British Racing (Very) Green Lotus

The 2ZZ VVTL-i engine has two cam profiles – a high speed cam and a low speed cam. The seamless switch point between these two cams is completely variable depending upon driving conditions and engine load, and the driver will not know which cam is being used at any point. This gives the Lotus Exige 265E a smooth and linear surge of power from idle speeds all the way to the maximum 8500 rpm.

An electronic drive-by-wire throttle ensures the quickest engine response possible whilst keeping the emissions as clean and as low as possible, to meet relevant legislative demands. Four enlarged fuel injectors have been fitted to increase fuel flow into the engine under normal operating conditions. Two additional fuel injectors have been fitted at the supercharger inlet to increase the amount of fuel being injected into the engine under higher engine speeds and loads. This has also enabled the engineering project team to take advantage of ethanol’s higher cooling effect to further cool the charge air prior to combustion, which in turn reduces the amount of power required to operate the supercharger. A true Lotus solution where the ethanol does more than just provide energy for combustion!

The Lotus T4e Engine Management system is used in the Lotus Exige 265E. This engine management system has been programmed to optimise the ethanol in the supercharged and intercooled engine. The lightweight C64 six-speed gearbox is fitted with the closest ratios and gearset afforded by the transmission. The gearbox offers a fast, precise and light gearshift, ensuring drivers have total control and flexibility to apply the power exactly as and when required.

The Lotus Exige 265E uses the same aerodynamic package as the production Exige. Like all Lotus cars, the Lotus Exige 265E isn’t all about straight-line performance. The Lotus Exige 265E is probably the world’s quickest road-legal E85 bio-ethanol car. Not only is the engine important to the performance but also so is the aerodynamic package, which creates 41.2 kg (90.64 lbs) of downforce - 19.3 kg (42.46 lbs) at the front and 21.9 kg (48.18 lbs) at the rear - at 160 km/h (100 mph). This downforce ratio between front (47%) and rear (53%) is balanced and remains constant at the speeds of which the Exige 265E is capable.

This class leading aerodynamic package is provided through the contribution of the following components: · Completely flat underside of the car – provided by the elegantly simple, strong yet light weight extruded and bonded aluminium tub · Anodised rear diffuser which helps promote the “Venturi effect” underneath the car · Deep front splitter, which sits just 108 mm (4.3 inches) from the ground (giving just enough ramp angle clearance) whilst still maintaining the aerodynamic properties and, of course, the aggressive stance. · Fixed rear wing that is set at the optimum 11.5 degree angle for the best compromise between downforce and drag.

The Lotus Exige 265E is built around the revolutionary and award winning extruded and bonded aluminium tub, with a light weight steel rear subframe, as used in the Exige. The chassis tub itself weighs just 68 kg (150 lbs) and has a torsional stiffness of 10,500 Nm per degree.

The body of the Lotus Exige 265E remains unchanged from the Exige as it is already a winning formula that is both effective and stunning to look at.

To further differentiate the Lotus Exige 265E from its production cousins, two bold stripes (in yellow to symbolise the bio-ethanol fuel and green to demonstrate the environmental considerations of the vehicle).

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