BOWEN ROAD IS a blip and Borrett Road a blur, until my passenger, Taddeo Bonelli, taps the dashboard of this Lotus Exige S. The two-seater stops on a button at the Kennedy Road turn. Bonelli is Lotus' head of international development, and his choice of words is more careful than my selection of gears. He doesn't exactly tell me to stop driving his marque's pride and joy like a plonker, but he suggests - in the nicest possible way - that my hands should be at 'nine and three o'clock' on the steering wheel, and that I might show the six-speed gearbox some respect.
'You'll get more out of this car if you change gear smoothly, instead of hurrying through the gate,' Bonelli says. 'You'll find this Exige S prefers kinder drivers.'
Ouch. But then I did ask Bonelli to rein me in if I got silly, because the 218-brake horsepowered Exige S is actually a racing car built for road use and can bring out your inner twit in the jerk of Hong Kong traffic.
The Exige S looks as aggressive as a banded krait, and the meanness of its design can awe an everyman into acting tough. Handbuilt as an epoxy-bonded aluminium speed statement, it sends my 50-year-old kneecaps aclack under Police Headquarters, with every grille and new airscoop to the intercooler blacked up to augment a range of 20 thrusting colours, including this test car's metallic laser blue.
You generate plenty of anorak cred with 16-inch Yokohama Advan A048s on the front, and 17's on the rear under short overhangs, along with an undertray that improves downforce, the faster you go. The spoiler, also tilted for downthrust at 11.5 degrees, hints at the test car's 238km/h top speed and promise of a 100km/h sprint in 4.3 seconds, which is supercar territory.
Entry into the spartan, aluminium-finished cabin - and Lotus' track heritage - involves a manly stride over a wide metal sill, then a bob under the low roof that could send bad backs, high heels and tight dresses screaming for a Porsche Cayman. The black cloth ProBax orthopaedic seats seem utilitarian, but mould to the spine in supreme comfort.
The Mini Cooper S and Porsche Boxster seem roomier, but there's plenty of head and legroom in the Exige S for two six-footers and, contrary to overseas reports, you can shift and brake without touching your passenger's elbows and knees. The pedals are comfy and sensitive, but there's little luxury beyond the small leather steering wheel, an iPod connection to the four-speaker stereo CD player and air conditioning, because the 935kg Exige S is all about weight-saving simplicity.