1 of 20

[dzls rok]

My friend just recently took delivery of this gulf blue lotus. 1 of 20 available.

[Dottore]

Great car. Pity it's so difficult to get in and out of the thing.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Oh my that's pretty.

If someone just described it to me I'd expect that car to look fugly with the gulf scheme, but it actually looks very nice. Hood stripe should be orange though.

[speedracing944]

Hard to get in and out of but once you are in it's all smiles.

Speedy

[JayG]

Fun color scheme on a newer car. There is a new Ford GT with that scheme around here.

[tc-sacto]

I guess its just me, but looks to feminine to me. I get the historical significance of Gulf, but can't get beyound thinking baby blue....nice color for a bug. Love the car though. I'll take one in British Racing Green with yellow strips please or better yet just plain black.

[rouxroux]

So did it come with the matching watch? (at least the decal is pre-TAG)

[jtkkz]

Nice !

[K. Roman]

feminine? That car looks like it kicks ass then asks questions!

[artplumber]

My question remains, "Why can't they get 300 hp in it?" A small V6, a turbo 4, something.... If you have a friend ride along, the acceleration takes it in the shorts.

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by artplumber

My question remains, "Why can't they get 300 hp in it?" A small V6, a turbo 4, something.... If you have a friend ride along, the acceleration takes it in the shorts.

Because they don't need to.

[tc-sacto]

Originally Posted by K. Roman

feminine? That car looks like it kicks ass then asks questions!

The color, not the car..Kinda like Evander Holyfield in Pink shorts. I Do love the Exige. Hopefuly that will be my next car after a few years of depreciation.

[tc-sacto]

Originally Posted by artplumber

My question remains, "Why can't they get 300 hp in it?" A small V6, a turbo 4, something.... If you have a friend ride along, the acceleration takes it in the shorts.

Are you confusing the Elise with the Exige. The Elise has 190hp, the exige 240hp and about twice the downforce. A very cool car.

[artplumber]

No, I'm not confusing the two. The Elise/Exige would be unbeatable with more horses. With 190 (in the Elise) and 0 torque, or 220 (Elise 220) with 5 ft lb torque, or in the Exige S 240 with 5 ft lb torque, the engine needs some help. If you believe that even the Exige is a low 4 second car, have you driven one? Plus add two 170# 'ers or even 170+120, and the car slows noticeably. Don't misunderstand, I really like the idea of the Elise/Exige, just the execution is somewhat lacking, esp for 70 large.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/19/hennessey-releases-details-on-venom-gt/
Hennessey releases details on Venom GT


or something based more in reality
One-off Lotus hints at V6 Exige - 19 January 2005
:http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=213116

[911Rob]

Sex!

[johndglynn]

Originally Posted by artplumber

My question remains, "Why can't they get 300 hp in it?" A small V6, a turbo 4, something.... If you have a friend ride along, the acceleration takes it in the shorts.

A friend of mine developed an early Exige running a turbo'd Celica motor, 275bhp. Bloody great. They can definitely take more power.

[URY914]

Why the Gulf paint job? Lotus never ran Gulf colors IIRC. A 917 or a GT40 maybe but every Tom, Dick and Harry paints thier car Gulf blue. I don't get it.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Oh my that's pretty.

If someone just described it to me I'd expect that car to look fugly with the gulf scheme, but it actually looks very nice. Hood stripe should be orange though.

yeah, he needs to peel off those stripes(unless they are painted on, which would be too bad) and go to the vinyl shop for some Gulf Orange ones. My dad had an XKE roadster that was that color blue, no stripes, that would have been criminal.

They are not that hard to get in and out of, unless it is a lot worse than an Elise.

How about a supercharged S2000 motor?

[johndglynn]

Originally Posted by URY914

Why the Gulf paint job? Lotus never ran Gulf colors IIRC. A 917 or a GT40 maybe but every Tom, Dick and Harry paints thier car Gulf blue. I don't get it.

Lotus didn't call it the Gulf or Gulf Blue though, it's called the Club Racer. Someone else has added the Gulf stuff. I quite like it, nice colour on an Exige.

I was trying to find some pics of my buddy's turbo'd Exige but found an Evo review of it instead. 280bhp, not 275 - up 5 bhp from last time I saw it on the dyno.

[artplumber]

Originally Posted by johndglynn

...
I was trying to find some pics of my buddy's turbo'd Exige but found an Evo review of it instead. 280bhp, not 275 - up 5 bhp from last time I saw it on the dyno.

Unfortuntately, in Kalifornia (where I currently reside), these aftermarket mods are not accepted/meet our emissions requirements.

Plus, the company really should have done it themselves. I know they love 4bangers, but eventually they were convinced to make the Esprit a small v8. Likewise, the entry level could be the 4 (leave the current Elise alone), but the performance car, ie the Exige, should have something more than 220 or 240 hp.