Exige 350 / 380 / 390 / 410

[Mr R]

Paul_M3 said:

Mr R said:

Hi Paul,
Sorry to use you as my personal Exige expert advisor - any advice on how to use the lithium battery conditioner/ maintainer without setting the alarm off?! Tried leaving the car both locked and unlocked (albeit with the boot open) but it went off and both times after leaving it for a minute or so...any tips welcomed! Thank you.

No, problem, always happy to help.

When i put mine on charge, i run the cable out of the boot, but the fully close it so that the 'boot closed' switch is made. This allows everything to sit there as normal with no issues.

What's weird is that you have issues not locking the car too. When doing this, have you unlocked and re-locked the car without opening a door? If you don't open a door the car will automatically re-lock itself after a period of time and arm the alarm.

In summary, I'd try either a) closing the boot fully, or b) unlock car, open a door, put car on charge, close door, and then just lock the doors manually with the key but don't set the alarm with the fob.

Thanks Paul - helpful as always! I think you're right that I hadn't opened the doors after unlocking so it was probably re-arming itself. I will give closing the boot fully a try tomorrow, as presumably you can feed the cable through the slats in the engine cover. Thanks again!

[Paul_M3]

Mr R said:

Thanks Paul - helpful as always! I think you're right that I hadn't opened the doors after unlocking so it was probably re-arming itself. I will give closing the boot fully a try tomorrow, as presumably you can feed the cable through the slats in the engine cover. Thanks again!

I just feed it out of the rear of the boot lid. The seal is quite big and flexible so this works fine. (Although this is the smaller charger outlet cable, not a mains cable TO the charger.

[ziggy328]

Quick question for anyone who has an Exige 410 sport. When level, what's the ground clearance to the underside of the front splitter please?

TIA

[Paul_M3]

ziggy328 said:

Quick question for anyone who has an Exige 410 sport. When level, what's the ground clearance to the underside of the front splitter please?

TIA

With standard ride height, around 105 - 110mm

Which incidentally means it should go over any speed bump made to the regulations, which are a maximum of 100mm

[ziggy328]

Thank you. I went to view one today. The measurement to the carbon splitter was 110mm. But it also had a bonded rubber strip under the full width which was 30mm deep. So reducing the clearance to 80mm.

My Evora, when level, has 142mm of ground clearance. Coming out of the garage up the drive clearance drops to 57mm. So I have lost 85mm of clearance.

When I measured the height of the splitter on the Exige I measured 110mm to the carbon and 80mm to the base of the rubber.

So unless I have messed this up, my calculation would be 80mm minus 85mm of lost clearance = (-5mm into the ground)

Everywhere I look however it states that the ground clearance on an S3 Exige 410 is 130mm. Even if that was to the carbon it would give 100mm clearance to the rubber, which would be 100mm - 85mm = 15mm clearance coming out of the garage.

Hopefully that made sense.

So there appears to be 20mm of ride height missing. I just wondered if maybe the Nitrons had been adjusted from factory settings and the car is lower than 130mm due to that?

Or have got this completely wrong?

[Paul_M3]

ziggy328 said:

Thank you. I went to view one today. The measurement to the carbon splitter was 110mm. But it also had a bonded rubber strip under the full width which was 30mm deep. So reducing the clearance to 80mm.

My Evora, when level, has 142mm of ground clearance. Coming out of the garage up the drive clearance drops to 57mm. So I have lost 85mm of clearance.

When I measured the height of the splitter on the Exige I measured 110mm to the carbon and 80mm to the base of the rubber.

So unless I have messed this up, my calculation would be 80mm minus 85mm of lost clearance = (-5mm into the ground)

Everywhere I look however it states that the ground clearance on an S3 Exige 410 is 130mm. Even if that was to the carbon it would give 100mm clearance to the rubber, which would be 100mm - 85mm = 15mm clearance coming out of the garage.

Hopefully that made sense.

So there appears to be 20mm of ride height missing. I just wondered if maybe the Nitrons had been adjusted from factory settings and the car is lower than 130mm due to that?

Or have got this completely wrong?

I think the figure of 130mm you've found is related to the chassis height. (See below)



The front splitter is lower than that measurement point on the chassis, hence around 110mm being the standard splitter height.

The rubber piece on the 410 you viewed may have been off a 430, or it could be a DIY version. In theory though that part may just bend out of the way if you're travelling slowly. Failing that you could just remove it.

Without the rubber strip you're only at 32mm less clearance than your Evora, so in theory you'll have 25mm to spare. (Although I think the rubber strip may well just bend up by 5mm without any issues if you tried it. A 430 owner may be able to confirm.

[ziggy328]

Thank you. The rubber was very well bonded on. The dealer was very helpful and let me examine it closely. When you pull on the rubber if really did flex the carbon splitter.

I maybe I should just offer to pay him £100 to drive the car over and see if it clears ? He’s only 30 mins away.

[Paul_M3]

ziggy328 said:

Thank you. The rubber was very well bonded on. The dealer was very helpful and let me examine it closely. When you pull on the rubber if really did flex the carbon splitter.

I maybe I should just offer to pay him £100 to drive the car over and see if it clears ? He’s only 30 mins away.

Was it just an L-shaped piece of rubber though? Although firmly attached to the car, would the rubber itself just bend out of the way like this without doing any harm?



Could you just go back and ask for an extended test drive of around 1 hour and check for yourself rather than pay him?

Of course the other option is to simply tweak the rubber strip. A nice suitable knife / cutter and you could turn the 30mm depth into 20 - 25mm

Edited by Paul_M3 on Thursday 4th July 21:48

[ziggy328]

It was really thick. You could grab hold of it and pull on it, hard enough to flex the splitter quite severely. So much so you really had to stop pulling.

This I assume would also cause big issues with speed bumps.

Tbh I think he’ll bring the car over for free. I was very impressed by him tbh.

This is the car.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307260...

[Paul_M3]

Good luck, as that looks lovely.

[ziggy328]

Still working on it - out of interest can 410's get over speed bumps or are they a no no? Only from memory I can't imagine this car going over one without doing damage!

[Paul_M3]

I’ve not had an issue with speed bumps in over three years. They ‘shouldn’t’ ever be more than 100mm tall if done properly, as that’s the max height in the regulations.

The rubber lip on the one you’re looking at changes that slightly, obviously.

[ziggy328]

thank you. yes I assume it does. The dealer is bringing the car over, was supposed to be today but something cropped up. Hopefully trimming the rubber strip will fix things.

[ziggy328]

if ever there was a picture to make me want to buy a car

[Mr R]

Very quick thread update - have my first LOT track day booked for Donnington in August followed by Hethel in Sept, can't wait!

Just in the process of ordering some harnesses and maybe a few extra carbon bits...can see this becoming more expensive than originally planned

[ecain63]

Mr R said:

Very quick thread update - have my first LOT track day booked for Donnington in August followed by Hethel in Sept, can't wait!

Just in the process of ordering some harnesses and maybe a few extra carbon bits...can see this becoming more expensive than originally planned

Make sure you get a Hans or Simpson system if you're using harnesses. Enjoy your track time obviously, but do it safely

[james28]

Another op here looking to get into an exige 380 390 or 410 a very useful read indeed about the difference in models and which best suits.
Glad to see the service intervals are very reasonably priced too.
quick question to owners i am due 2 upcoming road trips this year to the Alps and to Germany
question1 is is it possible to fit 2 weekend bags in the boot area holdall size
and secondly how are the comfort wise on long journeys 2k or the like are any additional supports cushions required
ohh also hows the road noise circa motorway speed over a long distance are ear defenders required thanks

[gareth h]

james28 said:

Another op here looking to get into an exige 380 390 or 410 a very useful read indeed about the difference in models and which best suits.
Glad to see the service intervals are very reasonably priced too.
quick question to owners i am due 2 upcoming road trips this year to the Alps and to Germany
question1 is is it possible to fit 2 weekend bags in the boot area holdall size
and secondly how are the comfort wise on long journeys 2k or the like are any additional supports cushions required
ohh also hows the road noise circa motorway speed over a long distance are ear defenders required thanks

We did 10 days to the Italian lakes and back, you have to pack a little carefully but very doable, roof off most of the way, no issues with noise or comfort, but get a peage dongle if you plan on using the motorway

[james28]

gareth h said:

We did 10 days to the Italian lakes and back, you have to pack a little carefully but very doable, roof off most of the way, no issues with noise or comfort, but get a peage dongle if you plan on using the motorway

Good to know no need for ear defenders either when roof is up at cruising speed?

[gareth h]

james28 said:

Good to know no need for ear defenders either when roof is up at cruising speed?

No, it’s not a Bentley, but no need for ear defenders