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LOTUS EXIGE CUP 430 2020 REVIEW

If ever there was ever a car to remind you that the bare necessities in life can often be the most rewarding, then the Lotus Exige Cup 430 is that car.

The Lotus Exige has seen quite the transformation from its beginnings some 20 years ago. Starting life as a more focused, faster version of the already brilliant Lotus Elise, it has transformed into a model with its own identity, completely separate from the Elise and sitting just below the range-topping Evora GT410.

That statement became all the more apparent when the Exige ditched the 1.8-litre four-pot engine in favour of a beefier, 3.5-litre supercharged V6, pushing power to over 300bhp. Now weight did increase over the Elise, topping the scales at around the 1100-1200kg mark, depending on which model you chose.

Now, then, this Lotus Exige Cup 430 is the ultimate iteration of the Exige, both in performance and price. In fact, this Exige is the quickest production car that Lotus has benchmarked around its own test track at Hethel.

It’s fairly obvious to see why. As the name suggests, peak power now sits at 430bhp and has a kerbweight of 1100kg… 0-62mph takes 3.7 seconds, mainly due to limited grip off of the line and the traditional six-speed manual setup, thank goodness. Top speed? 180mph.

Forgetting about those facts and figures for a second, just take a look at it. It’s obvious from the off that this is a serious machine. That splitter sits low, kissing the ground pretty much wherever you drive, the diffuser has deep, sharp fins to help direct airflow, that wing would sit right at home in a Fast and Furious movie and those 17 inch alloys at the front and 18 at the rear look superb, offering a thick sidewall for better traction on those Michelin Cup 2 tyres. They are staggered, as mentioned, the fronts only offering 215 width tread, while the rear offers a colossal 285 wide section. It’s clear to see from standing at the front, out edges of the car and your eye line follows the edges towards the wide rear hips that accommodate those rear wheels.

You could spend half a day studying its angles and aerodynamic features, it’s a mightily impressive car to stare at, which means wherever you drive, you’ll have people staring at you. Finished in this metallic green alongside black wheels helps you stand out from the crowd even further, not like you needed it…

Lotus Exige Cup 430 drive

Enough of the boring stuff. The Lotus Exige Cup 430 reminds you that less is more, and those famous words by Colin Chapman ring true, again. Its combination of strong power and light weight makes it cover ground ferociously fast.

Once you’ve clambered over the tub that takes up almost half of a regular door entry, slid down into the seat and strapped yourself in, you immediately feel like you’re in a car that won’t want to do a daily commute, let alone a quick trip to the shop.

Fire it up for the first time and you’re greeted with a deep groan from the titanium exhaust. Here, things do quieten down a notch; from factory, the exhaust valves are set to closed, without any option to open them up at low revs. That’s a smart move if I’m honest, which isn’t something I’d usually say. It makes day-to-day driving a far easier task as you don’t end up with your ears ringing by the time you arrive at your destination. But, drive past 4500rpm and the valves open, and boy are you rewarded. The Lotus V6, originally taken from a Toyota Camry, has to be the best sounding car on the market (have a listen here) at the moment, which is only intensified by that titanium exhaust. It’s purposeful, shouty, high-pitched towards the top end, and ultimately has every single strand of hair on your body standing to attention.

As we all know, Lotuses aren’t built for straight line performance, but you’d be mistaken for thinking they can’t cover ground over a straight line at a ridiculous rate of knots. For me, second and third is all the gearing you need on most roads, third will take you up to over 80mph without a sweat, and second will give you whiplash if you aren’t ready.

But, the corners are where things get decisively mind-blowing. Chuck the front end into a corner and it will bite, and bite, and bite. It seems that no matter what speed you’re doing, you will be able to make the corner, which is testament to this Ohlins suspension setup. Body roll isn’t a term that Lotus understands, it stays firmly planted even flowing through a tight switchback section of road. The ride is stiff, but at the same time, surprisingly compliant. You do feel the bumps, but it’s not back-breaking and offers an OK level of comfort over distance, despite having carbon fibre bucket seats. I travelled non-stop for three hours and didn’t feel the need to jump out and stretch the legs.

Interestingly, Lotus doesn’t offer a limited-slip differential on the Exige; simply put, their engineers don’t feel that the additional weight offset against the increased performance, and I agree. The grip offered from its chassis, aerodynamics and 285-wide rear Cup 2s are enough to keep you pointing in a straight line no matter what you do to upset it. In fact, it could live with 500bhp no problem.

The traction control system features machine learning, whereby it constantly reads and understands slip levels to maintain upmost grip. Some might be disappointed with the addition of said electronics, but they’re so unintrusive, without reading the manual, you’d have no idea it existed. Switching to race mode turns off the traction control, but on the road, it’s not needed. On the topic of driving modes, there is also a sport mode that offers slightly shaper throttle response and crucially opens the valves on deceleration at lower speeds to give you a nice, deep, but subtle burble that feels far more authentic than any other on the market.

There isn’t any power steering here either and it’s all the better for it. There is tonnes of feel chucked back through the steering wheel, enough for you to feel tiny undulations in the road that you didn’t know existed. It also means that the steering is ultra-responsive and precise and the tiniest of steering inputs is all you need. Speaking of small, the steering wheel itself is tiny, it’s like driving a go kart, and that’s fantastic!

The manual gearbox is of course welcomed, but sadly isn’t as smooth as hoped. The exposed linkage is a nice touch, not only does it save weight again, but it also adds to the overall image that this car portrays, and that is to go fast. First to second felt particularly clunky and at times need a double de-clutch for it to be happy.

A special mention here goes to the brakes. Wow. Stand on them and you may as well have thrown an anchor out of the back. Those AP Racing front and rear brakes are strong, very strong, and that’s heightened by the car’s overall low kerbweight. The pedal feel is nice and modular, not feeling bitey at the top end that a lot of modern cars tend to have. In fact, you really do need to step on the pedal when you’re pushing on.

The most surprising aspect, however, is just how easy it is to drive. You’d think something that has been honed in on track and pealed right back to the bare bones (you have to option the radio back in!) would be a difficult to car to drive and therefore less enjoyable, but I’d be willing to bet that this performance is accessible to even the most amateur of drivers with little experience.

Verdict

The one thing I haven’t mentioned is the price. Yes, this is for all intent and purposes, £100,000. Now some would argue that’s a hell of a lot for a car that has next to nothing in terms of creature comforts. But, take a moment and think about the package you’re getting. This is a car that could happily live with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS on track, a car that’s some £50,000 more. More importantly, you’re getting a car that reminds you of what a sports car should be. It should make you feel special, it should make you smile every time you drive it, and it should surprise you with just how bonkers its performance is. Its back-to-basics driving, but in a package that’s very much focused on performance.

No, it’s not as pretty inside as say a Porsche, but what it offers is an experience that the Porsche cannot match, and that’s unique. It’s a car that will obliterate all on track, and then happily pootle on home. We have to thank Lotus for building driver’s cars in an era where the mundane is scarily close. So thank you Lotus.

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September 8, 2020
BEAUTY & THE BEAST: TUNED MK2 FORD FIESTA

Liam Stolton’s hardcore Mk2 Fiesta is so clean you could eat your dinner off it. But he didn’t build it to win show trophies – this thing is a manic out-and-out track beast…

The creative tension between form and function has sat at the core of project car builds from the very beginning of modifying itself. Ever since Karl Benz looked at his Patent-Motorwagen back in 1885 and thought, “You know what, I might stick another wheel on that” [facts may vary, consult a historian], there’s been a quagmire of internal wrangling: do I make it go faster, or look better?

Of course, if you’re doing it properly, it’s entirely possible to achieve both at once. Behold the Mk2 Fiesta hillclimber you see before you. Staggeringly attractive, isn’t it? It looks like the sort of thing Darth Vader would tear about in when he grows weary of annihilating planets and pops off for half an hour to obliterate some hydrocarbons instead. And yet, despite the impeccable finish and glorious attention to detail, the form entirely follows the function – this hasn’t been built simply to look good; it’s been put together to be eye-wateringly quick in a competitive context. The fact that it looks so cool is simply a happy by-product of its focus, and proof positive that its owner, Liam Stolton, knows exactly what he’s doing.

“I’ve always been into my old Fords, from a young age,” he tells us, “and following in my brother’s footsteps is where it all began. I was always working on them with him before I could even drive. It all started for me driving a white stripped-out and rollcaged Mk2 Fiesta with an 1800 Zetec, which was a laugh until it got written off when it was parked up outside work. There was something about old Fiestas that I loved so much, and I just had to get another one…”

With his line in the sand firmly drawn, Liam came across the car you see here advertised online – although it’s safe to say that it was a pretty different car back then. A completely original, rust-free, two-owner example with only 35,000 miles on the clock, this 950cc 1984 Fiesta Bonus was the sort of thing that some purists might have preferred to mothball in a static collection, to remind future generations of the frugal simplicity of early-eighties proletarian motoring. But not Liam. He saw past the wheezy motor and tightwad spec to the true potential: namely, an extremely solid shell.

“I didn’t really have anything specific planned on what to do with it, but still I went and had a look,” he recalls. “I remember the previous owner saying to me that it wouldn’t stay that original for long and it would be ruined after I bought it! Fair point… next thing you know I’d slammed it, chucked a set of black steels on and fitted an ST170 on ZX9 bike carbs, leaving it in full sleeper spec. I drove that around for a year or so, but eventually started getting bored and decided to do something different – and that’s when the supercharged build started.”

Yep, this is a guy who certainly doesn’t do things by halves, and he’s also incredibly keen to get stuck in and do everything himself – fabricating, welding, painting, you name it. It took three years of solid graft to transform the Fiesta into what you see today, and what’s emerged from the workshop is something really quite splendid. The supercharged element of the build involved bolting the Eaton M45 blower from a Mercedes SLK230 to the ST170 engine, and, of course, there are quite a few knock-on mods that had to be carried out to suit. Liam’s fitted an air-to-water chargecooler, and there’s also a Crazycage inlet manifold, a Sierra RS Cosworth alloy radiator, a 2.5-inch stainless exhaust system that exits to the side, and it’s all governed by an ME221 ECU. The upshot of these monkeyshines is a safe 198bhp on the freshly rebuilt engine, which is running 5-6psi of boost with its stock internals. A strong and usable power level, with easy potential for more as the project evolves.

Naturally there’s an LSD to help deploy all of this – a Quaife ATB, which works hand-in-hand with a Mk6 Escort IB5 gearbox, and a hydraulic clutch conversion with a AP Racing 4-paddle clutch. Intriguingly, the car’s running the spindly little driveshafts from a 1.1 Fiesta. “They’re like matchsticks, but they’re holding on strong!” Liam laughs.

A huge amount of engineering ingenuity informed the running gear, and that’s before we’ve even considered the chassis and aero upgrades. “A lot of work went into it, all carried out by myself,” he assures us. “The only thing on the whole build that I didn’t do was the aluminium welding, but I still made all the parts and got a good friend Leroy to weld them. Everything that I could replace for new I did, all the suspension and running gear was powder coated, and I did a full shell respray too.”

The aesthetics are what draw most people in, as it really is an aggressive-looking car. The Mk2 is such a familiar shape that there’s something deliciously naughty about doing this kind of thing to it: the one-off front splitter with its jutting canards is first to grab your attention, unless you’re approaching from the rear, in which case your brain will be ambushed by the colossal diffuser. It all just looks so damned serious. The rear window louvre is there for fun, although it does neatly tie into the aero vibe, and if you’re scratching your head in puzzlement at the reprofiled arches, they’re actually a set of Mk1 Golf items that have been welded into place to shroud those fat 7×13-inch steels with their sticky square-sidewall rubber.

It’s just as serious inside too: everything superfluous is stripped – Liam simply straps himself into the bare-bones minimalist Kirkey seat and hangs on. The doors and inner rear quarter skins have been gutted, and everything he doesn’t need has gone in the bin. In addition, all of the fuel and brake lines now run inside the car to save them being damaged. There’s also a full suite of high-quality gauges to keep an eye on that supercharged ST170, and, of course, there’s a rollcage in there as well.

“The car isn’t road-legal, and I don’t plan it to be – although it could be very easily,” says Liam. “It’s only used on track and at shows. It surprises a lot of people out on track thanks to its power delivery from the supercharger, and I get asked quite often what’s under the bonnet as the ’charger whine can be heard from miles away! One thing I get told a lot is how clean it is, which some people don’t expect as it still gets hammered around the track!”

With a solid chassis CV comprising modified Mk1 Golf coilovers, a custom adjustable rear beam and all manner of polybushing, it’s certainly been built to be shown a hard time, and that’s exactly what Liam uses it for. Sure, its gleaming finish and flawless construction mean that it’s every inch the static show darling when it needs to be, but this perky little Fiesta was primarily constructed for function. It just so happens that, as with all the best builds, the form has naturally followed.

TECH SPEC: MK2 FORD FIESTA

Styling:
XR2 bumpers and spoiler, Perspex windows, fully cut out and lightened door- and rear quarter inner skins, welded-on Mk1 Golf arches, removable bonnet with 4x aerocatches, cold air intakes made from old headlights, one-off front splitter with side canards, boot floor cut out for massive rear diffuser, rear window louvres

Tuning:
ST170 2.0-litre Zetec, ME221 ECU and loom, Eaton M45 supercharger (from Mercedes SLK230 – currently running 5-6 psi boost), stock internals, custom billet crank overdrive, Crazycage inlet manifold and engine mount, Vibra-Technics engine mounts, air-to-water chargecooler, 2.5in stainless side-exit exhaust system, Kubota lightweight alternator, FPE baffled sump plates, Sierra RS Cosworth alloy radiator, baffled aluminium fuel tank, Torques fuel filters, Sytec fuel pump and regulator, Mk6 Escort IB5 gearbox, Quaife ATB limited slip differential, converted to hydraulic clutch with Wilwood pull slave, Fiesta turbo flywheel, AP Racing 4-paddle clutch, rebuilt stock 1.1 driveshafts

Chassis:
7x13in ET0 JBW pepperpot steels, 175/50 Yokohama A048-R tyres, modified Mk1 Golf coilovers, fully polybushed, custom adjustable rear beam, XR2 brakes with EBC YellowStuff pads, Matt Lewis Racing braided hoses, adjustable bias pedal box with remote reservoirs, hydraulic handbrake

Interior:
Kirkey lightweight aluminium seat, Luke harness, flocked XR2 dash, Stack boost gauge, Stack oil pressure gauge, AEM wideband gauge, OMP deep-dish steering wheel, fuel lines and brake lines run inside car, full multipoint rollcage

Thanks:
“Big thanks the my brother Martin, Leroy at Atomic Welding, and Phil at Miniature Manufacturing.”

Words Daniel Bevis Photography Chris Frosin

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September 8, 2020
MODIFIED MITSUBISHI EVO 8: FUTURE PERFECT

There’s nothing tense here, just glittery purple and good times. Lawrence Connor’s modified Mitsubishi Evo 8 is packing some highly entertaining horsepower figures, and this thing’s been built to last…

Remember the Millennium Bug? In the run up to the date when the clocks would tick over to the year 2000, the excitement of all the years of our lives soon beginning with a 2 instead of a 1 (which can be filed in the same part of the brain that gets adrenalised when your car’s odometer clicks over to a number with a string of zeros) was somewhat dampened by a tinge of panic. How many computer systems had actually been futureproofed to cope with the new dates system? Would life support machines switch themselves off, would planes drop out of the sky?

It was all fine of course, nobody was so much as grazed by an exploding wristwatch… and yet we now have a new thing to worry about: the Year 2038 Problem. As of January this year, we’re now officially closer to Y3k than Y2K, and this is a worry – a lot of digital systems work their internal clocks by recording time as a 32-bit binary integer counting all the seconds that have passed since January 1st 1970. (That’s why your iPhone weirdly defaults to a 1970 date if you drop it in a pint of beer.) Problem is, on 19th January 2038 we’re going to run out of numbers, and due to a complex situation involving negative integers, computers will start to think it’s December 1901. Still, we’ll probably all have been wiped out by Trump’s nuclear arsenal at that point anyway, although it does highlight the importance of future proofing – something Lawrence Connor will be happy to chat to you about. He’s the fella aggressively hooning this modified Mitsubishi Evo 8 all over the British Isles, and he’s got a keen sense of how to embrace horsepower while also sidestepping doom. There’s a lot of Evos out there, and a fair few which boast some massive power figures but can’t really deploy the grunt without getting a bit explodey. Lawrence, however, has approached this with a clear head; he’s done it properly. His engine boasts a meaty 505bhp at the fly (434bhp at the wheels), which is more than enough to plaster a huge grin over his face as he tears for the horizon, but the key thing is that he’s built the thing well. Forged internals, carefully considered fueling, quality management and mapping, it’s made for longevity as well as ballistics; a track and drag monster that’s happy to trundle to the shops. This is no willy-waving contest, these numbers are built properly, and built to last.

All of this represents a marked shift from his former automotive endeavours. “Before the Evo 8, my main modified car was my first Volkswagen Golf TDI,” Lawrence explains. “It had everything possible done to it to turn it into a show car. Ever since that I’ve had an addiction to modifying, to make cars unique and my own; having done the slow show car thing, I fell in love with Evos and subsequently this happened – which could be seen as both, I guess.”

The enthusiasm for the Evo stretches back a long way into the past too: “Ever since I was a young boy I was car daft with Evos and Imprezas,” he continues. “And when I saw this one I knew I just had to have it! I’ve driven both and must say the Evo is a far superior car to drive, and in my experience a lot more reliable too. I just love the fact that they are a four-door family saloon car that happens to pack a mega punch – enough to shock much more expensive cars and bikes.” The Mitsubishi was purchased from a good friend, and it was already sporting a handful of interesting modifications. This fella had bought the car in Ireland and, having got it home, hadn’t really used it that much – it had largely just sat in his garage, so after a lot of persuasion Lawrence was eventually able to convince him to let it go. At this time, the engine was sporting forged internals and running an Autronic ECU, and the colour change to that creamy-smooth and mile-deep House of Kolor Purple Kandy paint had been carried out, but aside from that it was all as it left the factory back in 2004 – including the stock turbo. Plenty of potential then, and given that the first steps into a monster build had already been made, Lawrence was eager to take the concept to the next level.

“Having bought the car late on in the year, it was tucked away at first to keep away from the winter roads,” he recalls. “I planned on doing some work to it, but never realised the extent I would go to until I did it – and truth be told, it’s still not finished. I originally set out to upgrade the brakes and suspension without increasing the power, until a friend was selling the turbo and screamer pipe and it was too good an opportunity to miss out on!” The turbocharger in question is a Turbo Technics S205B billet item, which hides beneath the malevolent jumble of snaking pipes of the Race-Tech manifold, the screamer pipe cheekily poking upwards like some manner of demented periscope. “Once all the parts had arrived, me and my friend Scott set out to fit it all, and when everything was bolted up we sent it off to the dyno to be mapped. However, a faulty air temp sensor on the Autronic ECU provided a bit of a setback, and with us being unable to find a replacement the decision of going with a Link G4 ECU – supplied by Andy Napier – was the thing that got the car finished with being properly mapped.” The results are startling in their aggression, and that stock chassis and transmission (which are already formidable straight out of the box) have been augmented to suit the new stresses: a conversion to an RS rear diff joins the stock 6-speed ’box, which Lawrence admits isn’t the strongest but he’s keen to see how far he can push it before upgrading to the beefier 5-speed. Suspension wise, he’s taken the no-expense-spared route with the relatively obscure and revered Öhlins Road and Track coilover option, joined by Momentum Chamber adjustable rear control arms, an Ultra Racing 22mm rear anti-roll bar with Powerflex polybushes, Ultra Racing rear top brace, and Ultra Racing bottom brace. The brakes, which were always high up the upgrade list, are pretty incredible now – a full race setup from Alcon, with 6-pot fronts and 4-pot rears, clamping 365mm and 343mm discs respectively. A thoroughly respectable basis upon which to paint all of those colourful horses in broad and eager strokes.

It cuts quite a dash too, doesn’t it? The Evo VIII design is so imposing that it could never be called subtle, although even in this outré shade of purple it looks almost restrained compared to a lot of modded Mitsubishis you find on the scene. The classic choice of Rota Grid Drifts, wrapped in sticky R888Rs for maximum-attack menace, is complemented by a subtle and unexpectedly all-pervading enthusiasm for carbon fibre. The spoiler, splitter, vortex generators, FQ400 mirrors, rear spats, sideskirt extensions, and even the front badge are all crafted from carbon, imbuing it with an inherent sense of class and allowing the aesthetic to speak relatively softly while it wields its massive stick.

“In all honesty, the car was built for anything,” Lawrence assures us. “I’ve always loved the idea of owning a car that’s built well enough that it can be used for any purpose. It originally had its full interior up until 2018, when I stripped it and fitted the rollcage and wraparound bucket seats. Even with it being ’caged and stripped I used it daily for several months, including shopping trips and everything, without a single issue. Being used on the road it gets a lot of attention – mainly from using the anti-lag! – and it was built to be driven, not to sit in a garage. Seeing it put smiles on people’s faces really makes the build worthwhile.” And thankfully, given his fastidiousness in ensuring every detail is correct and carried out properly, with no half-measures and not a single corner cut, Lawrence can be assured of many years of high-octane thrills in this savage and yet ultimately refined machine. No danger of time-borne meltdown or binary death – this purple monster is fully future proofed.

Tech Spec: Modified Mitsubishi Evo 8

Engine:

4G63 2.0-litre, Turbo Technics S205B billet turbo, JMF screamer elbow, Race-Tech tubular manifold, Blitz Nür exhaust system, Manley I-beam conrods, Wiseco 1400HD pistons, ARP bolts, HKS cam pulleys, Piper race head, HKS Kevlar balance belt and timing belt in purple, Walbro 440lph fuel pump, ID1000 injectors, Sytec FPR, Zaklee cam cover, Ross Sport 4-inch intake with massive K&N filter, standard throttle body and inlet, GReddy intercooler with full 2.5-inch boost piping – all fully wrapped in gold heat tape, Mishimoto radiator with Mishimoto slimline fan, Forge coolant tank and power steering reservoir, Link G4+ ECU, Exedy HD twin-plate clutch, RS rear diff conversion with SuperPro polybushes

Chassis:

9.5×18-inch Rota Grid Drift wheels, 245/40 Toyo R888R tyres, Öhlins Road and Track coilovers, Momentum Chamber adjustable rear control arms, Ultra Racing 22mm rear anti-roll bar with Powerflex polybushes, Ultra Racing rear top brace, Ultra Racing bottom brace, Alcon race brakes – 6-pot 365mm front, 4-pot 343mm rear, Ferodo DS2500 pads, braided brake lines

Interior:

Safety Devices bolt-in rollcage, Corbeau Revolution 5 carbon fibre seats, OMP 3-inch harnesses, Pro Sport boost and oil pressure/temperature gauges, Blitz boost controller, Blitz turbo timer, carbon fibre mount for all gauges, OMP WRC steering wheel with Sparco quick release and boss kit, fire extinguisher

Exterior:

House of Kolor S2-KBC10 Purple Kandy paint, carbon fibre spoiler, carbon vortex generators, carbon splitter, carbon FQ400 mirrors, carbon rear spats, carbon sideskirt extensions, carbon front badge, anodised purple bonnet raisers, modified bonnet grille for screamer pipe.

Feature taken from Banzai magazine. Words: Dan Bevis. Photos: Ade Brannan.

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September 7, 2020