hi folks, as only an occasional poster as i tend to “live” on mloc i thought i would take the plunge and post here asking you kind folks words of wisdom and experience.
im aware that jonnyf with call me many things, and that mr pesky esq. will suggest quite rightly that i get some driver training
however
i have an 06 (pre FBW throttle) NA exige which 2 yrs ago replaced my standard elise. i have decided to keep the car long term as it ticks all the boxes and seems to beholding its value pretty well (i paid �24k 2yrs and 9k miles ago)
i enjoyed a great trackday at oulton park on weds last week (spotted a beautiful pale blue S1 exige with an exiges.com plate but couldnt trackdown the owner to say hi) during the day i experienced some brake fade, some serious body roll according to the photo shots, and a lack of oooomph exiting bends as i awaited 2nd cam kicking in
i would like to sympathetically upgrade the car as cash / time are available and have on my list the following.
adjustable suspension - any comments on billies vs nitrons vs ohlins hope to spend �1000-�1500 max
bigger brakes - �1000-�1500 - do they help or do you “overbrake” causing lock up??
uprated clutch - understand it is best to upgrade when OEM eventually fails, Which one do most folk go for??
S/C - ronin / kantana seems standard upgrade, i would before consistant and bombproof over extra hp and “experimental” - are sinclaires the only place to get this done??
please any, well most, comments welcome. Cash isn’t endless but should i consider anything else major? i drive the car enthusiastically, but i have more of a smooth style to scruff of the neck ragging! and complete 2/3 TD’s a year but, like most, would like to do more
On a couple of points:
Brakes:
My preference is 2pots spaced out with 295mm or 304 discs braided lines carbine Lorraine pads and High temp brake fluid.
If your having to wait for the second cam to kick in coming out of corners it’s either a wet day or your in to higher gear
interested to hear experience on the brake front, i know folks all prefer different set ups, i was getting judder and lacking bite towards the end of the sessions, although no where near as much as some of the other cars, so i know its all relative. i think im quite simpathetic so the brakes so dont think i need loads more instant stopping power, but fade free would be good
i agree on the 2nd cam, again i dont rag the car excessively, but found i was doing lots of things at the same time if i exited for eg the chicane on back straight at oulton before you go up over ridge in 2nd and then found i needed to change up , steer, balance car etc. 3rd gear exit was nearly as quick in/out, but then had to wait for cam change ??
Perhaps a �150 on having the cam change point lowered would be money well spent, it’s something I’ve been meaning to do but have just not got round to it yet
[quote=OrangeD]On a couple of points:
Brakes:
My preference is 2pots spaced out with 295mm or 304 discs braided lines carbine Lorraine pads and High temp brake fluid.
If your having to wait for the second cam to kick in coming out of corners it’s either a wet day or your in to higher gear
[/quote]
Tend to agree with OrangeD, albeit I run Pagid RS14 - You shouldn’t get any fade with decent pads, fluid and braided hoses.
All depends of course what you want from a suspension upgrade. Just be aware on what you spec as some shocks can be very track focused and can ruin the handling and ride on our UK roads. The adjustable Bilstein Junks is selling are quite good value IMO -Add a lotus motorsport arb and you have probably a good compromise between road/track.
Cant really comment on the Katana as I have an S, but the std clutch should cope with the power. I’m still on the standard one with 300bhp, and I even managed a few 1/4 mile runs the other month at York Raceway. Not ideal, but it should cope.
Agree with all the above, decent pads and fluid and you then should not suffer fade any more.
Get the cam change point done as a first step for exgine it’s cheap and really helps.
Lastly get an uprated roll bar to conrol body roll. Don’t worry about pictures they all look like the roll
With all the money you won’t have spent to use going on track to get yourself trained, then take it to the next level of upgrade
my helix clutch has been very good, as you said only worth doing once your original needs replacing. It’s even put up with lots of full bore standing starts sprinting at curborough (30+). (Pretty cheap too, look at fensport.co.uk) Engagement is no harder than standard once you get used to it. You can put a lightweight flywheel in at the same time, but truthfully it doesn’t make a huge difference as the standard one isn’t that heavy.
Have you got the ecu remap that lowers your cam change point ? If not that will sort most of your off cam moments on a trackday. Not that expensive anymore, one of the best mods for a N/A in my opinion. (if you have, then as orange d says then change down another gear under braking so you are in the power band exiting the corner) I find that sometimes you have to heal and toe to stop the rear end locking up on the last down shift.
Suspension, the main reason i went for nitrons rather than ohlins was that i wanted one way ajustable rather than two way. Even with a bit of pratice you can get in a bit of a muddle with suspension changes when tire temps/pressures are changing as well. With 2 ways unless you really know what you are doing most people seem to leave them in one place (seems to defeat the point of adustable to me)
Brakes - I love my AP 4pots, but as has been talked about by lots of people, you can get nearly the same by putting larger disks and better pads/lines/fluid on with the 2 pots. your money your choice - nearly everyone has a different opinion on this.
I’ll do a supercharger upgrade one day, but to be honest i love overtaking supercharged cars in my N/A on trackdays. Especailly when they chat to you in tha garages afterwards and look very sad when they find out my car is just a N/A.
currently running original drilled discs (20k miles-4 td’s)
and SBS pads which i like over the oem ones that were on.
fluid was changed by mike at sports car services, not sure what to TBH, but i imagine decent stuff. could the judder have been worn discs, pads are only approx 3k old and still loads left on. it seemed to be related to not stopping as quickly?
didint realise needed to upgrade hoses etc, thought that was an old S1 problem fixed for s2?
chris, the downshift/ braking / balance was what i felt uncomfortable with, heel toe isnt my forte and dont get to practice enough to get good at it hence the thought of disguising my lack of ability with more power
have spoken to guys at CN about getting the cam change lowered, will prob get this done over winter lay up.
Sorry to jump on this thread. I’ve just bought my first Lotus after deciding i wanted something different to do trackdays etc. i bought a 56-reg Exige S 220 touring which i’ve only had it 2 weeks but i’m now bored and would like to start improving the car and boosting the performance. I assume the route i would take is similar to ‘richbk’? Can i also ask if anyone on here is from up this neck of the woods and could direct me to a performance tuner? i would like something like the spec of ‘N17VES’ if possible. Cheers and sorry again for jumping on this thread.
My first drive of my S2 was at oulton with standard dampers and it was not so pleasant. I found it easily upset on slight undulations and during weight transfer. By contrast the Ohlins are an outstanding improvement and lose nothing in ride on the road either. Nitrons are also a great alternative. Either option will make a big difference.
With that mileage on the discs I’d go for new disc and pads to match them. If you want solid discs then I highly recommend the Tarox sport Japan with grooves and drilled. The choice of pad will make the biggest difference. Avoid PF if you like clean wheels, but they do stop very well. I would agree that pagids or CL are good choices as well.
Fortunately my car came with the lower cam point, I’m not sure if it makes a significant difference. I’ve driven both back to back and the difference is marginal.
Don’t be lead astray by these supercharged boys, they’re all full of compressed hot air… Stick with the n/a club
Your board after two weeks and need to start ‘improving’ the car? By improve what do you mean? where are the weak points? [/quote]
Point taken. I should’ve stated that i’m not bored of the car - infact it’s ****in’ great to drive - i’m just bored generally and would like to start working on the car (is that better?) ideally i’d like to replace as much of the OEM parts for lighter parts and make the car more powerful if possible. i think 260~280 would keep me entertained for a while?
I’m near the banks of Loch Lomond… a similar distance by the looks of it.
You mention “CNs is one option - will get you to c280bhp” and that yours was done last april. Can i ask what you had done and roughly the cost to expect?
hence the thought of disguising my lack of ability with more power