Got my car back a few days ago with these bits added during a gearbox rebuild.
Brakes: I know people say they are unnecessary overkill and therefore a waste of money, BUT they are absolutely fantastic. Feel is there now where it wasn’t and retardation is incredible, dropping from 110 + on a private road to cruising speeds is just a brush of the pedal away, no drama. The decelleration can be savage if you want it and step on them. This upgrade transforms the confidence one has in the car and makes it feel “right”. They look good too.
Clutch: After 2 standard ones in 24000miles I decided to upgrade. �400. Much more positive, slightly heavier, but no ill-behaved racing type on/off stuff in traffic. The way it engages cleanly, firmly and sharply as you accelerate up (and down) the gears improves the driving experience more than you might think. A no brainer when your standard one goes IMHO.
Overall the car feels so much taughter and tighter and “up to the job” that I ask of it. Expensive, yes - but there are worse ways to blow a couple of grand.
Where did you source your AP’s and could you let me know the approx cost
Will look to add them to my Exige S when it arrives.
Did you change any brake options on the rear? Is there any bias issues once there is more braking capability on the fronts?
TIA
Damon
Hi Damon,
The ap’s are not cheap, they at the same time put braided hoses on all round too which is a pain labour wise, apparently. They put pagid pads on all round but the rear discs are standard, just new ones. The brake balance is not affected AFAIK.
The cost for all this is nearly �2000. I got the lotus dealer at long stratton to do it but Hangar 111 in Ipswich do the same thing. Look on the Hangar 111 site for nice photos of the calipers fitted.
There are those that say it is totally unneccessary, over kill and more money than sense and just changing the pads to pagids from OE is plenty good enough upgrade. I don’t agree and was never happy with the OE brakes.
Incidentally, I went through 2 sets of OE front discs in 24k miles as well as clutches. I must be hard on cars.
Will try them first before shelling out for a upgrade.
Will be doing suspension first though as I didn’t spec the Lotus adjustables (Bilstien I think) as I felt for a little extra than the �1k they cost I could get a better kit.