Exige Carbon Fiber bodywork...

General General Lotus Talk
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Guys,increasing power, decreasing weight and increasing grip. That’s more or less the mods we should look for in our car.For Power and grip there are many options, but I haven’t yet seen an alternative for our standard bodywork.But I have approached by a CF distributor and asked how many Exiges are out there that would be interested in a Carbon Fiber bodywork: fromt clam, rear clam and roof.And this is not the Motorsports version, which is slightly different than the road Exige. This would be exact replacements, just lighter and stronger.It seems that making the molds costs about �5000, so if 20 or so were interested, it would make the costs viable.Then of course there would be the odd Elise owner wanting to make his car look like one of ours.Hmmmm, an Exige that’s actually lighter than an Elise…?Anybody interested?I would ! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]Uldis

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UldisDon’t want to pee on your bonfire, but what about Lotus’s Intellectual Property rights here?I’m not a lawyer, but… [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]

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I think you can buy carbon fibre Motorsport ones for a fair bit less…

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OOPS ! I misread… I read �5000 as being the price, not the moulds…sorry !

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Allegedly its not that much lighter - there are other areas where it is possible to lose weight much more cheaply. I for one couldn’t as its against any racing regs…Cheers

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UldisI think its been written about before but painting carbon Fibre is another art …If you dont mind the weave showing after a few months then fine, but “real” carbon fibre will show the weave - my mini had CF front end, door, boot, floor and when first painted it looked great but after some while it “sank” - and I used a guy that was good - he told me this would happen unless he used tonnes of primer filler - but on a pure race car so what [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] As a matter of interest there was (is) quite some discussion over what a “real” CF panel is - as some is just Fibre glass with a CF “base” - and then its weight is lighter but not that much - Pure CF needs to be autoclaved to get strength - and that is not cheap on large parts.Then again this is only what I’ve found out in the Mini world - the supplier for that is Curley.

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Hmmmm, interesting points.Pesky, I don’t think it would go against any intellectual property rights, since there are already aftermarket Elise CF body panels in the market, and they sell ok, but then again, I would not be making them, just buying, so I suppose the manufacturer has thought of it.Mark, it would be noticeable lighter but by how much? we wouldn’t know. I guess it would depend more in the resins used, and it may be more brittle than fiberglass.And yes, painting CF is troublesome. You need to put a gelcoat, then primer, and then, it may still show after a few months.But then, this is what I wanted, opinions.Keep 'em coming,Uldis

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Doesn’t Geary already do CF motorsport parts? Might these be adapted for the Exige? They may fit anyway?CheersChris

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Chris,the Motorsports bodywork and the Exige look alike but are not the same, they don’t have the same fixing points and screw patterns.And it’s waaaaay more expensive. I was thinking more like a user friendly and approachable way to make our car lighter.But then, I see that there’s no interest. I guess that we will have to accept the fact that our car is never going to be as light as an Elise or… 340R [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/frown.gif[/image] (but would be nice)Uldis

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UldisNo interest is too strong [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] - depends on the price !I mean it would be quite useful to have a spare clam etc for track work and then bolt the original in a really nice clean condition - just another angle …�1000-1500 max though …CheersAndrew

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UldisThis sounds great to me but as above, it would be getting it painted properly that would be the problem. I love the idea but as I use my car every-day I don’t want it looking like an extra from Star Wars !!As you know, like you I’m into weight loss and CF parts are a good way to do this.Another option would be to get all the externall;y visible parts made from CF and leave it unpainted or simply sealed - but this would be going for the full Mad-Max look.See ya on the 8th. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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A full CF body kit is already being manufactured and distributed here in Australia. Strictly speaking, the moulds are identical to the Sport Elise (ie deeper front splitter and the motorsport rear wing assembly)These are being used on cars in the production Sports Car Series here.Contrary to what you may think, the full kit saves considerable weight (58kg) over a standard Exige body. I’ve actually lifted the rear clam with 1 finger! To date, I’ve only fitted the CF engine cover, but this alone saves me over 6kg. The full kit is the next stage of upgrade planned for my car…hopefully within a couple of months. Paint problems aside, this looks like a promising, and reliable way of improving power/weight for our cars

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See guys?Exactly my point!, but too far away.Come on, I can’t believe that nobody here wants to make the car lighter.And if the price is the fear, I don’t believe that it would be far off the �1000, �1500 mark, since the CF bodywork that they sell for the Elise cost Front - �725 and Rear - �825 (including VAT)Should we retake this?Uldis

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Uldis,I have just got off the pohone with Paul at Chris Neils - they have a CF Elsie sport kit in at a big discount, i.e. �2k + vat. A bit dear for me at the moment, but ok for you rich types?

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Thanks Russ, (for thinking that I’m a rich guy) [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]But the Sports Elise (the Motorsports one) is not what I’m talking about.I was just wondering if there could be a normal one, perfectly standard version in CF. Lighter.The Sports Elise one is just too different, not for the road really.And then if I was going to have the molds made from my car, I could have maybe gotten a discount!. See? I’m cheap! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]Cheers,Uldis

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Rear fibreglass clam for Exige from Lotus costs �1600!!!

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"Contrary to what you may think, the full kit saves considerable weight (58kg) over a standard Exige body. I’ve actually lifted the rear clam with 1 finger! "Sorry - I have a hard time believing that the clams weight that much in the first place…Whist saving weight is an admirable thing to strive for, there are other considerations, like crash protection for starters.Simon (S)

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quote:Originally posted by SimonS: Simon (S)Mr Scuffham, is that you ?

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Phil… [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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Simon,the figures I have quoted are specific, because the guys here have gone to the trouble of actually weighing each component and comparing. These aren’t arbitrary figures that I’ve come up with. The original rear clam weighs 28kg. Not that heavy??? Don’t bet on it. As for crash protection, I’m not sure that the glass fiber really offers that much.Uldis, I’m sure the people here could be approached to ship bits out to you, if you are interested. After all, we are used to having to order things from across the planet for most of our spares. Even a front and rear clam alone would save considerable weight and probably be a lot more cost effective than a whole body. That way, you can keep your front spoiler and rear wing original…which as far as I know are the two most obvious differences between the Sport Elise and Exige.