52 are excellent in the wet, in my experience. I’d have no problems driving them on the road/track if it rains.
Is it worth thinking about leaving the helmets at home and ringing ahead for rentals?
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I am investigating this an option.
And vac packing ( seriously! )
You could also just wear the helmets all the way there 
Vac packing is genius for all your soft bits though. You’ll get a shit load of stuff packed up, not very 2025 but also consider a disposable Primark wardrobe for the trip…
vac pak only good for out going journey, one unpacked it will all expand!!
Take the Exige.
Pack lightly as possible. You can get quite a few things behind the seats as well, even if it means blocking the rear glass.
Bag under passenger knees is actually comfortable.
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A052s are great in the wet if you’ve got a decent amount of tread.
Take the Exige!
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New front and rear pads ordered for the car.
I have been advised that the rears are wearing normally but the nearside front is wearing more than the offside. Looks like a dragging caliper.
I have ordered some brake cleaner, a new toothbrush and will shine the piston to within an inch of its life when changing the pads over.
If it all goes to pieces, Ill get some new front calipers. Its almost the same cost as a refurb!
Still psyching myself up for buying 4 new AO52s!
If it’s of any interest to you mate, on my old S2 Exige, I had one side’s pistons going a bit manky… I bought some Lotus Stainless Vented Brake Calliper Pistons — Road Race Rally Trading Limited new seals and just did both sides myself. It wasn’t actually very much effort in the end and the pedal felt so good afterwards that I kicked myself for not doing it sooner, lol!
Thanks for the link.
If I can’t get rid of the crud / drag I think I’ll get new calipers and then sell on my used ones.
I have marked the above for prosperity.
Thats a new set of boots fitted in APR 24.
I need new rear boots.
I have done approx 1500mi in that time
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New pads for the front tonight. Not too much drama.
Everything off. Cleaned up with brake cleaner and everything back in again
Full PPE worn whilst working
Used vs New
Finished
Whilst I was “there” I decided to give my wishbones etc a coat of this
It went everywhere except where I wanted. Nozzle facing upper wishbone. Hits brake disc. Nozzle facing ARB. Hits arch liner. That was fun!
Rears to fit when I muster some enthusiasm. I recall driving out the small rear pin is a PITA
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But they’re damn good!
How long did your last set last?
~1500mi
The Lotus idle issue had returned. The plastic connector that connects to the IACV has become intermittent in its ability to stay secure. This meant I had to rewire a new connector. Fairly straightforward job after I dropped about 387 connectors on the garage floor. I suspect I will find a massive stash of them right next to the 10mm sockets I have lost as well
I fitted it and promptly 2 of the 3 connector pins released their wires. FML. Fortunately I had another connector as I had no de-pin tool so made another fly wire up and lost a similar amount of pins again.
This is the remade fly cable.
I have since covered in in tesa tape post testing.
I have also enabled an option in SXTune to auto learn start-up. Sometimes when cold , think coolant below 30degC that car will start then stall. Nursing of the throttle is needed to keep it alive until >30 deg C coolant.
The option appears to have worked after several starts. Quite happy with that.
I took the car out on a shakedown run to ensure the IACV wiring I had done remains working. 95mi later and it appears to be fine. I can also confirm that the new pads are bedded in and the callipers do not appear to be binding. I found this out as the road to my house is on a slope. Never noted it before until I had the rather strange feeling of rolling whilst not expecting to roll
I have a few jobs to do :
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Recover the sill covers. I cracked it when getting out and it needs a wrap / cover to tart it back up.
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Decide if to paint the car or not
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Cracked windscreen
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Enjoy it
I am in an incredibly fortunate position of owning two driver focused cars.
Both are from a similar train of thought : Remove weight and make it driver focused.
The Exige excels over the 172 cup in most aspects but notably things like the gearshift in the Exige is at the perfect height, rifle bolt in feel whereas the 172 needs me to reach ever so slightly forward and down to go from 1st to 2nd, 3rd to 4th. The speed difference between the cars is to be honest staggering though. I also get a heck of a lot more feedback from the Exige. This in part is due to the suspension being <3000mi old and the Clio running on NS2R. The sidewalls on the NSR2 rob the car of any real feedback.
I prefer the Clio for a couple of things though namely getting in and out. Its not a challenge, or a ball ache ( literally and figuratively ) getting in an out the clio. Working on the clio with most items is quite straightforward whereas working on the Exige is often pure frustration due to tight spaces.
One drive though and you would forgive the Lotus for just about anything.
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Agree, once in an Exige you forgive the getting in/access issues.
I’m the wrong side of 50 and sometimes have to lift my right leg in.
Does she need a full respray?
No and yes.
That makes no sense I know but what I mean is ..
To make it mint it needs one , but its not bad. It has some battle scars on the front nose, the lower sides are bad and the rear has a few marks.
The reason I haven’t given it to the paint shop are trackdays. I think Id ruin a decent paint job pretty quickly.
In tonight’s episode of I did a thing : Part 342 Sill covers
My drivers side sill cover had split and was threatening to nip my inner thigh with its plastic jaws everytime I got in and out.
For reasons unknow I failed to get pictures of me removing this part and melting hot metal wire into the crack. Perhaps it was the toxic plastic fumes that came off the metal that caused me to forget. I also removed the wrap that was on the sill covers. It was a carbon wrap and was starting to show its age.
Anyway, the two major cracks are now held together with the metal wire and some filler made up of superglue that’s subsequently sanded down.
Tonight I took them to the spraybooth* and painted them with stove paint. I have no idea how they will turn out but as long as they look 59% as good as before, Ill be happy.
- garden store.
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A small update.
The skirts have come out rather well. They arent perfect but they are a heck of a lot better than they were.
Big thanks to @winthattt for the paint pointer. Its almost indistinguishable from the OE colour!
You can see the slight imperfection where I have to repair the crack. I filled it with superglue and sanded it flat. It shows slightly in direct sun, but less so when in the car.
I have had a sporadic return of the car failing to start game that appears to be caused by the SCS delta loom to Lotus loom adapter moving ever so slighty. If I squeeze the adapter that goes into the ECU then car car starts first time , every time. Until it doesnt. This had been about 2 years. But then twice in 2 weeks.
I have since removed the ECU and adapter and noted a few things
- Its a bit rough - functional but rough
- A pin is missing that runs the coolant pump if temps get over X many deg C
I have been following Noon engineering on their socials for a while ( Insta : https://www.instagram.com/noon.engineering/ FB : Noon Engineering | Runcorn ) and know that Jaik also owns a Loltus ( amongst other things ). A brief chat ensued and the loom is being remade with motorsport grade Reychem wire and heatshrink, new connectors and as light and flexible as can be. I have also requested the comms connection ( RS232 ) is extended as its too short really at present as I have to fish around in the engine bay to find it
Old lead
TBC when the part arrives. No rush for it though ..
Whilst the loom / ecu / air intake was out I removed the three earths that are on the same connector , cleaned then and did back up the nut. Seems an easy thing to do whilst access is available.
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