Lotus Underwhelms: 2006 Lotus Exige by Secant Vehicles

July 28th, 2009 | by admin |

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LOTUS EXIGE:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=128546

The last time we saw an American entrepreneur stuffing a powerful American-built engine into an unsuspecting British sports car, it was the 1960s and it was Carroll Shelby. The meek AC Ace roadster was, shall we say, invigorated by his fitment of the Ford V8 into its lightweight body shell.

Fast-forward nearly a half-century. Secant Vehicles, a small start-up headquartered in San Francisco, has developed a GM Ecotec engine conversion for every Lotus Elise (or Exige) built since the waspish midengine sports car’s 2005 introduction.

The players are different, but the three-step formula for the Lotus Exige by Secant is the same as Shelby’s:

Step 1 — Find a small car.
Step 2 — Add power.
Step 3 — Kick .

So has history been repeated? We drove Secant’s development car, a 2006 Lotus Exige equipped with the optional Track Pack suspension, to find out.

Duration : 0:3:37


[youtube -Voj25-qpWo]

  1. 25 Responses to “Lotus Underwhelms: 2006 Lotus Exige by Secant Vehicles”

  2. By FullFrontalCrudity on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    pretty freakin’ …
    pretty freakin’ lame to pay that much for a car, and then find that your tires rub on the fenders…. what a joke!

  3. By crazyboyxx on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    Why do they put …
    Why do they put those fat tyres on it, with so much extra power? Just defeats the purpose of the car. The in-house tuning at lotus is incredible, you had better have the funding of mercedes or something to improve on it.

  4. By Janusha on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    THEY PUT GM PARTS …
    THEY PUT GM PARTS IN IT ????? And expected it to be an improvement ? Madness.

    Americans always “tune” european sportscars. Factories spend years of professional testing to get it just right and some tuneshop comes along thinking they can do better. Granted the Elise / Exige can do with a bit more power but usually its better left alone. The concept of the Elise as a performance vehicle doesnt work in USA. its lightweight 1,8 litre engine. It wasnt made for burnouts or straight lines.

  5. By vatoencabronado on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    the Ecotec has way …
    the Ecotec has way more tuning potential than the 2zzge. This car wasn’t properly sorted before the test.

    The biggest limiter when you start making a lot more horsepower is the transmission, it breaks :( especially with sticky tires.

  6. By wounsel on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    first off, this was …
    first off, this was a retarded idea… you couldve used a more powerful engine to put in there, not one that is nearly the same as the original

  7. By ukeuro23 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    I agree with you, …
    I agree with you, but the Tesla is coming to Europe and no it’s not a Lotus but it is made by them and shares the famous aliminium extruded tub. If you take a tour of the factory you will see the Tesla production line. Lotus engineering, you are right, are world renown and they do suspension work for Aston Martin, and countless others, they are well placed to do a great electric car when the Tesla company develop the power train I woud imagine.

  8. By ricardjorg on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    the Roadster is not …
    the Roadster is not even a Lotus.. they don’t even sell it in Europe.. And also lots of cars are designed and engineered by Lotus.. Which doesn’t make them a lotus..
    Lotus has one of the best design and aerodynamics engineering teams in the world, so they are quite requested..
    And they ARE going to make an electric elise.. they said it on a press release, and they said we shouldn’t expect anything less than the best electric car in the world =D.. we can only wait =D

  9. By ukeuro23 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    Lotus motorsport …
    Lotus motorsport division are the best people to do this work… just contact the factory… wheels rub on the fenders (wings British English) mmm oh dear!

  10. By ukeuro23 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    they do it is …
    they do it is called the Tesla, it’s made by and designed by Lotus (except the powerplant)

  11. By aclockworkgnome on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    I bet Lotus would …
    I bet Lotus would love this video. Proof that even with massive investment, you can only do slightly better than their in-house tuning. Nice to know they put all the parts on the car to make it nearly as good as it can be straight from the factory.

  12. By Dgough17 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    What’s Wrong with …
    What’s Wrong with the K car??

  13. By ricardjorg on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    the lotus original …
    the lotus original tires, from yocohama are made specially for the elise.. they would never touch the car.. these ones were added to the car by this company Secant that changed some parts of the car from the original ones..

  14. By ricardjorg on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    thats why we love …
    thats why we love Lotus =D
    i kinda wish they made a electric elise.. it would be awesome.. no pollution, no fuel costs and even more spectacular acceleration!

  15. By Productdesigner31 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    This video is not …
    This video is not about the stock Exige…. o? Can you read the title…and listen to the narrator..

  16. By JackTheLaird on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    Lotus did not make …
    Lotus did not make it like that. Some bell-end by the name of Secunt dicked with it, it up, and there you have it!

  17. By pcmagazine on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    how/why would Lotus …
    how/why would Lotus manufacture the car if the tires are rubbing up on the fenders!??

  18. By Iamallamafarmer on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    yank ! Go …
    yank ! Go yourself and your mother!

  19. By Iamallamafarmer on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    shut up you yank …
    shut up you yank ! Go your sister and brother you gay !

  20. By kingofdandi4 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    how much these …
    how much these mother ers cost
    these mother er gonna all my money

  21. By MandaKathryn on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    My 06 lotus exige …
    My 06 lotus exige gets about 33 miles per gallon with a 10 gallon tank, yeah, pretty freaking good seeing it how it’s 0-60 almost as fast as a 500 hp Viper.

  22. By jsmallwood2007 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    its a friggin 2 …
    its a friggin 2 liter lol has to be excelent on gas

  23. By Naraak on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    I am going to buy …
    I am going to buy one soon.

  24. By RA1N175 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    gas is gas is money …
    gas is gas is money is a lot of money

  25. By jsmallwood2007 on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    its a 2 liter how …
    its a 2 liter how much gas could it burn lol….theres snowmobiles with more power lmfao

  26. By Torkulguy on Jul 28, 2009 | Reply

    looks like a tampon
    looks like a tampon

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