AnilS
pfm Member
Only £15 worth unfortunately. Weather is shocking so I'll try a trip out tomorrow.
Sports car chat
- Thread starter Whaleblue
- Start date
Enfield boy
pfm Member
As others have said make sure you drive it far enough to get it properly warmed through. Just running the engine for a while can leave you with condensation in it. Of course at this time of year there's also the risk of the car ending up covered in cack or salt. My bike will be staying in the garage until the risk of salt is gone as I have far too much chrome and bare alloy (and I'm a tart who hates the cold).
I wouldn't like to have seen it if they'd decided to go for some heavier fettling instead
That's serious shove. A friend of mine had one of the early factory Exige S/C cars, and went the full upgraded charger, injection route through Christopher Neil's place. It was a weapon. I remember at the time being amazed and appalled in equal measure that the damn thing straight out of the factory put out more torque at about 3500-4000 rpm than my N/A one did at peak - never mind bolting on another 50-80bHp
After he got the work done, it would accelerate harder in 4th than mind did in 3rd. On the local track days, it was actually a proper Ferrari-eater.
Love that one of yours: the weight of the blower will be lower down than with it stuck up at the top of the engine in the Exige, so a better solution - and - it looks utterly innocent from the outside
My driving isn't good enough to exploit/deploy the thing 100%. It has Nitron coilovers and upgraded suspension pickups.
The steering is sublime, it was this that took me from the 911 turbo to something with half the weight and power.
-alan-
pfm Member
Yeah the steering and handling is something else. Mine had the remote reservoir 2-way adjustable Ohlins, plus a beefier adjustable roll-bar up front, and suspension geometry copied directly from the car that won one of the Lotus Cup Championship series. That plus the fact it could pretty much outbrake anything this side of a single-seater made it a heck of a fun car on track 
Well, there are quite a few with Honda K20,K24 engines, V6 Camry, Audi 1.8, 2.0, 2.5 (5 cylinder), it's been LS swapped, a dentist in the UK is putting in a GR Yaris 3 pot turbo engine into his Exige. At least mine has the original engineI wouldn't like to have seen it if they'd decided to go for some heavier fettling instead
I would like one with a K24 NA with forged internals.
Whaleblue
Southbound
I know you’re not asking me, but…
I had mine done by Spires Technologies, near Leamington Spa.
Spires Tuning | Specialists in Chassis Set-up and Alignment
About The company’s foundations lie in automotive engineering with over 30 years’ experience of specialist chassis tuning for major manufacturers within the automotive engineering industry. With this experience we have developed a principle of dynamic excellence and true performance through...
www.spires-st.com
Run by Matt - incredibly knowledgeable.
Oh, meant to add if you wanted to make a short trip of it, Caffeine & Machine’s Hill venue is quite nearby and is a perfect place for any petrol head to stay.
martin clark
pinko bodger
[ / Long weekend free to order boxes of yet-more bits, in order to re-commission the Fisher Fury R1 this Spring. This is the (4yr overdue) Plan. / ]
PS - recent /nasty, enduring/ bout of Norovirus makes a long-held aspiration easy: car with 1/2 tank fuel (422Kg) + self in situ all-up at just 500Kg: nailed-on; gather roses where ye may...
PS - recent /nasty, enduring/ bout of Norovirus makes a long-held aspiration easy: car with 1/2 tank fuel (422Kg) + self in situ all-up at just 500Kg: nailed-on; gather roses where ye may...
Sounds serious.Yeah the steering and handling is something else. Mine had the remote reservoir 2-way adjustable Ohlins, plus a beefier adjustable roll-bar up front, and suspension geometry copied directly from the car that won one of the Lotus Cup Championship series. That plus the fact it could pretty much outbrake anything this side of a single-seater made it a heck of a fun car on track
R1 as in Yamaha? 500Kg, makes my Elise and I totally obese
Would love to see some photos
I know you’re not asking me, but…
I had mine done by Spires Technologies, near Leamington Spa.
Spires Tuning | Specialists in Chassis Set-up and Alignment
About The company’s foundations lie in automotive engineering with over 30 years’ experience of specialist chassis tuning for major manufacturers within the automotive engineering industry. With this experience we have developed a principle of dynamic excellence and true performance through...
Run by Matt - incredibly knowledgeable.
Oh, meant to add if you wanted to make a short trip of it, Caffeine & Machine’s Hill venue is quite nearby and is a perfect place for any petrol head to stay.
WB - like the way you think. Went to C&M on an EV and Monaro day meet.
Heard about Spire, but forgot about them.
Have you had positive results with their work?
Whaleblue
Southbound
Yup, as I mentioned I have had work (geometry) set up by him on the Alpine. It’s a small but immaculate workshop with all the high tech equipment needed for this sort of thing.
EDIT gratuitous picture:
martin clark
pinko bodger
Yep, as in Yamaha - 65Kg powerpack; and - like this (sticker since replaced with Miffy!)Sounds serious.
R1 as in Yamaha? 500Kg, makes my Elise and I totally obese
Would love to see some photos
I'll have wned it 14yrs this May, so - time to go -again:
Jubal
pfm Member
Love it. I had an R1 powered MK Indy a while back. Great experience, especially on track.Yep, as in Yamaha - 65Kg powerpack; and - like this (sticker since replaced with Miffy!)
I'll have wned it 14yrs this May, so - time to go -again:
-alan-
pfm Member
'Twas in Ireland unfortunately. The guy who did it was a racer who bought one of the Elise cup winning cars from a guy in the UK, and used to race it here. He was always working at and tweaking suspension set-ups - proper garage floor/string alignment 'nall. He knew 111s inside out, so I got him to do mine and set up the corner weighting while he was at it.
Mine ended up with really sharp and precise steering - and the front end had a good bit more bite going into corners, but also got a lot more 'twitchy'. Looked better as well, lowered and with the extra camber on the wheels. I loved it, but was always wary of letting other guys - even Elise owners - drive it, as it definitely would bite if you got a bit careless lifting off even slightly on the turn-in. (Incidentally the suspension guy said if you ever want to go racing with an Elise - buy a left hand drive cars: apparently you can get the corner weights set up closer to perfect with the driver on the left than on the right.)
Definitely worth getting the corner weights and geo. done imho even if you don't go for a more extreme setup. No point in having one of the finest steering and cornering cars on the planet and not allowing it to do its stuff properly
The LHD thing giving better weight distribution is interesting. Makes sense, engine on RHS and gearbox on the left will put the weight on the right. The other observation with LHD on track is that because most tracks go clockwise the driver gets better visibility as the A post is less frequently obscuring the view.'Twas in Ireland unfortunately. The guy who did it was a racer who bought one of the Elise cup winning cars from a guy in the UK, and used to race it here. He was always working at and tweaking suspension set-ups - proper garage floor/string alignment 'nall. He knew 111s inside out, so I got him to do mine and set up the corner weighting while he was at it.
Mine ended up with really sharp and precise steering - and the front end had a good bit more bite going into corners, but also got a lot more 'twitchy'. Looked better as well, lowered and with the extra camber on the wheels. I loved it, but was always wary of letting other guys - even Elise owners - drive it, as it definitely would bite if you got a bit careless lifting off even slightly on the turn-in. (Incidentally the suspension guy said if you ever want to go racing with an Elise - buy a left hand drive cars: apparently you can get the corner weights set up closer to perfect with the driver on the left than on the right.)
Definitely worth getting the corner weights and geo. done imho even if you don't go for a more extreme setup. No point in having one of the finest steering and cornering cars on the planet and not allowing it to do its stuff properly
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
I have several friends who have and do own them up to 620R. I’m sure nothing much touches the driving experience but they lack practicality of an Elise and their reliability has been questionable. That’s with newer ones anyway.
Caterhams also definitely bite you harder than an Ellse.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
I know it wont be the new car event, but one of the later Evora 410 manuals would be an awesome car IMO. If it ticks the boxes obviously.
Even the last of the line 400s looks good value in comparison to the Emira
Lotus Evora 3.5 V6 GT 410 Sport 2dr Petrol | eBay
Reedley Car Company - Please call our sales office on 01282454230 to enquire about availability on any of our vehicles. - Call us on +441282504342 or click here to find out more.www.ebay.co.uk
2022 Lotus Evora 3.5 V6 400 Euro 6 2dr 2 + 2 COUPE Petrol Manual | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2022 Lotus Evora 3.5 V6 400 Euro 6 2dr 2 + 2 COUPE Petrol Manual at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.www.ebay.co.uk
I’ve had five Elise’s from S1 to S3, with K-series, Honda, Audi and Toyota engines.
I am really liking the idea of an Evora 400, they introduced various improvements on its introduction, albeit being some prefer the softer look of the earlier car.
No Lotus is without its faults, for starters to my knowledge, they still don’t rust protect suspension components. So that means a full suspension refurb a few years down the line. But the independent dealer network is absolutely fantastic so once bought, I would swerve pretty much all dealers with the possible exception of Bell & Colvill and Hofmanns. Steff at Analogue Automotive is excellent as are Back On Track, Lakeside Engineering, Maidstone Sportscars and Guglielmi Motorsport.
I have driven an older Evora S when it came out and it was just like driving a big and more powerful Elise. The V6 Exige’s are also superb to drive.
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
CageyH
pfm Member
I thought this thread was about Sports cars?
I have never had an Elise, but I have never had a problem with my car being impractical either. I have used it as a daily driver.
I have been on touring holidays with it as well.
Caterhams bite harder? In what sense?
Mine has a Freestyle Motorsport inboard front suspension system, and it is "tuned" for road use. It is pretty easy going, and I am not sure my car has come close to biting me on the road since sorting out my suspension.
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
I thought this thread was about Sports cars?
I have never had an Elise, but I have never had a problem with my car being impractical either. I have used it as a daily driver.
I have been on touring holidays with it as well.
Caterhams bite harder? In what sense?
Mine has a Freestyle Motorsport inboard front suspension system, and it is "tuned" for road use. It is pretty easy going, and I am not sure my car has come close to biting me on the road since sorting out my suspension.
You can lose them more easily than an Elise if they are driven hard.
As has been evidenced by my own personal experience at Bedford (although I did win the sprint competition on the old mayors charity day in one) and a friend who runs a company called Car Limits and has raced Elise’s.
An Elise is a lot more practical as a tool for a long Euro road trip. I’ve driven 750 miles in a day & it copes better with foul weather too. I have a friend who has done the same trip in a Caterham, it was hard work by comparison. Still possible as you say but definitely more challenging!