Lotus Exige Cup 380

[DarrylV8]

_Jonny,

_{Can you do a Kawasaki green Cup 380 please?}

[C8RKH]

Jonny - I actually think for the performance, pedigree and looks on offer it is worth every penny of £80k to be honest. I really do mean that. 

Same old engine - well, it's a V6 and not a nasty little turbocharged 4 pot!  Nice one Lotus.

Same old chassis - and what a glorious piece of aluminium loveliness it is. Hard to  Compare that to any other car at the price point

What truly compares as a focused street and road car:

GTR - fat and bloated and over weight, just like me. And how much?

R8 V8 - meh. How much is the V10 again?

Alfa 4C - get real

No, not £50k. The 380 Cup is worth much, much more, than that. £80k? If I wasn't such a tight arse, I'd buy one.  It's easy to ignore or discount incremental gains. But Lotus is doing something that British Cycling did, focusing on the marginal gains, and look what a success that has been. The 380 Cup is a truly cracking car. Extend the rev range to 7300, or 7500 and I bet all the crying would stop. In a heartbeat. 

Keep going Lotus. Just don't leave behind your loyal fan base.

[cbaileyuk]

Definitely not if it was 50k. It could have the same old chassis but the extra strap ins would make it worthwhile.

In all seriousness though, if this car was the 380sport price, I.e. 70ish, more like it. It's as if the 380 was just a cynical way to climb people up the ladder. 350 sport, then 380 cup. That would be far neater. Allow the options so it's more cup or less cup as well. To have a 350, the an 350se, then a 380, then a 380 cup .... Crikey. Ultimately though, if they can flog em then it makes sense to the firm. Sitting behind another LE though...

[Swiss380Cup]

It's obviously a great car but it lacks a real CUP status. To me it's another Sport 380, i.e. a 380 with ALL options and few more...... but to bear the CUP badge it'd have to have this....and it's ac 5 years old list...... Forget about the carbon, in this case it's juste a fancy expensive piece of equipment and not a major structural breakthrough in terms of performance...... So, please LOTUS I love this car but please manufacture a REAL CUP....

[The Pits]

Good points well made Andy.

However with the smaller pulley the same supercharger is working harder and spinning faster than it does in the 350, so I think Lotus lowered the rpm limit to the point where power was starting to tail off anyway. SSC will tell you that the 1320cc supercharger is already running to its maximum capacity and pushing its thermal efficiency at 345bhp. Hence why they recommend the 1900cc version which makes the same boost at lower charger rpm. However Komotec seem content to keep going with the stock Harrop supercharger all the way to 430bhp and beyond, revving all the way to 7200rpm too. Who you believe is up to you. I hope some of the owners of modified cars will share more of their findings, both good and bad.

But Lotus seem to think that pegging it at 6800rpm was a good idea. I don't imagine they did this just to be killjoys. I am in the camp of those wishing for higher revs but have to admit to not troubling the 7200rpm cut out very often in my car. Also that it didn't prevent me from enjoying the Sport 380 which sounds amazing at 6800rpm and at least as good as the Evora Sport 410 does at 7,000rpm. It does bug me psychologically and in principle though which is making me consider waiting another year - no hardship with a V6 Cup. However, if Lotus had fitted the 410 engine or perhaps the TVS1900 supercharger for, say, 390 or 400bhp without the added weight of the chargecooling I wouldn't hesitate to put the order in.

That's where I am with it anyway. The exterior of the car is off the charts. It's great for me that it now has near CupR levels of downforce because I was going to ask for the CupR aero kit next time at considerable expense, no need now. The interior for me only lacks the 311's tft dash pod and perhaps a carbon cover to go over it. I'd be blissfully happy with that.

It doesn't help that the 380 Cup costs as much as an Evora Sport 410 because I'm genuinely torn between the two as it stands. I can see the appeal of a more civilised road car with genuine track ability (vs a genuine track car with road car ability!). So it's hang on for a bit or go for one or the other this year. Still undecided but seriously like what Lotus have done with the 380 Cup.

@Swiss360Cup Totally agree with your point about the Cup cars being proper Motorsport cars and share your enthusiasm for proper Motorsport parts, however I think it might be just the two of us on this! Lotus introduced the stereo and sound deadening as options for the 360 Cup because people were walking into the showrooms, attributing flagship status to the Cup models and then asking for stereo, carpets, sound deadening. At first Lotus Motorsport said no, which I love. It's part of what made the original V6 Cup so authentic. But they responded to feedback from the dealers and so now we have a Cup car that can be optioned with all kinds of un-motorsport stuff like airbags and central locking. When there's 200kg of downforce on offer I can live with that and keep mine specc'd like a proper Cup car.

[Swiss380Cup]

@The Pits Yessss you're right ... we're a dying breed... Porsche went on the same path with the GT3s.... I had one of my previous GT3 RS without A/c which was a possibility at the time (no cost option..,,??)... and the rest you know.... hopefully Lotus will not go this way and add Watts AND Weight .... otherwise I'm doomed since I chose Lotus for the Light is Right and the racing car concept.... Unfortunately I also know that it is not what most clients want....but I know that, for now, you can still add Motorsport options like radiator, baffled sump, etc... from factory.... so I'd skip the carbon ang go for the not proposed option..... But the 380 Cup is an amazing car....anyway... In case of emergency We still have the Radical to call to our rescue... ????????

Edited April 23, 2017 by Swiss360Cup

[The Pits]

We're on the same page, I so admire the guy who orders an Exige Cup car or Evora Sport 410 without aircon. Back when I ordered my Esprit V8 GT, Lotus actually altered the spring rates depending on whether or not the car had aircon. Now that's the sort of attention to detail I'm talking about!

I like nice road cars but race cars are still where it's at for me!

[Swiss380Cup]

100 % with you.... I love the real rough experience....

[550superfast]

3 hours ago, The Pits said:

However with the smaller pulley the same supercharger is working harder and spinning faster than it does in the 350, so I think Lotus lowered the rpm limit to the point where power was starting to tail off anyway. SSC will tell you that the 1320cc supercharger is already running to its maximum capacity and pushing its thermal efficiency at 345bhp. Hence why they recommend the 1900cc version which makes the same boost at lower charger rpm. However Komotec seem content to keep going with the stock Harrop supercharger all the way to 430bhp and beyond, revving all the way to 7200rpm too. Who you believe is up to you. I hope some of the owners of modified cars will share more of their findings, both good and bad.

The big difference with the SSC upgrade and the Komotec 460 over the 380 sport and cup, the 311 and the Evora 410 is the torque, Lotus are keeping safe, whereas the tuners and getting loads of torque. The bhp figures become secondary to some extent - torque talks. Yet you can still rev out to beyond 7000rpm and enjoy yourself.

[NW76]

Absolutely right ... just came back from a ride in my EX460 ... haven't had any regrets so far and the power still is breathtaking and really brought the car to the next level ...

[The Pits]

A discussion for elsewhere but it would be very interesting to see how all this extra torque effects the longevity of the gearbox, the dpm system and how they perform after hard track use. In the case of Komotec cars how the stock supercharger copes with making 430+bhp.

Sorry, where were we? Oh yes. Kawasaki Green. All yours @DarrylV8

[DarrylV8]

Awesome and thank you so much, and no we won't be having ac

[Crouchy]

Anyone seen an options price list yet?

Edited April 23, 2017 by Crouchy

[Swiss380Cup]

Take the Exige Sport 380.... add up all the options included (carbon this and that........all options....) and you'll have the base price of the Cup 380...at least it's what we've been told by the importer in Switzerland.... than the other options won't be too many....and my guess is that you can also refer to their price on the 380 Sport. price list..... TOLD YOU IT WAS THE SAME CAR......

[LF1]

Glad to see I am not the only one that would forego all the CF in exchange for some alternate MS parts. It's not so much to save money - more the fact that I really think all that is just aesthetics and for me unless everything that is black on the car made of CF then too noisy.

[Swiss380Cup]

Yes IMHO to bear the CUP badge a car should have motorsport parts as standard and carbon fiber as options..... otherwise it's a fully optioned SPORT with new parts....so a new Sport....and most probably the next model will have the same CUP parts as standard or at least Option (louvered front, larger wheels, etc...) and the show goes on.... So wait and see....as far as I'm concerned....

[LF1]

I would be disappointed if the look of the Cup filtered down the the rest of the range. That's the massive plus for this car is it finally looks like a Cup. If the whole range got the new aero treatment there would be little to differentiate. I never really got the aero on the 380 Sport - looks like they knicked bits off the Elise Cup to me - so maybe you are right. 

[Crouchy]

9 hours ago, Swiss360Cup said:

Take the Exige Sport 380.... add up all the options included (carbon this and that........all options....) and you'll have the base price of the Cup 380...at least it's what we've been told by the importer in Switzerland.... than the other options won't be too many....and my guess is that you can also refer to their price on the 380 Sport. price list..... TOLD YOU IT WAS THE SAME CAR......

Yes I already guessed that things like air con and radio are the same price as on the 380 but specifically I wanted to know the price for the "motorsport" elements such as the A frame and harness, airbag delete & alcantara non airbag wheel options.

I still love the look of this and yes all the new bits are minor changes or carbon tat but they are minor changes that I like and I love carbon tat. 

The issue that keeps revolving in my head is that I am currently half way through my finance agreement so the monthly cost increase to upgrade to this car now would be the same as the monthly cost to upgrade to a mclaren at the end of the finance. It would be amazing to upgrade to the mclaren but ive heard too many stories of them overheating on track and depending on your dealer they can be a bit funny about track use and warranty work, so im not sure which car is right for me.

[Swiss380Cup]

Look at my older list of motorsport parts somewhere before in this post..... regarding the upgrade...well.... I've had 3 GT3s and 1 Turbo S.... the reason I switched was for the light is right concept, the race car appeal.....and well the cost...... purchase and maintenance..... I've considered everything, Porsche again, Ferrari, McLaren....all amazing super cars, but I don't want anymore to throw that much money out the window for finally a grown up TOY....... if you see what I mean... so I'll stick to the Lotus..... IMHO you'd also consider the 3-11. This will leave everything behind on a track, but a few.......... and for also around 80k £ ?? full options.... I'm seriously considering that but so far the road version is not yet homologated in CH... My dealer has ordered the one and only so far in Switzerland and he's asked a professional firm to assist him in the homologation process. This should work.... wait and see.... but the 3-11 is for me the route to go. I'm not sure it will still be possible in the future to have such cars, and the residual value of this one will remain hi IMHO.... Cheers. Antoine

[cbaileyuk]

1 hour ago, LF1 said:

Glad to see I am not the only one that would forego all the CF in exchange for some alternate MS parts. It's not so much to save money - more the fact that I really think all that is just aesthetics and for me unless everything that is black on the car made of CF then too noisy.

Exactly this.

[LF1]

@The Pits Ardent Red front view if you'd be so kind

[LF1]

On 21/04/2017 at 14:48, JayEmm said:

@LF1 fairly simply because cup cars were built by motorsport, who don't exist anymore. They also had motorsport parts as standard, which this does not.

I am not at all bought into this - the fact that there is no "motorsport department" does not mean there are no longer credible Cup cars worthy of the badge. The newly anounced V6 Cup R is elegible and will be raced in the Lotus Cup Series, the current Elise Cup 220 onwards are production line built and are currently being raced in LCE and LCUK - both doing well within the production classes, alongside their race going R stablemates. Surely this makes them road going motorsport derritives? The history and expertise has still gone into the development of the cars... just because they did not have a final bit of fettling in a green shed next to the factory does not take anything away in my mind.

Our Elise 220 Cup was production line built, has all the necessary motorsport additions to make it eligble for Production Cup competition and will likely compete in the next year or so as such - is that not therefore by definition more Cup that 95% of the Cup cars built by motorsport in the last decade?

[The Pits]

On 4/20/2017 at 20:49, The Pits said:

Tom I think this one is close enough to let you know that Ardent Red will look utterly awesome!

Yes the 220/250 Cup proves that proper motorsport cars can be built on the 'production line', also that the whole of Lotus is more 'motorsport' than most other companies motorsport divisions. The aero work on the Elise Cup cars in particular is outstanding, they make more downforce than the Sport 380 and match the 311's claimed 150kg of downforce at 150mph. However, the stuff that went on in the 'green shed' was first rate and also genuinely focused with the business of circuit racing. Rupert Manwearing's CV reads like a who's who of F1 and Indycar, Lotus Motorsport was a serious outfit and the whole thing seemed like exactly what Lotus should be offering and publicising. I'm delighted that the Cup cars will continue and that there is a new Exige Cup, one with much more downforce than any road going Exige before it. For all we know they key LMS guys worked on it anyway, as far as I know, most of them are still at Lotus. But the connection with a genuine and active Motorsport Department was a rare and special thing in these marketing-led days. I for one think all Cup cars should have spent some more time in the green shed but that's all water under the bridge now sadly. At least the Exige Cup is back.

 

 

[Supercrosser]

On 23.4.2017 at 11:58, Swiss360Cup said:

it really lacks the CUP status for me, i.e. motorsport parts (baffled sump, triple-bypass radiator, steel break hoses, light flywheel, removable steering-wheel, limited slip differential, etc. etc. ).

 

absolutely right! Same with me 

and i would love to hear some information about the mods of the chassis/setup in comparison to the 350 and 380.

This is what counts IMHO.

What about adjustable Top Mounts LINK , what about adjustable stabilisers etc.

Why not go with the Quaife LSD from the EVORA, since the Gearbox is the same or the fixed Diff of the 380RACE

How come 285 on the back and no wider sections at front (e.g. 3-11)...

all these information are what we want... not any fancy stripes or 500gramm wheight reduction through this and that...

Cheers!

 

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by Supercrosser

[Swiss380Cup]

KOMO-Tec know everything about it...I've had a Quaife LSD on my 360 Cup. Always worth a trip to Komo-Tec, very friendly, very helpful.....