Exige V6 Cup / CupR

[Candellara]

Anyone on here own one, or have one on order.

Thoughts please

[321freeflow]

http://www.exiges.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=...

Gavin's on a round-Europe trip with his Cup at the moment.

[Stephanie Plum]

Lots of discussions on www.seloc.org

[bobo]

had mine for 1500 miles. its an S not a CUP ... might give you a rough idea though...this car is such a fking good road car im not sure the cup is an upgrade unless you really are 90/100 in favor of just track use.... bit of a waste considering just how competent the exige is as an all rounder.

upside
absolutely whacking performance, straightline and handling.
build quality is good
stunning looks and real presence, total drama styling
i have the leather interior option - gets rid of the nasty dash plastics.
easy to spend 8 hours in the driving seat no problems so euro trips will be easy.
easier to drive than an elise day to day.
glad i didnt spec the race back as its pointless imho, i like to drive my own cars (great u have the choice to spec it or not though) and the slightly softer setup of non RP cars is preferable in a car that isnt just a track slag but gets used every day.


neutral
attention. getting filmed by random people 3 times today in the west end in under an hour is a bit errrr...weird. i dont get that in an italia!
steering is heavy for parking no real bother though
exhaust note could be a touch louder inside the car

negative
the gearbox and changing quickly, not great. apparently they take a few miles to bed in and linkages can be adjusted. so lets see.
cant see when your AC button is on or off, who cares!
radio is ste, who cares!



im off on a euro trip - london - alps - southern italy - spain - back to london next week so a fair few miles with track days thrown in.

should be a piece of cake judging on what i know so far..

hope that helps. oh and as a package this is a more than the sum of its parts trade. gt3 performance for relative buttons and an easy car to live with day to day

basically not only the fastest but best and most complete sports car lotus has built ..... and i say that after owning a few.

Edited by bobo on Sunday 18th August 16:20

[quantum2000]

glad i didnt spec the race back as its pointless imho, i like to drive my own cars (great u have the choice to spec it or not though) and the slightly softer setup of non RP cars is preferable in a car that isnt just a track slag but gets used every day.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Have to disagree with you on this one. IMO the car should have come with race mode as standard. It totally transforms the car on road and track. Throttle response is so much sharper than in touring and the car behaves better than when in sport, you can still turn everything off if you wanted.

[bobo]

Quantum thats why I said im glad u have the choice.

I drove both cars with and without before I decided.

Hows your gearbox from 2nd to 3rd shifting quickly ?

[quantum2000]

2nd to 3rd seems ok, even at high revs.

I use to struggle with 4th, but learnt its slightly offset. 1st can sometimes be a pain, requiring a firm shove to engage.

The gearbox has got better with mileage though.

My only concern at the minute is, I don't have enough time to actually drive it!

[The Pits]

The question was about the Cup vs CupR. No answers as yet!

A full and detailed account including videos here:

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/55918-e...

The CupR is not road legal, has no boot, full aero pack and can be ordered with xtrac sequential paddleshift. Weight is 1040kg and a little more power is offered mainly from upgraded airbox to give 366PS. But CupRs have been road registered for other countries so it may be possible. Far easier to upgrade a regular Cup car with the aero bits however.

The road legal Cup car weighs 1110kg (66kg less than standard).

[jackal]

Candellara said:

Anyone on here own one, or have one on order.

Thoughts please

A lot better than a strad to drive thats for sure !

[Candellara]

The Pits said:

The question was about the Cup vs CupR. No answers as yet!

A full and detailed account including videos here:

http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/55918-e...

The CupR is not road legal, has no boot, full aero pack and can be ordered with xtrac sequential paddleshift. Weight is 1040kg and a little more power is offered mainly from upgraded airbox to give 366PS. But CupRs have been road registered for other countries so it may be possible. Far easier to upgrade a regular Cup car with the aero bits however.

The road legal Cup car weighs 1110kg (66kg less than standard).

Ok, I think the Cup is for me. Got the list of options. Delivery Jan 2014.

I'm in several minds about colour - Orange, Red or asking for Motorsport black with JPS livery inc gold wheels with red calipers.

What options are most going for? as you can add quite a few Cup R bits if required? Also, i notice the brake upgrade - but no more detail?

What's the deal with the exhaust system? The Race Pack gives the switchable function but is there anything "louder"?

Edited by Candellara on Tuesday 20th August 19:47

Edited by Candellara on Tuesday 20th August 19:48

[The Pits]

Candellara said:

Ok, I think the Cup is for me. Got the list of options. Delivery Jan 2014.

I'm in several minds about colour - Orange, Red or asking for Motorsport black with JPS livery inc gold wheels with red calipers.

What options are most going for? as you can add quite a few Cup R bits if required? Also, i notice the brake upgrade - but no more detail?

What's the deal with the exhaust system? The Race Pack gives the switchable function but is there anything "louder"?

Edited by Candellara on Tuesday 20th August 19:47

Edited by Candellara on Tuesday 20th August 19:48

I wanted Motorsports Black, it looks cool no doubt, but doesn't do much to contrast with the matt black panels. I'm now glad I went for a brighter colour. The uprated '2 piece' brakes are standard on a Cup as are red calipers. Lotus do a Sports Exhaust already, it has a twin exit pipe design and looks great. It's no longer 'switchable' however so permanently loud which could become an issue on some tracks like Bedford with very strict noise limits. Quite a few other options for exhaust are appearing now. Larini do one as do 2bular. I think the 2bular one retains the exhaust valve. I'm hoping someone will offer a titanium system soon.

I went for aircon (essential) and diamond cut wheels (desirable). I was very tempted by the ohlins damper upgrade but without the opportunity to try them on the road it made more sense to see how I got on with the Nitrons first. So far so good on that front. I think adjustment is a bit easier on the Nitrons but there's no denying the Ohlins quality but for the road I don't need anything firmer (Ohlins are said to be another 10% firmer). All these things can be done later, along with the full-fat aero pack. I think the car looks even better with the pukka wing and splitter but again, happy to experience the car as standard to begin with and take a view on upgrades later on.

Any other questions feel free to PM me here or at thelotusforums

I hope you do get a Cup, it's very much Lotus's 'RS' version of the Exige V6. Raw, precise and intense!

cheers

[lotus211]

I'm a fan of the new v6 S and thought about buying one. In the end I dipped my toe in With a 2010 exige s and really enjoying it. If I'm honest I think lotus shud have made the cAr a little bigger and appealed to a bigger audience as I think some still see it as a toy car. Not that I do btw, I love it

[bobo]

Couldnt agree more and am so thankful the v6 is bigger on the outside. It looks compact but not toyish at all

[lotus211]

bobo said:

Couldnt agree more and am so thankful the v6 is bigger on the outside. It looks compact but not toyish at all

But do u not think the internal dimensions should have been bigger ?

[The Pits]

Plenty of bigger cars around if that's what floats your boat.

I love the fact that it's just big enough. And fits me like a glove (I'm 6'2").

It feels like no other car and the benefits of keeping the weight to a minimum are endless. In fact everything else seems unnecessarily big, dim witted and heavy to me now.

I have very little interest in big, heavy cars now. Been there, been disappointed too many times.

And just in case anyone was in any doubt, the high sills are there for side impact protection so easily worth the clamber over (very easy with the roof off as it happens).

[Thorburn]

The Pits said:

And just in case anyone was in any doubt, the high sills are there for side impact protection so easily worth the clamber over (very easy with the roof off as it happens).

I don't mind the sills, but they're there because you need big box sections to get stiffness from an extruded aluminium chassis.

The Cup R's did look ace at Brands Hatch at the weekend, won both Lotus Cup Europe races.

Edited by Thorburn on Thursday 29th August 08:57

[Candellara]

That'd would be my only criticism of the car. 6 inches wider, a foot longer & the resulting road presence and slightly larger cabin with a nicer instrument binnacle. Job done!

[Top cat S2]

Candellara said:

That'd would be my only criticism of the car. 6 inches wider, a foot longer & the resulting road presence and slightly larger cabin with a nicer instrument binnacle. Job done!

That would be the Evora then.

[Thorburn]

Top cat S2 said:

That would be the Evora then.

If they do one then I'd put money on a next generation Exige being Evora based.

[Candellara]

Top cat S2 said:

That would be the Evora then.

Not struck on the looks of the Evora