2006 Lotus Exige Supercharged With Tons Of Extras. Under 12k Miles on 2040-cars

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Race Recap: 2013 German Grand Prix is old beginnings, new endings [spoilers]

Just like at Silverstone last weekend, the German Formula One Grand Prix started with Lewis Hamilton putting his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on pole. The only thing missing at the pointy end of the grid was his teammate Nico Rosberg, who lined up beside him in England but back in 11th in Germany because of a team error in qualifying. So instead it was Vettel in the first Infiniti Red Bull in second, his teammate Mark Webber in third, the Lotus duo of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean.
Again, just like at Silverstone - and Canada - Daniel Ricciardo used his magic beans to impress with the Toro Rosso, lining up in sixth, followed by Felipe Massa in the first Ferrari, Fernando Alonso in the second. Jenson Button in the McLaren, Nico Hülkenberg finished up the top ten.
When the lights went green, it didn't take long for the race to become a black-and-blue affair...

Lotus pulled 55 pounds out of the Exige and added power to create this Sport 380

The hard-core Lotus just got harder. Or maybe corier? Anyway, the Lotus Exige Sport 380 is the most extreme iteration of the Elise and Exige yet. It hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, has even more downforce than the Sport 350, and weighs a full 55 pounds less than that car if you opt for the lightweight exhaust. With a curb weight of 2,425 pounds, that weight reduction means something. Mass was pulled out of a variety of places on the car, including the front splitter, front "hood" insert, wing, and diffuser surround, all of which are rendered in carbon fiber and save a cumulative six pounds. Swapping the rear glass to polycarbonate reduces weight by two pounds, a lithium-ion battery in place of the standard one removes 23, the carbon racing shell seats cut 13, and lighter wheels and brake discs lower the total by 22. Lotus even messed with the lights on the back, going from four big ones to two and making do with smaller fog and reverse lights, saving just over half a pound. That optional titanium exhaust saves an additional 22 pounds. And it's not like the Sport 350 was a porker. As the name suggests, there's more power coming from the supercharged and heavily massaged 3.5-liter Toyota V6. The Sport 380 makes 375 horsepower and 302 pound-feet of torque, up from 345 and 295 in the Sport 350. The 380 accelerates to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds (down from 3.7) regardless of which transmission you choose, but we highly recommend the six-speed manual over the auto, if only for its fantastic and beautiful exposed linkage. Tweaks to the aero package keep drag in check while increasing downforce by about 60 percent over the Sport 350, for a total of 309 pounds at top speed. Which, if you're curious, is 178 mph for the manual, 170 for the auto. So another vote for the three-pedal version. We'll have to remain curious, though, because sadly the current Exige is still not available in the US in any form, nor will it be. But Lotus is working on a new one that should arrive in a couple years to join the rejuvenated Evora lineup – the fantastic Evora 400 and upcoming, fantasticker Evora Sport 410. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Lotus Exige Sport 380 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Lotus Lotus Convertible Coupe Lightweight Vehicles Performance

2015 Ram ProMaster City Tradesman First Drive [w/video]

From the perspective of a reviewer, there's a refreshing clarity to be hand when approaching a vehicle like a small commercial van. Where the inherent value equation for most vehicles is composed of both objective facts (price, fuel economy), and subjective opinions (looks, emotional response while driving), the reckoning of something like the new Ram ProMaster City is more straightforward. The light commercial van segment in the US has seen a remodel over the last half-decade, moving from paneled-over minivans to the versatile, economical, European-style boxes on wheels you see with increasing frequency today. Ford, Nissan and Chevrolet are all players here (though Chevy's City Express is essentially a rebadged version of Nissan's NV200), and though Ram's entry could be seen as late to the party, it also matches up very nicely in many of those straightforward areas of measure. Kindly, Ram brought along both the Nissan and the Ford for us to test alongside its new product, so we could get firsthand comparative impressions. The 2015 ProMaster City is roomier, more powerful and more maneuverable than its competition, though it trades those advantages for a higher price and a thirstier engine around town. We headed down to Texas where, between breaks for tacos and Topo Chicos, our goal was to see if Ram had created the new best box van in the US. Based on the already successful Fiat Doblo van from Europe, the baby ProMaster's visual transformation after its continental hop isn't radical. Ram has fitted a crosshair grille, new headlights and taillights, but largely the curvaceous, nose-forward styling remains the same. As we mentioned at the top: style is going to be very low on this list of priorities for a buyer of light commercial vans. Still, we'd rate the City as mid-pack for the options in the US; more attractive than the Nissan/Chevy twins and less so than the crisp Ford Transit Connect. (Though the optional five-spoke wheels of our test vehicle make it seem downright sporty in this group). Open the driver's side door and slide into the almost totally flat front seat, and any notion of "style" goes right out the window. Surfaces are almost exclusively black and gray, with workaday textures and frustratingly easy-to-scratch-plastics. This is a functional space though; trays, cubbies, cupholders and bins are far more numerous than you'd expect from a compact, two-seat cabin.