Exige V6 - Talk to me ....
Discussion
Opening this up to the PH massive or masses because I value your thoughts.....................
I have never owned a LOTUS. A Caterham yes , but that does not really count. I came very close to buying a LOTUS Exige a few years ago but was put off the car when it was full of water and still a ton of money. I feel I need a LOTUS as they seem to tick all the right boxes , light weight , lots of power , track focused etc etc
HOWEVER .............
There are many to choose from. I have recently been cynical of the way LOTUS keep bringing out almost monthly a new special edition or some such tweak on a regular car and all it has done is confuse me. I understand the base car is a V6 350 and to that you can add various packs i.e. , sport , track & touring. This has the same engine as all the others but in a standard state of tune.
The Komo-Tec upgrades are available to tune the car but then the 380 has this as standard fit ??
Also , they have now released the 410 which is another leap in performance but otherwise standard offerings inside the cabin.
Not really interested in the CUP cars as I want to use it on the road and drive to trackdays , round the alps and then drive home. Also available is the 430. Is this just another tuned version which can be achieved in another way or is factory fit the best ?
I suppose it is also worth asking whether these cars are capable of withstanding trackdays or does doing several of these events show a weakness. I appreciate the track is a harsh environment but does the lack of LSD hold it back ? Is the gearbox OK for repeated track use. Does it overheat ?
All these things are playing on my mind and answers would be great before jumping into the LOTUS abyss ............
over to you ........
I have never owned a LOTUS. A Caterham yes , but that does not really count. I came very close to buying a LOTUS Exige a few years ago but was put off the car when it was full of water and still a ton of money. I feel I need a LOTUS as they seem to tick all the right boxes , light weight , lots of power , track focused etc etc
HOWEVER .............
There are many to choose from. I have recently been cynical of the way LOTUS keep bringing out almost monthly a new special edition or some such tweak on a regular car and all it has done is confuse me. I understand the base car is a V6 350 and to that you can add various packs i.e. , sport , track & touring. This has the same engine as all the others but in a standard state of tune.
The Komo-Tec upgrades are available to tune the car but then the 380 has this as standard fit ??
Also , they have now released the 410 which is another leap in performance but otherwise standard offerings inside the cabin.
Not really interested in the CUP cars as I want to use it on the road and drive to trackdays , round the alps and then drive home. Also available is the 430. Is this just another tuned version which can be achieved in another way or is factory fit the best ?
I suppose it is also worth asking whether these cars are capable of withstanding trackdays or does doing several of these events show a weakness. I appreciate the track is a harsh environment but does the lack of LSD hold it back ? Is the gearbox OK for repeated track use. Does it overheat ?
All these things are playing on my mind and answers would be great before jumping into the LOTUS abyss ............
over to you ........
Thorburn said:
Most cars will be if that's their primary usage. Even purpose built race cars require regular checks and maintenance.
Lighter weight and lower power will generally be easier on the car.
Appreciate that. I too have come from a GT3 which is a great car for soaking up trackwork and then being able to drive home. Just want an alternative that is not going to cause any issues in normal / trackday use other than consumables.Lighter weight and lower power will generally be easier on the car.
jimmyslr said:
That looks to be a very good install. Normally aspirated I assume but appears to be a bit tricked up? I raced one of those back in the day in the Silverstone 24hr. We retired with broken drive shaft issues in the middle of the night.
If I was after one it would be one of the slightly loony supercharged and chargecooled ones. There’s a £55k one in the classifieds. I do love the S1 - should have picked one up several years ago when they were £15k!
Saw that one in the classifieds. Great to see such a comprehensive list of mods done to it but that in itself kinda has me running away as its all way beyond me and if it needed a little fettling I would not know where to start.If I was after one it would be one of the slightly loony supercharged and chargecooled ones. There’s a £55k one in the classifieds. I do love the S1 - should have picked one up several years ago when they were £15k!
2bars said:
I agree with those that have said the 350 is the one to go for. Sprinted against one last year before I made the geometry and spring changes and only beat it by a 1/10 of a sec. The 350 was standard and on an ordinary michelin tyre, driven to the track and back, which is what I do too. Think this shows the later ones are better and come with a better setup out of the factory. Although don't dismiss the earlier cars if you're on a budget, at low £40K for a 4 year old car it's an absolute bargain that can me made as quick as a 350 with some geometry faffing that's well documented.
I'm not worried about gearbox issues, mines fine after 4 years with 430bhp, this is the old style mechanism. Saw that someone posted they had a refresh recently but they had the box out to fit an LSD so made sense to refresh it at the same time. Cost I recall was about £2-3K so not a complete disaster.
Annual service at my Lotus dealer is £350, set of Avons, which I expect to last a year is £900, pads are £130. In summary it's a car you drive too and from track, baz round faster than everything except race cars and some very expensive road cars and can also use for road trips, if this is what you're after i don't know what's better at the price point. I've thought about selling mine, particularly last year, but I honestly don't know what I would replace it with? 15 year old GT3?
Great post with all the info I`m after really . Thanks.I'm not worried about gearbox issues, mines fine after 4 years with 430bhp, this is the old style mechanism. Saw that someone posted they had a refresh recently but they had the box out to fit an LSD so made sense to refresh it at the same time. Cost I recall was about £2-3K so not a complete disaster.
Annual service at my Lotus dealer is £350, set of Avons, which I expect to last a year is £900, pads are £130. In summary it's a car you drive too and from track, baz round faster than everything except race cars and some very expensive road cars and can also use for road trips, if this is what you're after i don't know what's better at the price point. I've thought about selling mine, particularly last year, but I honestly don't know what I would replace it with? 15 year old GT3?
What is the difference between an Exige "S" and the 350 model then ? Just a newer version without any factory fit komotec goodies ?
2bars said:
They saved some weight compared to the V6S, the 350 is close to the weight of my V6 Cup. They also improved the gearchange mechanism to the open gate version, which is nice. Drive train and suspension is the same, although the 350 comes with different geo settings compared to the V6S, easy enough to copy though. That's it, Komo-tec is all aftermarket. I'd always want a cup car over the 350 as I'm happy to live with the compromises, and need the Cup extras. Otherwise I would recommend the 350 over the V6 but would not rule out the V6S if that's what your budget stretches to. Whatever you choose it will be brilliant, and can be developed into something as fast as the latest models if that's what you want. Nothing like it at the price and age.
Marvellous..... having a flick through the classifieds. I`ve not ruled out a cup car. Targa Florio have a 460 ( presumably komotec) car. Not sure if that will be fragile on track compared to a lesser powered model with sorted suspensionGassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff