Exige S1 over-winter Refresh
Discussion
danwebster said:
I suspect its revs rather than heat that ultimately kills the alternator. Not that excessive heat helps.
I had to run a larger pulley on my old mini (which revved to 9k) and killed the alternator on my elise a few times pulling lots of rpm.
I was thinking the same thing, underdrive pulley is needed I had to run a larger pulley on my old mini (which revved to 9k) and killed the alternator on my elise a few times pulling lots of rpm.
Had an alternator go on my Exige after a track day in February. We've run a duct in from the off side inlet to try and feed a bit more cold air towards it. Not sure whether it'll do much good but if you spend a lot of time on track at 6k rpm and above then you're bound to work out a few problems.
Exige looks to be revving beautifully in the video - reminds me I must get the Emerald on mine ASAP.
Exige looks to be revving beautifully in the video - reminds me I must get the Emerald on mine ASAP.
Well, not much has been going on this past month so, I've been working some pretty insane hours at work, so not had much tinkering time. Still, I managed to get the car down to Hampton Downs on Saturday for a bit of fun.
My father came up too to share the drive with me so I was very much looking forward to the day! My father especially so, since it was his first time on track AND his first time sitting in a Lotus since he had his accident nearly a year ago to the day that destroyed his beloved Elise and nearly killed him.
The car ran pretty well for my first session on track. I'm still plenty rusty and need some more seat time, but I managed to carve another second off my best laptime, and am now managing very low 1:15s laps, even when a bit messy. The car as is should be capable of at least a second quicker again when I can get my eye in. Not too bad for a compromised road/track setup and 5 year old tyres. Some new semi-slicks will see the car run even quicker I think.
Here's the video of my only session on track, you can see how skittish the car is on cold tyres on the out-lap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU5sysQgf4c&hd=...
For the next session my father climbed aboard. His first few laps were very cautious as he started to get used to an unfamiliar, and much quicker, car than his old Elise. He was pretty rusty, but he was having fun!
On about his 5th lap however, when exiting the sweeper, this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOs27ETI7Q&hd=...
He couldn't get a gear at all and coasted the car to a stop. Once stopped, all gears selected just fine. He was able to select first, start the car and limp back to the pits.
Once there we figured something was up with the clutch hydraulics, perhaps a master cylinder as it was possible to select gears (albeit clunkily), and the bite-point of the clutch wasn't as defined any more, it was softer and more spongy, for want of a better word, although it wasn't slipping at all. However, after a couple of drives around the car park, the clutch started making some gentle whirring noises and emitting a fair bit of smoke when trying to slip it away from a standing start, which showed that something had likely broken in the clutch itself.
So, we managed to limp it back to JC and Nixx's place in Pukekohe, where it now rests, keeping their machine company:
This weekend, I'll drive it into KW to get Ken to start taking a look at it. I've not got the time or space to do it at the moment (at least not without it taking a couple of months) so it's probably better Ken having it over at his shop for a bit.
Oh well, at least it was fun while it lasted!
My father came up too to share the drive with me so I was very much looking forward to the day! My father especially so, since it was his first time on track AND his first time sitting in a Lotus since he had his accident nearly a year ago to the day that destroyed his beloved Elise and nearly killed him.
The car ran pretty well for my first session on track. I'm still plenty rusty and need some more seat time, but I managed to carve another second off my best laptime, and am now managing very low 1:15s laps, even when a bit messy. The car as is should be capable of at least a second quicker again when I can get my eye in. Not too bad for a compromised road/track setup and 5 year old tyres. Some new semi-slicks will see the car run even quicker I think.
Here's the video of my only session on track, you can see how skittish the car is on cold tyres on the out-lap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU5sysQgf4c&hd=...
For the next session my father climbed aboard. His first few laps were very cautious as he started to get used to an unfamiliar, and much quicker, car than his old Elise. He was pretty rusty, but he was having fun!
On about his 5th lap however, when exiting the sweeper, this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pOs27ETI7Q&hd=...
He couldn't get a gear at all and coasted the car to a stop. Once stopped, all gears selected just fine. He was able to select first, start the car and limp back to the pits.
Once there we figured something was up with the clutch hydraulics, perhaps a master cylinder as it was possible to select gears (albeit clunkily), and the bite-point of the clutch wasn't as defined any more, it was softer and more spongy, for want of a better word, although it wasn't slipping at all. However, after a couple of drives around the car park, the clutch started making some gentle whirring noises and emitting a fair bit of smoke when trying to slip it away from a standing start, which showed that something had likely broken in the clutch itself.
So, we managed to limp it back to JC and Nixx's place in Pukekohe, where it now rests, keeping their machine company:
This weekend, I'll drive it into KW to get Ken to start taking a look at it. I've not got the time or space to do it at the moment (at least not without it taking a couple of months) so it's probably better Ken having it over at his shop for a bit.
Oh well, at least it was fun while it lasted!
Well it's been a little while since my last update.
I've not been doing a lot with the car lately. It's midwinter here, and I've had a sick girlfriend to deal with as well as having the flu myself and shifting house, so it's all been a bit hectic.
I got the clutch replaced, it ended up just being a failure of the centre plate, the friction material had come right off the plate. I suspect it must be faulty as I've never seen one go like that before. There was no wear at all on the lining and even the factory original inked-stamping on the lining was visible!
I guess it was just bad luck, and fingers crossed the new clutch is a bit longer-lived! We managed to get the 6-speed box back out and in again without removing the engine or body this time, so now we know how to do that for the future.... which is good because I was getting tired hauling the body off and engine out each time!
Also, I have been emptying my wallet, and have a nice new set of shiny, super-light, super-spendy TMR Podium FSL002 rims on their way to me from Japan. They're coming by sea so another 5 weeks or so away, but they'll become my dedicated track wheels when they get here. A useful weight saving on the track as well as the ability to run different tyres on road and track. The original Rimstocks will get checked over and any buckling removed, and will then be stripped back and repainted to be like new again.
Here's my new wheels when they got to my agent in Japan and all boxed up ready to come to NZ.
Another little thing that I've been working on is a new cam cover. At the last trackday one of the little cast-on pillars that the spark plug cover screws onto fractured off. Given the Exige's alloy spark plug cover is alloy and the Elise/Rover one is plastic, I had been tightening it up a little more as the screws don't bite into the alloy as they do the plastic. This was to prevent them working loose.
I think I overtightened it and put the plug cover in tension, and the engine's vibration finished the job.
Here's the old cover off the car:
And here's the offending fracture:
I picked a used cam cover up from the scrappy's, had it stripped down and re-powdercoated in the OEM satin black:
Here's a new vs. old comparison... new one is much nicer without years of chips and marks on it
I had been using the car without the spark plug cover in place, but it looks much better now it's fitted again, no unsightly plug leads! (excuse the poor quality cellphone snaps):
Since I had the clutch done, the engine's picked up a small rattle or tizz sound around 3000RPM. It sounds like a loose bolt somewhere or the manifold is touching something. Tomorrow I'm going to track that down. I'm also going to finish off machining my sump plug temperature sender adaptor and do an oil change. My Eliseparts adaptor doesn't seem to seal well and it's weeped oil from here ever since I built the engine. Hopefully it's the last oil leak for me to chase down!
In other news, I went for a spin in the car today with James (JC) and his Exige S out around the Waitakere Ranges. Some lovely roads and a fun little blat and a timely reminder to us both that we should do it more often! We swapped cars and it was interesting to see how his compared. He's got the Cup260 upgrade and the car has so much more torque than mine! You can be in pretty much any gear and it pulls like a train. I'm in no doubt that in the real world it's a much faster car than mine, even if mine has the legs up top. You can feel the extra weight though, but on the flipside it's much more comfortable and usable. It was an interesting comparison!
I've not been doing a lot with the car lately. It's midwinter here, and I've had a sick girlfriend to deal with as well as having the flu myself and shifting house, so it's all been a bit hectic.
I got the clutch replaced, it ended up just being a failure of the centre plate, the friction material had come right off the plate. I suspect it must be faulty as I've never seen one go like that before. There was no wear at all on the lining and even the factory original inked-stamping on the lining was visible!
I guess it was just bad luck, and fingers crossed the new clutch is a bit longer-lived! We managed to get the 6-speed box back out and in again without removing the engine or body this time, so now we know how to do that for the future.... which is good because I was getting tired hauling the body off and engine out each time!
Also, I have been emptying my wallet, and have a nice new set of shiny, super-light, super-spendy TMR Podium FSL002 rims on their way to me from Japan. They're coming by sea so another 5 weeks or so away, but they'll become my dedicated track wheels when they get here. A useful weight saving on the track as well as the ability to run different tyres on road and track. The original Rimstocks will get checked over and any buckling removed, and will then be stripped back and repainted to be like new again.
Here's my new wheels when they got to my agent in Japan and all boxed up ready to come to NZ.
Another little thing that I've been working on is a new cam cover. At the last trackday one of the little cast-on pillars that the spark plug cover screws onto fractured off. Given the Exige's alloy spark plug cover is alloy and the Elise/Rover one is plastic, I had been tightening it up a little more as the screws don't bite into the alloy as they do the plastic. This was to prevent them working loose.
I think I overtightened it and put the plug cover in tension, and the engine's vibration finished the job.
Here's the old cover off the car:
And here's the offending fracture:
I picked a used cam cover up from the scrappy's, had it stripped down and re-powdercoated in the OEM satin black:
Here's a new vs. old comparison... new one is much nicer without years of chips and marks on it
I had been using the car without the spark plug cover in place, but it looks much better now it's fitted again, no unsightly plug leads! (excuse the poor quality cellphone snaps):
Since I had the clutch done, the engine's picked up a small rattle or tizz sound around 3000RPM. It sounds like a loose bolt somewhere or the manifold is touching something. Tomorrow I'm going to track that down. I'm also going to finish off machining my sump plug temperature sender adaptor and do an oil change. My Eliseparts adaptor doesn't seem to seal well and it's weeped oil from here ever since I built the engine. Hopefully it's the last oil leak for me to chase down!
In other news, I went for a spin in the car today with James (JC) and his Exige S out around the Waitakere Ranges. Some lovely roads and a fun little blat and a timely reminder to us both that we should do it more often! We swapped cars and it was interesting to see how his compared. He's got the Cup260 upgrade and the car has so much more torque than mine! You can be in pretty much any gear and it pulls like a train. I'm in no doubt that in the real world it's a much faster car than mine, even if mine has the legs up top. You can feel the extra weight though, but on the flipside it's much more comfortable and usable. It was an interesting comparison!
Edited by Esprit on Saturday 30th June 12:13
Esprit said:
Just arrived! So shiny and light! I think they'll look good on the car on track
They are gorgeous. I think they'll look good on the car on track May I ask how much they were? Don't suppose they do them in 195/15 sizes as well, do they? Presume the front Exige wheels would fit on the rear of an S1 Elise (or are they different sizes from OEM?) - but do you know if they make them in smaller sizes as well?
To get them landed, including tax and shipping would have been about NZ$7500, about £3750, but I managed to get them a little cheaper through a contact in Japan.
They do them in 16x7 and 17x8.5 fitment for the Exige and also do them in 15x6.5 16x8 fitment for the S1 as well, although they don't do them in the black/silver colour combo in the Elise sizes.
They also do two fitments for the Elise/Exige S2 (both 15/16 and 16/17 combos) and two styles.
They do them in 16x7 and 17x8.5 fitment for the Exige and also do them in 15x6.5 16x8 fitment for the S1 as well, although they don't do them in the black/silver colour combo in the Elise sizes.
They also do two fitments for the Elise/Exige S2 (both 15/16 and 16/17 combos) and two styles.
Esprit said:
To get them landed, including tax and shipping would have been about NZ$7500, about £3750, but I managed to get them a little cheaper through a contact in Japan.
They do them in 16x7 and 17x8.5 fitment for the Exige and also do them in 15x6.5 16x8 fitment for the S1 as well, although they don't do them in the black/silver colour combo in the Elise sizes.
They also do two fitments for the Elise/Exige S2 (both 15/16 and 16/17 combos) and two styles.
I've seen these in gold on a green S1 AMAZING WHEELS!They do them in 16x7 and 17x8.5 fitment for the Exige and also do them in 15x6.5 16x8 fitment for the S1 as well, although they don't do them in the black/silver colour combo in the Elise sizes.
They also do two fitments for the Elise/Exige S2 (both 15/16 and 16/17 combos) and two styles.
Weather's been a bit wet here lately, so I've been busying myself doing a lot of little odd-jobs on the car. Slowly ticking through them. Nothing interesting, it's all stuff like replacing the wiper blade, re-gluing and cleaning up a couple of little bits here and there. I've also given it a wash, wax, polish, clean-out etc.... it hadn't had one for 6 months and while it didn't exactly look dirty, it's come up so shiny again.
Got the TMRs and new Toyo R888s on the car now. Will bed them in on the road and then these will be my dedicated track-rims. Car looks a lot more serious with these on! Even though they're the same sizes as standard, they do look a lot wider than the stock rims. Optical illusions!
Also finally got around to fitting my Lotus Sport sun-strip... handy at this time of year with the sun low in the sky!
Managed to get it outside during a break in the showers to take a couple of photos at last!
Got the TMRs and new Toyo R888s on the car now. Will bed them in on the road and then these will be my dedicated track-rims. Car looks a lot more serious with these on! Even though they're the same sizes as standard, they do look a lot wider than the stock rims. Optical illusions!
Also finally got around to fitting my Lotus Sport sun-strip... handy at this time of year with the sun low in the sky!
Managed to get it outside during a break in the showers to take a couple of photos at last!
, stunning. Looks great with the new wheels
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