Lotus Exige

Exige is the perfect car for the track-day racer or sports car enthusiast. It offers a potent mix of pace and excitement that few other cars - at any price - can match. In standard form it has 190bhp, while the supercharged S version gets 220bhp. It's seriously light - just 875kgs - which means it's quick off the line, despite its modest power and with precise steering and excellent body control, it handles superbly. It's not a car you can live with every day as it's difficult to drive around town, is noisy and has little interior space. But as an undiluted sports car, it's difficult to beat.

S, SPORT

Every Exige has cloth 'ProBax' seats in black, remote central locking, aluminium control knobs, aluminium passenger foot-rest, Blaupunkt single-slot CD player, immobiliser and alarm. Touring pack adds electric windows, stowage net, full leather interior, sound insulation, full carpets, auxiliary lights and an MP3-compatible Blaupunkt stereo system. The Super Touring Packs has the same, but with driver and front passenger airbags, leather gearshift knob, trinket tray, embroidered floor mats and a cup holder. Sports Pack adds traction control, sports seats, carbon effect door panel inserts, rollhoop cross bar and black leather door panel trim. The Super Sports pack has one-way adjustable Bilstein dampers, adjustable anti-roll bar and forged seven-spoke wheels in black. Stand-alone options are air conditioning, limited slip differential and traction control.

1.8 SPORTS