Thinking of moving into an S3 Exige

[gavin18787]

Evening all,

Thinking of moving onto an S3 Exige. A car that I have always liked the look of and I think fits what I want in a car.
Just wanted to ask a few questions and give a bit of a back story of what it will be used for.

• Is there a buyers guide out there for the S3 exige or a recommended forum to join? a guide to all the varients would be ideal.
• How are they for taller people (6ft 1 for reference) will use it for track days so need to be comfy including a helmet.
• Any current owners keep theirs outside, ie not garaged? I fear this is the one thing that could scrap this idea....
• For what I want the cup 350 seems to be what I am gravitating to

Bit of back story:
I have owned my current car which is a Toyota GT86 for about 10 years now. When it was chosen it was my only car so needed to be something that could do it all however I now have a little Citroen DS3 as a second car so the GT86 is a toy only. Therefore it could warrent been a little bit more raw. For fun outings only and trackdays.
The GT86 has been fettled over time with a lot of suspension work and some lovely AP brakes so certainly stops and handles well. Plus I have owned it for such a while I feel its a car I can really drive at the limit on track etc. However there is no escaping it is rather slow still
Toyed with the idea a few times of getting on the forced induction band wagon but would still be the same boxer engine that would then be at risk of its chocolate tendencies even more
Therefore is it time to jump ship and just buy something a good few rungs up the ladder?
Currently very lucky to be living a comfy mortgage free life so might use this as an excuse to treat myself to something. Got a bit of cash stashed away that was for a house upgrade but sadly my financee passed away earlier this year so certain plans have some what changed
Still she would have approved of this line of thought as she loved cars too and is maybe a good excuse to start my mid life single man crisis in my 30's instead of waiting

Any input appreciated and I will link a couple of cars that have caught my eye below.

Budget circa 50k

Current whip in action on Brands GP circuit

[gavin18787]

This example is top of my pile at present

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402026...


Also a local orange one which I plan to go and see too

[matt5964]

Hello,
Sounds like a good search,
Don’t rule out the S2 Exige or an S3 Elise cup, the spiritual S2 successor

Exige 410 and beyond have charge coolers , but also struggle with noise limits on track, so do some other v6 variants

There will be a big jump up in running costs to the v6 Exige, fuel, insurance and especially track consumables, brakes and tyres, where by contrast the S2 and Elise are very light.
Whilst they are undoubtedly fast on track, they are not as nimble as the S2 or Elise cups, so all depends if your chase it lap times and straight line speed , of abserlute reward for precise accurate driving.

Jon seal is a great place to start, he is a well respected lotus specialist, and currently has listed, v6 cup Exige, a nice S2 Exige triple pack and Elise cups

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15797261

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16522754

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15989639

The v6 cup bell n Coalville edition is a nice car

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16238866

Elise cup big aero is a rear beast

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16402428

[JamieF78]

SELOC and The Lotus Forums have a wealth of information on all things Lotus and S3 Exiges. Those who track theirs tend to go for the later models, 410 and up, as they are charge cooled. Supposedly, there is a fair drop-off in performance due to heat soak on the other models when getting tracked. If you plan on doing a lot of track days then perhaps a Cup variant may be a better option, I THINK they came with baffled sumps too along with adjustable suspension.

Most S3 Exiges are LOUD. You can buy rear silencers just for track days though, so it's not a big concern I'd say. I keep my 410 outside as do many others and there's never been an issue, just don't bother with a car cover as some older models have suffered from paint blisters due to this. As for height, as long as you're nimble I don't see that being a problem! Sorry to read about your partner, life can be so cruel at times.....go and buy one as life is too short

[gareth h]

I kept my 410 outside, just beware the brakes tend to stick on, which is a pain in the arse if you have a gravel drive as they don’t crack off until you hit tarmac.
The headlights are really st if you are planning any night time shenanigans.
Apart from that they are great cars.

[Paul_M3]

I'm fortunate enough to have owned a few nice performance cars, but I don't think any of them have been more fun than my Exige 410,

In terms of your specific questions:

I'm 6ft, and fit comfortably in the cabin with a helmet on. I think 6ft 1in might be getting close in terms of head room with a helmet on, but I reckon you'd be ok.

My car lives outside, and has done for the past three years with no issues. (As did the 2008 Elise SC I used to own). As mentioned, if I wash the car and then don't drive it for a while the brakes can stick slightly, but on mine that just results in a slight noise as they free off.

[mario328]

Good luck in your search, they are great cars except for the ludicrous VED Tax of >£600. I would second the comment about brakes sticking on even at the slightest moisture, I garage my Exige and they still stick on. I'd also add that if you don't drive it often then the battery will go flat so I keep mine disconnected until I need to drive it and put it on one of those generic C-Tech type charges which has been a good plan for me as I still have the original battery fitted (10.5 years old!).
Having said that, our GT86 (2017) battery also goes flat if you don't drive it for a few days.

[Paul_M3]

mario328 said:

Good luck in your search, they are great cars except for the ludicrous VED Tax of >£600.

It's currently £540 on my 410.

But bear in mind that isn't forever. For my 2019 car, the tax will drop to £180 next year.

[mario328]

Paul_M3 said:

It's currently £540 on my 410.

But bear in mind that isn't forever. For my 2019 car, the tax will drop to £180 next year.

I only mentioned it because the two examples above are pre April 2017 cars and they will be in the same >£600 tax bracket.

[muckyman]

This is a great example at a very good price
(Superb condition and full service history)
Oh, and it’s my advert
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15874687

[five50]

I have a 380 Sport - it has a lot of the 410 parts (stuff like gear box cooler which is important for track use), carbon seats, lightweight forged wheels, bigger fuel tank (also helpful on track), lightweight lithium battery, same exhaust as 410/430 (albeit I use a quiet pipe back box) plus extra carbon that Lotus chose to not fit / charge extra for in the later cars.
Obviously it does not have the facelift front clam of the 410/430.
With Alias 23 intake (and maybe standard - not sure) I would say performance differential to 410 is relatively marginal. The driver makes a bigger difference.
People talk about in theory heat soak issues with the 380 given lack of charge cooler - I am not sure if they have ever actually experienced it - honestly, I haven’t really had this in 4 years of ownership - again not sure if the Alias23 intake helps).
Enjoy - they’re cool cars.

Edited by five50 on Wednesday 17th April 19:47

[Paul_M3]

Following on from this, I’ve been on track with 350 cars that have the Alias23 intake fitted, and there was basically no difference in straight line speed compared to my 410.

Although to address the second point on heat soak, there was a trackday at Hethel where I was doing laps with an ‘Alias23 equipped 350’ at several points during the day. In the morning sessions I was flat out behind him, but in the afternoon I needed to back off slightly. His car had definitely lost a small amount of performance. This was however on a ridiculously hot day by UK standards.

[gavin18787]

Cheers for the replies all

Certainly some food for thought in all of the replies and lots more research to do!

matt5964 said:

Hello,
Sounds like a good search,
Don’t rule out the S2 Exige or an S3 Elise cup, the spiritual S2 successor

Exige 410 and beyond have charge coolers , but also struggle with noise limits on track, so do some other v6 variants

There will be a big jump up in running costs to the v6 Exige, fuel, insurance and especially track consumables, brakes and tyres, where by contrast the S2 and Elise are very light.
Whilst they are undoubtedly fast on track, they are not as nimble as the S2 or Elise cups, so all depends if your chase it lap times and straight line speed , of abserlute reward for precise accurate driving.

Jon seal is a great place to start, he is a well respected lotus specialist, and currently has listed, v6 cup Exige, a nice S2 Exige triple pack and Elise cups

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15797261

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16522754

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15989639

The v6 cup bell n Coalville edition is a nice car

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16238866

Elise cup big aero is a rear beast

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16402428

Thanks for taking the time to link all of those cars Matt, much appreciated. Must say that last Elise with the aero looks lovely


Certainly sounds like I need to revisit and Elise and Exige S2 as well. Fortunatly a lot of the S3 Exige live at specialist which as you prove with your link also carry other variants in their stock also.
My last exposure of driving something simular to an S2 was a VX220 many moons ago. Loved the drive but found it a bit height restricted in the cabin. However worthe another look for sure.

[gavin18787]

JamieF78 said:

SELOC and The Lotus Forums have a wealth of information on all things Lotus and S3 Exiges. Those who track theirs tend to go for the later models, 410 and up, as they are charge cooled. Supposedly, there is a fair drop-off in performance due to heat soak on the other models when getting tracked. If you plan on doing a lot of track days then perhaps a Cup variant may be a better option, I THINK they came with baffled sumps too along with adjustable suspension.

Most S3 Exiges are LOUD. You can buy rear silencers just for track days though, so it's not a big concern I'd say. I keep my 410 outside as do many others and there's never been an issue, just don't bother with a car cover as some older models have suffered from paint blisters due to this. As for height, as long as you're nimble I don't see that being a problem! Sorry to read about your partner, life can be so cruel at times.....go and buy one as life is too short

Cheers for the forum links Jamie.

Good to know you keep yours outside without issue also.
Also very good point on the charge coolers as I hadn't really thought that far ahead.
Back in the day I used to own a EP3 civic type R that I had supercharged down at CPL racing. That Jackson type charger on that had the same where after a few laps on circuit the preformance drop off was quite large without a charge cooler.

[gavin18787]

gareth h said:

I kept my 410 outside, just beware the brakes tend to stick on, which is a pain in the arse if you have a gravel drive as they don’t crack off until you hit tarmac.
The headlights are really st if you are planning any night time shenanigans.
Apart from that they are great cars.

Haha my GT86 is the same and takes a good launch to unstick the brakes if it has been hibernating in the wet. Neighbours are used to it: hehe:.
Noticed that the one I linked had an LED headlight conversion, wondered if that was aftermarket or an OEM retrofit?

[gavin18787]

Paul_M3 said:

It's currently £540 on my 410.

But bear in mind that isn't forever. For my 2019 car, the tax will drop to £180 next year.

Cheers for the info on the VED, that actually wasn't on my radar to check

Was very suprised at the insurance though. £50 more then my GT86, although by current insurer said they wouldn't cover it so will have to switch if I go ahead.

[gavin18787]

mario328 said:

Good luck in your search, they are great cars except for the ludicrous VED Tax of >£600. I would second the comment about brakes sticking on even at the slightest moisture, I garage my Exige and they still stick on. I'd also add that if you don't drive it often then the battery will go flat so I keep mine disconnected until I need to drive it and put it on one of those generic C-Tech type charges which has been a good plan for me as I still have the original battery fitted (10.5 years old!).
Having said that, our GT86 (2017) battery also goes flat if you don't drive it for a few days.

Would be very interested if you could give any comparisons between the GT86 and the Exige Mario. Appreciate it's like comparing a kitchen knife to a machine gun but nice to hear thoughts from someone that has both.

[gavin18787]

muckyman said:

This is a great example at a very good price
(Superb condition and full service history)
Oh, and it’s my advert
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/15874687

Lovely example and had actually been on my short list. Bit of me is still tempted by other earlier variants as they are a lot of car for the money and can always retro fit some other parts. Could well get in touch once I have narrowed the search on what I want, not too far away either.

Quick question on my personal taste is that I quite like them with the black on the back (panel where the lights and number plate are) I noticed some are colour coded and some are not. Is this a seperate part that can be chopped and changed?

[muckyman]

Re the black rear panel, I believe these were painted by Lotus on the later models (it’s not a separate panel) and some owners have done this aftermarket themselves. There’s three options - get a body shop to paint it, get a wrap company to vinyl wrap it, mask it off yourself and plasti dip it (super easy to peel off if you don’t like it).
I’m happy to let you have a look over mine (the white one in St Albans at 36,995) and I’ll take you out for a drive, even if it’s not the one you want to buy. That’ll give you a starting point for comparison with any others you might want to look at. My numbers on the advert if you want to do that.

[Olivera]

five50 said:

People talk about in theory heat soak issues with the 380 given lack of charge cooler - I am not sure if they have ever actually experienced it - honestly, I haven’t really had this in 4 years of ownership - again not sure if the Alias23 intake helps).

I would personally only consider a charge cooled car or would retro fit a charge cooler (e.g. Komotec package). There's a reason why even the most basic superminis have intercoolers/chargecoolers, performance will be on it's arse very quickly in hot weather or on track.

For an example see the Sport Auto timed Exige 380 (non chargecooled) lap, by the time it gets onto the Döttinger Höhe straight at the end of the lap it can't match a 240bhp Alpine A110's top speed.

Edited by Olivera on Saturday 20th April 20:09