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Lotus Exige S voted evo's 'Car of the Year, 2012'

The supercharged 3.5 V6 Exige S secured the top honour from evo magazine's 'Car of the Year' test, marking the huge achievement of the entire Lotus workforce

  By Lotus

It is with great pride that Lotus announces its success in securing the top honour from evo magazine's gruelling ‘Car of the Year' test, marking the huge achievement of the entire Lotus workforce to bring to life the hotly anticipated Exige S.

Since the Evora (previous evo COTY winner itself) was launched in 2009 the question resonated, "when are you going to put that 3.5 v6 in an Exige?" the appetite for power on a lightweight platform was huge and this is pure Lotus territory.

So, with the S2 Exige reaching the end of its lifecycle and the demand for its successor high, the challenge was set, a task force was assembled and work started to create the most exhilarating road car in Lotus history – and that is some benchmark to set ourselves!

Exotic designs were drawn, clever architecture and engineering strategies were forged and dynamic mule cars soon started testing. It wasn't long before the covers came off the prototype at the Frankfurt motorshow in 2011 and the Exige S graced the world with its presence. The new Lotus was heralded as a thing of beauty and since that day the phones at Lotus have not stopped ringing with eager prospects and journalists desperate for a drive!

Now, with an army of valued customers in tow and extensive road tests under its belt, the supercharged 3.5 V6 Exige S realises its destiny!

Weighing-in at 1176kg, capable of reaching 62mph from standing in 4 seconds and with a power to weight ratio of 293bhp/ton, brimming with 400 Nm / 295 lb ft of toque (@ 4500rpm) – the Exige S* really is something special! Scrutinised by evo's panel of experts and pitted against the best offerings to the sportscar market this year, the Exige S ties with the Pagani Huayra for first place in the toughest test in the industry.

Battling against nine opposing candidates to make the top six selection in a high octane shoot-out on road and track, and then taking on the giants in the final round on some of Scotland's finest driving roads, this couldn't be a more exciting win for the "gorgeous Exige S".

Richard Meaden, motoring guru and evo contributing editor remarked on the Exige S "I adore its looks, its presence. It's like a little shrunk-down, condensed, distilled supercar. And I love the fact that when you're on the road and going for it, it just takes off."

The evo team clearly felt the spirit of the Exige S, and in turn waxed lyrical about its attributes. Lotus is incredibly proud of the Exige S, and even though the calibre of this year's competition was immense, it could not top the Exige S.

The Alpina B3 GT3, Toyota GT86, Mercedes C63 AMG Black and Morgan 3 Wheeler were also entered, but were eliminated in the first round.

For the £52,900** Exige S to tie with the £820,000 Pagani is a massive accolade and illustrates just what amazing value for fun the Lotus powerhouse delivers.

So, the Exige S really is a good as it looks!