Exige potential...

[D7PNY]

Hi All,

Currently in a Caterham R500 (K series) with sequential. It is nuts and love it when on track but constantly thinking of something more usable that can still fit the bill on track.

Realistically with family etc I'm looking at a handful of track days a year and then weekend runs and the odd sunny day run to work via the back roads.

Exige seems natural option. Did consider Evora but thought that might be a step too far from the R500? I've sat/driven an elise s2 a couple of times and was ok (although I didnt try it with helmet nor did I drive it fast) and sat in an S2 exige but have this memory of feeling 'perched' in the exige for some reason.

I'm 6' 4" so really on the limit in my Caterham (but have made a number of changes to squeeze in - lowered floor, tillet seats tilted back, pedals adjusted and steering wheel spacer) but still close to top of roll cage.

Is there anyone local to Aberdeen/shire with an exige (bonus points if they are tall so car tweaked to suit a tall driver) that I could have a seat in whilst I iron out potential options?

Realistically I'll be looking at a good spec S2 or potentially the bottom of the V6 market but I appreciate they are very different cars.

Cheers

Dave

Edited by D7PNY on Monday 14th August 11:30

[BertBert]

of no help, but a cool story bro... I test drove a few Exiges at B&C over the years and each time I drove there and back in my Caterham. I quite enjoyed the test drives, but after the drive home in the Caterham I could never convince myself to buy one!

[D7PNY]

BertBert said:

of no help, but a cool story bro... I test drove a few Exiges at B&C over the years and each time I drove there and back in my Caterham. I quite enjoyed the test drives, but after the drive home in the Caterham I could never convince myself to buy one!

This is the problem with Caterhams! They spoil you a little! Perhaps I should just be swapping mine for one with a h pattern box so nicer for the road but then I think I would be left wanting on the track! Or perhaps repacking the exhaust yet again would help a little.

Ideally I just need something else ASWELL but wife and kids prevent that unfortunately! haha

I think I need to get a shot in one to either put the idea to bed OR make the change.

Caterham is great but anything but subtle on the road!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xI6tuEz_U

[EastStand]

Got to agree with the comments here.

I sold my Caterham and bought an Exige 410. I’ve now sold the Exige and on on the look out for another Caterham. The Exige is fantastic……..but Caterhams are just a bit better.

[D7PNY]

EastStand said:

Got to agree with the comments here.

I sold my Caterham and bought an Exige 410. I’ve now sold the Exige and on on the look out for another Caterham. The Exige is fantastic……..but Caterhams are just a bit better.

Perhaps just an idea to put to bed then if even a 410 doesn't match up!

Biggest battle I've had since I got mine was the sequential as that perhaps takes mine a step to far towards extreme for road use enjoyability. That and the lack of sound deadening left inside the exhaust thanks to the flatshift/flames!

Thanks for the comments guys. Will perhaps put it to bed till I stumble across an exige next at a track day and then I'll ask nicely for a passenger ride and see from there.

Cheers

Dave

[Edmundo2]

I had a quick Caterham last year, ( Freestyle No.6 ), which I hoped to track a bit but only did one day at Croft and found I didn't enjoy it as much as competing, ( used to hillclimb/sprint ),so decided I may as well buy something a bit more useable...

So I figured Exige would fit the bill but tbh after trying one I found it was still pretty raw and stripped back to the point I might as well stick with a 7. Not sure if that was a fair assessment but it prompted me to look at Evora and I found the perfect solution in an Evora Sport410. It's more raw than other Evora models but a bit more useable than an Exige.. , ( and apparently quicker than an Exige 350 around Hethel ). The lower carbon bucket seats also mean it gives decent headroom vs others..

Its up for sale currently on here as I fancy competing again so need to make way for a race car, ( I'd be keeping it if i had the space/time/money for both...)

Not sure if it's beyond the budget you are looking to spend but thought it's worth mentioning as i went through exactly the same predicament and it really does nail the brief.. Lesser Evora models may be a bit too soft to replace the visceral nature of a 7 but they're definitely worth a look especially if you can get into the quicker versions..

Mines the same spec as this so gives you some idea of the performance vs usability balance it strikes..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pNBaU8agE

Clearly nothing will match a 7 in terms of purity and it might be that Exige is just the ticket for you..

TBH I don't miss the 7 as the Evora just as special in many other ways but I appreciate for some there is no alternative..

Good luck if you make the move..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Monday 14th August 23:46

[D7PNY]

Edmundo2 said:

I had a quick Caterham last year, ( Freestyle No.6 ), which I hoped to track a bit but only did one day at Croft and found I didn't enjoy it as much as competing, ( used to hillclimb/sprint ),so decided I may as well buy something a bit more useable...

So I figured Exige would fit the bill but tbh after trying one I found it was still pretty raw and stripped back to the point I might as well stick with a 7. Not sure if that was a fair assessment but it prompted me to look at Evora and I found the perfect solution in an Evora Sport410. It's more raw than other Evora models but a bit more useable than an Exige.. , ( and apparently quicker than an Exige 350 around Hethel ). The lower carbon bucket seats also mean it gives decent headroom vs others..

Its up for sale currently on here as I fancy competing again so need to make way for a race car, ( I'd be keeping it if i had the space/time/money for both...)

Not sure if it's beyond the budget you are looking to spend but thought it's worth mentioning as i went through exactly the same predicament and it really does nail the brief.. Lesser Evora models may be a bit too soft to replace the visceral nature of a 7 but they're definitely worth a look especially if you can get into the quicker versions..

Mines the same spec as this so gives you some idea of the performance vs usability balance it strikes..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pNBaU8agE

Clearly nothing will match a 7 in terms of purity and it might be that Exige is just the ticket for you..

TBH I don't miss the 7 as the Evora just as special in many other ways but I appreciate for some there is no alternative..

Good luck if you make the move..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Monday 14th August 23:46

Thanks for the balanced viewpoint.

I've had a number of 7's (a couple of Westfields and this is my second caterham) but this is by far my most extreme one!

In between, I had a Ginetta G40R thinking it would be a great combination for having a roof etc but the car turned out to be a bit of a let down and then had a number of issues with it. The one thing I did like about that compared to a caterham (and this is a slightly silly little thing) was having option of seatbelt OR harness. I could go on a run and jump in/out no problem and had harnesses for on track etc. Getting strapped in to Caterham whilst out on a run can be a bit of a pest I find.

Funny you mention the Evora, I had looked at these but wasnt sure if they would be a step too far in to comfort. I'm pretty sure a 410 would be well out of budget unfortunately (which is actually part of my difficulty!) Without the budget constraints, there would be a lot mroe options open to me but unfortunately my head won't let my heart spend the extra cash.

If I were to sell Caterham I would be looking at around £30k (mega spec R500k so top of R500k market) and would probably sell my trailer too (Brian James Sprint Shuttle) so around £6k. So realistically I've set myself a cap of £40k (so just about reaching Exige v6 but comfortably into Evora S territory I guess)

cheers,

Dave

[Rodd Nock]

I fitted fine in an s2 exige with sports seats and harnesses - 6' 3" plus a crash hat, no issues getting comfortable.

I had the exige first, then swapped to a fast k series caterham as I got frustrated with the huge amount of grip the exige had on AR1 tyres. I just wasn't good/brave/antisocial enough to ever get it moving around on the road, and on track it always seemed very neutral. Also, the lotus sounded like a super charged dishwasher when I had the track day exhaust on it.

I had much more fun in the superlight r I bought!

[D7PNY]

Rodd Nock said:

I fitted fine in an s2 exige with sports seats and harnesses - 6' 3" plus a crash hat, no issues getting comfortable.

I had the exige first, then swapped to a fast k series caterham as I got frustrated with the huge amount of grip the exige had on AR1 tyres. I just wasn't good/brave/antisocial enough to ever get it moving around on the road, and on track it always seemed very neutral. Also, the lotus sounded like a super charged dishwasher when I had the track day exhaust on it.

I had much more fun in the superlight r I bought!

Superlight r with the 6 speed box would be sweet spot or sure. I had a supersport r (k series) previously and it was great with the 6 speed. I think my current struggles are more to do with the sequential than anything else. It's simply amazing but 5% of the time. The rest of the time on the road I'd much prefer the standard 6 speed I'm sure.

[Edmundo2]

D7PNY said:

Edmundo2 said:

I had a quick Caterham last year, ( Freestyle No.6 ), which I hoped to track a bit but only did one day at Croft and found I didn't enjoy it as much as competing, ( used to hillclimb/sprint ),so decided I may as well buy something a bit more useable...

So I figured Exige would fit the bill but tbh after trying one I found it was still pretty raw and stripped back to the point I might as well stick with a 7. Not sure if that was a fair assessment but it prompted me to look at Evora and I found the perfect solution in an Evora Sport410. It's more raw than other Evora models but a bit more useable than an Exige.. , ( and apparently quicker than an Exige 350 around Hethel ). The lower carbon bucket seats also mean it gives decent headroom vs others..

Its up for sale currently on here as I fancy competing again so need to make way for a race car, ( I'd be keeping it if i had the space/time/money for both...)

Not sure if it's beyond the budget you are looking to spend but thought it's worth mentioning as i went through exactly the same predicament and it really does nail the brief.. Lesser Evora models may be a bit too soft to replace the visceral nature of a 7 but they're definitely worth a look especially if you can get into the quicker versions..

Mines the same spec as this so gives you some idea of the performance vs usability balance it strikes..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pNBaU8agE

Clearly nothing will match a 7 in terms of purity and it might be that Exige is just the ticket for you..

TBH I don't miss the 7 as the Evora just as special in many other ways but I appreciate for some there is no alternative..

Good luck if you make the move..

Edited by Edmundo2 on Monday 14th August 23:46

Thanks for the balanced viewpoint.

I've had a number of 7's (a couple of Westfields and this is my second caterham) but this is by far my most extreme one!

In between, I had a Ginetta G40R thinking it would be a great combination for having a roof etc but the car turned out to be a bit of a let down and then had a number of issues with it. The one thing I did like about that compared to a caterham (and this is a slightly silly little thing) was having option of seatbelt OR harness. I could go on a run and jump in/out no problem and had harnesses for on track etc. Getting strapped in to Caterham whilst out on a run can be a bit of a pest I find.

Funny you mention the Evora, I had looked at these but wasnt sure if they would be a step too far in to comfort. I'm pretty sure a 410 would be well out of budget unfortunately (which is actually part of my difficulty!) Without the budget constraints, there would be a lot mroe options open to me but unfortunately my head won't let my heart spend the extra cash.

If I were to sell Caterham I would be looking at around £30k (mega spec R500k so top of R500k market) and would probably sell my trailer too (Brian James Sprint Shuttle) so around £6k. So realistically I've set myself a cap of £40k (so just about reaching Exige v6 but comfortably into Evora S territory I guess)

cheers,

Dave

Yes I found the 7 a bit of a pain in terms of jumping in and out of it with any frequency..

I hear you re Ginetta but imagine it's kit car build quality grates a little when it's a coupe and not sure whether a front engined 4 pot could stir my soul, ( although I'd love an Elan 26r )..

As you say at your budget you'd be looking at Evora S...Still lovely things but perhaps a bit civilised/soft vs an entry level V6 Exige if coming from a 7. Might still be worth a look though as they're really nice things for different reasons..

Good luck