please help a newbie

General General Lotus Talk
1

hey all, im a newbie to the site and to Exiges alike. first of all id like to know exactly how to pronounce the name?? next id like to know the difference bettween the s1 and the s2? ive noticed a few differences in apperance ie; the back and the scoop on the side behind the door… what else is there? i would also like to know how many of each model were made and how many of each model reside in different countries? the reason i ask this is that i live in New Zealand and would be very interested in getting one for myself and im wondering where best to get it form as the local lotus dealer has informed me there are no S1s in the country as the s2 is much better… but i will be struglling to affrod a s1 i think let alone the s2. so what would be my best bet in finding a good one at a good price, preferrably in black or silver and in such a way that i dont have to pay any road taxes or tax on it as i will be transporting it to nz straight away, also what parts would be best to stock up on? as i dont think it would be too easy to get parts for it in nz?

thanks for your help all!!

2

Hi!

Blime, you’re worse than my 5 year old nephew on the questions front! The best bet is to do a good old search of the site, there’s not much that hasn’t been covered, but I’ll give a few of those a go:

first of all id like to know exactly how to pronounce the name??

Pronounced: X-E-ja
It’s French for ‘Demand’.

next id like to know the difference bettween the s1 and the s2?

The S1 is based on the Elise Motorsport track car and is a derivative of the original Elise. It is race car for the road. The S2 is a different animal, it is more a road car for the track. It has more sophisicated suspension but weights in at around 100kgs more; that’s quite important on the track where the weight changes the character of the car. Both have about 190bhp but from different engines, the S1 a highly tuned Rover K-series and the S2 a Toyota (from the Celica with Lotus ECU). The S2 has a higher top speed as its downforce (and hence drag) is much lower. Along with the weight increase that’ll keep its speed down in faster bends. The S2 is a better build quality and a nicer finish interior, but that depends if you want a road car or a race car. There’s too many other little differences to mention. In fact, there’s quite a lot of difference between early and late S1 cars.

i would also like to know how many of each model were made and how many of each model reside in different countries?

About 600 S1s were made, with around 250 road registered in the UK. We know of a few in Japan, USA, mainland Europe, South Africa and Australia but I don’t know numbers. Some of that 600 will have been purely for the track.

The S2 has only just started shipping.

…im wondering where best to get it form as the local lotus dealer has informed me there are no S1s in the country as the s2 is much better… but i will be struglling to affrod a s1 i think let alone the s2. so what would be my best bet in finding a good one at a good price…

Well you dealer is a buffoon. They are very different. As a road car, yeah probably but that’s not really what the Exige is about (some have refered to the S2 as an Elise Coupe, as it upsets their sensibilities of what the original stood for).

Your best bet is almost certainly Oz. I even think there was one for sale there. Dig around the site.

…also what parts would be best to stock up on? as i dont think it would be too easy to get parts for it in nz?

Exige ownership is not always the most straightforward exercise (which is probaly why this site has prospered). If you’re going to run the proper tyres (and you should because they’re magic!) you’ll need a new set every 5000 miles or so. Longer lasting rubber is available and is probably fine on the road but not a patch on the track.

As for parts, most of the S1 engine bits are Rover (or another manufactuer), so it may not be as hard as you think. There’s plenty of sources but in general you’re not going to know what you’ll need next so stocking up is probably a waste of effort. Plenty of oil, as it’ll need regular service.


Hope that helped.

Ian

3

ok well that helps a whole lot, i did a little reading up bout the ones in aus and them seem to be rather over priced compaired to what it would cost me to bring one over, and after some thought i will probably be after the s1, now heres the shocker… im away exploring the world at the moment and am currently in canada, but im looking to come to the uk early next year sometime and will be looking for some employment to be able to afford the exige. i would be looking for anything in the high hour high pay sort of markett, i just want my exige i dont mind how hard i have to work for it. now that aside another question… in NZ we only run 2 different octane level petrol 91 and 96 is the exige going to be able to run properly on it or will ihave to have some additive for it? again thanks for all the help

Evan

4

Hi Toledo,

We only have 6 here in SA and no real main lotus dealer that holds parts stock, the dealer orders them for me as i need them and it’s usually 2 weeks from order to delivery. However there are aftermarket part manufacturers, i don’t wnat to get into trouble advertising anybody but i order most parts and ship them in myself. The engine mounts etc that are going to break are rover parts so it’s not a problem to get those. It just takes some forward planning when ordering so that you don’t have to wait for parts to arrive and have the car out of action, this site is a great help for that, just do a search if someting breaks chances are someone else has had the same and you are sorted.

Duties are country specific, however should the car need to be leased from a financial institution you would have to have it road registered and therefore customs and import duties would have to be paid. This also of course is applicable when you want to sell the car.

For fuel you should be fine, they run quite happily on 93 unleaded over here, although we use 102 as it’s easier to transport sealed cans to races etc. But it will be fine on pump gas.

Hope this helps

5

thanks for your help

by SA do you meen south africa or south australia? another few questions ive just thought of for all of you out there… whats the factory fitted alarm system like? and sound system? as im in a position at the moment to get that sorta of stuff at cost price and am just wondering if its worth while? also can i have a break down of the taxes in the uk? as i believe if i take it and put it straight on the boat then i can avaiod all these right? but thats only really any good if im buying from a dealer right? as the owner would have probably paid them up for a while? is that how it works? also if i was to try and buy 3 of them (to import and sell 2 of them in NZ) what would be the best way to go around that? just to keep an eye out for private sales? or should i go through a dealer?

just to let you guys know… this site is great its been such a help and i will promote it in anyway possible

6

The alarm is fine (Cat 1 cert for UK insurance co.s).

Sound system - it’s not really that sort of car. A standard one is all you’d ever want. Some people don’t bother at all, the engine sounds great and the cabin is blooming noisey.

Tax, well there’s no VAT (17.5%) on a private sale and I’m not to sure about any from a dealer either, otherwise surely they’d never make any money? Not really thought about that before.

Private deals are the cheapest, and anyway, part of a dealer purchase is to get a warranty which you’ll find hard to use from NZ. Keep and eye on this site, and Autotrader.co.uk for cars.

Ian

7

thanks for the advice, i will probably be using the car for mostly personel use rather than track use, probably anyway… will the car be ok for personel most day use? i realise that its not a comfortable car but im not lloking for somthing with comfort i want something with racing pedigree, how often does the engine need a rebuild? will the car be fine doing trips of 500km or more? another question is about the mot? (i think thats what its called?) if i buy a car that has already had the mot paid for is there anyway of getting the money back from it? are there any videos or sound clips i can download to hear the engine? sorry about the bombbardment of questions im just new to lotus and have lots of exciting ideas running around in my head…


thanks

8

? another question is about the mot? (i think thats what its called?) if i buy a car that has already had the mot paid for is there anyway of getting the money back from it?
thanks

I have had to pay for the mot in quite a few of my cars, but I have had it for free sometimes. Without fail though, if I have paid for it, I have never got my money back. I have also had to get my mot retested if it was not up to it the first time, and this is usually free the second time, providing you go back quickly enough.

9

will the car be ok for personel most day use?

Pretty much yes. Rox?

…how often does the engine need a rebuild?

Depends how you drive it. I’d say it’s unlikely to get past 50k, but that’s just gut feel.

…will the car be fine doing trips of 500km or more?

Yep. I’ve driven that straight several times in complete comfort (except maybe the ears!). Uldis perhaps holds the record for his around Europe trip.

Ian

10

I did Birmingham to Zandvoort via the tunnel one Sunday - I think that was 720KM … I felt fine, rather hot and drank about 3 x 2 litre water bottles ( so pit stops came up quite often ) - but my back was better than doing the same trip in my Audi

It would have been more comfortable had I not left the Nitrons on track settings … but equally compared to Audi “sports” suspension it was very smooth on the motorway - just expansion joints in Belgium being felt hard.

Wouldn’t do it again in a day though

11

… I felt fine, rather hot and drank about 3 x 2 litre water bottles …

So is it fair to say you missed Air Con and vents then Andy? [he says smuggly from his vented air conned car]

Ian

12

I have air con as well…

Maybe, that would have been a good time to use it

Nah it was really hot - 32-34 degree

13

Whoops, sorry, thought you didn’t [he says completely unsmugly and more grounded in the lacking capabilities of Lotus A/c]. Just as well you had the vents in that heat!

Ian

14

one more question i forgot… what do all the different “reg” letters mean? is that to do with the age or first registration of the car?? and also how do you go about upgrading to the 190 kit from the 177? is it just an ecu? or is it intake and exhaust as well? thanks

15

common Andy, I have driven from the heart of Europe to yer tiny little island louds of times and I will do it again and again and again… and Ian,
without working A/C that is…Emerald illness, you know
laters,
B

16

You have to change something else for the timing to be right on the 190, the pulley I believe? Exhaust is optional. Most will have had the restrictor valve removed. They had to be delivered with one to keep the noise and emissions below EU regs.

The last few UK cars were delivered with the recently changed UK reg system so have a 51 in the middle. Before that it goes backwards annually from Y at the end. I’d have said mileage is more important though.

Ian

17

Bruno

Yeah … I’m gettin soft be wantin’ a Mk2 next


There is something very relaxing about water dropping on the steering wheel and slowly dropping light in your lap

18

I know what you’re talking about with the dropping water
and mind you, we all are getting older
thank god for that, eh?
laters,
B

19

I’d have said mileage is more important though.
Ian

or even the number of engine rebuilds

20

ok so another stupid question… someone who may be interested in buying an exige from me in NZ has asked if i can get one in auto??? i dont quite know why he would want one but still he wants to know, were any of them produced in auto or tiptronic? or is there anyway to have one modified ? (please forgive me )