5 Great Sports Cars

The Exige looks like a prototype racer because it'’s designed like one, with a lightweight enclosed chassis and mid-mounted engine. It feels like one too, with sparse interior and instrumentation. No surprise, it handles and rides like one. Lotus quickness is legendary.

It zooms from zero to 60 in 4 seconds. A supercharged 1.8-liter Toyota mill sucks air through a very cool intake on the roof, and delivers 240 peaky horsepower. You gotta work that baby, with its six-speed gearbox having little tolerance for human error.

You can't buy a sports car that's better for the track than the Exige. Not saying that's what you should want, just sayin'.

The downside is terror on the freeway, with Dodge Rams riding your bumper at 80 mph. But if you want essence of sports car, buy a Lotus.