Am I being scared off by doing to much reading?
Discussion
As the title says, am I in danger of doing to much reading and scaring myself off a Exige NA?
Things that worry me (as of tonight)
Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos..
Exige S being touted as a much much better car making the NA redundant....
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R?
Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp?
Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
Things that worry me (as of tonight)
Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos..
Exige S being touted as a much much better car making the NA redundant....
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R?
Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp?
Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
The price of most NA Exiges just doesn't stack up against the early S examples falling to 25k or so for a car that was not only more powerful but several years younger than the 04 NA cars that were still commanding £21k - £22k. The prices do seem very close for a fair difference in year/power.
With 06 Exige S's around £25k - £28k I would expect 04 Exiges to be closer to £18k (I did in fact agree a price of £18,250 on an orange one with AC in the end).
Notwithstanding all this, they are a stunning car and if people are buying at £20k+ then the sellers must be very pleased with the residuals. Certainly, from what I have seen there are no shortage of people happy to pay over £20k for an early NA car, and those in the desirable colours (and in particular orange and white) seem to sell extremely quickly at that price too.
As for tyres, semi slicks are around half wear when you buy them. They arent really an all year tyre either. Sorry to sound blunt but spending £20k+ on what is otherwise a very low cost car and worrying about the extra rubber needed once a year is a bit arse about face isnt it? You can still find yourself with a big bill, even in something as basic as an Elise/Exige, despite the yota engines. Cant you gooby..
With 06 Exige S's around £25k - £28k I would expect 04 Exiges to be closer to £18k (I did in fact agree a price of £18,250 on an orange one with AC in the end).
Notwithstanding all this, they are a stunning car and if people are buying at £20k+ then the sellers must be very pleased with the residuals. Certainly, from what I have seen there are no shortage of people happy to pay over £20k for an early NA car, and those in the desirable colours (and in particular orange and white) seem to sell extremely quickly at that price too.
As for tyres, semi slicks are around half wear when you buy them. They arent really an all year tyre either. Sorry to sound blunt but spending £20k+ on what is otherwise a very low cost car and worrying about the extra rubber needed once a year is a bit arse about face isnt it? You can still find yourself with a big bill, even in something as basic as an Elise/Exige, despite the yota engines. Cant you gooby..
Edited by Shnozz on Monday 19th May 23:57
CooperS said:
As the title says, am I in danger of doing to much reading and scaring myself off a Exige NA?
Things that worry me (as of tonight)
Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos.. It all depends on your driving style and whether you push the car often. Seeing as the Exige is relatively light, I guess you could probably coax 12,000 miles out of a set of tyres ... The Yokohama A048 semi-slicks will not last long though seeing as they have 5mm of tread from new!
Exige S being touted as a much much better car making the NA redundant.... Again, depends on what appeals to you ... The 'S' has more useable power lower in the rev range due to the supercharger, whereas to get the most out of the NA engine you need to be running on the second cam at 6,200rpm and above. However you can have the NA remapped so that the second cam kicks in at approximately 5,500rpm. I'm looking at an Exige for next year and will test both, although I'll most likely go for the NA for insurance purposes
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R? I think you'll be hard pushed to find an 'S' for £21K - They usually start at £25K+ ... The 'S' isn't that much faster than the NA variant. It's all down to power delivery between the two. There will always be buyers looking for NA models Well the Exige is more track focused than the 111R. What do you want from the car? What will you be doing?
Am i being stupid or would this worry others? Wouldn't worry me
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp? It's a bit quicker than a Clio 182
Clio 182 0-60mph is 6.3secs, whereas NA Exige S2 is 0-60mph in 4.7secs - They're quick because they're light! 
Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
A question from me though to Exige S2 owners ... What are the running costs like over a year if you use the car daily? Much different to a Elise S1?Things that worry me (as of tonight)
Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos.. It all depends on your driving style and whether you push the car often. Seeing as the Exige is relatively light, I guess you could probably coax 12,000 miles out of a set of tyres ... The Yokohama A048 semi-slicks will not last long though seeing as they have 5mm of tread from new!
Exige S being touted as a much much better car making the NA redundant.... Again, depends on what appeals to you ... The 'S' has more useable power lower in the rev range due to the supercharger, whereas to get the most out of the NA engine you need to be running on the second cam at 6,200rpm and above. However you can have the NA remapped so that the second cam kicks in at approximately 5,500rpm. I'm looking at an Exige for next year and will test both, although I'll most likely go for the NA for insurance purposes
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R? I think you'll be hard pushed to find an 'S' for £21K - They usually start at £25K+ ... The 'S' isn't that much faster than the NA variant. It's all down to power delivery between the two. There will always be buyers looking for NA models
Well the Exige is more track focused than the 111R. What do you want from the car? What will you be doing? Am i being stupid or would this worry others? Wouldn't worry me
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp? It's a bit quicker than a Clio 182
Clio 182 0-60mph is 6.3secs, whereas NA Exige S2 is 0-60mph in 4.7secs - They're quick because they're light! Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
CooperS said:
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R?
Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp?
I always keep a thought about residuals (ask my friends!) and have bought an N/A S2 Exige and its superb. There are 3 of us who have 200 bhp Caterhams and have moved from S1 Elises during the last 3 months (I have still got my Elise 111S too Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp?
). I did wonder about the effect that S model would have and rationalised that there is always someone who will want a well kept and very good condition car no matter what the later model offers. There are cars out there probably in the 2005/06 range that fall in your budget and you'd expect them only to drop a slight amount in 2 years as they will always offer excellent performance. Obviously make sure you buy well and don't buy a car with poor history or evidence of major damage (or repair) which will impair its residual when compared to other perfect cars that will be on sale at the time.Speed wise, I thoroughly enjoy driving mine and not always on the 2nd cam. It is a different experience to the Caterham and S1 car as its more refined but still loads of fun. The only downside is the 30-odd mpg when the S1 does 40 to the gallon... still better than the Caterham's when you are really pushing on!!
Buy the Exige, get one with air con, take the roof off to enjoy the same open air feel of the Elise and have loads of fun.
CooperS said:
As the title says, am I in danger of doing to much reading and scaring myself off a Exige NA?
Too much reading is never good - you start to fixate on paper specs rather than seeing the car for what it is and what it can make you feel whilst driving it.CooperS said:
Things that worry me (as of tonight)
Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos..
Semi-slicks will need regular changing regardless the brand. Toyos might last a bit longer (and are the better tyre IMHO), but not much. If you really want tyres that last a lot longer, go for some road tyre. Hankook RS2 or see what the Elise has as standard on them.Tyres need changing every 5-6k - but this can be resolved with Toyos..
CooperS said:
Exige S being touted as a much much better car making the NA redundant....
It's not difficult to see why - it's quite a bit more expensive though as well. Starting off with a NA Exige isn't such a bad thing though. You can always move on later (or upgrade). If the Exige NA happens to be not quick enough one day, there are always ways to bring it on par with the Exige-S or leave it dead behind for reasonable money while remaining very reliable.CooperS said:
I've got a budget of 21k for that I can get a 111R or get a older Exige... now after driving the Exige I simply want one but my fear is that in 2 years time no one will want the Exige NA due to more S being on the market as its slower than an S but more compromised than a 111R?
Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
If you like the NA Exige, get a NA Exige?Am i being stupid or would this worry others?
CooperS said:
Also how is the NA E slow? I thought it was blooming quick even when you weren't pushing it (on par with my 182) so just cant see how people dont think they are quick.. what do people expect out of 190bhp?
Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
It's not slow - it just requires a very commited driver if you want to push it as far as an S. The S is no doubt an easier drive - it has lots of torque deep down and can be quite quick through the gears. The NA Exige has to be reved hard to really get it moving. Some like it, some don't.Sorry for the overloading of questions think i'll make some posts on Exiges.com and Seloc to see what they reckon.
Cheers Phil
I had my N\A Exige for three years. Took a little while to get used to the power delivery after a standard K but loved every minute of it and it was hard to see her go. Once you get the hang of it engaging thug mode at about 6K revs is a hoot.
No real idea what the running costs were - I just drove the thing and grinned. Apart from the tyres the only other significant cost was oil consumption on Stelvio where riding the second cam all day meant putting in 1 to 1.5 litres of oil per day. When driving normally oil use was negligible.
Pick up my new S\PP on Saturday and hope that gives as much fun.
No real idea what the running costs were - I just drove the thing and grinned. Apart from the tyres the only other significant cost was oil consumption on Stelvio where riding the second cam all day meant putting in 1 to 1.5 litres of oil per day. When driving normally oil use was negligible.
Pick up my new S\PP on Saturday and hope that gives as much fun.
Well guys today has been a great day for me and my job and getting that Exige is that bit closer!
Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
CooperS said:
Well guys today has been a great day for me and my job and getting that Exige is that bit closer!
Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
I'm sure the guy at the end of your road wouldn't mind giving you a passenger ride ... I've yet to meet someone from the Lotus Community who hasn't gone out of their way to help or advise! You never know, he might be a PH'er Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
I wouldn't worry about what other people think of the colour - It will be your pride and joy, and you will be the one driving it. You'll only kick yourself later and wish you bought your first choice of colour! Personally I'd love an Exige in either orange, white, green or yellow
Just got to decide which is best from those 4!Whatever colour you choose, you'll get noticed and I imagine quite a few of your colleagues will make comments in regards to you earning far too much money/more money than them ... I've had it a few times and I drive an Elise S1, which was cheaper to buy than their brand new euro-box!
Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 20th May 20:30
CooperS said:
Well guys today has been a great day for me and my job and getting that Exige is that bit closer!
Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
Its a mad car, go for a mad colour! I love them in red, Kermit green, or orange. Only worry now is colour, I work in a Naval DockYard so im surrounded by company BMW's/Mercs/Audi's - should i be worried that im going to be shouting look at me so early into the job (9 months) and the fact the cars in here are duller than some of the paint put on the ships?
LOL
I appricate thats a personal question but one that hopefully will be answered shortly.... now if only i could get the courage up and knock on the door to the guy at the end of my road to seee if he'll give me a ride in his Exige S.... just to confirm that I want one....
I'm jealous, fancy an N/A Exige myself but can;t afford the step up just yet.
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
I'm kicking myself that I didn't stick to my guns and go with Solar Yellow, so do it, if you want Orange, go for Orange.
Agreed. But they look fantastic in pretty much every colour available ... It's deciding between all those choices that proves difficult Out of interest though, how much per year does it cost to run an Exige (Services, consumbles combined etc)? Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 20th May 23:21
Ikemi said:
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
I'm kicking myself that I didn't stick to my guns and go with Solar Yellow, so do it, if you want Orange, go for Orange.
Agreed. But they look fantastic in pretty much every colour available ... It's deciding between all those choices that proves difficult Out of interest though, how much per year does it cost to run an Exige (Services, consumbles combined etc)? Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 20th May 23:21
Thats based on a complete set of tyres and 2 services, £200 on tax and the rest for anything that might pop up... add on top the insurance lol......
Interesting thou someone saw the picture of the gulf coloured exige and reckoned I should get the dark blue one on sale for 17k and get it sprayed into those colours... certainly an idea?
CooperS said:
Ikemi said:
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
I'm kicking myself that I didn't stick to my guns and go with Solar Yellow, so do it, if you want Orange, go for Orange.
Agreed. But they look fantastic in pretty much every colour available ... It's deciding between all those choices that proves difficult Out of interest though, how much per year does it cost to run an Exige (Services, consumbles combined etc)? Edited by Ikemi on Tuesday 20th May 23:21
Thats based on a complete set of tyres and 2 services, £200 on tax and the rest for anything that might pop up... add on top the insurance lol......
Interesting thou someone saw the picture of the gulf coloured exige and reckoned I should get the dark blue one on sale for 17k and get it sprayed into those colours... certainly an idea?
It's a great car. I think the comments from people saying it's slow are coming from three camps:
1) A track focused car shouldn't be slower than the slowest Caterham.
2) The Exige S exists and it's faster
3) The Elise 111R is the same performance
2 & 3 are silly, because they'll always be another step faster. When the next Exige comes out the S will be touted as "too slow" Have a look at the Exige in isolation and it's great 
1 is a good point, but if you want a Caterham then just go and buy one. Not everyone does...
The Exige is a great car, don't be put off I say £21k is a fine budget for one. Look carefully and you'll be very happy.
1) A track focused car shouldn't be slower than the slowest Caterham.
2) The Exige S exists and it's faster
3) The Elise 111R is the same performance
2 & 3 are silly, because they'll always be another step faster. When the next Exige comes out the S will be touted as "too slow"
Have a look at the Exige in isolation and it's great 1 is a good point, but if you want a Caterham then just go and buy one. Not everyone does...
The Exige is a great car, don't be put off
I say £21k is a fine budget for one. Look carefully and you'll be very happy.RobM77 said:
1) A track focused car shouldn't be slower than the slowest Caterham.
Agreed with everything but this.http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/showroom/cla...
See 'Engine and performance'
Edited by Gad-Westy on Wednesday 21st May 09:52
Caterhams are awesome track cars, and I may have to have an R400/500 on a trailer someday for sprinting
...but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
...but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
Gad-Westy said:
RobM77 said:
1) A track focused car shouldn't be slower than the slowest Caterham.
Agreed with everything but this.http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/showroom/cla...
I actually love the Exige.Anyway though, that seven is way quicker than an Exige!! Firstly, straight line performance: don't believe the 0-60. I race a 115bhp 500kg 7 and film every race. From my videos of starts I have timed the 0-60 in my clumsy hands (I'm truly rubbish at starts, always have been) at around 4.5 seconds, which is faster than an Exige with a professional extracting the time. The power to weight ratio is similar if not better for the Caterham and once you get to a corner you'll discover that the 7 weighs not far off half what the Exige weighs. Half!! I don't know any lap times for Exiges, but I do know that around Silverstone National my base spec 115bhp Caterham will lap faster than any road car Autocar could find ten years ago, including a Ferrari 550M (Autocar handling day). I'd hazard a guess that a Caterham would absolutely anihilate an Exige round a track. OK, it might be a close run thing with the cheapest Caterham (as linked to above), but spend £21k on a used one (to compare like for like) and you'll get yourself an "R" model quite easily. An R500 will outlap every road car out there (see the back of EVO), and even a Yamaha R1 superbike (See EVO around Croft a few years back).
bogie said:
Caterhams are awesome track cars, and I may have to have an R400/500 on a trailer someday for sprinting
...but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
I had quite a high speed accident in my Westfield, you'd be susprised how well those spaceframes stand up to a front/rear (don't ask!) impact. They also appear to stand up well in a roll. However, what really bothered me was the thought of being T-boned. There is simply nothing to protect you from the slightest deflection in the side of the chassis. It occurred to me that even a low speed side impact could crush you. At least in the Lotus there would need to be 12" or so of deflection before the bus made contact with my elbow....but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
Gad-Westy said:
bogie said:
Caterhams are awesome track cars, and I may have to have an R400/500 on a trailer someday for sprinting
...but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
I had quite a high speed accident in my Westfield, you'd be susprised how well those spaceframes stand up to a front/rear (don't ask!) impact. They also appear to stand up well in a roll. However, what really bothered me was the thought of being T-boned. There is simply nothing to protect you from the slightest deflection in the side of the chassis. It occurred to me that even a low speed side impact could crush you. At least in the Lotus there would need to be 12" or so of deflection before the bus made contact with my elbow....but I would never consider one as a road car myself...other than the practicalities for touring etc, its the lack of crash protection that scares me. After a prang this year in my Elise, which I was lucky to survive, I wont be getting in a Cat 7/Atom/Radical type car on the road ever ! ..The Elise/Exige is the least amount of crash protection I would want
I've seen some pretty heavy Caterham accidents:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzmp56YPY0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfpXLtUon7U
And the cars do stand up pretty well. Full harnesses make it much safer. I wouldn't want to roll an Elise or Exige with a 3 point belt on
T-boning though would be very nasty. You can get side impact bars for 7s that bolt on fairly easily. All racing sevens run with these as standard, and of course a full roll cage.
That said of course, yes, I feel much safer in my Elise than in my Caterham.
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