Lotus Exige GT3

Based on the European race car that competed in the FIA GT3 category, this is the world’s fastest Lotus, fitted with extreme aerodynamic aids and a highly developed 1.8-litre engine based on the same unit in the Exige S road car.
Lotus Sport UK developed the car following its victory in the 2006 British GT3 Manufacturers Championship. Two major changes were necessary to keep the car competitive for the 2007 season: the reduction of high speed drag, and achieving more power than the 261kW at 7000rpm and 305Nm at 6000rpm from the 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine.

Aerodynamic drag has a huge impact on speed. When a car is running at 320km/h, improving its drag coefficient by just 0.007Cd adds 1.6km/h to its speed.
Lotus Engineering’s work on the 1.8-litre VVTL-I four-cylinder Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine has been pushing the boundaries of just what is attainable from a production road car engine. It has evolved from 141kW, to 188kW as fitted to the road registerable (UK) Lotus 2-Eleven, now peaking at a massive 261kW, in 2007 GT3 specification – or an increase of 85 percent.