Exige 350 adventures

[ecain63]

Apologies for the hijack.

Those wheels look cool. Im considering a similar, darker colour myself

[custardkid]

I was in two mind on if to go lotus gold

Suzuki - Mars Gold metallic - z2v - F8518

Or a darker bronze

[DamnKraut]

Definitely better than boring black. Looks a bit too Impreza-esque to me. Looking at Exiges in the classifieds, the combo silver wheels on a blue car looks perfect to me, e.g. this one:
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10666389?c...

[custardkid]

DamnKraut said:

Definitely better than boring black. Looks a bit too Impreza-esque to me. Looking at Exiges in the classifieds, the combo silver wheels on a blue car looks perfect to me, e.g. this one:
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10666389?c...

Yes... It is a bit Colin McRae
Have another set of black ones... That may go Silver

[ecain63]

Blue / Silver

[Kenzle]

Hi custardkid,

You mentioned that you have upgraded the speakers behind the seats to larger ones, can you give more details on this please?
I am about to embark on upgrading to Focals as well, which ones did you go for and how was the experience of swapping them?

Love the blue / gold wheels combo by the way, I'm not a fan of black wheels either.

[MarkM3Evoplus]

custardkid said:

Arun_D said:

Congrats.

What exhaust do you have? Can't quite tell from the photo but appears standard 350, which is the same as V6S, so a static test should be mid 90's in terms of dB at most.

Standard exhaust as far as i can tell, but measured 110db at 0.5m 5000rpm

Odd, my standard V6S in sport mode was 96dB at 5200 rpm when measured at Goodwood

[custardkid]

Kenzle said:

Hi custardkid,

You mentioned that you have upgraded the speakers behind the seats to larger ones, can you give more details on this please?
I am about to embark on upgrading to Focals as well, which ones did you go for and how was the experience of swapping them?

Love the blue / gold wheels combo by the way, I'm not a fan of black wheels either.

The focals made a big difference, stopped the distorting
Although never going to be great in a lotus
I went 100ac front and 165 ac rear. These are bigger than the 13cm factory speakers. They are about the same size as the recess in the panel. As they are deeper you need an 18mm mdf spacer from ebay. Painted black.
Used some dinamat to hold some m6 speed clips, inplace and bolted the speaker in place with some allan bolts, much more secure than the self tapping screws supplied
Plenty of clearence to the seats
Just take the roof off, as when moving the passenger seat with the roof on i managed to scuff the leather around the gear shift.. Doh

Speakers now removed... As not enough clearence to the harness bar ive fitted... So will be getting some 13cm ones

The 13cm speakers cover the holes for the 165cm speakers

[Kananga]

Are all cars pre-wired for the rear speakers ? If not, is it an easy DIY to install them ?

Think my car has 2 speakers in the dash but no rears.

[Kenzle]

custardkid said:

The focals made a big difference, stopped the distorting
Although never going to be great in a lotus
I went 100ac front and 165 ac rear. These are bigger than the 13cm factory speakers. They are about the same size as the recess in the panel. As they are deeper you need an 18mm mdf spacer from ebay. Painted black.
Used some dinamat to hold some m6 speed clips, inplace and bolted the speaker in place with some allan bolts, much more secure than the self tapping screws supplied
Plenty of clearence to the seats
Just take the roof off, as when moving the passenger seat with the roof on i managed to scuff the leather around the gear shift.. Doh

Speakers now removed... As not enough clearence to the harness bar ive fitted... So will be getting some 13cm ones

The 13cm speakers cover the holes for the 165cm speakers

Thanks for this, I fitted the 130ac Focals yesterday. Did the driver side first which was straightforward then realised that access to the passenger side speaker was almost impossible as the seat doesn't slide forward, took me hours just to undo the screws!
Done now, going to do the fronts with 100ac this afternoon.
Already a large improvement in sound quality.

[custardkid]

Awesome weekend in Scotland through the cairngorms, across the highlands and down the west coast

1500 mile round trip... So have now added >50% to the miles on the car from when i bought it in 3 months!

Car was awesome, telepathic handling, never felt like it needed more power ... Just amazing to drive
So much feed back through the wheel, so darty

I must admit i did use ear plugs on the 8 hr drive up / back, as its abit noisey on corse tarmac ... And that is with the sound deadening. Hate to think what a cup car is like

[custardkid]

Any views or experience of upgrading to a carbon front service hatch aka 380/410/430?
And to carbon side scoops

OEM looks to be c£2.5k and needs some modification
Elise shop one - c£1.2k needs no modification, but has a red band. Also looks like the carbon is one layup, where as the OEM carbon is mirrored in the centre line

Side scoops range from £400 to £2.5k - any experience
Elise shop have two versions £400/£500
Alias ones are £1k
OEM is c£2.5k

Any experiences?

Probably withdrawal symptoms of not driving it over the winter / lockdown. Carbon isn't going to make it more fun to drive...

[Actus Reus]

Try www.the-chariot.com - he does some CF front access panels around the £1k mark and they look great.

Just got a red Sport 350 and considering chainging the black wheels to gold too, though may wait til I get a second set and have them painted at the same time I change the rubber to save a few pennies. Will start a 'reader's car' thread if ever work calms down.

[custardkid]

Actus Reus said:

Try www.the-chariot.com - he does some CF front access panels around the £1k mark and they look great.

Just got a red Sport 350 and considering chainging the black wheels to gold too, though may wait til I get a second set and have them painted at the same time I change the rubber to save a few pennies. Will start a 'reader's car' thread if ever work calms down.

Thanks will have a look

Have also contacted Eltech in italy
Which has the herring bone finish

Welcome ! Amazing cars
Can recommend a trip to some good roads to enjoy the handling!

[Actus Reus]

Thanks! Will be taking it out at Snetterton at the end of the month, and then sprinting in it over the summer, though I'm sure I'll find some time to get onto some good roads too.

Eltech stuff is lovely (I had a VX220 before so looked at their stuff then), but there are apparently long waits and I doubt Brexit has helped either!

[Diablos-666]

Be wary of Eltech, I think he has a good product but read that it takes ages for it to be delivered.

[custardkid]

Actus Reus said:

Try www.the-chariot.com - he does some CF front access panels around the £1k mark and they look great.

Just got a red Sport 350 and considering chainging the black wheels to gold too, though may wait til I get a second set and have them painted at the same time I change the rubber to save a few pennies. Will start a 'reader's car' thread if ever work calms down.

Red and gold looks good
https://images.app.goo.gl/pYmdmqgoH6UGY2JA6

[Actus Reus]

Yeah, had my track wheels for my Clio Trophy done in gold and that's probably what I'd do again for the Exige, but gonna see if I really need wets or not - gonna order a set of Cup 2 and see how I get on.

[custardkid]

Quick update
Awesome couple of days driving through Wales to Anglesey and then a track day

Anyone thinking of getting one.. just do it

Car is great on the twisty Welsh roads, and surprisingly supple of some of the crappier tarmac. And most of all fun at legal speeds

On track,
keep tyres at c30 psi, got even wear across them which is good.
despite it being a warm sunny day, nothing got too hot. Usually on a BMW the brakes get super hot! The advantage of 400kgs less weight!
Didn't need the extra bolt on silencers as a 105db day
Generally car took it in its stride .. made for the job!

Driver needs to up his game tho... Need to be much smoother than in a BMW and manage weight and thus grip on the front end. Too aggressive on the brakes and turn in and the back will step out, even in sport mode.
Race mode seamed to be the best balance of car moving around and safety. Accelerate too early and it'll wash alittle wide.... But playing with the adjustability and learning the car is all part of the fun

Other good news was at no point did I feel the need for more power or stiffer dampers etc... So should save some £s for a bit
If anything it was probably the fastest thing on track.. if the driver improves a bit.. and that's never good as you are always catching things

Didn't get to play with the 2x GT3RSs as only seamed to do a couple of laps
And the 410 was in a different group (Welsh covid rules meant 20min sessions Vs open pit lane)

Only down side was the droney Avon track rubber on the 5hr journey home

Castle Combe next week ..






410 out on track:

https://youtu.be/78_qV1Ct1LE

[custardkid]

Some awesome pictures from the Jaclin team at Anglesey and Combe

A great couple of days
Combe did have me looking at the Nitron 3 ways, but unsure if they will ruin that handling on the road??