Very long time lurker, but thought I should finally introduce myself! I picked up my current Exige S2 just over a year ago and set about fixing up all the bad bits. This is my 3rd Lotus, first being a new 111R in 2004, then an Exige S2 in 2005 which I kept for a few years before needing something more ‘practical’ and now I’m back in the position to have a track toy again, so bought basically the same car again! There was always something wonderful about the bipolar nature of the NA 2ZZ-GE that I remembered fondly so wanted to find another one. I happened across a low mileage Graphite Grey cable throttle one that was in great condition, so was very lucky…
So far, I’ve done:
Stage 2 Piper cams
Crower titanium valve retainers
MWR uprated valve springs
Fidanza lightweight flywheel
ACT HDSS clutch
Moroso baffled sump
Moroso coolant tank (standard plastic tank sprung a leak on the way home from collecting the car!)
EMU Black
2bular 4-2-1 manifold and sports cat
2bular H2 thru-diffuser back box currently in transit to me… replacing a Hangar 111 Signature Dual Exit and a Lotus Stage 2
Reverie Daytona induction
Nitron NTR40
2 sets of wheels and tyres (Exige Y-Spoke with R888R and bronze JR3s with AD08RS tyres - for dry or wet track days, naturally)
Eltech carbon fibre side skirts
Odyssey PC625 battery (6KG) and aluminium bracket
Elise-shop belled discs
Ferodo DS2500 pads, thinking about swapping to CL RC5+?
Removed radio and speakers
New coil packs as they looked like they had been arcing
Poweflex yellow engine mount inserts (which transformed the gear change from ‘good’ to ‘amazing!’, but yes my mirrors do shake at tickover now, lol)
Spitfire toelinks
Elise Parts quick release steering wheel boss
Hoping I’m going to stick at that mod-wise for a while and just enjoy the car on track a bit. I’m currently at around 865KG and the car goes better than I have the ability to drive it, so I’m considering investing in my abilities instead
Here’s a couple of photos from a recent track day:
I am super curious about your exhaust changes. You have trodden the path I think I want to go down. Which exhaust would you say sounded better so far? The H111sig or the stage2? I will be watching with interest when you fit your 2bular.
Very nice, love the JR3s and the bronze goes really well on that colour car.
As much as I love my Exige S, I really do miss the NA nature of my 111R sometimes. It’s a great engine, would probably go down as a legendary one if it wasn’t for the K20 existing
The Stage 2 is awesome - but as far as I understand it, you lucky S owners need to use the Stage 3 instead? I must say, that the H111 Signature Dual Exit has been amazing - I loved the way it sounded (not as much drone or drama as the Lotus Stage 2, but a nice note and I got through static testing at Cadwell at 94DB) and the only reason I got rid of it is… Jim at 2bular, lol! After buying the 4-2-1 and sports cat, I told him what exhaust I currently had and he basically sold me his custom backbox… He’s fairly convincing on the phone and seems a thoroughly nice guy to chat with
Thanks Fonzey - I was extremely worried about ordering the JR3s in bronze - but in real life they look amazing on the car, and the colour works very well against the grey! They seem quite light too, thank heavens!
Hi, I am doing a similar set-up with my 2005 Exige, but possibly with a stroker kit, I’ve already got the 2bular manifold but awaiting the GT3 back box, does the EMU black just ‘piggy back’ on the standard ECU? Tony
Hi Tony! It’s in place of the original ECU - it’s a much improved unit, and I’ve got a Wideband lambda on it so it can tune itself on the go, so I never have to worry about running too rich/lean over any significant period.
Stroker kits did interest me… they may still happen in the future, we’ll see
I’d just like to put this advice out there for anyone in the future: If you’re ever changing your lift bolts, use a little Loctite 243 thread locker when you do it… I had my cams installed by a Lotus main dealer, he put 2 new lift bolts in for me at the same time (without thread lock) and I had intermittent lift problems… When I removed the valve cover a few hundred miles later, I found… one lift bolt here:
(this is looking up into the engine with the sump removed)
The latter bolt was a swine to get at and I needed to remove the timing cover to get at it. Just my opinion, but I’d use a little thread lock just to make sure you don’t end up in the same boat as me, lol
To be honest, it was very obvious something was wrong with my car - the 2nd cam just didn’t change, seemingly at random (which it basically was as the rocker shafts were rotating around at random with no bolts to secure them!). If yours is acting happy, I’d assume you’re all good? I’m just saying, if anyone is changing theirs, at least consider using Loctite!
Yeah car is driving fine… but I only changed the bolts about 300 miles ago and I didn’t use loctite. I put them to proper torque specs, but even that was next to naff all so it’s probably worth an hour or so to check I think - you’ve scared me into it!
Gosh, sorry - don’t mean to scare anyone, I just wanted people to know it can happen and when you’re doing it to consider the Loctite. The Lotus tech said he didn’t use thread lock because the Toyota manual said 8NM and no Loctite, but he torqued it to that and they still made their way out within a very short amount of time… both of them! Crazy!
Couple more gratuitous photos… hopefully you can make out the side skirts - very impressed by them and don’t require any modification to the front mudflaps
That looks marvellous, I have the H111 exhaust as you probably saw on my thread - I had 2 previous 2bulars, and they were great (they did like spitting out packing after a while) - but Jim didn’t do the twin exit any more, so I still have a 2bular manifold and sports cat, then the twin exit exhaust…
[mention]Fonzey[/mention] I didn’t lose the lift bolts - it was Matt that posted on my thread - but I did hear a similar story from a Lotus specialist that they need to be checked for tightness - think you did the right thing with the loctite
He’s fairly convincing on the phone and seems a thoroughly nice guy to chat with 
