Exige 260 anyone driven one yet?

[The Pits]

I love all the carbon bits and pieces but is it really any quicker than the 240 bhp car?

But I'm not a fan of the MY10 changes so I'm thinking the 260 cup might be the ultimate version of the exige for me.

Edited by The Pits on Saturday 18th July 13:18

[The Bandit]

The Pits said:

I love all the carbon bits and pieces but is it really any quicker than the 240 bhp car?

But I'm not a fan of the MY10 changes so I'm thinking the 260 cup might be the ultimate version of the exige for me.

Edited by The Pits on Saturday 18th July 13:18

Yes i drove one recently(dealer demo car),it had a problem with the rear suspension which felt like you were going to be thrown into the next hedgerow and kept stalling at traffic lights.The carbon effect bits looked,frankly,st.
Brakes were fantastic but other than that did'nt feel like £30k more fun than my Elise S.

You'd be better off buying a used Exige S,taking it to Sinclaires and getting them to do the brakes,suspension and tuning and save £10-£15k(IMHO).

[aelord]

The one I saw on the road had a horrid colour scheme, carbon tat + cherry red and some white I think... and as said above just tune up your Exige S for less. OK it weighs less, and that is harder to achieve, but still.

[dom180]

The Pits said:

I love all the carbon bits and pieces but is it really any quicker than the 240 bhp car?

But I'm not a fan of the MY10 changes so I'm thinking the 260 cup might be the ultimate version of the exige for me.

Edited by The Pits on Saturday 18th July 13:18

Certainly goes well around Goodwood:

http://magazines.drivers-republic.com/driversrepub...

[The Pits]

there's nothing more pathetic than 'carbon effect' plastic. I was under the impression that it's real carbon fibre on the 260. The price would seem to indicate that it is the real thing. And that makes all the difference.

[dom180]

The Pits said:

there's nothing more pathetic than 'carbon effect' plastic. I was under the impression that it's real carbon fibre on the 260. The price would seem to indicate that it is the real thing. And that makes all the difference.

There's a fair bit of carbon fibre on the 260 - roof, engine cover, wing, splitter..... - Sounds like they put a fair bit of effort into it. Great looking seats.

[Scuffers]

dom180 said:

The Pits said:

there's nothing more pathetic than 'carbon effect' plastic. I was under the impression that it's real carbon fibre on the 260. The price would seem to indicate that it is the real thing. And that makes all the difference.

There's a fair bit of carbon fibre on the 260 - roof, engine cover, wing, splitter..... - Sounds like they put a fair bit of effort into it. Great looking seats.

I think the point here is that there is CF and CF.

most people (wrongly) assume CF means Pre-pegg autoclaved stuff, but what most stuff actually is is wet-lay CF weave used much the same as GRP would be.

[dom180]

Scuffers said:

dom180 said:

The Pits said:

there's nothing more pathetic than 'carbon effect' plastic. I was under the impression that it's real carbon fibre on the 260. The price would seem to indicate that it is the real thing. And that makes all the difference.

There's a fair bit of carbon fibre on the 260 - roof, engine cover, wing, splitter..... - Sounds like they put a fair bit of effort into it. Great looking seats.

I think the point here is that there is CF and CF.

most people (wrongly) assume CF means Pre-pegg autoclaved stuff, but what most stuff actually is is wet-lay CF weave used much the same as GRP would be.

Ah. Thanks for that.

[The Pits]

the thing I'm after that no magazine or journalist seems interested in is if the 260 is actually faster than the 240 car, or for that matter a 255 Cup and is there any difference in the engine between the 260 and 255? Or is the 260 cup just a rebadged 255 cup? Either way what is the difference between them and a 240 bhp car?

A genuine 20 bhp would be noticeable in a car as light as an exige. If the only difference is the sticker on the side then it won't be noticeable. Or worth the extra cash.

[G7 Rye]

Problem is, the 240 cup has 243hp and the 260 has 257hp so 14hp difference. Remember this car weighs nearly a tonne now so I can't see it making much difference.

What about the 240R build No.1 on here for sale?

I have a 240Cup with uprated Springs and re-valved Ohlins, I would suggest that this makes more of a difference than a slight HP increase,

Ryan

[Pesky]

G7 Rye said:

What about the 240R build No.1 on here for sale?

Sold, & off to Italy.

[The Pits]

actually they've done a lot to reduce weight versus a cup 255 - lighter motorsports battery, carbon fibre dash, roof, splitter, rear wing and seats, ultra light wheels, no rear screen, no rear veiw mirror. All up thought to be worth 30kg, bringing the total back under 900kgs. Obviously the 15kg aircon option undoes much of this good work but I imagine is an essential extra but the issue is the same for any exige.

You can notice 20bhp in a 900kg car, otherwise the Performance Pack upgrade for the Exige S wouldn't be so popular. I just wonder if the 260 actually has any more power than 243bhp. If so they must have done something to the engine, smaller pulley for example, yet no-one seems to know or care what this might be. I was hoping someone here might know more.

Edited by The Pits on Wednesday 22 July 18:42

[G7 Rye]

I was looking at one at JCT Leeds the other day whilst waiting around. I have enquired with Lotus Sport about smaller pulleys etc. and apparently there is no room for improvement. Any improvements are ECU based I think. You could probably get 14hp from the exhaust system though?

[jackal]

amazing to think that 14 years ago teh flagship Esprit sport 300 with its huge rear tyres could only manage 1.33, some 6 seconds slower than the Exige