[beej175560]

I just took delivery of my 2017 M2 last Thursday, and since I only have room for one car of my own, I decided to put the 2009 Lotus Exige S 240 up for consignment sale. I've been a happy Exige owner for the last two and a half years, and although the M2 is less than a week old (and still in its lengthy break-in period), I think I can speak to this question.

Both cars have among the very best acceleration, traction, handling, etc. for the $50-70k price point. The Exige is a bit faster on paper, but its true strength is in cornering. Its connection to the ground and grip strength are truly astounding. In all my driving, I lost grip only once, going around a 35 mph entrance ramp at nearly 70 mph on wet pavement. In contrast, the M2's traction is "only" superb. That said, the M2 makes up for much of that shortfall with its active diff and stability control; I have far less fear of losing traction with the new M2, knowing it'll still go in the direction I'm pointing -- and I expect its compensation during tractive failures will lead me to be more confident in exploring that boundary. The Exige, with its open diff and lack of stability control, takes nerves of steel or plenty of track experience to keep control during those exceedingly rare times when the wheels do slip; the aforementioned entrance ramp rattled my nerves plenty.

I opted for the M2 with DCT. I've gotten /very/ good at shifting, but my philosophy is with the Germans: if the robots can do it better, let 'em. The gains in acceleration and fuel savings are tiny but convincing enough for me.

The difference in driver effort between the two cars is gargantuan. Visibility in the Exige totally sucks. Changing lanes to the right in it is probably the single most dangerous thing I've ever done on a public road. The manual steering makes parking more "interesting". Smooth shifts come only with a good deal of practice. Occasionally, SUV drivers don't even see you because you're too short for their mirrors. Et cetera. In stark contrast, the M2 will indeed drive like a "normal" car when you want to go for a "normal" drive -- and that's something I really learned I wanted sometimes as I owned the Exige. Sometimes you don't want to go to the effort of driving a challenging supercar. The M2 gives you that choice, but the Exige forces you into "high alert" watching-your-butt driving whether you want it or not. The consequence for me was that, time and again, I passed by the Exige in the garage and hopped into my girlfriend's Miata.

As the OP noted, you have to be willing to sacrifice comfort to own a Lotus. Sure, you have space for two and a bit of luggage, but the noise, bumpy ride, and cramped seating are concessions you'll have to make. I wore earplugs on any trip longer than an hour once I discovered that the engine noise was keeping me cruising at too low RPMs. With ear protection, I was much more willing to go longer distances at 3-4k on the tach and downshift aggressively for passing. There is one part of the noise I'll miss greatly, though: the supercharger. It's so close to the cabin, it ends up being louder than the engine when you open the throttle in the mid RPMs, and it sounds absolutely gorgeous.

I should add that the Exige was a maintenance headache. I spent about a dollar a mile fixing things, and even with all that work, little could be done about its various buzzes and rattles at certain RPMs. The M2 is a clear winner in how well the "pieces" fit together. I credit German engineering and a century of experience with high-volume mass production -- things Lotus will never have.

Compared to the Exige and my girlfriend's Miata, the M2 is a gargantuan ocean liner full of cargo space and high technology. The quiet, smooth ride are such a pleasant change for us. Did I enjoy my years with the Exige? Yes, absolutely. Do I regret moving on? A little, but less than I feared.