Lotus Elise 111R
Discussion
Sold my Subaru (2005 STI) back in December, and made the decision to opt for a dedicate road car and a dedicated track car for 2016.
This thread is for the track car, a 2006 Lotus Elise 111R!
I had four options I think when the Subaru moved on, A Lotus/Caterham 7 style car, a VX220, an Elise or an Exige. I excluded stuff like Evos, E46 M3s and hot hatches because I wanted something "purpose built" that could do track days out of the box, with little concern for consumables or reliability. The RWD/Mid Engine formula also appeals to me.
7: A bit too focussed for me now, I'd like to do a Europe roadtrip in this car and maybe I should learn the world of RWD with something a little less bonkers. Self build kit is defo on the cards in the future though.
VX220: Was in the running, I just didn't see one I REALLY liked. They're typically much cheaper than Elises (specifically the spec I went for) and have good tuning potential, no real down sides. I did prefer the aesthetics of the S2 Elise though and the S2 elise is available "newer".
Exige: After really learning the differences between an S2 Elise and Exige, they suddenly looked REALLY expensive for not a lot extra. Same/similar engine choices, better wheel fitment, better suspension and a hardtop. That's about it!
Elise: Lots of specs/models to chose from. S1 have great charm, and harder to get really tidy ones now. S2 choices are split roughly down the middle by K-Series or Toyota engines. K-Series plagued with HG issues and getting on a bit now, so decided on Toyota.
The 111R is the 190bhp Toyota engine, I believe was in the Corolla T-Sport cars and the Celica? It's about as much power as you can get out of a factory Elise without going supercharged or turbo. This car cost significantly more than a VX would have done, but still cheaper than the cheapest Exiges by 5 or 6 grand.
Honda K20 ones popped up from time to time, but never at the right time and place for me. I can only imagine they're mental.
As for my specific car, the 111R cars were coming through the usual classifieds locations very slowly - only 3 or 4 cars of note since I started half-looking back in October. I further narrowed down my options by deciding it had to be either red, or blue (specifically Laser Blue). This particular car was up for sale by a specialist dealer late last year, but upon the ad expiring it was taken down over winter (I assumed at the time it was sold); it got relisted last week - so off I went to see it!
One of the shots from the ad:
The car was way down in Essex, a 6 hour round trip for me but like I said - these things don't come up too often. I went down with a friend last weekend quite nervous that it would be a nail.
As it turned out, I didn't have much to worry about - it's in seemingly fine condition and looked really tidy. Drove well on the test drive, and the dealer was a nice guy to boot. (really nice classic car collection, plus a Lotus franchised dealer). As a 2006 car, it has LED rear lights and projectors up front... these cars changed almost every six months due to their parts-bin nature I guess, the later the better generally but I wouldn't have turned down a 2004 one! This was built with the optional extra carpets AND sun visors, but no air conditioning or cup holder!
I'd identified from online history that the car hadn't really moved since at least May 2015, the date of its last MOT expiration and had been SORN since. Not completely uncommon on these cars I guess, they go into hiding over winter and sometimes don't come out the next spring - like my fishing gear I suppose! Car is on 43k miles, so clearly been a weekend car its whole life.
It's had a service at a dealer every year until it went SORN, but I can't find any evidence of the big "C" service. I'm not exactly sure of the deal here, it's a cam chain but are they still routinely swapped? I'll look into that.
Upon viewing the car, it had no MOT and was due a service - so the dealer was going to take care of that inclusive of asking price. After identifying a few more niggles (identified either by it's MOT midweek or myself during the viewing), he sorted those too:
Excessive corrosion on rear brake lines (pipes changed)
One of the rear clusters had 4 LEDs out (cluster replaced)
Front tyres cracked (MOT advisory) (negotiated bit of discount)
Alloys lightly curbed (negotiated bit of discount)
Indicator cracked (replaced)
Weather was decent, traffic was kind to us - today was a good day. Pics on collection:
The Gent even brimmed the tank for me, rare behaviour for a dealer as it was on fumes during the test drive!!
The drive home was pretty epic, not as uncomfortable as I expected but a little bit intimidating on the motorway... being able to see directly under an L200 as it pulled alongside me was a little odd... I never drive cars confidently on test drives, so the performance of the 111R was a nice surprise after I got comfortable with it. The VTEC-esque kick is the strongest I've ever felt in a car, and it gets through the revs very nicely indeed. After the torque and power of the Subaru (400bhp/370torques), I've been bracing myself for a bit of a comedown but it's really not that bad, slower of course - but the feel of the car makes it very enjoyable.
Service station pictures...
Car did almost 39mpg on the drive home, so clear win over the Subaru there... :|
Handling wise, I've hardly thrown it round yet - but the steering feel I know is a cliched comment about these cars, but it's really something else. It's not a chore, but it's very rewarding. The car currently hints towards understeer the way I've driven it, so I don't fear it (yet). Apparently with wider front wheels and altered geo you can make it understeer-proof, which in turn will make it scary
Before spending any money, I want to spend a few weeks with it to make sure no gremlins appear. How I resist temptation we'll have to wait and see though, my preliminary plans are:
Short Term:
Sunstrip off (tomorrow :wave: )
Exige fitment wheels (wider fronts) and track tyres
New Exhaust, go back to the 111S (K-Series equiv of my car) styling of having a tailpipe come out each side of the numberplate rather than under the diffuser on the 111R.
Some side-pods (aesthetics) and maybe a front diffuser
Medium Term:
Suspension refresh, remove/clean/paint all wishbones and links - new bushes all round. Common job on these, as the gubbins aren't treated very well - and so look like they're from the deck of the titanic.
Brake refresh, remove/clean/paint calipers, braided hoses, etc.
Geo setup, but only after I've done a trackday or two to see how it feels
Long Term:
Supercharger
"Will see how it goes...":
Uprated Radiator
Baffled Sump
The community has so far been excellent, cheap trackdays with Lotus on Track and I've found a classic car/sports car specialist insurer that has done me a policy for £450ish - which INCLUDES 6 trackdays per year. That alone saves me 480quid from the Subaru trackday bolt-on insurance. It's a 4000 limited mileage policy mind, but sufficient for this.
The Subaru was the first car I properly modified, and I made a lot of mistakes which in turn cost a lot of money. This car should be good for me out of the box so I need to resist the urge to spend on shiny bits until I've at least experienced it properly and know which direction to take it. Hopefully I'll get it cleaned tomorrow morning and I can get some proper pictures up.
This thread is for the track car, a 2006 Lotus Elise 111R!
I had four options I think when the Subaru moved on, A Lotus/Caterham 7 style car, a VX220, an Elise or an Exige. I excluded stuff like Evos, E46 M3s and hot hatches because I wanted something "purpose built" that could do track days out of the box, with little concern for consumables or reliability. The RWD/Mid Engine formula also appeals to me.
7: A bit too focussed for me now, I'd like to do a Europe roadtrip in this car and maybe I should learn the world of RWD with something a little less bonkers. Self build kit is defo on the cards in the future though.
VX220: Was in the running, I just didn't see one I REALLY liked. They're typically much cheaper than Elises (specifically the spec I went for) and have good tuning potential, no real down sides. I did prefer the aesthetics of the S2 Elise though and the S2 elise is available "newer".
Exige: After really learning the differences between an S2 Elise and Exige, they suddenly looked REALLY expensive for not a lot extra. Same/similar engine choices, better wheel fitment, better suspension and a hardtop. That's about it!
Elise: Lots of specs/models to chose from. S1 have great charm, and harder to get really tidy ones now. S2 choices are split roughly down the middle by K-Series or Toyota engines. K-Series plagued with HG issues and getting on a bit now, so decided on Toyota.
The 111R is the 190bhp Toyota engine, I believe was in the Corolla T-Sport cars and the Celica? It's about as much power as you can get out of a factory Elise without going supercharged or turbo. This car cost significantly more than a VX would have done, but still cheaper than the cheapest Exiges by 5 or 6 grand.
Honda K20 ones popped up from time to time, but never at the right time and place for me. I can only imagine they're mental.
As for my specific car, the 111R cars were coming through the usual classifieds locations very slowly - only 3 or 4 cars of note since I started half-looking back in October. I further narrowed down my options by deciding it had to be either red, or blue (specifically Laser Blue). This particular car was up for sale by a specialist dealer late last year, but upon the ad expiring it was taken down over winter (I assumed at the time it was sold); it got relisted last week - so off I went to see it!
One of the shots from the ad:
The car was way down in Essex, a 6 hour round trip for me but like I said - these things don't come up too often. I went down with a friend last weekend quite nervous that it would be a nail.
As it turned out, I didn't have much to worry about - it's in seemingly fine condition and looked really tidy. Drove well on the test drive, and the dealer was a nice guy to boot. (really nice classic car collection, plus a Lotus franchised dealer). As a 2006 car, it has LED rear lights and projectors up front... these cars changed almost every six months due to their parts-bin nature I guess, the later the better generally but I wouldn't have turned down a 2004 one! This was built with the optional extra carpets AND sun visors, but no air conditioning or cup holder!
I'd identified from online history that the car hadn't really moved since at least May 2015, the date of its last MOT expiration and had been SORN since. Not completely uncommon on these cars I guess, they go into hiding over winter and sometimes don't come out the next spring - like my fishing gear I suppose! Car is on 43k miles, so clearly been a weekend car its whole life.
It's had a service at a dealer every year until it went SORN, but I can't find any evidence of the big "C" service. I'm not exactly sure of the deal here, it's a cam chain but are they still routinely swapped? I'll look into that.
Upon viewing the car, it had no MOT and was due a service - so the dealer was going to take care of that inclusive of asking price. After identifying a few more niggles (identified either by it's MOT midweek or myself during the viewing), he sorted those too:
Excessive corrosion on rear brake lines (pipes changed)
One of the rear clusters had 4 LEDs out (cluster replaced)
Front tyres cracked (MOT advisory) (negotiated bit of discount)
Alloys lightly curbed (negotiated bit of discount)
Indicator cracked (replaced)
Weather was decent, traffic was kind to us - today was a good day. Pics on collection:
The Gent even brimmed the tank for me, rare behaviour for a dealer as it was on fumes during the test drive!!
The drive home was pretty epic, not as uncomfortable as I expected but a little bit intimidating on the motorway... being able to see directly under an L200 as it pulled alongside me was a little odd... I never drive cars confidently on test drives, so the performance of the 111R was a nice surprise after I got comfortable with it. The VTEC-esque kick is the strongest I've ever felt in a car, and it gets through the revs very nicely indeed. After the torque and power of the Subaru (400bhp/370torques), I've been bracing myself for a bit of a comedown but it's really not that bad, slower of course - but the feel of the car makes it very enjoyable.
Service station pictures...
Car did almost 39mpg on the drive home, so clear win over the Subaru there... :|
Handling wise, I've hardly thrown it round yet - but the steering feel I know is a cliched comment about these cars, but it's really something else. It's not a chore, but it's very rewarding. The car currently hints towards understeer the way I've driven it, so I don't fear it (yet). Apparently with wider front wheels and altered geo you can make it understeer-proof, which in turn will make it scary
Before spending any money, I want to spend a few weeks with it to make sure no gremlins appear. How I resist temptation we'll have to wait and see though, my preliminary plans are:
Short Term:
Sunstrip off (tomorrow :wave: )
Exige fitment wheels (wider fronts) and track tyres
New Exhaust, go back to the 111S (K-Series equiv of my car) styling of having a tailpipe come out each side of the numberplate rather than under the diffuser on the 111R.
Some side-pods (aesthetics) and maybe a front diffuser
Medium Term:
Suspension refresh, remove/clean/paint all wishbones and links - new bushes all round. Common job on these, as the gubbins aren't treated very well - and so look like they're from the deck of the titanic.
Brake refresh, remove/clean/paint calipers, braided hoses, etc.
Geo setup, but only after I've done a trackday or two to see how it feels
Long Term:
Supercharger
"Will see how it goes...":
Uprated Radiator
Baffled Sump
The community has so far been excellent, cheap trackdays with Lotus on Track and I've found a classic car/sports car specialist insurer that has done me a policy for £450ish - which INCLUDES 6 trackdays per year. That alone saves me 480quid from the Subaru trackday bolt-on insurance. It's a 4000 limited mileage policy mind, but sufficient for this.
The Subaru was the first car I properly modified, and I made a lot of mistakes which in turn cost a lot of money. This car should be good for me out of the box so I need to resist the urge to spend on shiny bits until I've at least experienced it properly and know which direction to take it. Hopefully I'll get it cleaned tomorrow morning and I can get some proper pictures up.
Thanks all for the comments.
To respond to some comments:
Fantastic showroom, thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
I've driven "on cam" cars before, Civic Type R being the main one. This Elise has a lift-kick like nothing I've felt before, it's a significant change in the character of the engine and it's not particularly lazy when sub 6k RPM either to be fair! I think I'll have plenty of fun in this car, I can see why a lower cam shift change would make the car more driveable though, even if it mitigated the feeling of the kick somewhat. One to consider.
I would have loved to have spent all today fussing over the car, but the Grandparents were coming round for dinner...
That didn't stop me washing the car at 8am though! Got it all nice and clean, nothing serious but a wipe down with AG SRP. I then planned to drive it just round the corner for a few photos, so off I pootled very slowly to prevent splashing the car. Oncoming traffic sprayed a massive muddy puddle all up my side, so stuff it - I went out for a drive!
30mins later, back on the drive washing it again!
I bought one of those Gliptone leather kits for my steering wheel when selling the Subaru, so went to work on the seats and wheel in the Lotus.
This is a before picture of the passenger seat, leather was just a little dry looking and not as black as it should be:
Wheel a bit grubby:
Afterwards:
It got wheeled into the garage whilst we entertained the Grandparents, then I got back into the garage for a quick going over with my leftover Werkstatt (Carlack) sealant.
Couple more pics for the "I need to address pile":
Window Seals on both sides have gone manky, seem dead easy to swap over though.
Some water ingress at somepoint I guess into the light lense. Replacements are stupid expensive, may need to either tolerate it or dismantle and see if I can fix. That's not a massive gash in the wing btw, it's the reflection of my striplight!
To respond to some comments:
Tiger Tim said:
Lovely car... I'm biased though as its the same colour as my k series s2.
Two things:
Book a walshy day and get on seloc. In a years time you'll be saying the same to someone else!
Definitely eyeing up some proper tuition time. I need to take the car on a cheap Blyton day or something as a "shakedown" to make sure nothing crops up, it would be daft to shell out for expensive tuition at a faraway racetrack if my radiator popped after 2 laps!Two things:
Book a walshy day and get on seloc. In a years time you'll be saying the same to someone else!
Diesel Meister said:
Lovely :-)
If it was Castle Lotus, was it Loon that sold it to you? I think he's a member on here still. Excellent taste in cars if I recall. I need to pay him a visit, see if I can get any PH points that translate into a test drive.
It was Castle Lotus yes, not sure if the gent I dealt with had an online presence so it may well be this Loon you speak of If it was Castle Lotus, was it Loon that sold it to you? I think he's a member on here still. Excellent taste in cars if I recall. I need to pay him a visit, see if I can get any PH points that translate into a test drive.
Fantastic showroom, thoroughly enjoyed the visit.Rick101 said:
Said hello previously on NYLOC. Not the busiest forum but a brilliant club with a lot of members and lots of events/drives.
Can't make it Tue, but will no doubt see you another time.
Get yourself on the Abbeville trip, it's a cracking weekend and great value.
C service is for K series. One of the benefits of the Yota lump is that it just needs a more standard minor/major/minor servicing. I think it's plugs after 6 years but only £40, so worth doing if you don't know when last done.
Cheers
Rick
p.s You really need to drive the R in the top end of the rev range. Keep your oil topped up to the max line or even a fraction over.
Thanks for the service info. I'll swap plugs as I've got no evidence of them being done.Can't make it Tue, but will no doubt see you another time.
Get yourself on the Abbeville trip, it's a cracking weekend and great value.
C service is for K series. One of the benefits of the Yota lump is that it just needs a more standard minor/major/minor servicing. I think it's plugs after 6 years but only £40, so worth doing if you don't know when last done.
Cheers
Rick
p.s You really need to drive the R in the top end of the rev range. Keep your oil topped up to the max line or even a fraction over.
Edited by Rick101 on Sunday 24th January 07:21
I've driven "on cam" cars before, Civic Type R being the main one. This Elise has a lift-kick like nothing I've felt before, it's a significant change in the character of the engine and it's not particularly lazy when sub 6k RPM either to be fair! I think I'll have plenty of fun in this car, I can see why a lower cam shift change would make the car more driveable though, even if it mitigated the feeling of the kick somewhat. One to consider.
I would have loved to have spent all today fussing over the car, but the Grandparents were coming round for dinner...
That didn't stop me washing the car at 8am though! Got it all nice and clean, nothing serious but a wipe down with AG SRP. I then planned to drive it just round the corner for a few photos, so off I pootled very slowly to prevent splashing the car. Oncoming traffic sprayed a massive muddy puddle all up my side, so stuff it - I went out for a drive!
30mins later, back on the drive washing it again!
I bought one of those Gliptone leather kits for my steering wheel when selling the Subaru, so went to work on the seats and wheel in the Lotus.
This is a before picture of the passenger seat, leather was just a little dry looking and not as black as it should be:
Wheel a bit grubby:
Afterwards:
It got wheeled into the garage whilst we entertained the Grandparents, then I got back into the garage for a quick going over with my leftover Werkstatt (Carlack) sealant.
Couple more pics for the "I need to address pile":
Window Seals on both sides have gone manky, seem dead easy to swap over though.
Some water ingress at somepoint I guess into the light lense. Replacements are stupid expensive, may need to either tolerate it or dismantle and see if I can fix. That's not a massive gash in the wing btw, it's the reflection of my striplight!
I've been thinking tyres all day.
Dilemma:
All tyres are fine on tread, but front ones are cracking. Nothing too scary, but I doubt I'll take them round a racetrack.
Rear tyres are Bridgestone S001's and fronts are Bridgestone RE040s (OEM fitment for my car I believe). I'm therefore concluding that front tyres are the original ones and the rears have been swapped at somepoint.
Option A: Get new alloy wheels in Exige fitment, with brand new tyres all round. Probably of track spec.
Option B: Replace just the fronts. Get Bridgestones again, probably S001's to match the rears.
Option C: Replace tyres all round with AD07s. These were OEM fitment for pretty much every other Elise of the era, think the bridgestones were a one-off?
Option C Part-2: Replace tyres all round, AD07 on the front and AD08R round the back. Reason for this is that the AD08R is NOT available in my front size, but it IS available in the Exige front size. Therefor, if I change to Exige wheels later I can at least recycle the rears and get matching fronts. It means running mixed compound front to back, which it seems a few people do and I'm not aware of any deaths as a result. AD08R rears are also within a quid of the price of AD07 rears.
My reason for veering away from A, is that it's contradicting my game-plan of seeing what the car is capable of out of the box. If I go wider sticky tyres, I'm then in baffled sump and uprated toe-link territory.
My reason for veering away from B is availability of tyres it seems, both S001 and RE040 seem hard to come by in the relevant sizes.
So that leaves me with C and C Part-2. Needs a day or so of thought to see if I want to mix compound or not.
It's probably also worth noting that the Yoko tyres for lotus were produced as a "LTS" model, I'm aware of that but I'm sceptical of them being significantly different and they're silly expensive.
I welcome any thoughts on this!
Dilemma:
All tyres are fine on tread, but front ones are cracking. Nothing too scary, but I doubt I'll take them round a racetrack.
Rear tyres are Bridgestone S001's and fronts are Bridgestone RE040s (OEM fitment for my car I believe). I'm therefore concluding that front tyres are the original ones and the rears have been swapped at somepoint.
Option A: Get new alloy wheels in Exige fitment, with brand new tyres all round. Probably of track spec.
Option B: Replace just the fronts. Get Bridgestones again, probably S001's to match the rears.
Option C: Replace tyres all round with AD07s. These were OEM fitment for pretty much every other Elise of the era, think the bridgestones were a one-off?
Option C Part-2: Replace tyres all round, AD07 on the front and AD08R round the back. Reason for this is that the AD08R is NOT available in my front size, but it IS available in the Exige front size. Therefor, if I change to Exige wheels later I can at least recycle the rears and get matching fronts. It means running mixed compound front to back, which it seems a few people do and I'm not aware of any deaths as a result. AD08R rears are also within a quid of the price of AD07 rears.
My reason for veering away from A, is that it's contradicting my game-plan of seeing what the car is capable of out of the box. If I go wider sticky tyres, I'm then in baffled sump and uprated toe-link territory.
My reason for veering away from B is availability of tyres it seems, both S001 and RE040 seem hard to come by in the relevant sizes.
So that leaves me with C and C Part-2. Needs a day or so of thought to see if I want to mix compound or not.
It's probably also worth noting that the Yoko tyres for lotus were produced as a "LTS" model, I'm aware of that but I'm sceptical of them being significantly different and they're silly expensive.
I welcome any thoughts on this!
Thanks Tickle, the AD08R all round is probably the end goal - but I was determined with this car to only bolt on upgrades after I experienced it a few times properly.
With the Subaru, I decided in September of that year to do some trackdays, in October I had new wheels, R888's and coilovers, then did my first track day. How much improvement did the R888's and coilovers add? I've got no idea.
Years later I come to sell it and it's back on standard rubber and suspension, it actually handled really well.
Yep I discovered that site with a bit of googling. AD07's all round come in at an attractive £330.
With the Subaru, I decided in September of that year to do some trackdays, in October I had new wheels, R888's and coilovers, then did my first track day. How much improvement did the R888's and coilovers add? I've got no idea.
Years later I come to sell it and it's back on standard rubber and suspension, it actually handled really well.
Yep I discovered that site with a bit of googling. AD07's all round come in at an attractive £330.
Done a bit of driving this week, attended my first North Yorkshire Owners Club meeting (NYLOC) and was rather impressed, chairman, treasurer - the works. Not like a tyre kicking session at the local Jap meet that's for sure!
Also took the car out last night, nice dry roads but driving this car in the dark is a bit of a headache - all oncoming traffic look like a full beam and it's blinding!
Took it out this morning, within 20miles managed to encounter bone dry sunny roads, horizontal snow, hail, rain and gail force winds - then back to bone dry sunny roads
After the drive, the car needed a clean so quickly blasted it off and took these photos literally 90seconds before a s
t load of dark clouds, snow and hail again! Tucked it into the garage about 20seconds before it all came down
Really, really enjoying this car so far. Getting comfortable now with basics like seating position, gear change, etc - and as a result I'm getting a bit more ballsy with it on the road though still within legal limits!
Also took the car out last night, nice dry roads but driving this car in the dark is a bit of a headache - all oncoming traffic look like a full beam and it's blinding!
Took it out this morning, within 20miles managed to encounter bone dry sunny roads, horizontal snow, hail, rain and gail force winds - then back to bone dry sunny roads
After the drive, the car needed a clean so quickly blasted it off and took these photos literally 90seconds before a s
t load of dark clouds, snow and hail again! Tucked it into the garage about 20seconds before it all came downReally, really enjoying this car so far. Getting comfortable now with basics like seating position, gear change, etc - and as a result I'm getting a bit more ballsy with it on the road though still within legal limits!
Cheers folks
As the car only came with the one key, I've been looking at options for a spare.
The key that I did get was just a plain old key, with a Cobra ballbag dongle on it. I did some research and ended up buying the following:
- Spare Cobra ballbag
- A blank generic key with similar internal layout to the Cobra ballbag.
The ballbag arrived first, so I had to programme it.
The steps are as follows:
1) Press and hold both buttons on ALL of the ballbags you want to programme. After being held for 10secs, their LED will hold on solid.
2) Turn ignition on/off three times within 10secs. The tacho gearchange light will remain on solid for a few seconds, then it'll go off.
3) Turn the ignition to on, the gearchange light will flash. You need to let it flash the number of times to reflect that digit of the pin code for your alarm.
4) Repeat for digits 2, 3 and 4.
5) Press the unlock button on each ballbag, done.
That was the procedure, but I didn't have the PIN for my alarm! Went through all the docs, no sign of it anywhere
Bit more googling suggested an idea, basically the gearchange light reacts differently if you get a digit right or wrong - a tell tale if you like. That meant that you can effectively guess your PIN by going through all the options!
Considering it "locks" your alarm for 10mins each time you get it wrong three times in a row... it took me about 6 hours to hack my alarm :|
I was very, very satisfied once done though - spare ballbag done!
Next up the key arrived, pretty easy task of splitting it and transferring the internals of my ballbag.
Here's what I started out with:
And finished with...
It works well, and was pretty cheap as far as replacement keys goes. Just need to get Timpsons to cut the blank and jobs a good un'.
As the car only came with the one key, I've been looking at options for a spare.
The key that I did get was just a plain old key, with a Cobra ballbag dongle on it. I did some research and ended up buying the following:
- Spare Cobra ballbag
- A blank generic key with similar internal layout to the Cobra ballbag.
The ballbag arrived first, so I had to programme it.
The steps are as follows:
1) Press and hold both buttons on ALL of the ballbags you want to programme. After being held for 10secs, their LED will hold on solid.
2) Turn ignition on/off three times within 10secs. The tacho gearchange light will remain on solid for a few seconds, then it'll go off.
3) Turn the ignition to on, the gearchange light will flash. You need to let it flash the number of times to reflect that digit of the pin code for your alarm.
4) Repeat for digits 2, 3 and 4.
5) Press the unlock button on each ballbag, done.
That was the procedure, but I didn't have the PIN for my alarm! Went through all the docs, no sign of it anywhere
Bit more googling suggested an idea, basically the gearchange light reacts differently if you get a digit right or wrong - a tell tale if you like. That meant that you can effectively guess your PIN by going through all the options!
Considering it "locks" your alarm for 10mins each time you get it wrong three times in a row... it took me about 6 hours to hack my alarm :|
I was very, very satisfied once done though - spare ballbag done!
Next up the key arrived, pretty easy task of splitting it and transferring the internals of my ballbag.
Here's what I started out with:
And finished with...
It works well, and was pretty cheap as far as replacement keys goes. Just need to get Timpsons to cut the blank and jobs a good un'.
Tin Hat said:
Super duper, big congrats!
My 2 penneth: bin the radio, use an iPod or earplugs, it makes the whole experience a bit less tiring-You will arrive as fresh as a daisy!
Enjoy,
Thanks My 2 penneth: bin the radio, use an iPod or earplugs, it makes the whole experience a bit less tiring-You will arrive as fresh as a daisy!
Enjoy,
I feel the wind/road noise to be quite acceptable in this car to be honest, and the radio aint' half bad! It's my first ever DAB radio in a car, who said these things were stripped down and basic?!
AyBee said:
Nice work with the key - really should get around to sorting my second key, because whilst I have the key, the fob doesn't work 
If the rubber breaks (which it will), buy a cheap keyring with a chain on it, cut off the keyring and you have a nice chain to use for the fob 
My main reason for sorting a spare so quick is the boot lid/enging cover. It's a two hand job to open it and fit the stay, and you need to use the key to open it - so it's natural to unlock it, lift the lid and put the key down in the boot whilst you rummage around. If the rubber breaks (which it will), buy a cheap keyring with a chain on it, cut off the keyring and you have a nice chain to use for the fob It's all too tempting to then shut the boot lid with your key trapped inside...
I've had the car on axle stands all of this week, mainly just to have a look around - check out all the gubbins and do a bit of cleaning.
Oh, and I also bought some new wheels which are due tomorrow so I've kept the car up on stands till they arrive. More on that tomorrow
While up on stands, I did a bit of cleaning up and attacked the calipers with good old' hammerite. Don't panic, they're not red - or worse, blue.
Before:
After:
See the state of the wishbones and track rod end? Can't wait to get those refurbed, probably next winter.
Next up I ripped out my arch liner on the rear passenger wheel well so I could have a look at my airbox. Car had been "serviced" the week I collected it, I guess the air filter wasn't changed...
Anyway, I want the car to make some more noise - but don't want to spend out on exhaust yet... so went for a cheap option.
I bought a TRD airbox which came on some of the later Exige cars I believe. It's basically got a bigger inlet, bigger panel filter and does away with the acoustic snorkle thingy.
Factory box with snorkle:
The cover off, this is the part I'll be replacing:
With...
Filter differences:
Getting it back in was a bit of a pig, I had to bend the bracket for it to make it fit - and then it was a case of forcing about 9 things into specific positions at the same time. Felt very similar to the good old days of refitting the TMIC on the Subaru, pain in the arse!
From the engine bay, just a capped off vacuum port which is no longer needed:
I've not actually started the car yet, but apparently should expect a tiny volume increase (mainly due to snorkle removal) on idle and low revs, but a much more eventful cam-change soundtrack. I'll record a quick ride out at the weekend hopefully
Oh, and I also bought some new wheels which are due tomorrow so I've kept the car up on stands till they arrive. More on that tomorrow
While up on stands, I did a bit of cleaning up and attacked the calipers with good old' hammerite. Don't panic, they're not red - or worse, blue.
Before:
After:
See the state of the wishbones and track rod end? Can't wait to get those refurbed, probably next winter.
Next up I ripped out my arch liner on the rear passenger wheel well so I could have a look at my airbox. Car had been "serviced" the week I collected it, I guess the air filter wasn't changed...
Anyway, I want the car to make some more noise - but don't want to spend out on exhaust yet... so went for a cheap option.
I bought a TRD airbox which came on some of the later Exige cars I believe. It's basically got a bigger inlet, bigger panel filter and does away with the acoustic snorkle thingy.
Factory box with snorkle:
The cover off, this is the part I'll be replacing:
With...
Filter differences:
Getting it back in was a bit of a pig, I had to bend the bracket for it to make it fit - and then it was a case of forcing about 9 things into specific positions at the same time. Felt very similar to the good old days of refitting the TMIC on the Subaru, pain in the arse!
From the engine bay, just a capped off vacuum port which is no longer needed:
I've not actually started the car yet, but apparently should expect a tiny volume increase (mainly due to snorkle removal) on idle and low revs, but a much more eventful cam-change soundtrack. I'll record a quick ride out at the weekend hopefully
Thanks again folks, some kind comments.
With the Lotus, as long as the factory calipers work for me - I'll keep them. They'll probably get a seal refresh over next winter and a proper paintjob (ie, one without a brush) but if I feel they're holding me back at any stage - AP's would be welcome back into my garage anytime
Rick101 said:
The TRD is very popular and makes a great noise.
Glad you kept calipers OE. They do look dated compared to most modern stuff but tarting them up with red paint just looks, well, tarted up.
Only caliper mod I would do is the AP mod, quite a bit of coin but as you already got the required Exige wheels.....
I had AP 6Pots on the Subaru and they were fantastic, but to be honest - I was nowhere near to the limit of the factory Brembo's on that car, I just needed to replace them because one of them had warped quite badly (sticking piston on a trackday).Glad you kept calipers OE. They do look dated compared to most modern stuff but tarting them up with red paint just looks, well, tarted up.
Only caliper mod I would do is the AP mod, quite a bit of coin but as you already got the required Exige wheels.....
With the Lotus, as long as the factory calipers work for me - I'll keep them. They'll probably get a seal refresh over next winter and a proper paintjob (ie, one without a brush
) but if I feel they're holding me back at any stage - AP's would be welcome back into my garage anytime The Bilsteins aren't showing any obvious sign of leaks - and no nasty noises, yet - but yeah I figure that suspension replacements won't be far away.
I had KW V3's on the Subaru with a million directions of adjustment and as a result, I spent most of my time "lost" in settings. I'd consider some fixed rate dampers, or at the most some 1 way adjustables...
I had KW V3's on the Subaru with a million directions of adjustment and as a result, I spent most of my time "lost" in settings. I'd consider some fixed rate dampers, or at the most some 1 way adjustables...
Right, wheels!
If you remember, these were my considerations:
Option A: Get new alloy wheels in Exige fitment, with brand new tyres all round. Probably of track spec.
Option B: Replace just the fronts. Get Bridgestones again, probably S001's to match the rears.
Option C: Replace tyres all round with AD07s. These were OEM fitment for pretty much every other Elise of the era, think the bridgestones were a one-off.
I ended up kinda going for Option A, but not quite. To get Exige wheels would have been quite lucky, they come up rarely it seems and are expensive when they do. With that in mind, I was likely to go after-market - my good old faithful TD Pro Race 1.2s were high on the list.
Brand new I could get a set in Exige fitment for around £500, priced up tyres for about another £400 - so I parked the idea for now.
I was then cruising through eBay as you do, and saw a set of 1.2's in Exige fitment, with A048 LTS tyres... apparently only done 2 track days and had loads of tread left. Stuck a bid in, ended up winning them for £550
They arrived this weekend and I'm over the moon with the condition of the wheels and tyres. The wheels had a couple of tiny chips, but to be honest they look like handling damage rather than stone chips... perhaps even happened in transit to me but they're invisible from more than 2 feet away
Tyres are equally brilliant, they barely look scrubbed in with loads of tread and equal wear all around.
Oh, they came in black too. Never had black wheels before as I've never been a fan. 9 times out of 10 the colour hides the detail in the wheel, and they scratch easily (or at least show scratches easily), but these were cheap and I quite like them on the car. If/When they come for refurb, they may go to silver or whatever but I've got time to think about that.
Starting to look like a naff pit garage...
Got them polished up and coated in Poorboy's finest. I think I'd quite like some Lotus centre caps for them to break up the black a bit.
Had technicolour wheelnuts too, so they got a scrub up and a dusting of gloss black. Would like to do a stud conversion at somepoint.
Went out for a drive today with some NYLOC members, went over the Pennines and had a look round a Lotus dealer in Cheshire. I was by far in the oldest/crappest car, surrounded by V6 Exiges which sounded fantastic.
As the roads were wet in the morning, I got one last photo of a clean car!
View of some of the Oakmere Lotus collection. I did get some ideas for "modernising" mine a bit aesthetically from the newer Elises'.
Car was fantastic all day, with the exception of left hand turns! I developed a scuffing sound when pulling a consistent left turn and got home to find the rubber sheathing on the handbrake cable must have been catching on the balance weights as they rotated past. Nothing a cable tie couldn't sort :thumbs:
10mins of daylight left, so of course - car got cleaned before being tucked up again.
If you remember, these were my considerations:
Option A: Get new alloy wheels in Exige fitment, with brand new tyres all round. Probably of track spec.
Option B: Replace just the fronts. Get Bridgestones again, probably S001's to match the rears.
Option C: Replace tyres all round with AD07s. These were OEM fitment for pretty much every other Elise of the era, think the bridgestones were a one-off.
I ended up kinda going for Option A, but not quite. To get Exige wheels would have been quite lucky, they come up rarely it seems and are expensive when they do. With that in mind, I was likely to go after-market - my good old faithful TD Pro Race 1.2s were high on the list.
Brand new I could get a set in Exige fitment for around £500, priced up tyres for about another £400 - so I parked the idea for now.
I was then cruising through eBay as you do, and saw a set of 1.2's in Exige fitment, with A048 LTS tyres... apparently only done 2 track days and had loads of tread left. Stuck a bid in, ended up winning them for £550
They arrived this weekend and I'm over the moon with the condition of the wheels and tyres. The wheels had a couple of tiny chips, but to be honest they look like handling damage rather than stone chips... perhaps even happened in transit to me but they're invisible from more than 2 feet away
Tyres are equally brilliant, they barely look scrubbed in with loads of tread and equal wear all around.
Oh, they came in black too. Never had black wheels before as I've never been a fan. 9 times out of 10 the colour hides the detail in the wheel, and they scratch easily (or at least show scratches easily), but these were cheap and I quite like them on the car. If/When they come for refurb, they may go to silver or whatever but I've got time to think about that.
Starting to look like a naff pit garage...
Got them polished up and coated in Poorboy's finest. I think I'd quite like some Lotus centre caps for them to break up the black a bit.
Had technicolour wheelnuts too, so they got a scrub up and a dusting of gloss black. Would like to do a stud conversion at somepoint.
Went out for a drive today with some NYLOC members, went over the Pennines and had a look round a Lotus dealer in Cheshire. I was by far in the oldest/crappest car, surrounded by V6 Exiges which sounded fantastic.
As the roads were wet in the morning, I got one last photo of a clean car!
View of some of the Oakmere Lotus collection. I did get some ideas for "modernising" mine a bit aesthetically from the newer Elises'.
Car was fantastic all day, with the exception of left hand turns! I developed a scuffing sound when pulling a consistent left turn and got home to find the rubber sheathing on the handbrake cable must have been catching on the balance weights as they rotated past. Nothing a cable tie couldn't sort :thumbs:
10mins of daylight left, so of course - car got cleaned before being tucked up again.
The "bad" bit though, is that these wheels and tyres have put me in a sticky spot. Internet said I shouldn't track this car on these wheels and tyres without both a baffled sump and uprated toe links.
Realistically, I'll drive this car like it's made out of glass for the first few track days until I learn it - so no way will I be pulling enough G's to cause problems, but paranoia has still got a hold of me.
Considering solving the initial problem on the skinny wheels by getting some part worns to replace the cracked ones. For sub £50 I could get them "safe" and perhaps do a couple of trackdays on my crap wheels and tyres first.
That way, I get to experience the car in OEM format (as I wanted to do in the first place), I'm not worried about oil surge or toe-links snapping and I get to get my moneys' worth out of the bridgestones!
AO48's can wait in the wings, then I can step up performance later in summer after the sump and links have been sorted.
Realistically, I'll drive this car like it's made out of glass for the first few track days until I learn it - so no way will I be pulling enough G's to cause problems, but paranoia has still got a hold of me.
Considering solving the initial problem on the skinny wheels by getting some part worns to replace the cracked ones. For sub £50 I could get them "safe" and perhaps do a couple of trackdays on my crap wheels and tyres first.
That way, I get to experience the car in OEM format (as I wanted to do in the first place), I'm not worried about oil surge or toe-links snapping and I get to get my moneys' worth out of the bridgestones!
AO48's can wait in the wings, then I can step up performance later in summer after the sump and links have been sorted.
Had a fun few days with the car, just driving around really when I probably should be nursing it in the garage :|
Had my first bit of on-the-road drama in it on Saturday, took it out for a leisurely drive to test some go-pro mounting positions and about 400metres from home I came round the same 90degrees left that I take several times a day, and the road was a combination of greasy/slimey/cold and the car understeered into it a little bit at very slow speed. Gave it a bit of gas and the back came round nicely, caught it and carried on like a boss - but I fking st my pants!
Since I was testing gopro mounts, I actually got it on video too - but it looks nowhere near as dramatic or cool as it felt!
Since then I've half-intentionally done that a few more times on various corners just playing with the low limits on terrible slippy roads, I can't wait to get some proper circuit time with this car and hopefully some tuition - it seems to have so much more potential for driver input than the Subaru had, at least at lower speeds.
Today I popped in to see the guys at Track Torque in North Yorks, they did the geo on my Subaru a few times and they also happen to be Lotus specialists so they had a quick look over the car to see if it had any lurking nasties for me to deal with. Nothing major, but the handbrake cable has been scuffing on the inside of my driver side rear wheel on heavy left turns. As a result, the rubber sheathing has worn through and the cable has started corroding. Additionally, my rear flexi brake hoses are looking questionable due to heavy corrosion at their fittings so advised to swap them out.
Normally I'd go for braided hoses fairly early into ownership of a car, just because they're cheap and (IMO) make a considerable difference for no real drawbacks. With the Lotus however, I'd read that the front clam needs to come off for the fronts. That job doesn't scare me particularly, but if/when the clam comes off - I'd want to tackle a load of other preventative maintenance at the same time, which I don't really want to be funding right now...
That said, Track Torque suggested I could just about do it with the clam still in place, and some further googling suggested that it's doable on Elises but not Exiges. With that in mind, I've ordered some braided hoses and collected a handbrake cable from JCT600 Lotus in Leeds this morning
I've got some time off work this week, so depending on how the weather is I may get the car jacked up and get this work done this week... or at least see how far I can get. Worse case scenario I can do the handbrake cable and the rear flexi's which are the priority. The fronts can come later if needed.
Can't really have a thread update without a photo, so here's a before and after from today...
Had my first bit of on-the-road drama in it on Saturday, took it out for a leisurely drive to test some go-pro mounting positions and about 400metres from home I came round the same 90degrees left that I take several times a day, and the road was a combination of greasy/slimey/cold and the car understeered into it a little bit at very slow speed. Gave it a bit of gas and the back came round nicely, caught it and carried on like a boss - but I f
king st my pants!Since I was testing gopro mounts, I actually got it on video too - but it looks nowhere near as dramatic or cool as it felt!
Since then I've half-intentionally done that a few more times on various corners just playing with the low limits on terrible slippy roads, I can't wait to get some proper circuit time with this car and hopefully some tuition - it seems to have so much more potential for driver input than the Subaru had, at least at lower speeds.
Today I popped in to see the guys at Track Torque in North Yorks, they did the geo on my Subaru a few times and they also happen to be Lotus specialists so they had a quick look over the car to see if it had any lurking nasties for me to deal with. Nothing major, but the handbrake cable has been scuffing on the inside of my driver side rear wheel on heavy left turns. As a result, the rubber sheathing has worn through and the cable has started corroding. Additionally, my rear flexi brake hoses are looking questionable due to heavy corrosion at their fittings so advised to swap them out.
Normally I'd go for braided hoses fairly early into ownership of a car, just because they're cheap and (IMO) make a considerable difference for no real drawbacks. With the Lotus however, I'd read that the front clam needs to come off for the fronts. That job doesn't scare me particularly, but if/when the clam comes off - I'd want to tackle a load of other preventative maintenance at the same time, which I don't really want to be funding right now...
That said, Track Torque suggested I could just about do it with the clam still in place, and some further googling suggested that it's doable on Elises but not Exiges. With that in mind, I've ordered some braided hoses and collected a handbrake cable from JCT600 Lotus in Leeds this morning
I've got some time off work this week, so depending on how the weather is I may get the car jacked up and get this work done this week... or at least see how far I can get. Worse case scenario I can do the handbrake cable and the rear flexi's which are the priority. The fronts can come later if needed.
Can't really have a thread update without a photo, so here's a before and after from today...
Rick101 said:
Always good to learn the limits, more so on one of these.
Used TT in the past but wasn't that keen and go over to Pheonix now. You've prob seen Jon Seal has just started (officially) doing service work.
Of course if you've got a good relationship with TT, no need to change and they're local and it's a fun proving route home!
Yeah I saw that Jon was now doing servicing, can only be good for us customers to have more people squabbling for business Used TT in the past but wasn't that keen and go over to Pheonix now. You've prob seen Jon Seal has just started (officially) doing service work.
Of course if you've got a good relationship with TT, no need to change and they're local and it's a fun proving route home!
Reading my post back, it maybe sounds like I've been hooning around everywhere sideways but that's very much not the case!! The roads have been almost skidpan like round here though, lots of mud from the farm vehicles + low temperatures + A048 tyres means the threshold for the "limits" is considerably lower.
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