Lotus Exige S2 - Modified
Discussion
After selling my Zenos E10R initially wanting to go for another Atom, an Atom 4. I originally enquired in June and waiting list was around 12 months.. so after dithering then by time Zenos sold waiting list was 2yrs plus, so I decided against it.
So I was on hunt for another toy. Criteria was lightweight, fairly depreciation proof and budget no more than 35k.... this doesnt really leave much.
I very nearly pulled the trigger on an atom 3.5 but decided to go view a S2 exige that was relatively local...
First pf all the car in question had been subject to a crash and as a result of that was written off in 2016. - This is very much a strict NO for many many people, but from my understanding it takes very little to write off a lotus. Now generally i would always stay away but after a few emails i decided to take my freind (a complete lotus nut) along and view it, At this point I had the pics of damage and what was done, also my freind had spoke to a few lotus "people" who knew the car and they all confirmed the owner was genuine, an enthusiast and had spent alot of money on the car even prior to the crash, sadly he had spent in excess of 10k upgrading it literally just before he bumped it!!
This is the spec that was initially on the car....
Pro Alloy charge cooler
Pro Alloy breather system
Pro Alloy filler neck
Pro Alloy top mount fan kit
Pro Alloy baffled tank
Pro Alloy uprated water radiator
Pro Alloy lightweight boost pipes
3inch supercharger pulley
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Eibach spring valves
Powerflex engine mounts
Specialist Components delta ECU
Specialist Components guages
2bular Race Manifold
Janspeed exhaust
Alitech gear selector
Stage 3 clutch
Lightweight flywheel
Quaife LSD
Jubu gearset including 3rd 4th and 5-1final drive
Eratacetal Bushes all round
1" Adjustable antirol bar
Bilstein fully adjustable suspension with external cans. Serviced at 21k
Carbon APR side skirts
Carbon APR front splitter
Safety Devices full roll cage
Full stainless fasteners and bolts with nylon washers
All wishbones removed dipped and powdercoated.
Schroth Harnesses
Not only that spec it also had spares -
Motorsport Clams front and rear.
Carbon APR cannards
Carbon APR rear spoiker
OMP detachable steerong wheel with spacers
Carbon Diffuser
2bular decat
2bular backbox
H1 exhuast straight through custom made
Tillet B6 seats
Fire extuinguisher system
Battery isolator
Fast fill fuel can.
So this had the potential to be a great fast road/track Exige.
Car proved to be as straight as everyone said and a full inspection prived it was very light damage and it drove as straight as any car i have ever had.
The colour match on the genuine clams that were on it was pretty bad due to the car getting painted with two different mixes at two different times/painters.. This was a great bargaining tool.
After some thinking i thought at the right price i would take a shot on it.
So off we went on a damp Saturday morning with a box van to take all spares away and my Lotus man could drive the car back.
Another test drive before money was exchanged and a few more checks the car was actually proving to be better than ever could have expected.
The car went straight to my lotus mans garage for him to check over and me to decide which way i wanted to go with it.
It was a dilemma for me and kept changing my mind, but as it was far from standard anyway and had been tarnished with "history" i thought its never going to be for a collector despite me being the 3rd owner and only 22k miles i decided to get the Motorsport clams on, APR spoilers, full loud 2bular exhaust system on. One of the main draws for this route was becuase the paint on the motorsport clams was a perfect match to the doors, panels and roof so no paintwork would be needed.
So heres some pics...
How i picked it up.
Parked in garage ready to be stripped
Spares
Rear clam off
Motorsport clam on with carbon APR spoiler - not usually a fan of these spoilers at all and do prefer the 2010 spoilers but was already drilled and fitted and kind of matched the hardcore feel of the car as well as being similar to the later exige 380's etc.
Oh and also the pics do seem to make it look far bigger from the rear prospective.
In fact that perspective from rear makes it look comically large and ridiculous!
2bular system on and panel delete kit as well as carbon diffuser - again i was a bit aprehensive with this, especially with the noise but it does sound awesome ... but at the same time will be tiresome.. so will see how it goes, may have to put janspeed back on and panel etc..
PS Note the plate, I already owned the plate and is a bit of fun am sure people will ridicule the car purely becuase of the plate, which is just sad (its only a plate!)
Front clam off ready for Motorsport front clam
While this was off it would be rude not to upgrade the brakes.. i felt that even though pads had been upgraded it was a weak link...
AP 4 pot front calipers
308mm AP floating discs with bells
So thats about where we are at the moment..
Have to play about with adding indicators to Motorsport front clam.
have a few parts on order such as Central locking module, all badges and decals, toe eyes front and rear, aluminium billet indicator stalks, OMP steering wheel mount... among other things im sure, ive forgotten about..
This is how it should look when finished
So I was on hunt for another toy. Criteria was lightweight, fairly depreciation proof and budget no more than 35k.... this doesnt really leave much.
I very nearly pulled the trigger on an atom 3.5 but decided to go view a S2 exige that was relatively local...
First pf all the car in question had been subject to a crash and as a result of that was written off in 2016. - This is very much a strict NO for many many people, but from my understanding it takes very little to write off a lotus. Now generally i would always stay away but after a few emails i decided to take my freind (a complete lotus nut) along and view it, At this point I had the pics of damage and what was done, also my freind had spoke to a few lotus "people" who knew the car and they all confirmed the owner was genuine, an enthusiast and had spent alot of money on the car even prior to the crash, sadly he had spent in excess of 10k upgrading it literally just before he bumped it!!
This is the spec that was initially on the car....
Pro Alloy charge cooler
Pro Alloy breather system
Pro Alloy filler neck
Pro Alloy top mount fan kit
Pro Alloy baffled tank
Pro Alloy uprated water radiator
Pro Alloy lightweight boost pipes
3inch supercharger pulley
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Eibach spring valves
Powerflex engine mounts
Specialist Components delta ECU
Specialist Components guages
2bular Race Manifold
Janspeed exhaust
Alitech gear selector
Stage 3 clutch
Lightweight flywheel
Quaife LSD
Jubu gearset including 3rd 4th and 5-1final drive
Eratacetal Bushes all round
1" Adjustable antirol bar
Bilstein fully adjustable suspension with external cans. Serviced at 21k
Carbon APR side skirts
Carbon APR front splitter
Safety Devices full roll cage
Full stainless fasteners and bolts with nylon washers
All wishbones removed dipped and powdercoated.
Schroth Harnesses
Not only that spec it also had spares -
Motorsport Clams front and rear.
Carbon APR cannards
Carbon APR rear spoiker
OMP detachable steerong wheel with spacers
Carbon Diffuser
2bular decat
2bular backbox
H1 exhuast straight through custom made
Tillet B6 seats
Fire extuinguisher system
Battery isolator
Fast fill fuel can.
So this had the potential to be a great fast road/track Exige.
Car proved to be as straight as everyone said and a full inspection prived it was very light damage and it drove as straight as any car i have ever had.
The colour match on the genuine clams that were on it was pretty bad due to the car getting painted with two different mixes at two different times/painters.. This was a great bargaining tool.
After some thinking i thought at the right price i would take a shot on it.
So off we went on a damp Saturday morning with a box van to take all spares away and my Lotus man could drive the car back.
Another test drive before money was exchanged and a few more checks the car was actually proving to be better than ever could have expected.
The car went straight to my lotus mans garage for him to check over and me to decide which way i wanted to go with it.
It was a dilemma for me and kept changing my mind, but as it was far from standard anyway and had been tarnished with "history" i thought its never going to be for a collector despite me being the 3rd owner and only 22k miles i decided to get the Motorsport clams on, APR spoilers, full loud 2bular exhaust system on. One of the main draws for this route was becuase the paint on the motorsport clams was a perfect match to the doors, panels and roof so no paintwork would be needed.
So heres some pics...
How i picked it up.
Parked in garage ready to be stripped
Spares
Rear clam off
Motorsport clam on with carbon APR spoiler - not usually a fan of these spoilers at all and do prefer the 2010 spoilers but was already drilled and fitted and kind of matched the hardcore feel of the car as well as being similar to the later exige 380's etc.
Oh and also the pics do seem to make it look far bigger from the rear prospective.
In fact that perspective from rear makes it look comically large and ridiculous!
2bular system on and panel delete kit as well as carbon diffuser - again i was a bit aprehensive with this, especially with the noise but it does sound awesome ... but at the same time will be tiresome.. so will see how it goes, may have to put janspeed back on and panel etc..
PS Note the plate, I already owned the plate and is a bit of fun am sure people will ridicule the car purely becuase of the plate, which is just sad (its only a plate!)
Front clam off ready for Motorsport front clam
While this was off it would be rude not to upgrade the brakes.. i felt that even though pads had been upgraded it was a weak link...
AP 4 pot front calipers
308mm AP floating discs with bells
So thats about where we are at the moment..
Have to play about with adding indicators to Motorsport front clam.
have a few parts on order such as Central locking module, all badges and decals, toe eyes front and rear, aluminium billet indicator stalks, OMP steering wheel mount... among other things im sure, ive forgotten about..
This is how it should look when finished
Edited by likesachange on Tuesday 27th November 16:51
lukeharding said:
Love the front clam especially, though the whole car does look a little wild! (especially the rear wing which looks ginormous). I've heard that for cars with category markers that having them inspected by Autolign (?) can help with removing the marker and restoring some value to it. Look forward to many more photos! 
Well the Exige is designed to be a little wild! And the more I look at the picture from the rear the more I cringe at how bad that spoiler looks.. but in the flesh I can promise you it doesn't look anywhere near that bad..
Interesting point regarding the inspection. I've not heard of that but when time comes to sell I will happily take it to any place for a thorough inspection.
Mutton said:
Looking very good, and one of the few alternatives to something like a Zenos R.
What made you decide to sell the Zenos? I had a few passenger laps in a modified Zenos R at Snetterton a couple of months ago with a very nice chap called Roy? and was impressed enough to maybe consider buying one next year.
Sold the zenos mainly because it was a little fragile and me living 300miles away from Colin (the guru) and pretty much same distance from other guys in the know, so when it needed something it was a pita.What made you decide to sell the Zenos? I had a few passenger laps in a modified Zenos R at Snetterton a couple of months ago with a very nice chap called Roy? and was impressed enough to maybe consider buying one next year.
But also I rarely keep a car for more than 6 months .. had the zenos for nearly a year.
Stunning car in the flesh. And superb handling though the low down torque and on off delivery of the turbo made it quite lairy
Shnozz said:
Cracking car - love what you have done with it.
What have you decided to do with the indicators on the motorsport clam?
Good friend of mine rebuilt his (originally orange...) Exige with motorsport clams etc. Looked wild when it was finished.
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That looks amazing... Presume it's got full livery and yellow stripes on it now?? If so seen it on FB.What have you decided to do with the indicators on the motorsport clam?
Good friend of mine rebuilt his (originally orange...) Exige with motorsport clams etc. Looked wild when it was finished.
Indicators are now in LED/DRL strip form situated under front lights in intake vents
Well better weather is now here (briefly no doubt) so getting some use out of it and finally some hard road miles..
Its such a blast.
Went up the usual loop near me with a couple of friends in there M2's...
I swapped with an M2 halfway as I do love the M2 but never drove one.. Wow it honestly felt like an X5! Not sure what that tells me other than don't review a car directly after driving the exige.
Would make a great daily I guess, but for kicks it really isn't on the same page.. (Sorry Mr Brown)
Although I'm pretty sure he agrees..
Some pics
Its such a blast.
Went up the usual loop near me with a couple of friends in there M2's...
I swapped with an M2 halfway as I do love the M2 but never drove one.. Wow it honestly felt like an X5! Not sure what that tells me other than don't review a car directly after driving the exige.
Would make a great daily I guess, but for kicks it really isn't on the same page.. (Sorry Mr Brown)
Although I'm pretty sure he agrees..
Some pics
mikeyb1987 said:
likesachange said:
I'm probably at the other end of the country... Carlisle based..
It's a great road this time of year on an evening... Very little traffic!
I'll have to keep an eye out for you as I'm near Penrith. I'll be in a Mini GP2 (most likely up Hartside too!).It's a great road this time of year on an evening... Very little traffic!
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