Lotus Exige S1
The hard-roof Elise that grew into a supercharged V6 weapon.
3 reviewers · 5 videos
Reviewers strongly agree on its performance and handling, but split on daily drivability and value.
across 3 reviewers
"the rest of the car was incredibly comfortable it was kind on your body because it's soft it's a it's a Lotus after all"
Collecting Cars · ▶ 10:34"if you go for the exist there isn't even that [room for underwear]"
Men and Motors · ▶ 7:17"go buy an Exede bu an elas I'm going to be online tonight looking"
Collecting Cars · ▶ 14:10"as a road car back for 10,000 pound of premium positive standard at least is hard to justify"
Men and Motors · ▶ 6:33Performance
4.5/53 of 3 reviewersconsensus“177 brake horsepower - from nought to 60 in about 4.7 seconds”
positive · Men and Motors · ▶ 5:32“by modern standards it's not a fast car but properly light”
positive · Collecting Cars · ▶ 6:59“It's fast! 4,9 seconds to 100 km/h”
positive · Autoblog · ▶ 9:13Handling
5.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“the road holding was Sensational”
positive · Collecting Cars · ▶ 7:06“it just grips the grips and grips from right up to the limit”
positive · Men and Motors · ▶ 6:05“I just turn slighty and the car dives into that corner. The brakes, the way you handle the car, everything is very precise”
positive · Autoblog · ▶ 10:36Fun to drive
5.0/53 of 3 reviewersstrong consensus“I would sacrifice so much of most modern cars outright performance all that speed to have the way this feels”
positive · Collecting Cars · ▶ 9:00“This car is more fun then I initially thought! Seriously”
positive · Autoblog · ▶ 7:53“being a race car obviously does not mean it doesn't handle it dirt right up to the limit it is fantastic”
positive · Men and Motors · ▶ 6:22Daily drivability
2.0/53 of 3 reviewerssplit“if you go for the exist there isn't even that [room for underwear]”
critical · Men and Motors · ▶ 7:17“there is no real storage compartment in the Exige S1. The solution is to put your luggage at the passenger side”
critical · Autoblog · ▶ 4:48“the rest of the car was incredibly comfortable it was kind on your body because it's soft it's a it's a Lotus after all”
positive · Collecting Cars · ▶ 10:34Value
3.0/53 of 3 reviewerssplit“as a road car back for 10,000 pound of premium positive standard at least is hard to justify”
critical · Men and Motors · ▶ 6:33“go buy an Exede bu an elas I'm going to be online tonight looking”
positive · Collecting Cars · ▶ 14:10“Just shy over 600 Exige S1's were build”
positive · Autoblog · ▶ 13:42Where the nameplate started. The S1 Exige is essentially a hardtop, aero'd S1 Elise built in tiny numbers, powered by the high-output VHPD version of the Rover K-series — around 177 hp, highly strung, and hungry for revs. The roof and the wing are the point: more downforce, more track focus, and a coupe silhouette the Elise never had. It shares the bonded-aluminium tub and unassisted controls of its roadster sibling, so it's tiny, raw and demanding. The catch is the K-series — the VHPD is the most stressed version of an engine already infamous for head-gasket failure. Where it places: the cult origin point of the Exige line, rare enough that values track the early Elise specials.
Hear it in the reviewer’s words
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Very rare — only a few hundred S1 Exiges were built. The high-output VHPD K-series is highly strung and carries the K-series head-gasket (HGF) risk, so cooling and gasket history matter even more than usual.