EXIGE - RALLY CAR!!!!

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This may seem like a bit of a crazy idea but… A very lightweight nimble car could be very fast on the National Tarmacadam championship. It has been proven time and time again by the Darrians. My 340r outhandles and is as quick as most current Evo`s etc in a straighline but I would prefer something with a roof! Hence an exige. A few things that I would like to know… Has anyone made a lightweight bodyshell? Is there a removable rear end available? To make serviceing easier. Am i correct in thinking that an elise full rollcage will fit? Does anyone know for an exige with a knackered engine & box? Any help would be appreciated… Cheers

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The Exige is basically a track/road car, & in my opinion would be totally unsuitable for what you have in mind. I’ve seen Darrians on many rally stages, so I can see where you’re coming from, but…You’d be better spending the �25K plus you’d be talking about on a tarmac spec EVO or Impreza.

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The back of my car comes off in around 5 minutes - basically a hacksaw was taken to the rear clam, and some slightly different mounting points were fabricated. Work was carried out by Pat Thomas at Kelsport.Cheers

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Mark, I am interested - would you say that it still suitable for road use like that?Cheers

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quote:Originally posted by N11TS_X:Has anyone made a lightweight bodyshell? Is there a removable rear end available?Am i correct in thinking that an elise full rollcage will fit?Does anyone know for an exige with a knackered engine & box? - When the threads from Exige Talk come back (fingers crossed!) check out the recent discussion on Carbon Fibre body, it’s lighter.- I would have thought the rear was easy enough to remove for your purposes.- Yes you can get a full cage in there.- Knacker engine and box? Given the mileage some are getting up to and the fragile nature of the engine I think one should be along shortly!Although I think Pesky may have a point. The Exige needs to be driven quite smoothly to get the best out of it. Where a Scooby/EVO would have loads of grunt out of a tight bend the Exige would suffer and as for handbrake turns! Still a bit of Scooby/EVO bashing is good sport.Good luck!Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image][This message has been edited by IDG (edited 25 March 2003).]

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Although a wacky idea, I’m sure it’s not totally impossible.Henri Toivenen managed to compete on the Costa Smeralda Rally in a Ferrari 308GTB - now that’s barking mad - I’m sure had a BBS existing for Ferraris at the time, they all would have told him that it was madness too!!!

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We already have Tarmac spec Evo`s and escort cosworth. Both of which have won many rallies. To be competitive you now need to spend �120k plus. The engine in the Evo cost �26000 alone. A rolling chassis for the new darrian is �35000 and we thought an Exige would be different and be a good advert. Some pics of the Evo etc are at www.evohire.com Has anyone in the UK tried the honda engine transplant route yet? We were thinking along the lines of the Kseries in V6 form…Has that been done? Thanks for your help

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quote:Originally posted by N11TS_X:Has anyone in the UK tried the honda engine transplant route yet? We were thinking along the lines of the Kseries in V6 form…Has that been done?Joe’s your man: http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/001310.html http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/001304.html V6 sounds heavy, could upset the balance (which is alreay slightly tail heavy).Ian [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

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N11TS_XInteresting pics on your website [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] (I used to a run an EVO V1 myself).As Ian says, Joe has developed the Honda “implant”, & Blink (Jonny Leroux & Rich Breland)are a UK distributor http://www.blinkmotorsport.com/default.htm Blink’s Honda powered Elise is a very impressive performer [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image] I had the pleasure of having a few laps of Donington in it last week.RussT looked at installing the KV6 engine in his Exige last year, but in the end decided against it. However, Russ’s car spends its time on track!If an Exige is not a practical proposition, could an Elise with a hardtop fit the bill?Something else to bear in mind is that the Exige/Elise chassis is bonded aluminium, & is not easily repaired, whilst costly to replace.I recall a few years ago watching Nigel Worswick thrashing a Ferrari 308 round rally stages! His brother drives an F1 in the Euro Boss series.Good luck [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]

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The amazing thing is it does`nt have to have a roof at all!! Its just I think it would feel safer!! I did think about the cost of the tub etc but there are quite a few around second hand at the mo and their half the price of an evo shell. Anyway must sell the GPA evo 6 first [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif[/image]Thanks for all your help guys any other ideas would be welcome…

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Russ - pretty much suitable for road use - and saves a good couple of hours labour whenever the rear clam comes off! The main problem is that you need to hack away much of the rear wheel arch liners, which does mean that the boot area gets dirtier…I just tried to summarise the mods required, but its complicated. Will try to take a few pics and mail them!Cheers

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OK cheers Mark