Zenos E10 S: PH Carpool

As a rescue plan for Zenos is confirmed we hear from one PHer who's a passionate advocate for its product

Forum Name: SupraSteveR
Car: Zenos E10 S with the 280hp power upgrade
Owned since: "September 2016, bought it from Zenos after it had had been featured on the previous series of Top Gear, The Grand Tour and also an extended feature in Top Gear Magazine. It was Green/Black/Grey, then Orange/Black/Grey, and finally Silver/Black/Black respectively."
Previously owned: "Ignoring the boring stuff I've owned: E30 BMW 325i Sport, Gen 4 Toyota Celica, Gen 2 Toyota MR2 I'm meant to be circuit racing but haven't quite got round to it yet, BMW Z4 (2.5) daily driver, E39 530d I took around the Nurburgring 'on my way to' the Belgian F1 GP and - my pride and joy - one of the very last of the Mk4 Toyota Supras upgraded to 570hp."

Why I bought it:
"I've always felt the mass of a car must have an 'insulating' effect, keeping the driver distanced from what's going on, especially when pushing limits on a track. Although I've always felt a reasonably competent track day enthusiast, I believed (hoped!) this 'distancing' was stopping me from getting truly comfortable with a car's finer points of handling and driving near to its limits. I wanted to try the world of lightweight cars and, although I wanted the car for road use as well as track days, I persuaded myself I could still get by without a proper roof if it came to it.

"Plenty of obvious choices for the money I was willing to spend but the Zenos E10 S had the most plus points for me. The Ariel Atom came second on my list but with it being so very open (even when fitted with a windscreen) I couldn't see myself ever being happy driving one without a helmet, which I didn't want to do. Also the E10 also offers surprisingly good protection from the elements with the 'get me home roof' fitted - I picked it up from Norfolk and drove home through three hours of rain and spray but was kept completely dry the whole way! There are only currently c. 100 E10 cars in existence and most are abroad, so it's ultra-rare too."

What I wish I'd known:
"Unassisted brakes are definitely nothing to fear! I worried for months about the brakes, even after I test drove the car and before I ordered one. But you do honestly get acclimatised to them on road, and on a track once the tyres and brakes are really up to a proper working temperature they are an absolute delight. It can shed massive amounts of speed in a very, very short amount of track! Worth mentioning that my car has the uprated brake set-up Zenos offers, so definitely go for that if you take the plunge.

"I also wish I'd known that potential customers were invited to test and give feedback on the prototype car before they went into production. I was seriously impressed with that approach, but I was also gutted I didn't find out until a couple of years after the event. Hopefully I'll get to try the E11... and E12... (hint, hint!)"

Things I love:
"The (ultra-cool) inboard dampers under the front removable panel, the fact it's made out of recycled carbon fibre, the driving position - it's obvious this was key to Zenos and that they worked out how to build the car around the perfect driving position. I also love the twin-screen instrument displays ( complete with track mode), the noise it makes, the acceleration (even in sixth gear) and the sense of occasion mixed with pantomime when you climb in and out of it. Who needs doors anyway?

"Having no roof means you can hear every passer-by say 'wow', it literally stops some people in their tracks and, whilst I didn't buy it for that, the admiration it gets from people young and old always brings a massive smile. My face genuinely ached from grinning so much after the day I picked it up.

"Most of all I love the fact it's taught me just as much about driving in a half-day at Snetterton as all of the rest of my 20ish years of driving. Even a 'normal' person like me can really tell what's happening and the car both challenges you to get better at driving it but supports and encourages you as you learn how to. I've not experienced that before. Every input you make has an instantaneous and obvious response and this makes it very intuitive car to learn to drive. I was quickly able to feel comfortable driving the car hard (on track), which meant I could reach my limits but also learn from any mistakes and then repeat the learning exercise. It feels so right when you start to get everything hooked up as it should be and so far I've managed to 'catch' and correct the odd slide here and there without spinning off into the scenery when I have got it a bit wrong. It's designed to be cheap to fix too, which is nice to know, should my luck run out!

"Zenos the company are - or at least were and I hope under new ownership will be - a brilliant bunch of enthusiastic and skilled individuals who are rightly proud of what they've achieved. But they're always happy to hear from you if you have ideas for future enhancements. As an E10 owner I really felt as though I was an extension of the Zenos family and it was such a shame to hear of the administration. The product is awesome, I'm sure the company can be saved and go on to new strengths, especially when they add doors and roof for those not quite as willing to give up such 'exotic comforts'.

"I bought a second set of panels with the car - they're silver which presents the car very differently to the Screamin' Green. I haven't tried them yet as I love the green but I'm told the panels are DIY-swappable given a bit of time, so it's like I've bought two cars for (a little over) the price of one. It was orange with black stripes when it was on The Grand Tour ... having seen that I may need to buy a third set!"

Things I hate:
"Genuinely nothing so far! Occasionally people ask if it's a kit car but it's a new and rare car and not many people know what it is, so I can forgive that. I don't have a garage at our current house so I have to keep it at a friend's, but I plan to move house during 2017 so that shouldn't be an issue much longer. That said, going to fetch the car from its current home is a nice little event in itself, prior to the joy of driving it. The six-point harnesses are a bit of a faff for road driving, but it all adds to the occasion and, of course, on track I really value the additional safety factor they provide."

Costs:
"Insurance was c. £800 for me but that's including track day cover. It's about to have its first service under my ownership, which was due to be £245 including VAT so hopefully that's still the case under the new owners. Even on track the fuel consumption is admirable compared to anything else I've driven and, because the car is light, the brakes and tyres will take time to show any real wear. It's worth bearing in mind that, despite being similar proportions, my MR2 which is around 500kg heavier than my E10 S even with various 'heavy' options fitted like the windscreen When you're driving on normal roads fuel use is minimal. The E10 has a relatively tiny fuel tank and although I was stuck in stop-start traffic for an hour I have still covered around 200-250 miles before needing to refuel."

Where I've been:
"Snetterton (it was 'on my way' home when I collected the car so would have been rude not to!), various B-roads, even commuting to work. I took it out for three hours over the Christmas break even though it was only two degrees outside and even just pootling around driving 'just for drivings sake' I loved every minute. OK, I'll admit the heated seats helped a little!"

What next:
"It's new so doesn't need for anything, although I plan to buy a set of the even lighter alloys from Zenos and move my road-legal track tyres across to those so I can put a set of more normal road tyres onto the wheels that came on the car. I've got plans for a lot of UK track days throughout 2017 and if I can I'd like to head over to Spa-Francorchamps and/or the Nurburgring as well. After that, I can see me being very tempted to buy an E10 R (500hp/ton!) and of course I'm very keen to see the other models Zenos has in mind and I hope will now see the light of day."

Track photography: Nat Twiss/Shivraj Gohil for Spacesuit Media

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