2008 Lotus Exige S 240
Discussion
Hi all
Don’t think I’ve done a Readers’ Cars thread before but thought keeping a record of the purchase/what I do with it would be a good thing!
From a car history perspective I like “interesting/modern classic” cars (see my garage), mostly from the 1990s/2000s, for sensible money! I was looking to get back into trackdays, hadn’t ever owned a mid-engined car or a Lotus before, so started looking at Elises. I have a relatively small garage (and budget!) so the later V6-engined cars were out of the question, and the S1 cars required potential ULEZ messing around, so I was looking at the S3 or S2 cars.
A couple of friends of mine have Elises (an S3 S Club Racer and an S2 Sports Racer) so first step was to have a drive of both of those – this was obviously a considerable hardship
For those that don’t know, those cars are both Toyota-engined, the first with a supercharged “2ZR” engine making c.220bhp, with the Sports Racer having the N/A 190bhp VVTL-i “2ZZ” lump. The two engines have a very different feel, and whilst I preferred the overall power and mid-range torque of the S, I also liked the higher-revving and “raw” nature of the N/A engine. Both were more than enough power for the road too, to be honest.
The test drives (plus an element of budget creep) got me thinking about an S2 Exige S – I’ve always loved the looks and in the S spec they have the revvier 2ZZ engine, plus a supercharger, which felt to me like probably the best of both worlds. Spec-wise I had read that aircon was something of a must, and I wanted a bright colour, but everything else was a “nice to have" for me. High up the list was harness-hole seats – as I’d be looking to use the car on road and track I planned on installing both harnesses and regular belts for convenience.
Ideally I would have test driven multiple Exiges (having never even sat in one or experienced the supercharged engine) negotiated hard on price and adopted a patient approach to see if used car prices softened even further. In reality what happened was a yellow one came up sale at a reputable dealer, and I adopted a “shut up and take my money” approach before the car was even fully advertised. Textbook.
Anyway, it’s a 2008 Exige S with about 24,500 miles on the clock and all three “packs”. If I’ve done my research correctly, these are:
1. Performance Pack - raising power to 240bhp, adding full length roof scoop and AP Racing 4-pot brakes up front, variable slip traction control, and launch control;
2. Sports Pack – Harness hole Probax Seats, harness bar, twin oil coolers, sports suspension; and
3. Touring Pack – bit of additional carpet and sound deadening, fetching cup holder.
Further options were aircon and twin-spoke forged alloys, plus the “Solar Yellow” metallic paint. The interior was I think a special order (or aftermarket custom trim, but it seems original) and is very nice, assuming you like yellow and black. It also has Luke harnesses fitted, as well as regular seatbelts. I think the only option not ticked was an LSD, which is a very rare option on a pretty rare car (it is one of 6 yellow ones made in 2008).
Service history was excellent (supplied by and only ever serviced by Bell & Colvill) and it came with a big wad of receipts (every service, every MoT, original brochures etc etc) . Recent work includes a new rear box on the exhaust, new Bosch battery (still under warranty) and the supplying dealer gave it a fresh MoT and fitted a set of matching Yokohamas pre-sale. I've also spoken to the previous owner who is clearly a real enthusiast. It is also the only car I came across which was standard – this, for me at least, was a good thing because apparently a noisier exhaust and/or intake on these pushes them close to trackday noise limits (either static or drive-by, or both).
Anyway after a 10 or so day wait for delivery, during which I joined a couple of forums (SELOC and Exiges.com) hoovered up Exige reviews and onboard footage from youtube, as well as reading this article at least half a dozen times https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/exige/6575/lotus-exige... it arrived!
Here’s the car on the day of delivery.
|https://thumbsnap.com/eKuQGWuc[/url]
So far I'm delighted - it has some lovely details and just looking at it makes me happy. It also seems to drive very well, and is more comfortable and easier to drive (perfect fuelling, light clutch etc) than I expected too.
Steering feel is amazing and it's an event at low speeds, in a good way. I've not explored its limits on the road (which seems sensible) but can confirm it is genuinely quick and has an addictive supercharger whine at high revs. Also reversing it takes some getting used to (the rear screen is entirely obscured by pipework). However if you adjust the wing mirrors correctly you can not only see some of what is going on behind you, but you also get a nice view of the rear wing. Which is clearly awesome
I've wired in a charging cable so it connects to my battery conditioner, replaced a screw in the rear numberplate that worked its way loose, and that’s it so far. Next step is to book at least one trackday (aiming to do two by Christmas). Before that I'm going to have a local specialist look it over to make sure there's nothing untoward going on underneath, so fingers crossed there! I understand rear toe links can be a weakness, and know the suspension is near-original, so keen to have it checked.
Any tips from owners or former owners, or questions about my sanity welcome of course, and I'll try and update regularly-ish!
Don’t think I’ve done a Readers’ Cars thread before but thought keeping a record of the purchase/what I do with it would be a good thing!
From a car history perspective I like “interesting/modern classic” cars (see my garage), mostly from the 1990s/2000s, for sensible money! I was looking to get back into trackdays, hadn’t ever owned a mid-engined car or a Lotus before, so started looking at Elises. I have a relatively small garage (and budget!) so the later V6-engined cars were out of the question, and the S1 cars required potential ULEZ messing around, so I was looking at the S3 or S2 cars.
A couple of friends of mine have Elises (an S3 S Club Racer and an S2 Sports Racer) so first step was to have a drive of both of those – this was obviously a considerable hardship
For those that don’t know, those cars are both Toyota-engined, the first with a supercharged “2ZR” engine making c.220bhp, with the Sports Racer having the N/A 190bhp VVTL-i “2ZZ” lump. The two engines have a very different feel, and whilst I preferred the overall power and mid-range torque of the S, I also liked the higher-revving and “raw” nature of the N/A engine. Both were more than enough power for the road too, to be honest. The test drives (plus an element of budget creep) got me thinking about an S2 Exige S – I’ve always loved the looks and in the S spec they have the revvier 2ZZ engine, plus a supercharger, which felt to me like probably the best of both worlds. Spec-wise I had read that aircon was something of a must, and I wanted a bright colour, but everything else was a “nice to have" for me. High up the list was harness-hole seats – as I’d be looking to use the car on road and track I planned on installing both harnesses and regular belts for convenience.
Ideally I would have test driven multiple Exiges (having never even sat in one or experienced the supercharged engine) negotiated hard on price and adopted a patient approach to see if used car prices softened even further. In reality what happened was a yellow one came up sale at a reputable dealer, and I adopted a “shut up and take my money” approach before the car was even fully advertised. Textbook.
Anyway, it’s a 2008 Exige S with about 24,500 miles on the clock and all three “packs”. If I’ve done my research correctly, these are:
1. Performance Pack - raising power to 240bhp, adding full length roof scoop and AP Racing 4-pot brakes up front, variable slip traction control, and launch control;
2. Sports Pack – Harness hole Probax Seats, harness bar, twin oil coolers, sports suspension; and
3. Touring Pack – bit of additional carpet and sound deadening, fetching cup holder.
Further options were aircon and twin-spoke forged alloys, plus the “Solar Yellow” metallic paint. The interior was I think a special order (or aftermarket custom trim, but it seems original) and is very nice, assuming you like yellow and black. It also has Luke harnesses fitted, as well as regular seatbelts. I think the only option not ticked was an LSD, which is a very rare option on a pretty rare car (it is one of 6 yellow ones made in 2008).
Service history was excellent (supplied by and only ever serviced by Bell & Colvill) and it came with a big wad of receipts (every service, every MoT, original brochures etc etc) . Recent work includes a new rear box on the exhaust, new Bosch battery (still under warranty) and the supplying dealer gave it a fresh MoT and fitted a set of matching Yokohamas pre-sale. I've also spoken to the previous owner who is clearly a real enthusiast. It is also the only car I came across which was standard – this, for me at least, was a good thing because apparently a noisier exhaust and/or intake on these pushes them close to trackday noise limits (either static or drive-by, or both).
Anyway after a 10 or so day wait for delivery, during which I joined a couple of forums (SELOC and Exiges.com) hoovered up Exige reviews and onboard footage from youtube, as well as reading this article at least half a dozen times https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/exige/6575/lotus-exige... it arrived!
Here’s the car on the day of delivery.
|https://thumbsnap.com/eKuQGWuc[/url]So far I'm delighted - it has some lovely details and just looking at it makes me happy. It also seems to drive very well, and is more comfortable and easier to drive (perfect fuelling, light clutch etc) than I expected too.
Steering feel is amazing and it's an event at low speeds, in a good way. I've not explored its limits on the road (which seems sensible) but can confirm it is genuinely quick and has an addictive supercharger whine at high revs. Also reversing it takes some getting used to (the rear screen is entirely obscured by pipework). However if you adjust the wing mirrors correctly you can not only see some of what is going on behind you, but you also get a nice view of the rear wing. Which is clearly awesome
I've wired in a charging cable so it connects to my battery conditioner, replaced a screw in the rear numberplate that worked its way loose, and that’s it so far. Next step is to book at least one trackday (aiming to do two by Christmas). Before that I'm going to have a local specialist look it over to make sure there's nothing untoward going on underneath, so fingers crossed there! I understand rear toe links can be a weakness, and know the suspension is near-original, so keen to have it checked.
Any tips from owners or former owners, or questions about my sanity welcome of course, and I'll try and update regularly-ish!
Thanks guys!
@Jaybarts you should post up some pics of yours - I don't know if you found the same, but when I was looking I found there are very few Elises in bright colours (even though IMO they look great). More Exiges, but still not many!
@Fonzey afraid I've rather run out of holiday this year but Oulton is on the list, possibly in a drier month as I recall it being one of the slippiest places in the damp!
@Jaybarts you should post up some pics of yours - I don't know if you found the same, but when I was looking I found there are very few Elises in bright colours (even though IMO they look great). More Exiges, but still not many!
@Fonzey afraid I've rather run out of holiday this year but Oulton is on the list, possibly in a drier month as I recall it being one of the slippiest places in the damp!
Bright Halo said:
That’s a great looking exige and sounds a great spec too.
Loving the yellow, if the side air scoops were painted black as a contrast to the yellow I think that would set it off really well.
Will be great on track.
Thanks and agreed - carbon side scoops would look great too, but the price is a bit salty. Loving the yellow, if the side air scoops were painted black as a contrast to the yellow I think that would set it off really well.
Will be great on track.
Nice car Neal! I am a bit of a Lotus fan boy myself! An S2 Exige was the dream for me. I nearly bought one (spending my house deposit on one) 10 years ago or so unfortunately that car turned out to be not the one.
I love just “dropping” into a lotus, legs out stretched great seating position it’s an event before you even roll out of the garage. I have also never had a car with better steering feel . This makes slow speed driving fun like you say.
I love just “dropping” into a lotus, legs out stretched great seating position it’s an event before you even roll out of the garage. I have also never had a car with better steering feel . This makes slow speed driving fun like you say.
braddo said:
Definitely the right decision to dive in when one like this appears on your radar! 
The forged wheels are too good looking to stay black though...
Ha - thanks, that helps me justify the man maths at least a little! On the wheels, I think the black suits it with the black trim around the car, but agree they would really "pop" in silver as well. The forged wheels are too good looking to stay black though...
Thanks Martin!
@Gad-Westy yes it was from Jon Seal. Unfortunately I'm way down in SE London just inside the M25, which would have been a monster journey, so I had it delivered. I think the delivery driver took c.6 hours to get down to me, after some Dartford Crossing-related shenanigans.
The previous owner was from Surrey (hence the continued B&C servicing) so it went way up North and then swiftly came back down South again!
Hope you get yours back soon
@Gad-Westy yes it was from Jon Seal. Unfortunately I'm way down in SE London just inside the M25, which would have been a monster journey, so I had it delivered. I think the delivery driver took c.6 hours to get down to me, after some Dartford Crossing-related shenanigans.
The previous owner was from Surrey (hence the continued B&C servicing) so it went way up North and then swiftly came back down South again!
Hope you get yours back soon
_Neal_ said:
Thanks Martin!
@Gad-Westy yes it was from Jon Seal. Unfortunately I'm way down in SE London just inside the M25, which would have been a monster journey, so I had it delivered. I think the delivery driver took c.6 hours to get down to me, after some Dartford Crossing-related shenanigans.
The previous owner was from Surrey (hence the continued B&C servicing) so it went way up North and then swiftly came back down South again!
Hope you get yours back soon
Bet it was fantastic seeing that turn up! Look forward to future updates. Enjoy. @Gad-Westy yes it was from Jon Seal. Unfortunately I'm way down in SE London just inside the M25, which would have been a monster journey, so I had it delivered. I think the delivery driver took c.6 hours to get down to me, after some Dartford Crossing-related shenanigans.
The previous owner was from Surrey (hence the continued B&C servicing) so it went way up North and then swiftly came back down South again!
Hope you get yours back soon
Gad-Westy said:
Bet it was fantastic seeing that turn up! Look forward to future updates. Enjoy.
It was indeed - I was like a kid at Christmas all day So first trackday booked at Bedford on 28 October, which I'll be treating like a shakedown for the car - if anyone sees me (the Exige is hard to miss) come and say hi! Mate will be there in his S2 Elise Sports Racer too (red with white stripes).
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