Larini Heat on S2
Author
Discussion

ChristianM

Original Poster:

257 posts

257 months

Sunday 16th October 2005
quotequote all
Hi,
Cheers to the group buyers again, the Larini is now on the S2 111S and sounds amazing. Myself and my fitting assistant couldnt stop laughing and grining for the first half an hour of the test drive!

It disn't all line up and needed some serious giggling but its on 'fine' now.

THE HEAT ISSUE...
After going for a 30 mins 'swift' drive around town last night I noticed that the body work plastic just above the tail pipes was very hot, especially above the left hand one (when looking at back of car). On the left, the plastic closest to the tail pipe (where the plastic juts out horzontally above the black metal exhaust surround) was so hot you couldn't touch it because it burnt your finger. The tail pipes are centered correctly in the holes, and nothing else is modified on the car.

Has anyone else experienced this? It seems dangerous for the plastic to get that hot and at the very least, must be bad for the paintwork?

Cheers,

Christian

beachbum

2,610 posts

261 months

Sunday 16th October 2005
quotequote all
I'd contact Larini direct and see if they have had anything similar reported direct to them. Doesnt sound right at all

MJK 24

5,679 posts

266 months

Sunday 16th October 2005
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My Larini is the same but I suspect you'll have to put up with it.

Exhausts get hot when you drive cars hard and unless you want to cruise about I think there's not a lot you can do.

There's no reason why the Larini should be hotter than the old exhaust - did you ever check with that one?

Mr_C

2,508 posts

259 months

Monday 17th October 2005
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i guess you probably never felt it when the old exhaust was on the car?

my larini doesnt heat the bodywork up as much as my standard S1 exhaust did.


for the record, once they coke up a bit they sound fabulous. had a roof off blast at the weekend

Esprit

6,373 posts

313 months

Monday 17th October 2005
quotequote all
I agree.... unless the new exhaust is closer to the bodywork in the place where it's noticeably hot, then the bodywork should be no hotter than with the standard exhaust.

On my S1, the figlass around the tailpipes gets noticeably hot (almost too hot to touch) and this I assume is normal.

Basically there's no conceivable way that the new exhaust should ge that much hotter. Conversely I'd estimate that the new exhaust should be COOLER than the standard item as the gases should have a more direct path out of the car (especially true on the S1 being a "straight-through" muffler compared to the multi-chambered, splitting design of the MGF item on the standard car.

If it's really bothering you you could always invest in some exhaust heat-wrap to wrap the system in. This will keep the heat in the exhaust system and away from the bodywork. Also makes the exhaust work better as the gases remain hot (and fast) until they exit the tail pipes.

One thing you SHOULD check though is that the tail pipe bits fit properly. If in your "jiggling around" you've over-extended the tail-pipe sections so that the clamped section sits out too far, you may have an exhaust-gas leak after the muffler, before the tail pipes. This should be easy to feel by removing the undertray and feeling for leaks in the pipe (be careful, easy to burn yourself!) If there is a leak that points towards a bit of the bodywork etc, this could definitely cause a part of the bodywork to get very hot.

ChristianM

Original Poster:

257 posts

257 months

Monday 17th October 2005
quotequote all
Hi,
Thanks for your replies,
I have just spoken to David at Larini and he said that he hasnt come across this before and asked I take the car for another drive and keep an eye on it to see if it happens again.

I did actaually regularly check to heat from the 2 standard pipes, as I was often interested in how much the right pipe had been open during my drive (only opens when giving it beans). The standard pipes didn't seem to heat the bodywork much at all.

When fitting the pipes, we did need to extend the pipes so much that there was a gap in the pipes, however we made sure we sealed this with exhaust bandage.

I also would have expected the Larini to run cooler. The twin cans have more cooling air flowing around them and the end tail pipe section, are much larger so should be able to dissapate heat quicker. This is the exact area that gets so hot you can't touch it...



Also..
These two photos shoow the tail pipes individually, they are both centered but one sticks out further from the car by approx 1cm. The amount it sticks out is not adjustable so this is the way it was manufactured. It is almost certainly a hand made item but im not sure if this is acceptable?

Left pipe.


Right pipe.


Cheers

Christian

enjybenjy

928 posts

283 months

Monday 17th October 2005
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Yeah, mine stick out like this too, however, you'll find that maybe one is pointed upwards more than the other. You only notice it if you know about it, hence I've left mine as is. Mine don't get that hot though. Went on a SELOC run yesterday though, it sounded fekkin awesome after 10 miles it was warmed up )
Something has started to make a hissing noise though on throttle, I'm wondering if the old exhaust valve pipe has come unblocked...

sja

509 posts

258 months

Monday 17th October 2005
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Hi Christian, interesting post. So your Larini didn't fit either? You needed to use bandage so the rear pipes would fit? That's why I sent mine back (only update from Larini, was it was on a jig being altered)

I would have sent it back not tried to fix it..

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with them, they have admitted it needed altering so I would have expceted a new exhaust to be dispatched immediatly with as apology and some contribution to re-fitting costs..

rixge

292 posts

255 months

Monday 17th October 2005
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Oh the merits of a lotus supplied and fitted stage 2......aaaaah

marcfair

204 posts

290 months

Monday 17th October 2005
quotequote all
hi there,
it sounds really disapointed to hear all these bad points about larini. i thought they were supposed to be good? i don't think you should have to mess around making them fit when they are £350+ good exhaust note or not and agree they should send you a replacement for the inconvenience caused.

ChristianM

Original Poster:

257 posts

257 months

Monday 17th October 2005
quotequote all
Hi,
Just come back from a good run. It seems the heat transfer to the bodywork issue is minimal when there is airflow (i.e. car moving most of the time). However, in high power low speed and traffic jam situations the plastic directly above the tail pipes will get very hot. This is especially true of the left pipe as the left can is right next to the cat and piping before the split at the boxes.

As for the fit of the exhaust, I will be speaking to Larini about this, as people have said, this is not really acceptable. It should fit perfectly.

I am interested if there are more people who have had issues with the tail pipes being different lengths?

PS. It is so hard to get angry with them when it sounds so fantastic.

sja

509 posts

258 months

Monday 17th October 2005
quotequote all
Yeah christian, I think I posted before when discussing problems with mine, one pipe stuck out a lot further.. Keep us posted as to what Larini say about the fitting..