Another Lotus project

[neil a]

Thought I would stick a thread up on here as will hopefully get back into doing some track days next year in this car.

After selling my old track clio s couple of years ago I recently started to miss doing track days , so a few weeks ago I took my Porsche out on track and found it fast but not overly fun as I was worried about smashing up a 50K car.
I also didnt think it suited knockhill very well as its fairly heavy but piled on speed on the straights , so would be very hard on brakes /tyres and the car in general.

So last week I decided to make a change and ended up selling the Porsche to a dealer down south taking a Loutus exige s on px.

Any way enough of the chat and onto pictures

Old track clio



Bye bye to the beetle



New toy














2006 exige s withe supercharge Toyota engine
Power
288bhp - RSTuning
Pro alloy charge cooler
Pro alloy triple pass rad
TRD air intake
550cc injectors
260 cup fuel pump
2.9" charger pulley
2ubular manifold
2ubular 3" exhaust

Gearbox
Exedy clutch
LSD
Rebuilt box
Jubu 3rd 4th gears

Bodywork
Carbon front splitter
Alloy rear diffuser
Carbon rear wing
260 cup roof
Carbon GT3 clams -5" wider than a exige
Led lights
Lotus green respray

Interior
Alcantara momo wheel
Probax seats
alcantara door inserts
Carbon dipped side/dash panels - will be getting flocked

Chassis
Nitron shocks
powdercoated , rebuilt wishbones
AP292 front discs
Pagid RS14 pads
Braided lines
pro race 1.2 wheels
16 x 7 front 195 AO48 tyres
17 x 9 rear 255 AO48 tyres



Short term plans for the lotus are

1.Fit a baffled sump ready for track
2.Raise the nose slightly(speed bumps) and get geo /corner weight done.
3.Adjust drivers door window for a better seal
4.Few little interior add ons
5. Re instate some sort of boot space/box
6. Re fit an oil cooler positioned in the driver side duct.
7. Spare set of wheels with AD08's for road use

Long term plans

Get custom longer rear wishbones and driveshafts made to loose the spacers on the rear.

[foz01]

Looking good, is the front of the car not wider as well as that's the standard width front tyres or just on spacers? Like the arch vents tho!

Custom wishbones will be, erm, expensive! Not familiar enough with the GT3 kit to know if there is an off the shelf option as such,, the best forum is seloc for technical information though!
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Motorsport Exige Project Thread

[neil a]

The actual arch on the front isn't any wider but the frontal area of the car is , where the normal front tapers in this one stays wide and covers the wheel.

Yip the wishbones will be a long term plan , would need to talk to someone like Andy G or Scott McMinn motorsport. Ideally need something 40mm wider.

[neil a]

Few parts started to arrive for the car , and had a bit of time now I'm home from work to start going through the car .
Looks to have a lot of nice parts but also a few bodges so will take a little bit more work than I thought.
I have got some oil temp and pressure gauges , may use the temp one for the gearbox to start with to get an idea of how hot the box actually gets.

Unfortunately due to a mix up at the dvla the V5 got lost , so have now had to re apply, this has also meant i can't road tax the car

Did get my road wheels mounted up and adjusted the ride height up as it was set at 105 front /115 rear when loaded with 75kg in each seat.





Now have full working lights after replacing the switch module behind the speedo , before the left hand side main beam was getting no power.

While in at the dash I removed the top dash section that had previously been carbon dipped, I didn't really like the effect and think it would of caused glare on the screen. So this afternoon I wrapped that in grey alcantara , I was going to do the speaker/ switch panels swell but left them dipped to match the steering column surround.

Pic makes it look blotchy but its just the pile lying different ways

[AK]

Looks great.... totally different experience to the 996 i bet!

Slightly off topic... but the tiles in your garage. Are they 300x300?
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Impreza Race Car, 1200kg, 480bhp - SLS/SMRC
Mini Race Car x3 - SMRC, SMRC, SLS
911 - 1981 Air Cooled 3.0
500 - 1969 Fiat 500 L
X5 40d M Sport
Mini Cooper Park Lane
MB Sprinter Camper
Track Scotland

[neil a]

Yip going to be a big change where the porsche just had a lot of power everywhere this is going to have to rev , more like my clio.

They are 300's Adam , I've put up a better pic in your thread .

[foz01]

[neil a]

The pro race 1.2's will be getting dropped off this week for a colour change , they have A048's fitted for track/summer.

Have a parts pile starting , just waiting on my oil cooler arriving and I will fit the baffled sump, oil cooler and oil temp/pressure gauges.

I also could do with removing the roof and rear clam to seal it up a bit better , to avoid engine smells/noise in the cabin.

Went to my local tinters to get him to fit my sun strip as a favour as hate putting stickers on





Growing pile of parts

[neil a]

So today the car came to bits, and is now in the rebuild stage complete with now having a boot/storage space .

Looks good with the roof off.



Rear spoiler,roof and rear clam removed





Rear storage box , front is covered in a double layer of heat barrier with around 2" of clearance from the manifold. Still have access to the battery and have air flow either side to allow heat to escape through the rear vents.



Rebuild started with new seals around the top of the clam



I have also mounted a 16 Row Mocal oil cooler in the nearside vent , and fitted a baffled sump . Cooler take off will be here tomorrow then I can get the piping finished for that.

[AK]

they look so cool with the clams off
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Impreza Race Car, 1200kg, 480bhp - SLS/SMRC
Mini Race Car x3 - SMRC, SMRC, SLS
911 - 1981 Air Cooled 3.0
500 - 1969 Fiat 500 L
X5 40d M Sport
Mini Cooper Park Lane
MB Sprinter Camper
Track Scotland

[neil a]

They do look a bit crazy don't they.

Had it on the scales the other day when having it aligned at ALM , and its way heavier than I thought it would be at 915kg with a full tank

Im also having to add some extra bracing to the front as at over 85mph the are is actually forcing the splitter down and catching the ground

[foz01]

Article relates to an S1 but principle is the same. Few easy things, then it gets expensive..

http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Weight_reduction
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Motorsport Exige Project Thread

[neil a]

I had heard about these engines breathing heavy so thought i would be better to fit catch cans if I'm going to track it , went with Sector11 quick cans.

Look to be well thought out as far as separation but not overly impressed with the fit, I'm not sure if they are meant for NA cars as one of the hoses rubs on the intercooler mount bracket so will have to mod that a little.
Also don't like the fact the drain plugs are just pushed into rubber grommets, would of rather them threaded in especially since they are close to the hot exhaust if they were to ever fall out.



Also fitted a removable wheel to make getting in and out a little easier.



When I bought the car I new the previous owner had the Nitrons revalved and spring rates change by corneringforce , what I didnt know was this was only part of the package it should have had.

The package Corneringforce had put together was meant to run adjustable front and rear roll bars , standard they dont run a rear. By running adjustable bars you can run springs that are a lot softer than would normally be used to give the best mix of road and track use.

Front bladed bar can be adjusted in second on the car

[neil a]

Did my first tacky at the weekend in this car

Was good fun but the car definitely needs the roll bars as the springs are a bit soft causing roll in the corners.



Rolly







Hard on the brakes at end of the straight chasing the GT3

[foz01]

Looks great, what spring rate are you running?

Roll doesn't look too bad from the photos to be honest!
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Motorsport Exige Project Thread