New arrival. Exige 410 Sport

[ecain63]

Did a little bit of winter restoration over the weekend. The front mesh was starting to look a bit tatty. It was also a good opportunity to black out the plate hangers too.












Anyone looking for a size comparison can use this. We've got a lodger for a couple of days in the form of a new Z4. It's as big as the wife's 2018 Countryman JCW.

[ecain63]

GaryF said:

That does look lardy beside the Exige. Good tidyup on the grilles. I used the same Hammerite smooth black in spray form to do the side grilles on my Mini.

Spray is so much better if you can easily remove the mesh. I assume you can get them off the mini?

[ecain63]

There's not a huge amount going on at the moment outside work but I'm still making time to do bits and bobs with the Lotus.

Firstly, a clean of the throttle butterfly / inlet and MAF sensor. After opening it up I found it wasn't really that dirty at all, despite other owners reporting regular cleaning needed. Still good to keep on top of it though.







Managed a couple of school runs too..... taking the long route obviously






There's potentially a track day left in 2020, hopefully at Goodwood on the 7th, but it's unlikely I'll be pressing for lap times in December on Cup2s. With that in mind I've decided to refit the stock Lotus exhaust. If the track day is viable I'm happy to short shift for the day and just enjoy the day out.

Time wise, the exhaust swap took 90 minutes with no need for a ramp.
















Lastly, I managed to get the GoPro from BV and upload his footage from Combe last month. Unfortunately his GPS wasn't tracking so no displayed lap times. I worked out a best of 1.19 for him though in the last session of the day.

Here's us having a bit of fun before lunch.

https://youtu.be/stBRYSmOX1s

See you in December.

Edited by ecain63 on Saturday 28th November 07:22

[ecain63]

BertBert said:

Does the standard exhaust pass the static test? I thought it would struggle (depending on the limit obvs).
Cheers
Bert

Passes static absolutely fine. You just need to stay below 4500rpm as that's when all hell breaks loose.

Edited by ecain63 on Sunday 29th November 16:22

[ecain63]

BertBert said:

Ah ok that makes sense. The nasty man at BH a few months ago was very keen on 3/4 max revs for my GT3! I assume you have to sweet talk the noise man a bit!

Getting on and staying on depends on the track, and obviously your exhaust.

Brands is very strict and they'll send you home quite quickly. I was there in June for an evening session and the noise was really tight. No static due to covid at the time but I got black flagged even with my track exhaust. I fitted the extra cans and was ok the rest of the evening.

Goodwood is great. To run quickly i need the track exhaust and sometimes the extra cans if the weather is playing up. The Marshall's will tell you where to lift off if you are noisy and do a "3 strikes and you're out" rule.

Thruxton is hard to get on with any powerful track car, but if you're just over on the static they'll help you out with your throttle techniques lol. There's no driveby but the circuit manager listens from his trackside window. I definitely need the track exhaust and extra cans here.

Silverstone, you'd need to lift passing through the national straight meter if you run a standard exhaust. I can run the track exhaust absolutely fine as it's a decent driveby limit.

Castle Combe is not suitable for a stock exhaust, but they're still quite relaxed where it's just outside the limit. Track exhaust, no cans, all good.

Nurburgring. Amazingly, you risk getting black flagged with a stock exhaust here. I've only been for TF laps in the Exige so far and ran the track exhaust, but I've heard of 410/430 being chucked off for noise on stock setups.

Spa, theoretically should be a problem for the stock exhaust on a 410/430 as it's a 107 driveby. But, people seem to be doing ok on the whole. Maybe only a couple of people have experienced problems.

Driveby for the stock exhaust can hit over 115db

[ecain63]

Another cracking day at Goodwood, but under different weather conditions to our usual. Today was around 0-2°C on track and the light drizzle made for some tricky driving conditions..... especially on cold Cup2 tyres. Luckily there was the odd window of opportunity after a few laps warming the tyres and I managed a 1m35s before the rain came at lunch.

Potentially we could have gone a little quicker today due to the requirement to shortshift (noise / stock exhaust) but I think any more speed today may have ended things on the wrong side of the grass.

Here's my quickest run before lunch.

https://youtu.be/RGV0E84FQKs

[ecain63]

And that's a wrap for 2020.

15 track days
1 driving academy
1 set of pads
7200 miles
Tonnes of fun.

Can't wait for 2021!













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[ecain63]

[ecain63]

Rocketreid said:

ecain63 said:

Good to see a 410 getting the use it was intended for.

If you got 15 Track days in this year what could you manage in a non locked down 12 months , assuming of course !!!

My Cup 430 has been my track car of choice even though I have others. I usually do between 15-20 shared between them but the 430 is more fun, although short shifting on some circuits is a pita.

Let’s hope for a non ice/snowy winter !!

I reckon maybe 20 at most. We had our Nurburgring trackday cancelled in May and the EVO day at Goodwood in July, for obvious reasons.... and also our Spa trip last month.

I can't remember if I posted it here, but I worked out the costs for the 15 track days this year. £7500! This includes everything from the ticket / entry costs, garage hire, fuel used on track (circa 2500 miles) as well as fuel used to and from trackdays (another 3000 maybe), trackday insurance from Moris and Reis (£60k cover), Channel Tunnel and hotel costs for the TF trip I did to the Ring in August, one set of PF brake pads (front and rear), service costs and a set of Cup2 tyres that I haven't actually bought yet. So it's more like £6750 if you discount them.

I think that's really very reasonable.

What other cars have you got? A Cup 430 would be my next move purely for the extra degree of track focus. I know there will be very little to separate the 410 and 430 on track but you know what I mean with the extra vents, carbon roof and wing. There's a nice one coming up soon at my local dealer that hopefully will make sense on paper. If not I can see the 410 being a long termer.

That heat haze

[ecain63]

Rocketreid said:

I have McLarens.

I see the Type 79 Cup 430 has just come onto the market. Stunning looking car in the JPS Livery.

I think in your position i would consider just a Komotec upgrade and possibly add a few bits of carbon if you are using for mainly track use.

Aesthetically the Cup 430 is more aggressive looking and if it’s lap times you are chasing, then the Cup is probably long term a good purchase.

Not sure I could justify putting that JP430 through 20 trackdays a year. That's most definitely a car for a collector / polisher. There's another coming hopefully in the new year that I've seen on the quiet. Depending on the numbers it may be doable, but I'm hearing negatives from Lotus at the moment and the change of car might not be worth the cash difference.. we'll see what happens.

[ecain63]

Winter mods:

I've decided to go big on safety for 2021, not that I've been lax in that department this year.

After binning it big time at Thruxton in 2019 I said I wouldn't fit harnesses without wearing a HANS device. The risk of breaking your neck in a crash with harnesses is really quite high without that neck restraint. I broke my back and not my neck at Thruxton most likely due to safety advantages of the standard seat belts.

So with the season now over for 2020 I ordered myself a harness bar from Castle Cars (I think it's actually a Seriously Lotus bar), some Lotus spec Schroth harnesses from GSM / Sportsseats4u and a OMP GP helmet and Schroth HANS device from Murray Motorsport in Ireland.

The bar has arrived so I set about fitting it this afternoon.

Roof off first:



Then seats out:







With the seats out it's just a simple job of unbolting the top seatbelt mounts, putting the harness bar in place and refitting the seatbelt mounts. If you don't want the OEM belts left in you can remove them, but I want the flexibility of easy belts for the road.





I've kept the seats out and roof off for now as the harnesses should arrive in the next few days.

Edited by ecain63 on Sunday 27th December 21:13

[ecain63]

Still waiting for my harnesses to arrive so decided to add some colour to the engine bay. 5 coats of E-tech high temp paint.

Edited by ecain63 on Friday 1st January 19:51

[ecain63]

Paul_M3 said:

Brilliant thread, thank you very much.

It may have also helped me decide what car to get next.

I've owned a Elise SC previously (alongside a 3 series) but then moved onto 'all rounder' cars. (Cayman, R8 and currently a 911 Carrera 4S)
Unfortunately the cost of tracks days in the 911 is just a bit too much to stomach in terms of tyres and brakes so I've stopped doing them.

Yesterday I placed an order to lease a boring electric car for my daily commute. My plan is to sell the Porsche and get back into a Lotus (and therefore back into trackdays).

I think my choice was going to be between an Elise Cup 250, or an Exige (probably a Sport 350 realistically) My only reservations about the Exige was whether the consumables cost would be significantly higher than the Elise. I want to be able to just do as many track days as I feel like and not overly worry about the consumables.

After reading how long your tyres and brakes have lasted on a 410, these concerns have been alleviated. In theory they should last even longer on a slower 350. (Bear in mind, as an example I probably used to get three track days out of a £250 set of front brake pads)

So thanks again for your detailed updates.

Ok, big-boy honest response to this:

If I had my time again, with the knowledge I have now...... I think I'd buy the Elise Cup250 for doing a lot of trackdays.

The Exige is epic, don't get me wrong. It's everything I wanted in a replacement for the Alfa. It's powerful, it's fast, it looks amazing and it has a certain left field exclusivity about it. But the reason for my comment is as follows. The Elise is a much easier drive at its limit. It's not as fast, or as physical on track, but it's more balanced, less expensive and less likely to crash. There's no noise issues on track, looks like and qualifies as a little racer and is as much fun on UK tracks as the Exige.

Where the Exige trump's the Elise is on the road and on the big circuits. It's a much better mile muncher. It's not overly comfortable or luxurious obviously, but it handles the miles very happily.

As I said, for me it was the best move from the big Alfa outside a (obvious choice) GT4. If it wasn't for that underlying need for grunt I'd be more than happy and certainly a bit better off financially in an Elise.

For yourself, if you are doing a lot of trackdays I'd say go for the 410 over the 350 if you settle on the Exige platform. The 410 has all the important seating, suspension, braking and engine parts from the 430, it's a just got a bit less carbon and 20bhp off in the form of a remap. It really is an impressive car.

If you're doing a lot of track days and not a lot of road miles and you're not currently heart-set on an Elise or Exige I'd definitely say look at the Elise Cup250.



In other news, I'm still waiting for my harnesses to arrive. Apparently there are delays coming from Europe.

My hans and lid have landed though....

[ecain63]

BertBert said:

Just curious, what angle HANS is needed for the lotus?

Not sure to be honest. My purchase was based on the advice from existing owners. The model I bought is from Schroth and is designed for use with the 3" Lotus spec Schroth harnesses.

[ecain63]

Deadlysub said:

I have really enjoyed catching up with this thread.

Your comments about the Elise are really interesting.

Maybe a bit like comparing the realities of a GT4 vs a GT3RS. Both fantastic and brilliant in their own right, but only one you'd feel safe putting your mum in on track. Maybe

[ecain63]

Actus Reus said:

BertBert said:

Just curious, what angle HANS is needed for the lotus?

Almost certainly 20 degree - that'll work for almost any (road) car and was what I had in my VX220 on standard seats. Sounds like that's what Eddie has too and will have an almost identical setup in my Exige when (if) I get it later this month or early next.

I was hear for a question on the 350 though, but I think it's the same on the 410...on newer cars is the towing eye just an item you screw in? It looks as if there's a tow post and a hole to accept a towing eye, whereas on earlier s3 Exiges there wasn't? Am I right?

Edited by Actus Reus on Wednesday 13th January 15:53

On more recent cars the front plate needs to come off and you screw the tow eye into the thread behind the mesh. There's a rubber plug to remove from the thread first.

[ecain63]

Still waiting for harnesses from Schroth :yawn:



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|https://thumbsnap.com/G6NaGZdt[/url]

[ecain63]

Paul_M3 said:

Have you gone for Black or Red harnesses?

Red.... of course

I think there's where the delay is.

[ecain63]

Paul_M3 said:

Nice, I look forward to seeing them. Everybody always seems to choose the black ones.

Probably because they're usually available on the shelf. I'll keep you updated as and when.

[ecain63]

BertBert said:

A bit of a thread distraction... I keep seeing this for sale at Hendy's (I assume it's the same one). It looks stunning in their pics, actually much brighter than in yours (hence wondering id it is actually the same one). Any thoughts about it in general or in comparison with your Exige? It's pretty expensive, but I keep being drawn to it!
Cheers

Hi, yep same car. My pics were taken after a day of driving in the forest in mixed weather so the colours are very much affected by the conditions.

Compared to the Exige..... I don't think there is a direct comparison. It's totally different.

Compare it to a Porsche and I think you'll get a better picture. What I do know is that a lot of Porsche owners end up in a Lotus because they didn't realise what they were missing until they drove one. The Evora might not hold value like a 911, but that's down to brand snobbery and not product quality / experience.

If you are looking at that one, might I suggest you give Alex a call at Hendy and have a chat about the 3 similar cars he's got in stock. I absolutely love the white one with the blue interior. You need to see it in the flesh to appreciate it. It represents great value too. The purple one is excellent also.