-sourced, just like the force-fed 345 hp six-cylinder engine mounted in the middle, and numbers six gears. Just like any other modern automatic transmission, this one also boasts with steering wheel-mounted flappy paddles.
The gearbox can be tailored by the driver to operate in either "Sport" or "Race" mode
In the photographs provided by Lotus for the new Exige S automatic, there's a certain pic depicting the British sports car puffing some smoke from its rear wheels while going into a corner in full-attack mode. And that begs the question - wouldn't it be more rewarding to have a third pedal and a stick, kicking the clutch to wag the tail out like proper spirited drivers do since driving became a sport?Maybe I'm just an old fool with an old view on what it means to drive sporty, but nevertheless, the six-speed automatic isn't that bad of a gearbox even though it waters down the driving experience of the Exige S. Coupled to the 3.5-liter supercharged V6 powerplant, this new variant of the Exige S can do the 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) sprint in 3.9 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds faster than the manual model.
As for pricing, Lotus informs that the automatic gearbox will be available as a cost option for Exige S and Exige S Roadster models in all markets where the car is on sale. Prices for U.K. customers will be £2,000 over the manual Exige S, while the rest of Europe can has it for a €2,185 premium.
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