MKII Exige S questions.....

[scottyr]

Could anyone here help with the following questions...

Is it possible to adjust the passenger seat further back to suit someone 6ft plus...or adjust the foot rest to enable longer legs?

Also, planning on purchasing and then going on a european road trip for 3 weeks...the boot looks small but deceptively a little bigger due to space above arches etc. Anyone have any experience of this and if you can realistically pack enough in there to last a lengthy trip?

Thanks,

[kambites]

The passenger seat is already back against the bulkhead, pretty much. You could take the foot-rest out completely if there's not enough leg room with it there.

[Grinnders]

Also.... Make sure whatever is in boot is well secured. It's noted in the handbook too. If it is possible for items to move in the boot they could Suddenly (say under heavy breaking) basj against the inside of the rear clam. This has been known to creat starlight paintwork on the outside....

... so yes you can use all the boot but put soft stuff near the clam ann make sure it is well packed rather than loosely. ;o)

[Echo66]

Don't put anything loose in the boot that may impact against the clam on heavy braking. I always use a soft bag for all kit. Have done Euro hoons in the Exige although not 3 weeks. No doubt you will need to launder kit mid trip using hotel services regardless of type of car.

[theturbs]

There's not quite as much room on the near-side of the boot as there is on the off-side, because of the battery. Also, car's equipped with Accusump have significantly less boot-space. You should be fine for a 3-week trip, as said above use soft bags so that you can squash them in.

Another tip is to take half the number of pants and turn them inside-out so that you can use them twice...

[scottyr]

One thing I have been told is...it's a track car...shouldn't be used for everyday driving on the road due to the tyres...

Now I'm not that stupid, of course, driving in the wet would be extremely stupid, but even so, is such a statement valid?

The car im looking at purchasing is one of lotus' old track day cars, only a year old but covered 12k track miles...

Will i be looking at some silly bills in the near future? Ball joints and suspension arms etc?

[Sammyturbo]

:? most post's I have read regarding ex-track cars always end up saying they are a no no.

[Munkeyfeet]

+1 - Unless it is heavily discounted or the list of consumables is ridiculously long and it has a warranty I would pass!

[TonyHetherington]

Regarding your first 2 questions - the passenger footrest is just velcro'd in - piece of cake to pull out (had to do it for my 6'2 bro).

3 weeks - no probs. I've done 14 day jaunts in an Exige S, no problems at all. It laps it up.

Track tyres are still road legal, just make sure you have lots of tread on them though as they wear quicker especially if you're doing lots of mountain passes.

[scottyr]

Well it is discounted.... 12k miles it's 01/09 58 plate so only 18 months old and for sale at 27k. Pads, discs, calipers all replaced.

[Munkeyfeet]

In the words of my old man, you takes ya pick, you pays ya money.....you can only spend it once.

I am looking for an S2 Exige S - my budget is less than yours but for me I want the most pampered car I have ever seen.

20,000 miles and an 07 plate for the same money which has lived most of its life at sensible speeds on the road with a couple of track days a year or a car that has had 12000 hard miles being driven by novices wanting to get their money's worth!

You know that car has been driven hard and did every person warm it up nicely!

I know what I would do!

Everyone says anything post 2006 is OK as that was when the upgrades took place.

[ads_green]

I wouldn't be bothered buying a second hand track car. Most are properly looked after and have more oil changes and services than a road only car.
Whats the big problem?

[RobM77]

ads_green said:

I wouldn't be bothered buying a second hand track car. Most are properly looked after and have more oil changes and services than a road only car.
Whats the big problem?

Whilst that's true, as Scott rightly says the car will have accentuated wear in other areas. Consumables like oil, filter, brake pads and wheel bearings are indeed changed very regularly on a track car. However, other areas like the engine (pistons ring and bores, big end bearings etc) and suspension joints will be wearing at about ten times the rate (that's a pretty much accepted ratio for a modern engine). Most of these areas would be checked in services where possible, but probably won't need replacing on the track car until about 20k to 30k miles, whereas an Exige that's seen lighter road use could last until 60k to 80k miles before needing such work. Also bear in mind that for a track car there's rarely time to let it warm up properly before it's caned, especially on a track day.

Another consideration is who's driven it.. Having spoken to racing mechanics on a regular basis, the differences between drivers is very marked when you strip a car down an examine it. The car mentioned has been a "Lotus track day car", so I'm assuming all and sundry have driven it, which isn't that great.

Having said that, I would happily buy a car for track days if the selling price matched the condition of the car. The price matching the condition is the crucial bit though! Racing Caterham roadsports sell for about £10k, and road versions sell for around £13 to £16k. That's the sort of difference I'd be looking at, pro rata.

[Grinnders]

Does it have Traction Control? I wish mine had had it

[RobM77]

ouch. Was that a write off?

[TonyHetherington]

Yikes! Sorry to see/hear that!

Did yours not have TC then? My (identical) car did - was that an option, then?

Great colour choice, by the way

Was that recently? Where do you go next with it - repair?

[Grinnders]

Mine DIDN'T have TCS. It was an option. Didn't realise when I bought mine, and after 9 years with an S1 (minus TCS) hadn't really occurred to me. However the S1 never had R888s.

Happened 3 weeks ago when we had a light shower after a long dry spell.

It is a write off as of last week and I'm awaiting a settlement figure.

(lovely interior too )

May be a tidy Esprit S4s next (TCS standard) and a sensible car with TCS for wet days!

Edited by Grinnders on Wednesday 30th June 17:09

[chevronb37]

Grinnders said:

Mine DIDN'T have TCS. It was an option. Didn't realise when I bought mine, and after 9 years with an S1 (minus TCS) hadn't really occurred to me. However the S1 never had R888s.

Happened 3 weeks ago when we had a light shower after a long dry spell.

It is a write off as of last week and I'm awaiting a settlement figure.

(lovely interior too )

May be a tidy Esprit S4s next (TCS standard) and a sensible car with TCS for wet days!

Edited by Grinnders on Wednesday 30th June 17:09

Very sorry to see/hear of your Exige woes.

Just to add that these are potentially the worst conditions for the Elise/Exige driver. My 111R runs AD07s but we had a monumental downpour a few weeks ago following a long dry spell. The water just wasn't draining off the road and the aquaplaning on the motorway was the worst I've experienced. Very scary hitting large patches of standing water at any speed, even with all-weather tyres.

[aelord]

ads_green said:

I wouldn't be bothered buying a second hand track car. Most are properly looked after and have more oil changes and services than a road only car.
Whats the big problem?

In the Exige I would worry about the gearbox, and clutches. the former is an expensive job out of warranty and luckily mine went in warranty, just a few very hard track days not 12k miles of them

[Mudfish]

Grinnders said:

Does it have Traction Control? I wish mine had had it

I see the problem here...your drivers side front indicator has popped out, should be an easy fix with some black mastik.

Seriously though....
ouch, hope all involved were okay.