| New Extreme Variant | Lotus Exige Sport Cup 260 |

If the last extreme Exige version wasn't enough for you, it seems all you have to do is wait a couple of months and Lotus will think up something a bit wilder. So, here we have the Exige Sport Cup 260, the wildest Exige variant to date.

A 257bhp tune of the supercharged 1.8-litre Toyota engine lurks under the rear engine cover and drives through a standard six-speed, manual gearbox. However, the 'box has a heavy duty clutch to cope with the track days Lotus expects 260 Sport Cup owners to indulge in. There's also the option of a limited slip differential to make the most of the power.

Thanks to an all-up weight of 930kg, the Sport Cup goes from 0-60mph in four seconds flat and covers 0-100mph in just 9.9 seconds. Top speed is 147mph.

Identifiers for the Sport Cup include 16-inch cast alloy wheels with Yokohama road-legal track day tyres, and AP Racing front brake callipers. Inside, there are race-approved Recaro seats, and a six-point roll cage, while a 70-litre fuel cell holds the petrol.

There are also revised aerodynamics for the Sport Cup 260 that help produce 40kg of down force at 100mph. The price for all this track day brilliance is £54,034 to make this Exige Sport Cup the priciest as well as the most extreme Exige for at least another couple of months.

Alisdair Suttie - 15 Feb 2008