Sprinting an Exige

General General Lotus Talk
1

Tried the Exige over the Curborough Sprint course a few times yesterday and came to the following conclusions & got some info from the Rover K series guys:- The Gear raito’s are too spaced, a lower second would be much better - so a 6 speed box would be the way to go to get quicker times whilst keeping a reasonable top speed for track and road work. - The brakes were like pushing a sponge - so braided hoses are a must ASAP- Low / Mid range power/torque is not good ( as we all know ) but the gearbox would make all the difference here.- Understeer city !! scrubed out the front tyres … could do with getting more grip at the front. A few Elises were there and they were all over the place putting power down out of the hairpin, the Exige just went straight on and you had to get off the throttle to get it to turn in. Has anyone played with settings to dial in less understeer ?- Rover guys agreed the Lotus map is not great and that a mappable system is the way to go with cam timing adjustments ( to get some torque ) and a decent head port with better exaust and ensure the ram pipes in the air box are long enough. Also commented that the coil is not std Rover nor are the leads and that they look er… like they would cause problems … - Pistons are the weak spot I understand All in an interesting day … but I came away convinced its the gearbox that lets the car down. Other wise its deceptively quick, controllable and safe. ( it was dry … )Oh yeah, anyone experienced a very strong smell of petrol when they have their windows down ?? or is it my octane booster !!

2

quote:Originally posted by Miniman: quote:- The Gear raito’s are too spaced, a lower second would be much better - so a 6 speed box would be the way to go The UCR box takes care of that. The UCR with an “overdrive” 6th gear would be perfick. quote:The brakes were like pushing a sponge - so braided hoses are a must ASAPAlso change the fluid to SRF, then the pads to either Mintex 1144s or Pagids quote:Has anyone played with settings to dial in less understeer ?Trevor certainly has, but reckons the car is then a bit of a pig on the road. Lord Whitter has also (I think?) set his camber with more toe-in, but no doubt he will comment more authoritively.PS You should be used to a bit of understeer, from your “Mini” days [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image][This message has been edited by Pesky (edited 03 June 2002).]

3

Yeah the Mini was ALL understeer [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image] until I put negative camber and toe out on the back and then … dont ever put too much toe out on the back of a Mini and brake late into a corner!! [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/shocked.gif[/image]

4

To reduce understeer, you could try setting the ARB to the softest position. According to Lotus, the Exige should understeer less than an Elise in the slower corners. I ran my Exige at curborough on Boxing Day, with the ARB set to soft. It understeered like a pig when the track was wet, but the balance felt pretty good when it dried out.Unfortunately, the UCR box doesn’t have a much lower second gear. I’m sure it would help a bit, but it’s really only when you get to third that you’ll really get any benefit.

5

Don’t know about sprinting, and in particular what kind of gearing you need for Curborough, but the UCR box makes a massive difference on track. Torque will also be improved by an EBD exhaust manifold, but at the moment you can’t do this if you have aircon.Cheers

6

More camber and toe in will definitely help, as well as stiffer front springs, make a huge difference, but it is a bit of a pig on the road and you have to drive it really hard to avoid understeer then.