Back in a Lotus - 2006 Exige S

[Fonzey]

Track_Cit said:

Nice machine, very nice!

I just picked up a Cup 220. I was very close to buying an S2 Exige but for the money they are commanding it seemed logical to spend a little more and get a newer car. I'm enjoying it so far, first Lotus and it's like a gokart!

Cheers man. I did similar calculations, the S2 Exige makes the S3 Elises look like good value for money - I'm sure you'll love the cup, they're great cars.

I opted to stay S2 ultimately because I'm a fan of the 2ZZ engine and I had easier routes for tuning up to 260bhp with this car (OK, I wasn't expecting the car I bought to come with it already, but it was nice to know the route was there!). As a trade-off you get some quite better build quality (from what I hear) and of course a much newer car.

Enjoy Lotus ownership, if you're considering track days then get signed up with Lotus on Track - the community is fantastic.

Whilst I'm here replying, I had some concerns after I moved house that my double garage would be a little awkward to work in because it has 2x single doors rather than a single double door. This means I couldn't park the car smack in the middle like I did at my previous house potentially limiting access to the side closest the wall.

I'd even posted on PH in the Home/DIY section about the viability of having my garage converted to a single door but I'm glad I held off - because I can actually manoeuvre the Exige almost into the middle of the garage - albeit on an angle.




I can get my jack into all corners here and have enough room to scurry around under both the rear and front of the car if needed. Result, that may have just saved me several thousand £ and a load of hassle. I do have a few jobs I'd like to do in the garage though, mainly flooring and lighting - and I could do with a nice workbench. Currently using the garden table which will be back outside come summer. (and the half-empty boxes of Christmas crap will also be gone!)



Whilst I was messing around tidying up I found some old stainless/anti-rattle fittings for the undertray that I guess I had surplus of from the Elise. These got fitted today

[Composite Guru]

Track_Cit said:

Nice machine, very nice!

I just picked up a Cup 220. I was very close to buying an S2 Exige but for the money they are commanding it seemed logical to spend a little more and get a newer car. I'm enjoying it so far, first Lotus and it's like a gokart!

Exactly what I did. Was looking at 10 year old S2 for £32k and got a 220 Cup last year for £37k. Still had 22 months of warranty left on it too.

[Composite Guru]

Fonzey said:

I do have a few jobs I'd like to do in the garage though, mainly flooring and lighting - and I could do with a nice workbench. Currently using the garden table which will be back outside come summer. (and the half-empty boxes of Christmas crap will also be gone!)

Your car looks great. Love the colour.

My garage looked the same as yours last year and I got fed up looking at it.

Transformed it with some units from Costco, PVC tiles from Screwfix and 2 big tubs of white masonry paint.
Makes a massive difference.

[Tickle]

Good to see you back in another Lotus. Enjoyed your last thread, strange enough I had quite a few run outs over the summer accompanied by your old 111R.



Look forward to updates.

....Duncan, hope you get into a Lotus again soon too.

[Y11 LTS]

Tickle said:

Good to see you back in another Lotus. Enjoyed your last thread, strange enough I had quite a few run outs over the summer accompanied by your old 111R.



Look forward to updates.

....Duncan, hope you get into a Lotus again soon too.

Hey buddy,

How’s things?

I’ve been following your thread for 3 years since I had to sell my lotus due to divorce...can you believe that’s 3 years ago now! Time flies so fast.

It’s been a very long journey back for me but touch wood in the next week I may have enough money to get back in another Elise 111R or exige N/A.

As soon as I do you shall be the first to know.

How’s the family?

Regards

Duncan

[Sport220]

Tickle said:

Good to see you back in another Lotus. Enjoyed your last thread, strange enough I had quite a few run outs over the summer accompanied by your old 111R.



Look forward to updates.

....Duncan, hope you get into a Lotus again soon too.

What a line up. Love the wheels on the S1s!

[Fonzey]

Hi Tickle, thanks for the comments and big thanks for the 111R Photo - great to see she's still looking fine. I've been speaking to the new owner on and off this year, I understand the car has given him a bit of grief but I'm glad to hear he pushed forwards and gave the car a fix it deserved. I legit put everything into that car in terms of effort, so was gutted to hear it had thrown up some issues but I'm pretty confident it would make a great keeper going forwards.

Hopefully in Summer I can make it down "your way" and we can explore some of your roads, you never fail to make them look spectacular in your thread. A cheeky laser blue reunion wouldn't go amiss either

[Tickle]

Fonzey said:

Hi Tickle, thanks for the comments and big thanks for the 111R Photo - great to see she's still looking fine. I've been speaking to the new owner on and off this year, I understand the car has given him a bit of grief but I'm glad to hear he pushed forwards and gave the car a fix it deserved. I legit put everything into that car in terms of effort, so was gutted to hear it had thrown up some issues but I'm pretty confident it would make a great keeper going forwards.

Hopefully in Summer I can make it down "your way" and we can explore some of your roads, you never fail to make them look spectacular in your thread. A cheeky laser blue reunion wouldn't go amiss either

Hey, after that particular run (photoed) I had HGF and the 111r had the engine issue you mention. Had a couple of runs out together after our engines were fixed with both cars running spot on. Your past thread showed what you put into that car, no doubt there mate.

Sound like a plan, always up for drive out

Any plans for this, how long before it gets the 260 upgrade then?

[Tickle]

Y11 LTS said:

Hey buddy,

How’s things?

I’ve been following your thread for 3 years since I had to sell my lotus due to divorce...can you believe that’s 3 years ago now! Time flies so fast.

It’s been a very long journey back for me but touch wood in the next week I may have enough money to get back in another Elise 111R or exige N/A.

As soon as I do you shall be the first to know.

How’s the family?


Regards

Duncan

Hi mate,

Just sent you a whatsapp as not to derail the thread, hope to see a thread soon on your next Lotus!

[Track_Cit]

Wonderful colour too, I love how your jack matches it!

[Fonzey]

Tickle said:

Hey, after that particular run (photoed) I had HGF and the 111r had the engine issue you mention. Had a couple of runs out together after our engines were fixed with both cars running spot on. Your past thread showed what you put into that car, no doubt there mate.

Sound like a plan, always up for drive out

Any plans for this, how long before it gets the 260 upgrade then?

Doh, maybe it's you that's cursed and my old car just caught the curse by proxy?!

Plans? Plenty - but nothing too drastic, just addressing the inherent weaknesses of the car and getting it driven as much as possible. It already has the 260 upgrade on it

[ECG1000]

Just read your Elise thread cover to cover and now this. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

I have a feeling we live quite close? - I'm in North Leeds, not too far from Harewood - Would be great to have a run out together if you're keen. Compare S2 to S3

[MikeGoodwin]

Really nice motor, they do look great with the roof scoop. Little envious too as its a car I wanted to get into this year (not interested in the S2 N/A) but prices in the low 30's are a little out of reach for me, especially a 2 seater. Elises were a consideration too but Id only want a K20 really, and low 20s for an S2 Elise doesnt make sense to me. Not sure any of the other Lotus offerings would be special enough.

[Fonzey]

ECG1000 said:

Just read your Elise thread cover to cover and now this. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

I have a feeling we live quite close? - I'm in North Leeds, not too far from Harewood - Would be great to have a run out together if you're keen. Compare S2 to S3

Glad to hear the Elise thread is still getting mileage! I re-read it myself a couple of weeks ago, good times.

Yes I guess we're not far away, I'm near Selby and once the weather get's good I'll certainly take you up on that. Do you ever make it to NYLOC?

MikeGoodwin said:

Really nice motor, they do look great with the roof scoop. Little envious too as its a car I wanted to get into this year (not interested in the S2 N/A) but prices in the low 30's are a little out of reach for me, especially a 2 seater. Elises were a consideration too but Id only want a K20 really, and low 20s for an S2 Elise doesnt make sense to me. Not sure any of the other Lotus offerings would be special enough.

I think a supercharged 111R Elise could be a bit of a sweet spot but they're so damn rare. Although they're great in their own right, I'm not a fan of the later engined SC Elises so it's such a narrow band you're looking for with a 2ZZ supercharged Elise - one of the reasons I went Exige was purely the availability compared to the SC Elise cars. I feel your pain, it was a problem I had to literally buy my way out of which I'm not sure I'll recover from mentally for quite some time!

Back to the project, festivities aren't halting progress as I got a nice package from Christopher Neil Lotus t'other day containing a new CDL unit.



This is installed behind the dash binnacle under some foam under the dash surface. They're technically replaceable without moving the dash, you can stick a hand in through an air vent, unplug the old one (leaving it in situ) and plug a new one in and just ram it into the foam. I wanted an excuse to spend time in the garage so I had the dash top off anyway to do it "properly".



Cleared out a bit of muck and tidied some rough edges up (foam padding where panels had rubbed, maybe this reduces NVH a bit?!?! (it didn't) )

This is the hiding place of the original.



When I took the dash out of my Elise (can't remember why I removed it... rattle hunting I think?!) I took a load of bits off that didn't need removing, and I clearly didn't learn my lesson as I did it all again this time - so this is a message for future Fonzey for whatever it is you're dismantling next:

THE BLACK DASH TOP DOES NOT NEED TO COME OFF, YOU DON'T NEED TO FISH THOSE THREE CRAPPY SELF TAPPERS OUT OF EACH AIR VENT. IT'S A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.

I'm happy to report though that the central locking is now working as intended. Happy days!

I'll be posting a few more bits and pieces over the holidays as I've managed to sneak some bits and pieces into the Christmas post influx.

[ECG1000]

Ah not too far away....ish. I’d imagine there are some decent roads round you?

Never been to NYLOC sadly. Would be keen to give one a go though.

[Fonzey]

ECG1000 said:

Ah not too far away....ish. I’d imagine there are some decent roads round you?

Never been to NYLOC sadly. Would be keen to give one a go though.

Eh it's a bit flat and naff round here to be honest. Some scenic places for photographs but not really any driving roads until you start going into North-North Yorkshire int' Dales etc.

Certainly make it to NYLOC, they meet at the Buckles Pub on A64 last tuesday of every month (except December). I've neglected it all year due to being Lotus-less but I'll be back next month onwards. There are some great turnouts in Summer, and they arrange a few runs out through the near not excluding some NYLOC only trackdays with Lotus on Track.

I finally managed to get the house emptied of family members today after Christmas so got myself busy in the garage to unwind a bit... I'd ordered a new aux belt just before Christmas in the SeriouslyLotus sale, and was amazed when the poor Fedex guy banged on my door at 07:30 Christmas Eve!

I decided to change the aux/supercharger belt as there's no record of it being done, and it's supposed to be a 2 year/20k service item. I guess there's a good chance it was changed back when the S/C was apparently changed in 2012... but that's still 6 years ago. I get the feeling some service items were skipped on this car due to the insanely low mileage.

I'd never done the aux belt on my 111R, so this was an opportunity to try something new! I was hoping I could get this done with the rear wheel off and arch liner out, but no chance. The rollbar and some environmentally friendly looking canister device were blocking my view and access - so floor was coming off, again. Once under the car I got the pulleys and belt route mapped out the best I could.



Next up was a challenge, this engine has an auto-tensioner with a very stiff shock absorber. The 19mm nut that I'm supposed to leverage was pretty badly positioned near the subframe so I could only get a shallow 3/4in socket onto it and a tiny little 6in breaker bar... No way I could shift it with that!

I had a scoot around the garage and found some metal curtain poles left by the previous house owner... so out came the dremel and a few mins later I had a brushed brass effect cheater bar with a fluer de lis decoration on the end.

Using my new tool I was able to slip off the old belt, I was keen to take it off properly rather than just cut it because I wanted to make sure I had the tools/strength to get the new one back on agan!

This is the first aux belt I've ever removed, so I'm not quite sure what to look out for but it seemed fairly cracked on the grooved side with a handful of full-width cracks on the smooth side too.




Comments welcome with regards to the state of this belt, was it a good time to change or is this fairly safe levels of wear?

Final observation was that my new belt was a tiny bit longer than the old one. If I read these numbers correctly, out by 3mm:



I'm sure that's well within tolerance of the tensioner but I double checked and everything I could find suggested the new belt was appropriate for my car. With the Lotus 2ZZ variations being quite... varied, there are a few belts floating around - but with AC and a Supercharger mine should be the longest one available, I guess.

While the car was in the air I whipped the front undertray off too, it's one of the few panels I'd not looked behind. I found that the oil hose connecting the front oil coolers was no longer fastened to the underside of the crash structure with the sticky pad/cable tie combos and instead was bouncing around on the undertray. I'd noticed a bit of NVH coming from the front of this car, nothing too concerning as it's a rattly old Lotus anyway but it certainly wasn't present on my old Elise. Perhaps this is the source of it, but I won't be test driving today - too dark and too tired.

The sound I'm hearing is quite hard to describe, it's not really a metal on metal rattle you'd get from a nut rolling around on an undertray or behind the dash or whatever - maybe closer to two pieces of material rubbing together occasionally. Big bumps don't really agitate it, but rough roads do. I initially thought it could be the fire extinguisher in the passenger footwell as that's the region it's coming from - but all seems secure down there, and is easily isolated when driving.

Hoping to get out this weekend, some clear days forecast so might be able to make a day of it and get some nice pictures somewhere

[ECG1000]

Fonzey said:

Eh it's a bit flat and naff round here to be honest. Some scenic places for photographs but not really any driving roads until you start going into North-North Yorkshire int' Dales etc.

Certainly make it to NYLOC, they meet at the Buckles Pub on A64 last tuesday of every month (except December). I've neglected it all year due to being Lotus-less but I'll be back next month onwards. There are some great turnouts in Summer, and they arrange a few runs out through the near not excluding some NYLOC only trackdays with Lotus on Track.

Well, your photos certainly make the roads look good.
I drove from Leeds to Richmond in the summer, going right through the dales - Buttertubs pass etc. Didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I thought most of the roads were a bit tight and poorly sighted. If I remember rightly, it got quite good near Aysgarth otherwise I found it hard to really open up the taps for fear of meeting something round the next blind bend/crest.
The North York Moors still top it for me!

I'll try and make it to a NYLOC meet for sure! In the meantime, keep up the updates!

[Fonzey]

ECG1000 said:

Well, your photos certainly make the roads look good.
I drove from Leeds to Richmond in the summer, going right through the dales - Buttertubs pass etc. Didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. I thought most of the roads were a bit tight and poorly sighted. If I remember rightly, it got quite good near Aysgarth otherwise I found it hard to really open up the taps for fear of meeting something round the next blind bend/crest.
The North York Moors still top it for me!

I'll try and make it to a NYLOC meet for sure! In the meantime, keep up the updates!

Yeah I make at least one trip per year to Buttertubs as there's a B&B we like to visit a few times per year up there and it's rarely actually a good driving event. I went out there early one morning though and shared the road with one guy in a Caterfield thing who kept going back and forth - he was rather quite brave and was having more fun than I was!

There are some fantastic photo opportunities up there though regardless of traffic.

I went out on Saturday morning to meet a few NYLOC folk at the Buckles Inn as they were participating in a Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity rally. I couldn't participate on the day due to some other commitments but it was an excuse to get out.

I'd made a minor change to the car too, something I do to all cars that I buy - sorted out a number plate with legal font/spacing but with the minimum 11mm border around the letters which makes it fit the Exige plinth perfectly and sharpens up the front end a bit.





Obviously the run out got the car completely filthy so needed a clean on NYD - perfect hangover cure though and an opportunity to get the whole fleet clean at once (it'll be the last time it happens) for a photo.





Since then I got my first drive on a properly dry road and so attacked my first few corners. Can't believe how much grip the car has, which is worrying! Just when I started feeling comfortable with the straight line performance of it it took one humbling roundabout to get me back properly respecting it for a bit

Should have some more updates after this weekend. Going to go pick up some toe-links and see about addressing my missing heatshields whilst the back-end will be in pieces.

[kiethton]

Are you not tempted to put a 3/4 size plate on the front of the car at all?

I've done so on mine and find that it makes the front end look a lot less number plate dominated - never had any police issues either

[Fonzey]

kiethton said:

Are you not tempted to put a 3/4 size plate on the front of the car at all?

I've done so on mine and find that it makes the front end look a lot less number plate dominated - never had any police issues either

I'm not a huge fan of 3/4 plates tbh, though they're particularly tempting on the 182 due to the plinth size almost as if they were built for 3/4 UK plates...

As for the Lotus, the plinth is the exact right size for my standard 7 digit plate with legal spacing/sizing with the minimal legal border - so it all just fits in. I know it's absolute worst case and I've never heard of it happening... but I can also be doing without a £1000 maximum fine!

Onto this weekend, I managed to put a few miles on the car... a little over 500 to be a little less vague!

Saturday started off with a trip up to collect some Spitfire toe-links.



I had these fitted on my 111R too and for anybody not aware they address a known weak link on the Elise/Exige platform in that the factory toe links are sacrificial parts but unfortunately don't stand up to the test of time and/or sticky tyres and track work. There are many documented cases of failure (it's not just one of those internet myths) and you can find a fair few of them on Youtube... most of the time the failures are dramatic, scary and expensive!

In addition to the known weakness, the MOT my car had a few weeks ago threw up the standard ones as an advisory anyway... so any doubt or temptation to keep the low mileage originals on was wiped out.

These links are both much stronger in terms of materials, but also put the inboard link into double-sheer with the added brackets that will be mounted to the subframe. My Elise had single sheer inboards but the Exige in fairness was fitted to a brace-bar between the two in-board links to mitigate slightly. Still not enough though it seems.

I collected these from a few miles short of the North Yorkshire Dales, so spent the rest of the day racking up miles just driving about. It was dry but gloomy, so no real great photo opportunities, just time to put miles on the car and monitor for any unknown issues or gremlins.

I did actually manage to resolve a gremlin at the weekend - I think I mentioned before but I had some creaking/cracking sounds coming from the dash. I couldn't find anything amiss when the dash was off for the CDL replacement but I eventually tracked it down to the "subway shelf" just under the headunit. The subway shelf is a 12" cubby/glovebox replacement which holds a meatfeast nicely - and also when the blowers are on warm it keeps it nice and toasty too. From what I can gather this shelf is not attached "mechanically" anywhere but it is rather neatly clipped into the upper dash section through an slick tongue/groove type arrangement in the extrusions. Very neat, but allows for a bit of movement between the two pieces which was evidently creaking. I resolved by squirting some silicone lube stuff in there - and over the 500 miles it didn't return, happy days.

Sunday I had plans to go for an exiges.com meet in the Lake District but I was really having second thoughts after Saturday. It turns out my car is quite loud, or maybe not so much loud - but there's more drone than Gatwick when cruising along which rewarded me with a banging headache on Saturday night. I manned up eventually and stuck some earphones in which helped a bit with some spotify rather than the naff head unit in the car. The drive over was looking promising, dry and bright sun going up the A1 but then as I started the A66 crossing things got real grim, real quick... and it remained like that for the rest of the day

There was a great 8 mile stint on the run into the destination (Hawkshead) of very tight but in some cases well sighted 3rd gear type stuff which allowed a bit of fun even in the damp.

Weather aside, the meet was great - decent food and some good company before the boring route home down the M60/M61/M62 in pretty wet conditions.



Good collection of cars including a Europa, GTE Evora and "likesachange" S2 Exige: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...



The drive home was almost uneventful, I think I got a bit (very) tired and mashed the gas in 2nd gear coming out of a 30 into an NSL a few miles from home and the back of the car was having none of it - very squirmy and the TC was quite lethargic to come to my aid. I think I've started taking liberties with it as until that point it has felt pretty capable if not agricultural and old fashioned in its technique. It was very cold though, wet and I'd been driving a few hours so not at my most alert... but one to keep an eye on in future!

The car is likely going to come apart this week for the toe-links and I'll get these missing heatshields sorted. Oh, and for anybody interested tank to tank (over 265 miles and 35litres) the car did 33.5mpg.