Lotus Exige V6 Cup
Discussion
Having read so many others car life, and really enjoyed the stories, pictures and updates, I’d thought I’d add my own.
I did have a thread for my old car, which I’ll link below.
I’ve owned a plethora of cars for many years, such as E30 M3, Integra DC2 type R, E36 M3 and a load of 172 & 182’s. In May 2004 I purchased my first Lotus Elise. This was the start of a love affair with a Lotus, although I’d previously never been interested in the marque, other than the S1 Esprit in The Spy who loved me!
Having gone through 3 Elise’s, 2 of which had the Honda EP3 engine fitted, I found myself listing after the Exige V6 when it was launched back in 2012. Oh how I wanted one, but at the time I simply couldn’t afford one.
Fast forward a couple of years, and with V6 line up evolving, Lotus introduced the V6 Cup. Again more lusting!
I first saw the car I have in the garage, for sale at Bell & Colvill, at what I thought was a very reasonable price. Again my financial position didn’t allow me to purchase, but I now knew what I wanted.
Fast forward another year, and my trusty Ho da’d S1 was really costing me a lot. My mechanic is based in West Sussex and one day, whilst dropping off my car, there she was! Glistening in the June sun, the burnt orange V6 Cup. I blagged the keys to have a look inside. I REALLY wanted this car now, so asked my mechanic to see if the owner wanted to sell it. Actual picture from that day.
No response from my mechanic, I think he didn’t want me to sell my car if 10 years!
In October of 2017, I had to drop my car off again and was greeted with a long list of issues. The Cup was also in the garage, so I set about contacting the owner. Surprise surprise he was considering selling, and wanted it to go to an enthusiast. We agreed a price and I said that as I was parting with a car I loved, to give me the weekend to commit to a purchase.
A long weekend ensued, and thinking that live is too short, I agreed to buy, on the basis that I sold my car. The owner was incredibly understanding and said he’d wait!
The planets were aligning!!!!!
On 30th December I made my way over to the owners house. There was added trepidation as I’d not told my wife I was buying it. You see we got married in my old car, on a road trip, and shed no idea I’d already sold it!
With the handover completed, the drive back was wet, but fun. With an orange flash going past my living room window, I pulled up outside, got out and went to the door. Before I could get to it, I was greeted by my wife saying “You’ve not just bought that, have you?!!!!”
I was in trouble! Well almost. She knew as soon as it pulled up that it was mine.
More of an update later
I did have a thread for my old car, which I’ll link below.
I’ve owned a plethora of cars for many years, such as E30 M3, Integra DC2 type R, E36 M3 and a load of 172 & 182’s. In May 2004 I purchased my first Lotus Elise. This was the start of a love affair with a Lotus, although I’d previously never been interested in the marque, other than the S1 Esprit in The Spy who loved me!
Having gone through 3 Elise’s, 2 of which had the Honda EP3 engine fitted, I found myself listing after the Exige V6 when it was launched back in 2012. Oh how I wanted one, but at the time I simply couldn’t afford one.
Fast forward a couple of years, and with V6 line up evolving, Lotus introduced the V6 Cup. Again more lusting!
I first saw the car I have in the garage, for sale at Bell & Colvill, at what I thought was a very reasonable price. Again my financial position didn’t allow me to purchase, but I now knew what I wanted.
Fast forward another year, and my trusty Ho da’d S1 was really costing me a lot. My mechanic is based in West Sussex and one day, whilst dropping off my car, there she was! Glistening in the June sun, the burnt orange V6 Cup. I blagged the keys to have a look inside. I REALLY wanted this car now, so asked my mechanic to see if the owner wanted to sell it. Actual picture from that day.
No response from my mechanic, I think he didn’t want me to sell my car if 10 years!
In October of 2017, I had to drop my car off again and was greeted with a long list of issues. The Cup was also in the garage, so I set about contacting the owner. Surprise surprise he was considering selling, and wanted it to go to an enthusiast. We agreed a price and I said that as I was parting with a car I loved, to give me the weekend to commit to a purchase.
A long weekend ensued, and thinking that live is too short, I agreed to buy, on the basis that I sold my car. The owner was incredibly understanding and said he’d wait!
The planets were aligning!!!!!
On 30th December I made my way over to the owners house. There was added trepidation as I’d not told my wife I was buying it. You see we got married in my old car, on a road trip, and shed no idea I’d already sold it!
With the handover completed, the drive back was wet, but fun. With an orange flash going past my living room window, I pulled up outside, got out and went to the door. Before I could get to it, I was greeted by my wife saying “You’ve not just bought that, have you?!!!!”
I was in trouble! Well almost. She knew as soon as it pulled up that it was mine.
More of an update later
With the co-pilot appeased with a quick passenger ride, and much discussion about the colour, things settled down to giving it a damn good clean.
The Cup cars were the last Lotus cars to go through the Motirsport workshops, and were basically stripped out V6’s with some nice goodies. Apart from Ohlins suspension and a sequential gearbox, there isn’t a huge difference between the actual CupR race cars and the road going Cups.
As standard they came with:
2-way Nitron suspension
Carbon fibre seats
Full A-frame and T45 roll cage
Baffled sump
Ally-bell discs
Quick release steering wheel
Electric cut off (internal & external)
Full plumbed in fire extinguisher
After a few months use, I felt the car was lacking the aural drama, and therefore contact Jim at 2bular. I asked him to produce a louder trackday exhaust, but one without the troublesome exhaust flap. Coming from a very loud 4pot, the V6 sounded muted. Whilst I would have liked to have gone for the full manifold and down pipe set up, I went for the back box.
It’s a work of art, and whilst a lot louder, I still fancy fitting an exhaust from a 380.
Jim did me a good deal on the exhaust, which he also supplied with carbon tips. It looks much better than the standard set up, and the howl above 3k is what I was looking for.
In the run up to my annual road trip, I spent some 6 months tweaking the 2-way suspension. Having run 1-way Nitrons on my old car, I knew the 2-ways would take more time to set up to my liking. With rebound and compression settings available, I would write down the settings and go out on my favourite local roads to try and get it well set up.
This approach took me months. Just when I thought I’d sorted it, I’d find the rear end “po-going” over a crest, or the front being too hard. To add to my issues, I’d been out in a car fitted with Ohlins TTX’s, which were an expensive option, but they really do work well.
Having found the best set up for me 9-from full hard rear rebound and 4 from full hard compression, with the from being 10 from full hard rebound and 4from full hard compression, I was happy with this road biased set up.
The V6 Cup is a heavier car than the outgoing S1 it replaced, by some 400 kilos. Having said that, it is a more physical cat to drive, and certainly a challenge. The turn in is very good, with the rear of the car being very stable. Initially the car ran on Avon ZZR’s, but after I found one of the tears de-laminating, I replaced these with a set of Yoko AD08R’s. They offer very good grip, but with good wet weather ability.
Fast flowing roads seem to suit the car best, but it is still surprisingly capable in the tighter stuff. The supercharged V6 offers excellent torque along with a more linear power delivery. I still like to rev the car, and it does have a bit more fizz above 5k. It is quite devasting at overtaking, and can carry huge spend into and through corners.
As with most V6’s it comes with a variety of traction control options, 4 being the total number. Personally I prefer to run with nothing, as I never like the intrusion of these systems and also want to be in full control st the helm. I did start off using the race mode, but ultimately I found that in the tighter turns it was breaking a rear wheel at times.
During the first 6 months I was really getting to know the car. I also had front end paint protection added to help preserve the excellent condition of the paintwork. Unfortunately the protection had to be added twice, but second time around all appears good.
The Cup cars were the last Lotus cars to go through the Motirsport workshops, and were basically stripped out V6’s with some nice goodies. Apart from Ohlins suspension and a sequential gearbox, there isn’t a huge difference between the actual CupR race cars and the road going Cups.
As standard they came with:
2-way Nitron suspension
Carbon fibre seats
Full A-frame and T45 roll cage
Baffled sump
Ally-bell discs
Quick release steering wheel
Electric cut off (internal & external)
Full plumbed in fire extinguisher
After a few months use, I felt the car was lacking the aural drama, and therefore contact Jim at 2bular. I asked him to produce a louder trackday exhaust, but one without the troublesome exhaust flap. Coming from a very loud 4pot, the V6 sounded muted. Whilst I would have liked to have gone for the full manifold and down pipe set up, I went for the back box.
It’s a work of art, and whilst a lot louder, I still fancy fitting an exhaust from a 380.
Jim did me a good deal on the exhaust, which he also supplied with carbon tips. It looks much better than the standard set up, and the howl above 3k is what I was looking for.
In the run up to my annual road trip, I spent some 6 months tweaking the 2-way suspension. Having run 1-way Nitrons on my old car, I knew the 2-ways would take more time to set up to my liking. With rebound and compression settings available, I would write down the settings and go out on my favourite local roads to try and get it well set up.
This approach took me months. Just when I thought I’d sorted it, I’d find the rear end “po-going” over a crest, or the front being too hard. To add to my issues, I’d been out in a car fitted with Ohlins TTX’s, which were an expensive option, but they really do work well.
Having found the best set up for me 9-from full hard rear rebound and 4 from full hard compression, with the from being 10 from full hard rebound and 4from full hard compression, I was happy with this road biased set up.
The V6 Cup is a heavier car than the outgoing S1 it replaced, by some 400 kilos. Having said that, it is a more physical cat to drive, and certainly a challenge. The turn in is very good, with the rear of the car being very stable. Initially the car ran on Avon ZZR’s, but after I found one of the tears de-laminating, I replaced these with a set of Yoko AD08R’s. They offer very good grip, but with good wet weather ability.
Fast flowing roads seem to suit the car best, but it is still surprisingly capable in the tighter stuff. The supercharged V6 offers excellent torque along with a more linear power delivery. I still like to rev the car, and it does have a bit more fizz above 5k. It is quite devasting at overtaking, and can carry huge spend into and through corners.
As with most V6’s it comes with a variety of traction control options, 4 being the total number. Personally I prefer to run with nothing, as I never like the intrusion of these systems and also want to be in full control st the helm. I did start off using the race mode, but ultimately I found that in the tighter turns it was breaking a rear wheel at times.
During the first 6 months I was really getting to know the car. I also had front end paint protection added to help preserve the excellent condition of the paintwork. Unfortunately the protection had to be added twice, but second time around all appears good.
Looks much better on those black wheels than on the standard chrome/black ones!ECG1000 said:
Nice! I wanted an orange one too... 
How do you find it compared to your previous Loti?
Looking forward to the next update.
Thanks, I love the orange. I also would have bought a bright green had a Cup been available.How do you find it compared to your previous Loti?
Looking forward to the next update.
In comparison my old Honda'd S1, the Cup is heavier and not quite as raw, but it is most definitely an event to drive. Handling is not quite as nimble, however it is very stable, still allowing for excellent composure in the tighter turns.
This years road trip was the cars first real test, and I was aprehensive about missing my old car, but unbelievably I didn't. The Cup was excellent, not to mention I was in a group of fellow V6's, along with the newer 380.
So to the 2018 road trip!
Always planned about 11/12 months in advance, I run with a group who have been doing this for over 10 years. It all started off in 2007 when I took part in the original annual Stelvio event, as part of SELOC. This took place during the second week of September, with Lotus Elise's from all over Europe converging on Stelvio to celebrate the anniversary of the initial Elise tests by Dave Minter on Stelvio.
Over the years the event got too big, in terms of the UK group attracting police attention, so from 2010 onwards we broke away from the main event and did our own thing. Report from the 2010 trip below:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
We started off from Le Tunnel on early Friday morning, heading down to Reims for the usual lunch stop, then heading further down towards Dijon cross country. Whilst everyone loves the Alps, and the tighter gorge roads in South France, there's a lot to be said for the faster, more free flowing and quiet roads in North to mid France. Great smooth tarmac, with well sighted corners, not much traffic, and importantly, not much Gendarme interest.
Our route plan was designed to take us down, all cross country, towards Gorge de Verdon, them East towards the French Alps. We run in groups of 3-4 cars, so as not to raise too much unwanted interest, although a gaggle of cars, enjoying the roads at pace will always irritate some.
Halfway through the trip, we stayed at the same hotel for a couple of nights. This was in the Verdon area, and allowed us to play on the nearby roads. Weather was, as usual, fantastic, and we spent a great deal of time enjoying the tight gorge roads, taking in the scenery and listening to the aural delight of non-standard exhausts, emitting the throaty bass of the V6's, along with the supercharged whine of the 4pot supercharged shriek of the older Exige and Elise platforms.
More on the Alps part of the trip later but here’s a Day 1 video. All tongue firmly in-cheek, as we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we like to record our antics:
https://youtu.be/3WAFvtuRVXw
Always planned about 11/12 months in advance, I run with a group who have been doing this for over 10 years. It all started off in 2007 when I took part in the original annual Stelvio event, as part of SELOC. This took place during the second week of September, with Lotus Elise's from all over Europe converging on Stelvio to celebrate the anniversary of the initial Elise tests by Dave Minter on Stelvio.
Over the years the event got too big, in terms of the UK group attracting police attention, so from 2010 onwards we broke away from the main event and did our own thing. Report from the 2010 trip below:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
We started off from Le Tunnel on early Friday morning, heading down to Reims for the usual lunch stop, then heading further down towards Dijon cross country. Whilst everyone loves the Alps, and the tighter gorge roads in South France, there's a lot to be said for the faster, more free flowing and quiet roads in North to mid France. Great smooth tarmac, with well sighted corners, not much traffic, and importantly, not much Gendarme interest.
Our route plan was designed to take us down, all cross country, towards Gorge de Verdon, them East towards the French Alps. We run in groups of 3-4 cars, so as not to raise too much unwanted interest, although a gaggle of cars, enjoying the roads at pace will always irritate some.
Halfway through the trip, we stayed at the same hotel for a couple of nights. This was in the Verdon area, and allowed us to play on the nearby roads. Weather was, as usual, fantastic, and we spent a great deal of time enjoying the tight gorge roads, taking in the scenery and listening to the aural delight of non-standard exhausts, emitting the throaty bass of the V6's, along with the supercharged whine of the 4pot supercharged shriek of the older Exige and Elise platforms.
More on the Alps part of the trip later but here’s a Day 1 video. All tongue firmly in-cheek, as we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we like to record our antics:
https://youtu.be/3WAFvtuRVXw
Edited by 4pot on Sunday 11th November 10:17
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