When Finnish car dealer Miika specced up his Exige Cup, he didn’t tick the ‘World Champion’s Signature’ box on the order form but during a recent visit to the Lotus factory, Kimi Räikkönen was kind enough to fulfil this wish and add his moniker to the car of his fellow countryman.
Miika has always loved Lotus cars because they are so unique and a “no compromise” car.
I have known for many years that only way to make fast and fun car is save weight and that’s where Lotus is best. I’m also a big fan of the sporty and aggressive look and the Cup has that in bucketfuls!
In Finland there is no official importer so basically here is only under 10 lotus registered here. Also car taxes are very high. I’m a car dealer in Finland and in 2008 me and my old company imported 4 new Lotus cars in Finland (we were the first to do this) so I have driven different models.
Last winter I was looking car for Nurburgring for my own fun and I was budgeting €30.000 for that, but then I heard that there is new Exige Cup coming on so I had to raise my budget to get the best car for the ‘Ring. I don’t regret that decision at all, because new Exige Cup is so fantastic! It’s so easy to drive fast and damn it’s fast indeed! And the way it grips at the corners!
I have driven Porsche’s, Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s and the Exige S240, but none of those handles as good as the new Exige Cup. I’m sure that for all those I will be fastest with Exige because its so easy to drive fast! Even though the new model is heavier than old one, it feels as light than old one but there is so much more power to use, especially torque and the car feels much more stable.
If you want to drive as fast as a GT3-RS but half its price, Cup “R” is the right car for you! On slower tracks I think Lotus is even faster and a good driver can easily do the Nordschleife in under 8 minutes with the Cup “R” I think.
Miika has promised us some footage when he fits a camera to the car for some laps of the Nordschleife, can’t wait!
