Lotus Exige Cup 260

Car: Lotus Exige Cup 260
Feature: Launch Control

Launch control is one of those spectacularly superfluous features that really doesn't have a place on any road car. What is it for? Does anyone really flog their pride and joy off the line with zero mechanical sympathy? I can see that it's a great idea for valet parkers at airports as they transport your car from a well-lit security compound to a field ten miles away, but other than that, it's not even of any use to the track day crowd.

It's this bunch that the Lotus Exige Cup 260 targets. It features a launch control system that is, however, mainly for the benefit of journalists at Autocar and evo to record those 0-60 figures you never replicate. Except you can in this Exige. Or you could if there wasn't a note in the manual saying "If the launch control facility is utilised, the warranty on related powertrain components is void." Annoying and financially punitive - a winning combo.