Exige Speed

[jb2]

Hi All,

I have just joined the ranks of Exige owners, purchased an 06 (standard) model in Ardent Red - it's fantastic to drive and really moves when you hit the 6k rpm...never driven a car that can corner like it.

I have found it a little slower in first gear though until you hit 6k, then it very quickly hits 8k and loses power, I'm sure its just a case of learning to exploit the power of the car - but is it down to my driving or is that the general power of the first gear acceleration...any tips on getting more power from the go?

I've booked the car into Lotus to get the Stage 2 exhaust next week too.

Thanks!

John

Edited by jb2 on Tuesday 14th August 17:03

[Boggy]

jb2 said:

Hi All,

I have just joined the ranks of Exige owners, purchased an 06 (standard) model in Ardent Red - it's fantastic to drive, sounds great and really moves when you hit the 6k rpm...never driven a car that can corner like it.

I have found it a little slower in first gear though until you hit 6k, then it very quickly hits 8k and loses power, I'm sure its just a case of learning to exploit the power of the car - but is it down to my driving or is that the general power of the first gear acceleration...any tips on getting more power from the go?

I've booked the car into Lotus to get the Stage 2 exhaust next week too.

Thanks!

John

Hiya John and welcome to the madhouse

Your right the power doesn't really kick in till 6250 rpm on both the 111r and Exige model's (N/A version's) their is a Ecu upgrade available for around £500 it gives a more even spread of power through the range and drop's the kick down to around 5500 rpm doesn't sound a lot but I've been in a car that's had this done and it's much more useable both on track and off

Boggy

[cnc]

How does this work then Boggy, does the whole power band move lower down the rev range or is the rev range extended from 6250-8000 to 5500-8000? Also is this a Lotus/main dealer software upgrade?

[Saied]

cnc said:

Does the whole power band move lower down the rev range or is the rev range extended from 6250-8000 to 5500-8000? Also is this a Lotus/main dealer software upgrade?

Regarding the ECU, you have a choice of either purchasing a new one outright (allowing you to keep the original) or having your existing ECU 'reflashed'. The latter option is significantly cheaper, the end result should be identical. Bell & Colvill offer this upgrade, the details are on their website. I believe other Lotus dealers offer the same.

The ultimate rev limit is unchanged, but instead of the extra power kicking in at 6200, it comes in some 500rpm lower at 5700. A very worthwhile upgrade to the NA Toyota engine in my book, I intend to get my Elise similarly tweaked sometime soon.


Justin

[Phil-CH]

cnc said:

How does this work then Boggy, does the whole power band move lower down the rev range or is the rev range extended from 6250-8000 to 5500-8000? Also is this a Lotus/main dealer software upgrade?

The power band doesn't move down. There's a point at which the lower and the higher cam both produce the same amount of torque (that would be around 4600 rpm in a supercharged car at least). At the original switch point at 6200 rpm, the higher cam is producing substantially more torque than the lower cam, which is why the engine characteristics comes across as Off/On. By moving down the cam switch point to around 5500-5800 rpm, the Off/On characteristics is smoothened a bit. There's a bit more power at 5500-5800 when it switches over to the 2nd cam, but the difference between lower and higher cam isn't that high. As a result, the "kick in the back" is less pronounced.

Also, be aware that in a standard NA car without the ECU upgrade - 2nd cam engages at 6200 rpm. It won't switch into the lower cam though unless you dip below 5800 rpm. To get the most out of the car, the objective would be to always change gear at the last instance to not dip below 5800rpm and into the lower cam.

The ECU upgrade makes this easier, as it makes keeping it "on [higher] cam" much easier, especially when going from 1st gear into 2nd where it's next to impossible to keep it on 2nd cam all the way.

It's an official ECU upgrade by Lotus.

If that's not enough, than the only thing left is to upgrade to an Exige-S (supercharged version) or look around for an aftermarket supercharger kit that fits your requirement.

Cheers Phil

[Grinzzz]

If you dont mind the smell of burning clutch you could always try launching with 4k rpm....works out more expensive than the ecu upgrade though