2005 Lotus Exige 240R Preview

When Less is Obviously More

In North America and across the globe, Lotus is making a rebound as a seriously competitive sports car manufacturer. With the

The 240R will be the fastest and quickest road-legal Lotus, stopping short of the one-off 400-hp Sport Exige. (Photo: Lotus)

demise of the supercar-challenging Esprit V8, the brand has been left with all of two vehicles - the mid-engined Elise roadster and the track-day hardtop variant, the Exige.

Now in their second generation, the dynamic duo is starting to pull full force on the sports car scene and there's no better proof than the limited-edition Exige 240R, built by Lotus Sport, the brand's performance arm.

The 240R will be the fastest and quickest road-legal Lotus, stopping short of the one-off 400-hp Sport Exige. What makes this

The 240R features a Toyota-sourced 2ZZ-GE 1.8-liter inline-four with VVTL-i. (Photo: Lotus)

particular breed so special is it raises the bar performance-wise even further, stretching its small-dimension body and tiny-capacity motor to the absolute limits of engineering.

As with the regular Exige S2 and the Elise 111R, the 240R features a Toyota-sourced 2ZZ-GE 1.8-liter inline-four with VVTL-i (Variable Valve Timing with Lift - intelligent) that can be found in the Toyota Celica GT-S and Corolla/Matrix XRS. Acting as the successor to the Rover K-Series engine, the Japanese unit has the same high-revving characteristics, but betters the British unit in terms of reliability and emissions.