I own a 2006 Exige S with the normal two point callipers and am really frustrated with an ongoing brake problem. Basically when i brake with anything over a medium pressure the ABS kicks in and my stopping distances are just ridiculous. It’s been happening on the track and on the road.
Previously I owned a 2004 NA Exige and the brakes were the same setup and they were just amazing and the ABS was hardly noticeable.
Today i fitted a set of Carbone Lorraine RC6 Brake Pads and have just taken the car out hoping that the problem would somehow magically fixed itself and it’s now worst. I’m putting this down to the fact that these pads have more bite. It’s as though the tyres cannot grip or something.
It’s ruining what is otherwise an amazing car and i’m on the track with it on Friday. Car is on standard LTS A048 rubber.
Has anyone else had a similar problem and have any suggestions? Or does anyone know how i can disable the ABS? I’ve removed the relay but it would appear that the same sensors are used for the speedo and so it’s not the best solution.
How old are the tyres? When I first got mine the ABS was very noticable. Turned out the front tyres were hard as nails. With new 888’s the problem went away. It will still kick in occasionally but only when you would expect it to.
Agree with the comment about front tyres. I find they go hard way before the tread runs out.
Only time i’ve really noticed my abs kicking in was whe i had some really old tyres. (And once when i got my braking totally wrong in the wet at donington)
At least you know its not right as your previous car was fine. Alwasys good to have a benchmark when things like this are going on.
I’ve only just got my 08 S so not really driven it in anger however my VXT ABS was terrible so I fitted an ABS switch so I could disable it - this was just a break in the cable to one of the front sensors therefore the ECU would detect the break and disable ABS - can this be done on the Exiges?
One way to try is just unclip the ABS sensor from the front brake?
disclaimer: don’t know much about the exige yet so only do this if you know what you are doing
Tyres are about 3-4 months old and have done a couple of track days.They’re not brilliant but they’re ok.
I’ve this morning bought a set of standard pads which I’m hoping will reduce the problem for now.
I’d like an s1 without ABS I had an Elise 111s and that had the best brakes of any car I’ve ever owned.
Decided last night that I want to get rid of the ABS, it really is crap and Lotus should be ashamed. Anyone done it successfully without great expense? Pete you say yours is non ABS, help.
Tony cheers for your comments, i’m reluctant to do to much without knowing if it’s going to work.
Ps Boothy there will be some muscle pain if i cannot get this resolved. lol
Have you had the wheels off and checked everything over? Not sure how the Exige ABS sensors WORK. Could it be dirt or something? Since changing away from OEM pads I really struggle to get the ABS to kick in on mine now.
Tyre pressures? Soft pedal causing you to need to use more force on the brakes which builds up to a lock? I had a problem with a Jeep Cherokee where there was a lot of air in the fluid that would compress and then as more fluid was introduced from the cylinders the ABS would be triggered through over braking (or at least thats what the garage said).
AFAIK the Lotus system is different to most in that each wheel is independantly controlled i.e a 4 way system, not 2 way as on most other production cars.
If you did decide to ditch the ABS don’t forget to tell the insurer, in fact sound 'em out first just in case
Pilbeam racing have doveloped a replacement pedal box for the Exige which does away with the ABS and the servo assistance. So back to basics solid S1 pedal feel. It’s a twin master cylinder set up as so you can have front rear bias adjustment as well if you wish. The kit was around �650. I was looking at it because having come from an S1 111s the pedal feel in and 04 Exige is far from confidence inspiring
The only issue I have with mine is the so called “ice mode” or EBD when the system removes brake pressure to avoid a spin, the pedal goes solid and if you add any more pressure the car fails to slow, this happens on mine he u are braking gently and hit a bump in the road, this causes the ABS to react incorrectly and the only way to recover full braking efficiency is to remove pressure from the brake pedal and reapply the brakes. If it is not this and your ABS is reacting when it should not then there is something not right with your car. If you wish to turn off the ABS while on track (on the road would invalidate your insurance) then simply un plug one of the front wheel sensors as suggested.
The only time I have had my ABS come on on track was when I have still been trail braking too heavily on turn in. I.E. cocked up and braked too late
Ade, is that different from the rear brake circuit lockout? I had that on my old N/A Exige. Would trigger into the old bus stop at Spa and when you got the rear wheels off the ground.
It just locked out the rear circuit hence solid pedal and reduced braking. When it kicked in it would generally fire the front ABS too (as my same pedal pressure was now only to the front).
I have a nice letter from Lotus explaining the ‘feature’…
I’ve found the ABS is generally really good, can fire it at will of course, it’s needed on servo’d cars IMO.
21Ktony think you may have something there. The pedal on my NA exige had the horrible drop but then it went solid. The current car does feel like its got some air in the system as the brakes are a little spongy. However I’ve bleed them, the garage has bleed them and it seems impossible to get a rock solid pedal. Having not driven another 06+ S should the pedal have any movement or does it feel solid like the non servo Elise setup?
I think i’ll fit the standard pads this afternoon, drive it and see how that feels. Then disconnect the abs and see how that is. I can always just disconnect it at the track where I’ve got no insurance anyway. If that improves things I’ll put a switch in place.
I do like the sound of the Pilbeam setup, I miss my original Elise brake setup.
I also really missed my S1 Elise brakes when I moved to my S, I have only been happy since moving to the AP 4 pot setup with PF pads, just the Ice mode is an occasional annoyance now
I am having issues with the ABS kicking in on track and its upsetting the car slightly upon turn in. Am I right in saying that I can just undo the electrical connections at each wheels and this will disable it?
It seems that most people when using the car fairly hard are not to keen on the ABS. Have been thinking about the four pot setup. Is that with 304mm discs?
I’d do a proper bleed of the system while you have got the wheels off. You’ll need to remove the calipers to do it properly.
Summarised, for the fronts, remove pads and caliper. Hold pistons back in fully with clamps, Invert the caliper following the logical path of air from the where the fluid enters to where it leaves. You need to rotate the caliper through 180 degrees whichs tapping with a bit of wood or something. Bleed and repeat.
Rears are just as normal. Worth doing the clutch slave as well as this shares the same fluid system.
Do this properly and you will have a solid pedal and 99% of the play will disappear. You should find that the brakes are then much easier to modulate and give much better feedback.
