Thinking of buying a 2013 Exige V6s, what to look out for?

[Gibbo205]

Hi there

Toying with the idea of trying my first Lotus as I quite love the looks of the S3 Exige and have some questions, first I see there are packs, what are they?
Race Package?
Sports Package?
Premium Package?

I see they have 345HP, do they feel proper fast, anyone timed like 0-100mph, 1/4 mile etc, I know not strictly a Lotus strength but I love squeezing the go pedal in like 3rd and being pinned in my seat.

Anyone here done Stage 1 air box and tune for 370HP, worth it?

What issues to look for and weaknesses of the car?

[schrodinger]

Gibbo205 said:

Hi there

Toying with the idea of trying my first Lotus as I quite love the looks of the S3 Exige and have some questions, first I see there are packs, what are they?
Race Package?
Sports Package?
Premium Package?

I see they have 345HP, do they feel proper fast, anyone timed like 0-100mph, 1/4 mile etc, I know not strictly a Lotus strength but I love squeezing the go pedal in like 3rd and being pinned in my seat.

Anyone here done Stage 1 air box and tune for 370HP, worth it?

What issues to look for and weaknesses of the car?

There's info on the packs on the lotus cars site - they have not changed significantly since 2013. Race pack gives traction control race mode plus suspension optimised for trofeo tyres; premium and premium sport packs give different interiors.

Make sure Car has air con (an option) too.

Whether they feel "proper fast" is debatable. They will do 100 in around 8-9 secs, but a litchfield gt-r will feel far faster - and tbh if this is your main concern then that's a better bet. Where the lotus wins is in the way it drives- there is nothing which approaches it for steering feel.

Main weakness in the early cars is that the gearbox, when hot (e.g. On track) can be recalcitrant. Fixed by cable adjustment and / or oil cooler. All lotus are generally very reliable for the main things, thanks to the Toyota powetrain. Most will, however, suffer niggles such as squeaks and rattles.

As a Car to drive to the track, hammer round, and drive home there is little to beat it.

[Porsche911R]

Gibbo205 said:

Hi there

Toying with the idea of trying my first Lotus as I quite love the looks of the S3 Exige and have some questions, first I see there are packs, what are they?
Race Package?
Sports Package?
Premium Package?

I see they have 345HP, do they feel proper fast, anyone timed like 0-100mph, 1/4 mile etc, I know not strictly a Lotus strength but I love squeezing the go pedal in like 3rd and being pinned in my seat.

Anyone here done Stage 1 air box and tune for 370HP, worth it?

What issues to look for and weaknesses of the car?

I would look at the sport 350, it don't need packs and is lighter, better built and has a nice gear change.

Speed is a funny thing as they never seem to fair that well on track times or place high up any lists, I cannot work it out myself why they always fair quite bad.

Lotus push these cars as super car killers but the track times are always slow imo and not what one would expect when you look a the bhp/ton figure !

must be the heat, it kills a SC and , the only fix is a £10k charge cooler Komotec kit.

If the cars were backed up by fast times then it would be a bargain, but with heat soke and no fast laptimes, it's an odd thing esp when a base Cayman is now faster.

most cars look faster on track days as they have bigger SC units or some Komo tec upgrade. very misleading.

Edited by Porsche911R on Thursday 21st September 15:39

[Heathrow]

Are they properly fast? Depends on your reference point I suppose. I personally never found it wanting on track and it can mix it with the bigger more powerful stuff if well driven. You are obviously low to the ground compared with many sports cars and the car feels quicker as a result.

One thing that clearly sticks in my mind during my stint with the Exige was up the hill past the start finish straight at Snetterton, in a straight line the car can easily pull lengths on a 425bhp F80 M3 between 40mph and around 120mph before the braking point. Despite the relative lack of weight, I thought that was quite impressive given the 100bhp power deficit.

That ignores its strengths in the corners obviously! The main thing about it is how well it handles - really good fun and well balanced with superb steering feel.

[Gibbo205]

Thanks guys so generally seems quite a safe buy then.

What price should one be paying on a 2013 V6s with around 10k miles? I see they all seem around low 40k mark, do some trade hands as low as mid 30's or is 40k generally the bottom for a clean example?

Just for fun what is the ring lap time?

[Porsche911R]

Gibbo205 said:

Thanks guys so generally seems quite a safe buy then.

What price should one be paying on a 2013 V6s with around 10k miles? I see they all seem around low 40k mark, do some trade hands as low as mid 30's or is 40k generally the bottom for a clean example?

Just for fun what is the ring lap time?

7.53 so about on par with a BMW from 2003 :-p

[Gibbo205]

For the weight and the fact they have sticky tyres id have expected quicker.

I've got one of those fast BMW's that do 7:50 lap times, great car.

[braddo]

Heathrow said:

...
One thing that clearly sticks in my mind during my stint with the Exige was up the hill past the start finish straight at Snetterton, in a straight line the car can easily pull lengths on a 425bhp F80 M3 between 40mph and around 120mph before the braking point. Despite the relative lack of weight, I thought that was quite impressive given the 100bhp power deficit.

...

Stumbled upon this vid just now, a V6 Cup with a passenger staying with a 997.1 RS up the long hill to the Karussell and beyond, so some decent raw grunt to go with the corner stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk24TmHuCyI

I think the 'ring times for Lotuses seem underwhelming simply because the cars are not tuned specifically for the 'ring. And perhaps that the best Lotus drivers aren't in the very top tier of ring experts and those ring experts in the top tier don't have enough seat time in Lotuses to know how best to exploit them. Contrast with the amount of time the latter spend in Porsches and BMWs.

Edited by braddo on Sunday 24th September 08:40

[Arun_D]

braddo said:

Stumbled upon this vid just now, a V6 Cup with a passenger staying with a 997.1 RS up the long hill to the Karussell and beyond, so some decent raw grunt to go with the corner stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk24TmHuCyI

I think the 'ring times for Lotuses seem underwhelming simply because the cars are not tuned specifically for the 'ring. And perhaps that the best Lotus drivers aren't in the very top tier of ring experts and those ring experts in the top tier don't have enough seat time in Lotuses to know how best to exploit them. Contrast with the amount of time the latter spend in Porsches and BMWs.

Edited by braddo on Sunday 24th September 08:40

Hi, that's my video. In all honestly I was surprised the GT3 didn't walk away, I was wondering if the driver still had some confidence left in reserve.

But yes these cars do have some power to not be frustrating at places like the Nordschleife, but agreed the official timed laps are by no means stellar.

Edited by Arun_D on Monday 25th September 10:22

[kambites]

braddo said:

I think the 'ring times for Lotuses seem underwhelming simply because the cars are not tuned specifically for the 'ring.

I think Lotus just don't set their road cars up for lap times full-stop (which isn't a bad thing unless you actually intend to race them). I'm not at all surprised to hear that the Exige is slower around the 'ring than the best FWD hot hatches, despite obviously having a higher power to weight ration.

[hughcam]

In fairness I dont think Lotus previously helped themselves with regards to marketing, lap times for magazines etc which would really have helped sell the cars. Thankfully they are finally catching up to the necessary marketing, magazine test participation etc and I think this is showing in their sales figures.

However a previous big problem with regards to the published lap times are that the cars are set up as fantastic road cars as standard. No sports car rides like an elise/exige as standard.

Recently however you can see that Lotus's track biased products are absolutely ballistic in terms of track pace. Sport Auto tested the 380 sport (manual) vs the new Cayman S PDK (which is mega rapid) and the 380 sport won by half a second with a couple of big driver errors..

I know its not a fair comparison with the likes of a standard (and well set up for track from the off) Cayman/911 etc but the standard v6 Exiges really 'wake up' with just £150 geometry set up. Add a set of Nitrons and similar decent tyres ala Pilot sport cup 2's and their track ability meets/exceeds the competition.

[Denno B]

With reference to lap times, one argument is that they are not perhaps pushing the 350 bhp lotus claim, some owners have seen nearer to 300 bhp when put on the rollers. Obviously many factors need to be taken into account when testing but it does make you wonder if the power figure is overestimated. I appreciate that some hot hatches have similar power these days but a supposedly track focused lightweight Lotus with better power to weight should be really pushing better times.

[swanny71]

Yes they feel fast (properly fast) but that's not the main reason to own a V6.
The 'ring time is irrelevant, go try one, you'll see

[Leggy]

So what’s the verdict then? Have you taken the plunge?