Having now been down to my lotus dealer and driven a exige s I MUST have one.
my only reservation is that having just sold an mr2 turbo with around 300bhp and 250ftlb the exige was lacking that kick in the mid-range. I have therfor considered a komotec 300 upgrade, much like this one for sale on pistonheads has had done ( if not just buy this one). Clicky here
I’ve done a bit of research regarding that upgrade but would love to hear your thoughts on it, including that one thats for sale.
You could just buy one and learn to drive it to get the most out of it rather than relying on torque which makes something feel faster than it really is. The key to the exige is the revvy nature of the car and if you keep it on the boil it would be quicker than your MR2.
If you just like torque buy a VX with 300bhp as you can pic them up for sub �15k.
As for the komotec its a very fast car indeed and much faster than your MR2 but then it all depends what you want, if your buying into lotus because you like the heritage and you appreciate and want to use it for the purpose which it was designed, then my advice is buy a good base car which has been looked after and you can grow with the car and build from there.
If you are buying one to race in a straight line on the street then maybe the Komotec is for you but where do you go from there?
The car is going to be used for a pretty long commute as well as country road blasts and the occasional trackday/ring trip.
I’ve spent a decent amount of time working at Lotus and fully apreciate the ethos. An exige is an itch that has been way overdue a scratch so I dont think the vx would be a worthy alternative. I understand your point though.
What I would like is to keep all of the revvy char of the standard exige s with a bit more grunt and without compromising the reliabilty too much.
The car is going to be used for a pretty long commute as well as country road blasts and the occasional trackday/ring trip.
I’ve spent a decent amount of time working at Lotus and fully apreciate the ethos. An exige is an itch that has been way overdue a scratch so I dont think the vx would be a worthy alternative. I understand your point though.
What I would like is to keep all of the revvy char of the standard exige s with a bit more grunt and without compromising the reliabilty too much.
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Dont forget that the exige will carry a hell of alot of speed and I am not really sure on the lack of grunt as I never really found mine lacking tbh, if anything I have always said its too quick for the road.
Believe it of not you will have more fun in a 150bhp 111s on a country road than a 220bhp exige as you can really keep the thing on the boil where you will find yourself backing off in the exige as you will not be able to drive anything like to the cars limits.
My advice would be to find a good car, go learn about it, so get some driver training and trackdays under your belt and I think you will then start to look at brakes and set up before looking at power. The key to being quick is not the ponys, its knowing how to use them.
A good example is me, I have 275bhp, Nitrons and Pagid RS14’s, on our yearly trackday I spent the day getting passed by Wes who has 190bhp but knows how to use it.
Which ever way you go I am sure you will love the car, but half of the fun of an exige is learning to use it and growing with the car.
Looking at your use I would try to get a good, well looked after touring (or supertouring if possible), Spec is going to depend on you but the Forged wheels would be nice (rare on touring tho). Just look for obvious stuff pic one you like.
The CN’s mod like I have can be had for around �2.5k with the intercooler and gives 270-280bhp, so you could do something like that later. Its up for debate and depends on who you listen too as to if the Komo 300s actually makes a true 300bhp.
Are the Komotec kits really so much quicker than a factory ‘S’? I get the impression that the only way to get significant torque is to go down the Audi Turbo route. Alternatively wait a while and go for the V6 option, the monkeywrench write up sounds awesome.
Cheers Boothy very kind comments. I think if you get that 2010 spoiler though I wont stand a chance .
In the damp session in the morning I couldn’t keep up with Pete in his K series 111S with 156bhp, as you say it’s not just about the ponies.
If I were buying the car just for the track I would have to 100% agree with Boothy, afterall driver skill, brakes/susupension will be the keys to better lap times, all three of mine are prob sub-par
It will be used on motorways as much as anywhere so I thought the extra power and torque would serve me well, especially as I could prob get a car at little or no extra cost to that of a standard s ( as ever modifications rarely add value).
So if these upgrades dont destroy the character or reliabiltiy I would prob go for one, be it now or added in the future.
If I was in your position I would buy a 2nd hand Honda or Audi S2 Elise for like �20k and slap some Exige clams on it for another �4.5k.
On track it doesn’t matter whether you have 190bhp or 300bhp, the biggest gains are made in the braking zones and apex/exit speeds. Driver training sounds boring but will makes you ~5 seconds a lap quicker than most on track days. Sure more power gives you straight line speed but you need > 300bhp and > 200lb/ft for it to be noticable against todays typical track/sports cars.
On the road its more about the torque band and mid-range punch which is something the toyota engine will always lack unless you turbo and/or supercharge it. This is where the Audi/Honda packages work very well.
Trust me on this, 260-270hp is plenty enough, running 300+hp means gearbox and clutch problems as neither are design for 200+lbft of torque, get an S and take it to Chris Neils or Sinclaires aiming for 260ish hp and you will be a happy man and it will be fater than your MR2. The MR2 only feels faster as it suffers lag and then a great lump of torque pushes you along in one burst, even a lowly 220 S would kill it to 60mph the MR2 would have the edge on it over a 100 maybe.
The reason the S feels slow is because the torque is so flat across the rev range so you never get that urgency of torque coming in.
Whatever you buy you will love
Cheers ade. I think you are right in saying that I probably dont need 300bhp, just that I have the oppotunity to get one with the komotec 300s installed. My worry being the reliability as it will see alot of miles and if that 300bhp/200ftlbs is on the limit of the gearbox I might be better off with a standard/mildly tuned s. That said, most of the miles will be a commute and it will prob see 3-4 track days a year at most, I like to think I have a degree of mechanical sympathy so it would get hammered as such.
With regards a standard s being faster than the MR2, I’m not really fussed about outright speed, just wondered if I would miss that torque and if the 300s would go some way to filling in the mid range kick.
To answer blacktoys reply, I think I would rather stay with the toyota engine for now, keep the introduction to exige ownership simple. Who knows, maybe a conversion later when s2 exige conversions are more commonplace.
As said a few times I’m sure I’ll be over the moon with whichever I get, I’m seriously excited at the prospect of getting one, prob too excited for a grown man!
Sadly you won’t get the midrange kick if you are going to get a SC exige as the power is very linear in its delivery so you will always miss the turbo lag and then a great lump of torque in one go
I guess you are right, but I’m not after replicating that torque surge so much as just having enough for it not to feel a little flat. Allways found the turbo to be a challenge on track anyway, constantly boosted at the wrong point in a turn, some brown pants moments.
It will be nice to learn another car, for both road and track use.
Well start with a standard car and learn away, then add the rest later. but bang for bucks wise either the Chris Neil 260 upgrade or the Sinclaires Gotham 265 will give you around 260hp and are both well respected and proven upgrades, you would not be dissapointed with either. The choice might well be down to where you live in the country as to which one you go for
Hi JP1 - I have a 94 UK standard MR2 TBar in the corner of the garage which I have not used now for many years but cant bring myself to sell. I know your old machine would make mine look like a steam roller but you also need to take into consideration that an MR2 is so well built/over engineered it weighs as much as a sherman tank! The boot lid weighs about the same as my S1 Exiges rear clam!!! Ok I’m exagerating but the power to weight ratios should snuff out your torque worries completely???
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