Exige S2 - Chrome Orange

A few months into ownership and after signing up and creating an introduction thread, I wanted to start an owners thread to document/share the journey with like minded people.

My first time in an Exige was back in 2007 when one of my best mates bought a 2005 n/a one, I loved them from then on and the next year, following a trip to the ring in it, further cemented my desire to own one at some point in life.

Picture of the Exige in question…

Fast forward through the years of various car ownership from fast fords, civic type r, E92 M3, RS Audis and track prepped Megane 3 RS to a few months back when I spotted Jon Seal had a Chrome Orange S2 for sale with low mileage.

It was the colour I wanted so got in touch with Jon and the rest is history. The car only had two owners from new with the 260 conversion being carried out in 2010 with TRD and 2ubular back box fitted at the same time. Service history was good and the previous owner spent a small fortune sorting several air con issues too which was a bonus.

So early June and the car was delivered…

First order of business was a proper shakedown on some of my favourite local (ish) roads up to the Glenshee ski centre and everything felt pretty solid with no dramas whatsoever.


After that I set about getting the paintwork sorted out as it was a bit flat/marred/swirled etc… and one of my mates has a detailing business so why not get it corrected. It will mainly be used for track days and b road blasts but I have a bit of OCD when it comes to paintwork so it would just annoy me if left the way it was….:joy:

Anyway, I few after shots of two stage correction and ceramic coating. The wheels are done and need a refurb but I knew that and will get it done later when I get the suspension refreshed.




Next up was it’s first track day at Knockhill. I hadn’t been on a track for about five years since I sold my track prepped Megane 3 RS and my wife had our eldest daughter so was excited but apprehensive at the same time. To add to that, the track day was anti-clockwise on this occasion and I had never driven it that way so added to the anxiety…:joy:

Anyway, the session was an evening two hour open pit lane. It was dry which was a bonus as wasn’t sure how the NS-2Rs would fair in wet conditions. The car ran well but the brakes were poor on the standard discs/pads/fluid and faded badly a good few times which killed confidence. The heavens opened with about half an hour to go so called it a day.

Some pictures of the car on track, can’t quite believe how much roll there appears to be in some of the shots.






Had a few hours drive home to think about things and definitely wanted to deal with the brakes first, followed by some other track related mods i.e. Spitfire toe links and a baffled sump.

Got up the road and the following day made a few calls, Seriously Lotus were very helpful and ended up ordering some nice shiny bits which are due for delivery tomorrow along with some new pads but I’ll save for the next post….

Brilliant post and thanks for taking the time out!

Excited to follow another S2 owners progress as now @Fonzey and @matt447 have jumped the s2 ship!

Dont worry too much about the roll. They all do that. Time a lap , see if you can firm the ARB up and time a lap again. Thats the only way to be sure if roll is slow or fast!

Thanks Andy.

I have read all those guys threads along with yours and many others so some great info, tips and tricks in amongst all that.

I have already formulated a list of what I want to do and at the top of that is a suspension refresh, nitrons, updated brakes (already on the way), toelinks etc… isn’t that the way everyone goes once they buy one of these things…:joy:

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Its a slippy slope on these things. The cars are great out of the box but I just feel mine is getting better and better.

Can be much faster or more rewarding for the cash.

Hey! I’ve barely jumped anywhere, lol! I’ve just meandered sideways into something similar, but different :wink:

You have jumped from a s2 to a s3 therefore abandoned the s2 brotherhood.

:slight_smile:

Wow, harsh dude…:rofl:

Welcome! Will be fun to follow your progress.

So a few packages arrived over the last few days and will get all this fitted and a geo check/tweaks done at the same time…

I have gone for the SL Alcon 308mm discs with fixed alloy bells up front as it gives me the option if I ever wanted to change the 2 pots to 4 pots (unlikely but never say never). The rears are the Alcon 288mm with fixed alloy bells and will stay with the original single pot calipers.

Pads are very subjective and my personal experience led me to try the PFC 08 compound in both front and rear. I used PFC pads previously in my old Megane 3RS and therefore that is my starting point in the Exige too. I know the dust issues with PFC as been through that before but the performance of these outweigh that in my opinion.

Fluid will be Motul 660 as I have previous experience of that stuff aswell so sticking with what I know here too….:grimacing:

Regarding the geo, I asked in the tech section about this the other day and Fonze kindly gave his take on what to do with a standard car with camber and toe etc… so will likely take the start and Exige setup, remove front shims to add some negative camber and toe out slightly to remove some understeer but not enough to affect straight line stability (hopefully).

I have never found the need for RBF660 yet. Again subjective …

( ex R26 owner here ! )

It is at the extreme end of the spectrum Andy but I figure if I’m changing the fluid when fitting all the new gear, I may aswell go with something I know will perform….:grimacing:

Yeah, I read your legacy post. Loved my Megane and would never rule out another one. Chassis on those things is mega and with only a few minor mods, is frightening quick round a track.

Wait till you have got some confidence in your exige and a few trick parts. Mk2/mk3 wont see where you went.