Autocar NZ magazine have just contacted me and are going to run a full feature on my car! I was surprised to hear from them as, like in the UK, Autocar NZ is primarily concerned with new cars.
A mate of mine happens to be Race Engineer for the Editor’s V8 Touring car team and happened to mention in a conversation that I was bringing an S1 in from the UK. The editor expressed an interest in running a feature on it as he’s been impressed by them in the past.
So yeah, they’re going to take my car away from me this week, chuck it on the cornerscales, hook it up to a VBox, thrash the tits off it, take some photos and hopefully hand it back to me non-bent and in working order. I asked them to make sure that their insurance covers any eventuality whilst the car is in their care, so hopefully if the worst happens, I’m covered.
Should end up in the December or January edition of the mag, all going well
Excellent!!! Wonder if the ozzy lot can be persuaded to do the same too!
Would love a copy of the finished report… are you gong to ‘post’ it here… if not could you post me a snail mail a copy please!
PayPal available!
I am perhaps looking to return home down-under in the near future??? Any advice on experience/costs gained importing the S1… I would be most interested! (PM if you wish)
I’m sure I can send out PDFs to those interested overseas who aren’t in a position to buy the mag here (most of you)
By “down under” I assume you mean Aussie Pete?
My Exige was the last one in allowed before the NZ emissions laws will ban their importation, although if you’ve owned it overseas for 24 months or more and you don’t sell it for 36 months when you get here, you’re fine.
If you’re moving to Aus, then the rules are similar, but I think DOTARS require you to own it and actively use it for the 12 months prior to emigrating.
As for being worth it financially, the answer with an S1 is YES! In Australia there’s 6 of them, and in NZ there’s 2… so they’re rocking horse shite and (in Australia at least) they’re probably worth over twice what they’re worth in the UK (Dave will be along shortly to confirm this). There’s never been an S1 sold in NZ to know what the price-point is, I guess it’s up to either Huskydog or I to set the market if either of us want to ever sell!
If you’re moving to Oz, sign up on www.aussieelises.com there’s a couple of dozen threads about emigrating and bringing your car with you, and the Exige S1 is the pick of the bunch as far as the people in New Zealand’s “West Island” are concerned
There’s never been an S1 sold in NZ to know what the price-point is, I guess it’s up to either Huskydog or I to set the market if either of us want to ever sell!
Easy - you sell him yours, & then you buy his. Wait 1 week & do the same again - you’ll both end up as “paper millionaires”
Yeah but then I’ll end up with failing eyes from orange burned into my retina… you’ve only had yours orange a couple of years and I’ve already seen the glasses you wear Rob so don’t you bloody deny it I’d rather lose my eyesight the old fashioned way… which reminds me, must pick up another box of tissues on the way home from work…
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… because I’ve got a cold you filthy-minded people!
Yep I am an ozzy mate… but please dont mention the R…y!!!
Excellent if you can PDF the test… that WILL be a great read!
Like the paper millionaire idea too!
I anticipate returning home to OZ at somepoint in the future… will have owned the Exige S1 for the required 12 months! (a Elise 160 prior to this) The info and link is really useful, thanks for that!
My brother lives in Christchurch… he has a ride in the Lotus during a recent visit out here and the expletives were aplently!!! I am certain you will get the same!
Enjoy the summer! I imagine you will get through lots of AO48 rubber on the hot and twisty roads… I guess replacing them out there may be tough?
Plenty of 048s here (although they’re pricey). Yoko NZ is really good about supporting anything that’s OEM fitment… since the 048LTS in Exige sizes is current OEM for the Elise Sports Racer, the 2-Eleven and the Exige/Exige S they stock the 048LTS.
Autocar’s gonna pick up the car in the morning… I’m getting all nervous now… only had my baby a couple of weeks and I’llbe watching someone else drive off in her for a day
Off home now to affix my shiny new stick-on front plate
Well I got the car back in one piece! They seem to have rather enjoyed themselves with it and came back cursing the unrefined nature of the engine, but loved how it was such a Jekyll & Hyde car as it all came good once you piled on the revs.
They couldn’t believe the grip and handling, and really had fun with it.
On the downside, I think they’ve finished off my clutch… It’s done 21.5k and I�ve always thought it felt a bit woolly compared to my Elise and it was a bit smelly when slipped. They tried a couple of 0-60 runs and clutch slippage seemed to be all they got, they didn�t try any more as they didn�t want to cook it altogether. I think they got somewhere in the region of 5.0-5.5 seconds regardless, which is probably about right if it�s refusing to hook up.
The GOOD news is that on the corner scales, the car in full street trim, and 19L in the tank came in at just under 765kg, which I reckon is a pretty respectable weight for a lardy old S1 Exige! That�s all good news because it means that whatever I do in the future, I know I�ve got a semi-light car to use as a base.
Now I�ve got to do my research and find out which clutch to use… AFAIK, it�s still on the original one, which I�m led to believe is not the last word in being great. Don�t know whether to go mild or wild with a replacement and of course there�s always the question of whether to get some more weight out of the flywheel or not… car doesn�t spend much time in start/stop traffic so doesn�t have to be the most driveable.
In any case, it should last me until the winter, when the car�s coming off the road for her renovation… will just have to stay away from the dragstrip until then!
Oh, and the article should be out sometime around year’s end in the January edition… will post scans/photos when I have them. They’ll send me a CD of their entire photoshoot as well, so should be good!