LOTUS FLOWERS; New models offer even more fun. Now, this is platform sharing we like!(News)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

When you were a kid and you got a radio-controlled car, didn't you imagine how cool it would be to be the size of GI Joe and able to climb inside and drive it? That feeling is what the new crop of Lotus sports cars is like. It's just as cool as you imagined it would be, and it's a good way for GI Joe to meet Barbie, too.

We recently got to climb inside and drive the new 2008 Lotus Exige S 240 and the fabulous new 2-Eleven track car, which would make GI Joe leave Barbie far behind, pouting and wanting to drive it.

It seemed only a few years ago that Lotus was about to drive off the edge of the map in the U.S. market, but the company now offers seven models to American customers (we're not counting the Elise-based Tesla Roadster; see page 14). All of them share the same bonded, extruded-aluminum chassis, that wonder of lightness that weighs only 150 pounds. All have variations of the 1.8-liter Toyota four with six-speed manual. And all will make you seek out and attack twisting roads for as long as your kidneys and vertebrae can stand it.

We spent a day on the west loop of Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, far more interesting than the constant radii of Spring Mountain's east half, and found it perfectly matched to a flock of Loti.

First around the loop was the Exige S 240. This new model has 20 more hp than the Exige S-which has been out for a year-thanks to recalibrated engine management, high-flow injectors and a roof scoop that gets more air to the intercooler. The clutch also was upgraded to handle the increase.

Brakes are now 308 millimeters in front with four-piston calipers and 282 in the rear with two pistons and upgraded pads and hydraulic lines.