Exige S RGB #138 - a journey towards perfection, well hopefully

General Owners Cars
1

Per my earlier thread introducing myself and RGB #138 that I am now looking to take delivery from Jon Seal in the next few weeks, here are some more details about the car.

At present #138 is having some TLC and having some upgrades that it should have had before leaving the factory. Below is a breakdown of the work that will be carried out by Jon to get #138 back to its best.

Full Suspension Refresh:
Strip all suspension components, shot blast/powder coat, and reassemble with new bushes/track rod ends/ball joints/hub packs/toe links. Rustproof non-aluminium parts.

New/Replacement Parts:
Aluminium Radiator, AC Condensor, Stainless Steel Tow Post, TRD Airbox & Filter, Hand Brake Cable (A120J0039F), Brake Pads, Engine Mount Inserts, Central Locking Module (A132M0118F).

Major Service:
Filters: Engine Oil Filter & Fuel Filter
Oil & Fluids: Engine Oil, Gearbox Oil (Red Line MT-90), Brake Fluid
Spark Plugs
Drive/Supercharger Belt (B128E6008F).

Dampers:
Ohlins 2-way Adjustable Dampers (factory option)

LSD:
Quaife ATB Differential (opted for this since I have it on another car, and due to its longevity and lifetime warranty).

Suspension stripdown began a few weeks ago - no pitting, but looks rather manky:

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Wishbones and ARB (not pictured) are back after being shot blasted and powder coated - no pitting so good smooth finish:

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During assembly (only some photographs have been posted):

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#138 is now mobile, with the old Bilsteins installed, until we get the new Ohlins, which caused a bit of a delay as they had to be shipped from Germany, and then re-valved and have the correct spring rates set by Mick Gardner Racing. However, these are expected to be delivered this week.

Front clam will be coming off next week to have a look in there and address any issues that may be lurking underneath, such as having a new aluminium radiator, AC condenser, and stainless steel tow post.

That is it for update #1. Looks like I will get to drive #138 before the summer is out…can’t wait!

2

Night and day with the resto.

Would be curious to note the difference between the OEM diff and the Quaife diff

3

The Quaife is an active torque biasing (or torque-sensing) LSD, which I already have installed on another car. It helps prevent the inside wheel, or the wheel that has lost traction, from spinning by transferring drive to the other wheel. This is especially noticeable when driving on roads with sharp switchbacks, especially in the wet, or on track where similar conditions or directional changes are experienced.

Not sure about this, but I believe the Lotus factory-optioned LSDs that were available for the Exige S2s were the plate (or locking) type, where, sometimes, one can experience lock-ups. This is not something one experiences with the ATBs or Torsen diffs - it is seamless, and one does not really notice any difference except that the loss of traction is far, far less than that experienced with a standard open diff.

The icing on the cake is the lifetime warranty that comes with all Quaife diffs.

4

I have had a quaife - on my c63. I found it unobtrusive and fit for purpose.

I wonder what the lock % is comparing the c64 LSD and the Quaife unit. Be interesting to drive back to back. I never found my LSD in my exige snappy TBH or too fast to lock

5

Does your Exige have the OEM Lotus LSD or an aftermarket unit? If so, what type is it?

Torsen types don’t have a set lock %, which is why they are unobtrusive.

6

My exige is a c64 optioned with a LSD from factory.

I thought even the torsen had a torque bias ratio , or effectively locking ratio?

7

To my knowledge there is no locking that occurs in a torque-sensing diff, and the torque-split (bias) and cannot be preset, as one can do with plate-type diffs. If I remember correctly my 993RS had a plate type diff with a 40% locking factor under load, and 60% or 65% under deceleration.

8

Welcome to the forum, suspension refurbs are probably one of the more satisfying jobs you can do on these cars!

Hopefully the car meets your expectations when you (finally) collect it :mrgreen: I’m sure it will!

9

Depends on the OEM type fitted.
Lotus offered a plate diff in the Exige 190 but a torsen diff in the supercharged cars

10

That is why I like you Dave! Fountain of knowledge!

11

OEM on the SC cars was a torsen based diff. I fitted one in my car when I got north of 260hp. As for what I thought of it, in slower speed corners if you got on the power early it had a tendency to make the front push on and make you run wide mid corner, however exit performance was so much better. I have since fitted on on my Clio and it has also transformed it, just hoping this one works on track rather than leaving me with one wheel drive like I had last year with the broken plate diff

12

Your observations are correct - I have a Quaife ATB in a Clio V6 255, which has excellent traction out of corners so it helps in low traction scenarios, but I need to be mindful not to grab the power too early.

Plate diffs need rebuilding ever so often, which is where the Torsen/ATB diffs score since they are relatively maintenance-free, and the Quaife ATB comes with a lifetime warranty.

Which Clio do you have?

13

You have a V6 255 as well?

Shut the front door. Love these things. I run turboRenault.co.uk as well as here. I have a strong history of Renault ownership but sadly never a Vee.

14

Ah, small world!

Yes, two actually (#002 & #314) - the former is one of 6 press cars brought into the UK by Renault for the launch of the 255 (Phase 2), and was subsequently assigned to Autocar, and appeared in their reviews/writeups in Oct/Nov 2003 - also featured here: Renault Clio RenaultSport V6 | Autocar

#314 too was owned by Renault UK, and used for promotional (static) events, and then been in a couple of collections so has only 799 miles from new, As one of 18 Liquid Yellow cars in the UK, it is quite a rare example. I have never driven it! :crazy:

You might have guessed that I like quirky cars that are RWD drive and have a manual gearbox. Hence the likes of these and the Alfa SZ fit right in…

15

Thanks - yeah, I was kind of surprised to see/hear that Lotus don’t use/do any rust-proofing of any sort, so refreshing the underside was definitely necessary.

I think #138 will fit right in as I miss the raw and visceral nature of my old 964RS (the only car I regret selling), even though the RGB will have more luxuries in the form of AC, electric windows, central locking, traction control, etc, yet be lightweight, nimble, and faster.

Having owned many of the old school (air-cooled) models, I have been a long-term Porsche enthusiast and the one thing that bugs me with Porsche’s current crop is how big and heavy they have become! :imp:

I was looking into getting a 981 Cayman GT4, which is why I kind of drifted away from Lotus in 2015, until now, but I think I have made the right choice.

16

These ‘shiny’ new things have just been delivered to Jon, fresh from Mick Gardner Racing: :smiley:

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17

Now we’re talking!

18

Yeah, and the day of reckoning is drawing closer…but still waiting for the Quaife ATB diff.

19

Yes you should probably try to get it driven before Winter and/or another pandemic lockdown arrives :laughing:

Any temptation to do anything else with the gearbox while it’s at? Uprated 3rd/4th for example?

20

The gearbox/shift is all good, or so I am told, so no plans on upgrading just yet, but doing the engine mount inserts and filling the gearbox with Red Line MT-90 as part of the major service.

I will get used to #138 first, and then see where else I wish to take it further…