Lotus Exige
15 August 2006, 02:26 PM
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Lotus Exige
Anyone owned, driven or got any experience of an early model exige.
I'm seriously tempted to chop my gtr in for one and I've already got the Mrs' seal of approval after she fell in love with one at the motorshow
Not managed to drive one yet but will be arranging a test drive, anything in particular I should be looking out for, any reliability issues?
I'm about 6ft 3 so I know that I'm going to look like a pillock trying to get in and out of it
Would I be better off saving a fair bit of cash and buying an elise?
Any opinions much appreciated
Chris
I'm seriously tempted to chop my gtr in for one and I've already got the Mrs' seal of approval after she fell in love with one at the motorshow
Not managed to drive one yet but will be arranging a test drive, anything in particular I should be looking out for, any reliability issues?
I'm about 6ft 3 so I know that I'm going to look like a pillock trying to get in and out of it
Would I be better off saving a fair bit of cash and buying an elise?
Any opinions much appreciated
Chris
15 August 2006, 04:09 PM
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I drove one at a trackday alongside some pretty amazing cars and i was honestly most impressed with the Exige. Other cars were Evo MR 320, Ferrari 360 CS and RUF 996 TT...
You're just fearless in the exige, flatters you through the corners and the power band is savage. I can't see ANYTHING touching one through the twisties and the straight line performance in the Exige S isnothing to be laughed at will keep up with most to 100 or so after seriously spanking them off the line.
You'll notice a fair difference with the elise tbh, although i hear the elise's aren't hard to tune to exige level.
You're just fearless in the exige, flatters you through the corners and the power band is savage. I can't see ANYTHING touching one through the twisties and the straight line performance in the Exige S isnothing to be laughed at will keep up with most to 100 or so after seriously spanking them off the line.
You'll notice a fair difference with the elise tbh, although i hear the elise's aren't hard to tune to exige level.
15 August 2006, 10:53 PM
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I've owned 4 (and 2 R34 GTRs)
I'm 6'2" and had no problems even with a crash helmet.
Expect to be disappointed on your testdrive though.. it's unlikely you're going to be exploiting the cars capabilities and out-and-out straight line performance isn't it's forte.
Series 1 Exiges hold their value supremely well.. you could own one for a year and sell it for pretty much what you paid for it. Series 2 are less loved (IMO) and are still losing their money.
Many Exige owners have gone down the route of changing their engine to Audi or Honda power, rather than keeping with the K-series. An Exige isn't devalued by having this change (quite the opposite).
My car had been running (faultlessly) with a 333bhp Audi conversion, but it's gone back to have that pumped up to 380bhp hopefully.
Pictures of my car here (it's actually a Motorsport panelled Elise) http://www.evoposters.net/carsa/album291/blackcar
As for the driving experience.. you can't beat it.
I also run http://www.exiges.com - they members are a friendly bunch if you have any questions.
(and 2 R34 GTRs)I'm 6'2" and had no problems even with a crash helmet.
Expect to be disappointed on your testdrive though.. it's unlikely you're going to be exploiting the cars capabilities and out-and-out straight line performance isn't it's forte.
Series 1 Exiges hold their value supremely well.. you could own one for a year and sell it for pretty much what you paid for it. Series 2 are less loved (IMO) and are still losing their money.
Many Exige owners have gone down the route of changing their engine to Audi or Honda power, rather than keeping with the K-series. An Exige isn't devalued by having this change (quite the opposite).
My car had been running (faultlessly) with a 333bhp Audi conversion, but it's gone back to have that pumped up to 380bhp hopefully.
Pictures of my car here (it's actually a Motorsport panelled Elise) http://www.evoposters.net/carsa/album291/blackcar
As for the driving experience.. you can't beat it.
I also run http://www.exiges.com - they members are a friendly bunch if you have any questions.
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16 August 2006, 07:33 AM
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DB - yours looks stunning.
What's the difference between a series 1 and 2? What makes the 1 better?
I'm sure nothing I replace the gtr with will be as good in straight line performance - I'll just have to get used to that
What's the difference between a series 1 and 2? What makes the 1 better?
I'm sure nothing I replace the gtr with will be as good in straight line performance - I'll just have to get used to that
16 August 2006, 09:30 AM
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There's much snobbery between S1 + S2 owners.. the S2 owners thinking theirs is the latest and therefore improved iteration, S1 owners thinking theirs is more hardcore and true to the concept of "Exige". The S2 is a heavier car IIRC.
As for being slower than your Skyline, my car will do 0-60 in 3.8 and 0-100 in 8-point-something, so it's no slouch (And that's before the latest mods).
You can have a similar car for sub £22K if you shop around.
As for being slower than your Skyline, my car will do 0-60 in 3.8 and 0-100 in 8-point-something, so it's no slouch
(And that's before the latest mods).You can have a similar car for sub £22K if you shop around.
16 August 2006, 09:33 AM
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16 August 2006, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by DavidBrown
There's much snobbery between S1 + S2 owners.. the S2 owners thinking theirs is the latest and therefore improved iteration, S1 owners thinking theirs is more hardcore and true to the concept of "Exige". The S2 is a heavier car IIRC.
As for being slower than your Skyline, my car will do 0-60 in 3.8 and 0-100 in 8-point-something, so it's no slouch (And that's before the latest mods).
You can have a similar car for sub £22K if you shop around.
As for being slower than your Skyline, my car will do 0-60 in 3.8 and 0-100 in 8-point-something, so it's no slouch
(And that's before the latest mods).You can have a similar car for sub £22K if you shop around.
I'd probably only be looking for a standard car to start with. As you've had the engine conversion it's obviously a bit of a monster
That said, if I could pick up one like yours for £22K that would be
16 August 2006, 11:11 AM
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Well, a motorsport-panelled Elise will cost between £12-15K (£16K for a base Exige), and then the engine change will cost between £6-10K (depending on what level you go for)... you know you want to 
16 August 2006, 03:09 PM
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If there's one thing I've learnt from scooby and gtr ownership it's buy the car with the mods already done. I get bored far too quickly now I'd be a nightmare having to organise an engine transplant and would probably lose patience half way through it
I think my days of modding cars are coming to an end, hence I wanted to buy something that was great out of the box. Must admit, I'm slightly put off by the K-series engines and heard some bad reports. That said, is there much of a difference between 170-190 models?
I think my days of modding cars are coming to an end, hence I wanted to buy something that was great out of the box. Must admit, I'm slightly put off by the K-series engines and heard some bad reports. That said, is there much of a difference between 170-190 models?
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