THE LOWDOWN: A funky track monkey goes insane-a-tang.

WHY WE'RE STOKED: The Limeys at Lotus are sticking to their minimalist mantra—"add lightness"—in a 2010 revision of the Exige S, their hardest-edged coupe targeted for track use. Its funky facelift shows that the Lotus engineers have been even busier than Mickey Rourke's cosmetic surgeons: design changes include the addition of three new air intakes up front, a larger composite rear wing that reduces drag and stiffens the chassis, and an aerodynamic splitter that'll help suck the car to the pavement during track-day destruction. Performance tweaks to the supercharged Toyota inline-4 engine will shoot the Exige S's horsepower to 257. Not an amazing figure by itself, but since the production car should weigh just 2,100 lbs, it'll hit 60 in under 4 seconds. Its Olsen-esque weight not only saves you in the corners, it also saves at the gas pump: Lotus says the new Exige S will get 26 mpg highway. See, ma? It's totally practical. For like, driving to work at 150 mph.

BUYING IT: The 2010 Exige S will come to America in Fall 2009. Pricing details haven't been announced, but it'll likely cost around $70 grand—assuming we are still using "money" in Fall 2009.