Exige S

General General Lotus Talk
1

Hi there,

I am looking for any advice on the Exige S.
What spec should be on the car to be able to sell in the future?, Colour, touring pack? Sports pack? Etc Etc

I personally like the lifestyle orange colour… as its a real stand out colour with the black wheels etc set the car off.

New or used ? vast difference in price

I know some of the above questions are an individual choice but any information or advice greatly appericated.

TSF

2

I’d join/post this on Seloc also…

What ever you do, A/C is a must. New is going to be over 30k. Used you are looking at saving about 5k… depends on your budget I suppose…

3

Cheers Edo,

I will post on Seloc as well… I agree air con is a must. Strange this may sound but not keen on a black car.
All the car that are advertised are above 33K for new appart from the odd demo car.

Thanks
TSF

4

TSF,

Depends on tastes, but personally, I would go for the sports or even for the super-sports pack for an Exige, as well as harnesses. The super-sports pack will also give you the adjustable bilstein suspension and the lightweight rims (though IMO I prefer the look of the original Exige rims). A/C is a must I’d say as well - better to have it, than to find yourself wanting one and not having it!

Another thing that’s purely subjective, are he spoiler, wing and in-takes in black, rather than colour-coded as they come with the Exige-S. I think the car looks much better with a black front spoiler and the black side-in-takes. The wing looks good colour coded though.

Cheers Phil

5

I agree with most thats been said, but if i got my S again the only thing i would do different would be NOT to get the super sports pack.

For the record i got, sports, super sports, AC and LSD.

The SS is in my opinion a waste of money coz…

The lightweight wheels are good but too narrow. The 240R wheel is much better in this respect and allow more tyre choice.

The Adjustable shocks are under sprung and in road settings already a bit overdamped. Track settings are awful as the car understeers more and feels “hoppy” I have not found a way to get them re-valved for stiffer springs which the S deffo needs on track

The rear toe brace is ok but its designed to be easy for Lotus to install on the line and not for maximum strength. I think sector111 or EP do better ones.

The adjustable fron t ARB is too weedy and you will also want a stiffer one when you start tracking.

All IMO of course…

6

Excuse my lack of knowledge, are the lightweight wheels a different size from the standard S
I do not attend to do much track days if any but just to have a great fast handling car for the road. Have been offered a new car with sports and supper sports pack but feel it is a bit OTT for what I intend to do with it. Think I would be better of with touring pack and air con
Any thought on colours storm Tatanium or Chrome Orange Magnetic Blue? sorry not into black.

TSF

7

The rear toe brace is ok but its designed to be easy for Lotus to install on the line and not for maximum strength. I think sector111 or EP do better ones.
All IMO of course…

Bear in mind that the production line item is not the same as the Lotus Sport version, which is much better quality. On the downside it costs about 50% more though

8

I almost got the Chrome Orange last year but went for Starlight black in the end. I’m not saying I don’t like the black as it does look really good and most women prefer the black as they reckon it looks sexier but I am changing it in September and this time it is Chrome Orange with Sports and Supersports Pack. Not sure if dealers are still doing the buy one and get the second pack for almost free? Must agree with the AC though.

9

Bought a chrome orange S at the beginning of the year with touring pack & persuaded dealer to swap out normal rims for the lightwieght items (at a small charge. IMO the lightweights are the better wheel by far (less weight & you can see the drilled discs better, their also easier to clean, the others are a pain, too many spokes & corners). A/C a must!! if you don’t get it the minute you stop in summer the cabin gets very hot, also a must for demisting.

10

A/C is an absolute must, just to reinforce the point.

11

Thanks Lads,

For the great info cars without A/C of course are cheaper and tempting but as you say thats for a reason.

Is there a great deal of differance between stardard S suspension and Sports pack and would you be able to justify for road use I am looking down the lines of Chrome Orange A/C Touring Pack traction / LSD ? any thoughts.

TSF

12

sports pack suspension is no different to the std suspension…the sports pack does nothing to the std suspension.

Super sports pack has adjustable ride height and adjustable damping…re-read my post if you want advice about whether its worth it…

13

you dont need a LSD either.

14

air con is a must

15

Exige S
Mag blue
Silver wheels
Traction control
Touring 1 and 2
Air con

I purchased my car about a month ago and it is the best thing on the road. Like you I don�t want to do many if any track days, just enjoy making good progress on the Queens highway! The car is perfect. Compared to my old S1 Exige its like a beach buggy. I know that sounds daft but its far less fussy about how you drive it and where you drive it.

I was advised off LSD as the peeps here said it might under steer.

16

you dont need a LSD either.

Not sure about that…ultimately we do not NEED anything (except food, water, shelter etc) but especially in the wet the traction with it is amazing. Even in the dry it gives a great drive out of the 2nd gear hairpins with no inside wheelspin. I would agree though that you do not NEED it. But having said that we do not NEED a mid engined sports car…we just want one.

17

Cheers lads,

All comments taken into consideration,
Seems to be a huge differance in the price between new 2007 and 2006 models well on the well known P/Heads site any way.
What are the changes between years, appart from the head light covers ? I have heard that they have a different pedal box position or something and drive by wire throttle

Cheers
TSF

18

Just had my new S. Fantastic car. With regards to the super sport pack. I’ve got it. With regards to utimate handling i’ll let you know, not run it in yet. But I will say that I did over 500 miles last weekend over the welsh roads, south to north and back again. Went with my friends from the Caterham owners club( my other car is a Caterham) kept up with them qite nicely. I’ve not started fidling witht the set up yet, seems pretty good as is. I went for a LSD. I prefere the ss wheels, they are also 3kgs per corner lighter than standard. Also you get the harness hole in the seats.

19

lol 3kg a wheel dream on, so 12kg saving over all. !!!

its a real 5 lb saving on the rears
and 4 lb saving on the fronts.

which is a 8.15 KG saving

Still a great saving but not 12kg’s :slight_smile:

20

Thanks for the heads up. I was just reading what lotus printed in the SS appendix in the hand book. Seems they extend the truth as much as caterham