[BrendanDolan]

Hey everyone. I was talking about Lotuses on another forum, and came across a funny issue. Before I quit selling Lotuses for Boardwalk, my rep and I were under the impression that the 2008 Exige S had a non intercooled M45 2ZZ like the Elise SC, and that the Exige S240 had the M62 with the IC.

I've searched around, and found a little bit of conflicting info. Short of calling my old rep, any input, specifically, any pics of an '08 S with an IC? Or...was it a brochure error, and a lack of actual units sold to substantiate the myth?

Thanks for any help, this one baked my noodle since I usually know 100% what the hell I'm talking about. :crazyeyes

 

[Bavarian Motorist]

I actually thought exactly what you did, but I was wrong. It is intercooled. You can (or could) see it on the Lotus website in the pictures of the Club Racer.

 

[Bavarian Motorist]

Here ya go... Look at the gallery.

Lotus Cars USA: Lotus Club Racer - Limited Edition

 

[BrendanDolan]

Awesome. Thanks for the help! :up::bow:

 

[Aedo]

Wait a minute!! IIRC that the club racer is a special case and essentially an 07 Exige S upgraded in some ways towards the 08 cars so it has the 07 intercooled 220hp engine. The 08 Exige S is supposed to have the Elise SC powerplant but as you've already mentioned it doesn't seem anyone has bought one of those. Abe is your best bet for clearing this up though

 

[Vishus_1]

Unfortunately this is like answering if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it - does it make a sound?

To my knowledge, there were not any 2008 Exige S's with 220 hp except for the Club Sports. And as Aedo points out, they don't count because they are a limited edition and that was kind of like a carry over. They were planned to have the intercooled M62.

Now there was a 2008 S with 220 that went to Canada and it does have the intercooled M62. Also European/UK Exige S's with 220 (the 240 is a 'Performance Pack' there) have the intercooler. I don't know that is a fair comparison since I never heard otherwise for them - it seemed like this was just a US thing.

You are correct that at the launch of the 2008 model year, Lotus did announce that standard 2008 Exige S's (w 220 hp) for the US would get the same non-intercooled, M45 as the Supercharged Elise. The 240 S would get the M62 (like the Club Sport) with the intercooler. Other than the Club Sport, we just didn't get any examples to validate this in the US. And I am not aware of any 2009 Exige 220's delivered either.

 

[Demonized]

In Abe's words;

Website will be changing soon however; it was wrong in stating that a 2008 Exige S220 did not have an intercooler....it does.

Robert, The Exige S220 was never meant to be built without the intercooler however; one of the MANY mistakes from E2Amp Inc. and old regime confused the public by stating on the website and brochures that this was an option for 2008.

Our Vancouver dealer ordered a vehicle for their client and on the order form the dealer wrote intercooler delete however, when the vehicle came in, it had the i/c. A conference call to England later confirmed E2Amp's mistake. So in essence, you have:

2008
Elise
Elise SC
60th Anniversary
Exige S (intercooler is standard)
Club Racer (basically an Exige S dressed differently)
Exige 240
2-Eleven

2009
Elise
Elise SC
Jim Clark Type-25
Exige S
Exige 240
Exige 260 Sport
2-Eleven

 

[Vishus_1]

^ I would go with what Abe said...he would know.

 

[Bavarian Motorist]

Sorry if I erred. I am exhausted. I guess it doesn't matter since Lotus apparently doesn't sell them in the U.S. anymore?

 

[Aedo]

Sorry if I erred. I am exhausted. I guess it doesn't matter since Lotus apparently doesn't sell them in the U.S. anymore?

No need to apologise - and it seems you were more right than I was!