Exige S Arrives
Discussion
Funky said:
The headunit was fitted by Castle Lotus. It's the only one they or i could find which will fit the elise/exiges. Simply because as you know the ones with the screens don't clear the dashboard!
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I fitted a Kenwood 5022 head unit to my Exige S (same colour scheme incidentally) though it was a tight fit and involved a bit of interior stripping (steering wheel cowl etc)to route the wires and such but the screen clears the dash by a country mile at its closest setting and could stand a full 25mm further out![/footnote]
The sat nav is a solid state unit upgradable over the internet.
the unit takes an i-pod, plays DVD, CD and Mp3 discs it has a reversing camera (not fitted) that operates in reverse gear and bluetooth H/F tel.
F.C.
kicks said:
Funky...will I see you around driving around w/f next week?? If you see a crappy red saxo flashing you don't take it personally I'll just be saying hello. (if that saxo tries to catch up it's not me!!!!)
Flash a few times apparently i can be pretty blind to that when i'm out enjoying myself 
But just got word there i'm all ready and legal to go so i'm off out now 
F.C. said:
I fitted a Kenwood 5022 head unit to my Exige S (same colour scheme incidentally) though it was a tight fit and involved a bit of interior stripping (steering wheel cowl etc)to route the wires and such but the screen clears the dash by a country mile at its closest setting and could stand a full 25mm further out!
The sat nav is a solid state unit upgradable over the internet.
the unit takes an i-pod, plays DVD, CD and Mp3 discs it has a reversing camera (not fitted) that operates in reverse gear and bluetooth H/F tel.
F.C.
Did you have to sit it further out of the original hole for the player? Love to see some pictures if you have some? The sat nav is a solid state unit upgradable over the internet.
the unit takes an i-pod, plays DVD, CD and Mp3 discs it has a reversing camera (not fitted) that operates in reverse gear and bluetooth H/F tel.
F.C.
Boggy said:
Funky said:
aceofspades ~ I would come on the 4th if the vro wasn't so lazy and took the whole of Christmas/New Year off. But they are and it's impossible to do, in fact if i am lucky it will be done the 5th and that's because a dealer is helping me out. If it was me privatly trying to register it i wouldn't say it would be on the road till after the 15th! 
The headunit was fitted by Castle Lotus. It's the only one they or i could find which will fit the elise/exiges. Simply because as you know the ones with the screens don't clear the dashboard! It's a great unit actually with no sat nav disc required. Everythings stored on Hd and you can copy all your cd's to the hard drive too. You can fiddle all you like at Otd4
MJK 24 ~ No midnigt drives is fine! It's being stored with a dealer But this day week please god i'll be out in it!!!
Boggy ~ That's s
t about the Exige, if you don't mind me asking what happened as i know your well used to loti and also a good driver? 
I have no actually driven an Exige yet, how would you compare them with the 111R? I hope everyone was ok as that the most important thing. Plus the fact it's always damp conditions in Ireland I've had quite a bit of driver training in the uk with the other cars but i was always 100% confident in the 111R i felt it held everything and never took your head off if you made a mistake.
Can't go into too much detail as I was knocked out during the Crash. Basically as far as I can remember the rear end of the car stepped out (Wet leaves etc) I managed to correct it but it then over steered to much the over way, I tried again but we must have clipped the curb, we were then sent spinning into the other carriage way then hit the other curb on the opposite side of the road, the Exige then just took off. We hit a road sign (12 ft poles) and I must have been knocked out during this collision. The headunit was fitted by Castle Lotus. It's the only one they or i could find which will fit the elise/exiges. Simply because as you know the ones with the screens don't clear the dashboard! It's a great unit actually with no sat nav disc required. Everythings stored on Hd and you can copy all your cd's to the hard drive too. You can fiddle all you like at Otd4
MJK 24 ~ No midnigt drives is fine! It's being stored with a dealer
But this day week please god i'll be out in it!!!Boggy ~ That's s
t about the Exige, if you don't mind me asking what happened as i know your well used to loti and also a good driver? I have no actually driven an Exige yet, how would you compare them with the 111R? I hope everyone was ok as that the most important thing. Plus the fact it's always damp conditions in Ireland I've had quite a bit of driver training in the uk with the other cars but i was always 100% confident in the 111R i felt it held everything and never took your head off if you made a mistake.Edited by Funky on Monday 29th December 13:33
I don't think anyone could have done anything different to prevent it but the Exige like the Elise is a light mid engine car which is fairly skittish in these conditions, I've owned 3 other Lotus Elises and they were the same, bad luck I suppose
We're probably going to buy a Cayman S now, we've got another Elise which we was going to use in the Trophy but I'm going to put that on hold. Not a great end to the year
Boggy
Edited by Boggy on Monday 29th December 14:23
Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?Funky said:
kicks said:
Funky...will I see you around driving around w/f next week?? If you see a crappy red saxo flashing you don't take it personally I'll just be saying hello. (if that saxo tries to catch up it's not me!!!!)
Flash a few times apparently i can be pretty blind to that when i'm out enjoying myself But just got word there i'm all ready and legal to go so i'm off out now F.C. said:
I fitted a Kenwood 5022 head unit to my Exige S (same colour scheme incidentally) though it was a tight fit and involved a bit of interior stripping (steering wheel cowl etc)to route the wires and such but the screen clears the dash by a country mile at its closest setting and could stand a full 25mm further out!
The sat nav is a solid state unit upgradable over the internet.
the unit takes an i-pod, plays DVD, CD and Mp3 discs it has a reversing camera (not fitted) that operates in reverse gear and bluetooth H/F tel.
F.C.
Did you have to sit it further out of the original hole for the player? Love to see some pictures if you have some? The sat nav is a solid state unit upgradable over the internet.
the unit takes an i-pod, plays DVD, CD and Mp3 discs it has a reversing camera (not fitted) that operates in reverse gear and bluetooth H/F tel.
F.C.
I did shorten the indicator stalk by about 10mm to avoid it fouling the screen when it slides out.
The screen adjusts so it just touches the dash, the angle is adjustable too.
Pictures here:
Unit docked.
Drivers view.
Pax view.
Max dash clearance.
Shortened indicator stalk.
The SatNav is good (compared to some) and recognises postcodes without having to enter spaces between numbers ie SW11EG as opposed to SW1 1EG.
So far it has been better at navigating than both my Snooper Syrius and my TomTom 910.
F.C.
Just had my first run in the Exige today. Wow. It's some crazy difference from the 111r theres power no matter where you are in the rev band. It's amazing, i missed having a lotus for the past 2-3 months and this just proves why i am so in love with them
Fc ~ Looks brilliant! The new dash is certainly way more suited to the fold out ones! I'm impressed by mine as it knows the village i am in and also areas around it that no other sat navs in the other cars know. But yours does look brill!
Fc ~ Looks brilliant! The new dash is certainly way more suited to the fold out ones! I'm impressed by mine as it knows the village i am in and also areas around it that no other sat navs in the other cars know. But yours does look brill!
Craig! said:
O/T: FC- What gauges are you running? I'm thinking of going boost or afr, oil temp and oil pressure just wanted to know how much of a pain it was location and fitting sensors.
Oil temp and oil pressure both run from an oil filter sandwich plate.Fitting takes a bit of time as you have to remove the rear diffuser and rear floor section, I took the centre console out to help but you "might" get away without.
Unless your using aftermarket ecu or engine components I'd have thought AFR and boost were pretty irrelevant.
oil pressure and temp let you know when the engine is fully warm (not just when you water temp reads 90 odd) and oil pressure will let you know if you are pulling too many G's on track and starving the pick up
.Alimac said:
Sorry to hear your news Boggy , Glad your OK , looking at changing to an S this month Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?
More torque, more power, less grip in the wet/damp/cold when tyres are cold. Higher centre of gravity with all the intercooler gubbins. All makes for snappy oversteer if you bully it at the wrong time. Drive it with respect though and it'll be fine. Just take extra care when it's wet, cold and in standing water. Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?LotusACBC said:
So you had to actually shorten the signal stalk, or it came like that? If you had to do so, how did you do it? Or can buy them shortened?
Looks good, I like the unit alot, too bad though it gets in the way of the air vents, but certainly no big deal at all/.
I shortened the indicator stalk myself, V easy to do, I actually bought a new stalk off of E-Bay (about a tenner) there is a "natural line" about 10mm from the end of the stalk, I used a friends band saw (for a clean cut) but a junior hacksaw used carefully would do to cut along this line once the end was off I then cut the remaining longpart back to just past the Left turn arrow (see picture)then i joined the end back on with some two pack epoxy putty left overnight and fitted back on to the car.Looks good, I like the unit alot, too bad though it gets in the way of the air vents, but certainly no big deal at all/.
The screen does cover the centre vents but if your not navigating via pictures you can shut the screen and listen to the radio,cd,answer the telephone and still have the navigation talk you through the route.
Another nice feature about this unit is the solid state Nav module (under the dash) is upgradeable with new maps and "safety camera" locations
If you don't like the solid state Nav you can still get a disc based hide away unit, but the solid state one is the size of a packet of cigarettes.
F.C.
S Works said:
Alimac said:
Sorry to hear your news Boggy , Glad your OK , looking at changing to an S this month Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?
More torque, more power, less grip in the wet/damp/cold when tyres are cold. Higher centre of gravity with all the intercooler gubbins. All makes for snappy oversteer if you bully it at the wrong time. Drive it with respect though and it'll be fine. Just take extra care when it's wet, cold and in standing water. Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?My Noble was a nightmare on Pirelli corsa's in cold weather, it's the price you pay for specialised rubber i'm afraid,
You could always use A039's for "safer" winter use.
F.C.
F.C. said:
S Works said:
Alimac said:
Sorry to hear your news Boggy , Glad your OK , looking at changing to an S this month Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?
More torque, more power, less grip in the wet/damp/cold when tyres are cold. Higher centre of gravity with all the intercooler gubbins. All makes for snappy oversteer if you bully it at the wrong time. Drive it with respect though and it'll be fine. Just take extra care when it's wet, cold and in standing water. Are they that harder to handlethan an Elise?My Noble was a nightmare on Pirelli corsa's in cold weather, it's the price you pay for specialised rubber i'm afraid,
You could always use A039's for "safer" winter use.
F.C.
One thing the Exige appears to be able to do that the VXT and S1 were less adept at is recovering a slide without snapping the other way - quick quarter turn of oppo, hold the throttle and straighten out the car. Same technique in the VXT and especially the S1 caused fishtailing, which is again a game of chance as to whether you dampen out the oscillation or resonate it into a stack. Maybe I've just got better at driving or less clumsy
but since I'm no driving god, I'm assuming that the Exige is just *better* than the earlier cars...Take the piss and it'll bite, of course - but everyone knows that. I don't think anyone buys one of these cars without giving it some healthy respect as you're getting to know it (and Lotus dealers certainly point this out to their customers if test-drive performance indicates that there's a big talent gap
)...Are you Irish having the same arctic weather that we English are? Normally it's just rain over there isn't it? We've got 3-day-old snow and sheet ice on the non-salted roads... in the south east. Currently -10˚C outside apparently, my Exige is stuck in its parking space with sheet ice in front and to the left, and a car parked behind
And after all my ranting about how we English should use winter tyres, and that I was going to buy a second set of wheels and put Pirelli Snowsports on (which I know work, having used them for 2 winters on my 993 including snow, ice and Swiss Alpine hairy drives), I never got round to it 
Still would recommend 'real' winter tyres for winter instead of using another summer tyre like an A039 or AD07. Yeah, the 39 or 07 may have more tread, and greater tread depth, but the compound of both will be optimised for summer temps and won't be anywhere near 'normal' grip below 5˚C. Equally, though they may have more tread, the tread depth is a LOT deeper in a proper winter tyre and the winter tyre will laugh its way through heavy standing water without aquaplaning, whereas both the summer Yokos suggested will aquaplane in poor conditions. Can't find anyone selling Snowsports though at the mo cyberface said:
Are you Irish having the same arctic weather that we English are? Normally it's just rain over there isn't it?
yeah, but we've a bit of a cold snap now. an unexpected little bonus was this morning's commute - i took a backroad since the car was already filthy. it had been so dry for the previous 24 hours that the roads were literally bone dry - no mud, no nothing. and the air temperature was about -5C. perfect conditions for an exige 
i had been looking into getting a spare set of rims to run some cheaper, not to mind safer tyres for road use but with used car prices collapsed so much, i can get a perfectly good car for less than the price of a pair of yokos.
aceofspades said:
cyberface said:
Are you Irish having the same arctic weather that we English are? Normally it's just rain over there isn't it?
yeah, but we've a bit of a cold snap now. an unexpected little bonus was this morning's commute - i took a backroad since the car was already filthy. it had been so dry for the previous 24 hours that the roads were literally bone dry - no mud, no nothing. and the air temperature was about -5C. perfect conditions for an exige i had been looking into getting a spare set of rims to run some cheaper, not to mind safer tyres for road use but with used car prices collapsed so much, i can get a perfectly good car for less than the price of a pair of yokos.
Low temperatures are *ace* for supercharged cars. All that nice dense intake air, the inefficient Rootes-type blowers work much better when the air is cold and dense to start with. However sub-zero road temperatures, loads of ice and A048R track tyres don't really call for extended engine performance or more low-down torque!!!
...unless you've got winter tyres. Argh, do I try to acquire a cheap set of S2 rims for winters, or do I take the opportunity to upgrade by buying some better, stronger, lighter weight wheels for summer / trackday use and bung the A048Rs on the new wheels, leaving my existing standard-fit heavy Exige wheels for winter tyres??? And will I ever get hold of Snowsports for reasonable money (they're listed as Lotus approved winter tyre, so presumably Lotus can supply, but I know about Lotus' views on what is considered a 'reasonable' price for a dealer-fit tyre... they'd probably charge me a grand for 4 boots
)I had an extended drive in pretty icy and cold conditions today and yesterday and it was definitly rather skittish on the dark roads where the ice had not thawed out on! But it was fine other then getting a little dirty
Scotlands definitly back on my to do list but not right now with the way the roads would be Going to track in a few weeks time so will be able to get a better handle on the differences there!
Fc ~ Really like the gauges, neat install too!
Scotlands definitly back on my to do list but not right now with the way the roads would be
Going to track in a few weeks time so will be able to get a better handle on the differences there! Fc ~ Really like the gauges, neat install too!
Hey funky, looking very good.
I have to agree with your choice on leaving the splitter/pods/wings in black.
I have never seen the sense in painting the splitter when its so prone to chips/scrapes. I also think when the side pods are body colour you loose the lovely classic 'swoosh' that is a trademark of the s2 shape.
I just think its a totally unnecessary and cheap-skate way of creating a model distinction.
How are you finding the colour to photograph?
I find I always have to PS the levels to get a true representative on screen of the vivid, lurid green.
I have to agree with your choice on leaving the splitter/pods/wings in black.
I have never seen the sense in painting the splitter when its so prone to chips/scrapes. I also think when the side pods are body colour you loose the lovely classic 'swoosh' that is a trademark of the s2 shape.
I just think its a totally unnecessary and cheap-skate way of creating a model distinction.
How are you finding the colour to photograph?
I find I always have to PS the levels to get a true representative on screen of the vivid, lurid green.
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