THERE'S no doubt that the original Lotus Exige was a car with attitude. It was a race car for the road and did exactly what it claimed to do - thunderously.
It was an uncompromisingly fast car with a massively hard ride and, not before time, Lotus has looked at it again and produced a car that is much more in keeping with what a Lotus road car should be.
This is not to say that the new Exige is not exciting, nor is it a watered down experience. The ride is still very firm, although not enough to loosen fillings, and it will accelerate like a rocket. But it is much more pleasant to live with.
The 2005 Exige has a lot of the old Lotus road car values, which clocked up Brownie points with enthusiasts who loved cars like the Elan Plus2S in years past.
The Exige is the sort of car that takes years off a mature driver, but it pulls no punches. Weighing nearly 15 stone I admit to a problem entering and leaving it.
Indeed, my physical jerks trying to insert and extract myself from this ultra low-roofed and low-slung powerhouse that fitted like a tight glove became something of a spectacle with family and neighbours.
Some people think that the Exige is just a variant of the well-known Elise, but this is not the case because there is still a race car lurking beneath its high-tech panelling.
But this is race car performance with more than a hint of the latest technology.
Located just behind the cockpit and only just in front of the rear-driven wheels is a state of the art, Toyota based 1.8-litre four cylinder 16-valve VVTLi ( Variable Valve Timing and Lift Intelligent) engine which places Lotus driving into something of a new league.
The secret of this engine, like others of its ilk is the change from low speed cam to high speed cam.
It is almost civilised at normal revs, feeling tractable and docile where the old engine would grumble dreadfully below 3,000rpm.
The vital number with this engine is 6,200, that being the rpm where the cams change profile and all hell lets loose. Given its head, the latest car will nudge 150mph.
What you get is a seamless stream of acceleration all the way up to the 8,200rpm red line.
The truth is that this car is capable of roadholding at the top edge of the envelope and can easily cope with situations you would never ever experience in everyday driving.
You will probably never even get near the tyres' limit of adhesion. Its only under deliberate provocative action that the car can be made to slide and even then it is highly controlled.
But for the enthusiastic driver the Lotus handling magic just shines through, tempered with a new smoothness. Gone is the dated and somewhat clunky gearbox of the K-series cars, and in its place is a slick shifting six-speed box.
A red light display in the centre of the instrument binnacle illuminates to indicate to the driver the optimum point to change gears.
The lightweight C64 six-speed gearbox is fitted with an all-new Lotus designed and developed shift operating mechanism which makes for some lightning sharp changes.
FAST FACTS
Lotus Exige
Price: £30,705
Mechanical: 192bhp, 1,796cc, 4cyl petrol engine driving rear wheels via 6spd manual gearbox
Max speed: 147mph
0-62mph: 5.2 secs
Combined mpg: 32.1
Insurance group: 20
CO2 emissions: 208g/km
BiK rating: 28%
Warranty: 1yr/ unlimited mileage