Lotus Exige S Automatic Ditches The Manual Transmission

The Lotus Exige has always been a lightweight car that is focused on driver dynamics and handling over raw performance, and to meet that goal it has always come with a manual transmission. Some out there prefer to have automatic transmissions with paddle shifters rather than the traditional three pedal setup Lotus has always offered. To make those customers happy, Lotus has just unveiled the Exige S Automatic.

The car has a 6-speed automatic transmission that can be shifted with paddles that was specifically tuned for the characteristics of the Exige. Gear shifts were calibrated for two modes that the driver can select with a sport mode and a race mode.

Lotus says that the automatic Exige S is in the final stages of testing and is as fast as the manual transmission version of the car around the Lotus test track at Hethel. The automatic version of the car is also 0.1 seconds faster than the Exige S manual in 0-100 km/h performance with a time of 3.9 seconds.

The new automatic transmission will be a cost option on the Exige S and Exige S Roadster. The charge for the automatic transmission will be £2,000 in the UK and €2,185 in Europe excluding taxes. Sadly, the Exige S is no longer available in the US.

SOURCE: Autoblog