"It's purely a track day car?" Not really

[dnovo]

So every test of an Exige says that are really track day only cars and not streetable. Not so say I.

Yesterday, drove down in my Exige 260 from SE Wi where I live for my annual physical in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Then I drove to Fox Valley Motorsports west of Chicago for TJ to perform some quick and necessary surgery on the new Exige (remove the worthless rear view mirror so I can mount my Garmin GPS and my Valentine 1 without taking up too much of the limited forward view, and add two power outlets on the sides of the HVAC control pod to power them. Then add a battery tender pigtail that exits near the rear license plate so I don't have to leave the rear hatch open when the small battery is on a tender. Then home on the interstate.

So all in all about four hours in a seat that I found very near perfect. (And I have a crap back, courtesy of Uncle Sugar when I was wearing a green suit in 1969.) Stiff ride? Sure, but very precise as well. Uncomfortable? Nope. Fun? You bet your butt!!!

Okay, is it as comfortable as my wife's Lexus? Are you kidding? Is it as practical as my normal driver, a Ford Escape? Hell no. (I normally commute by train and drive the Escape on weekends to pick up stuff or tow a trailer with a track motorcycle.) But, is it any more impractical than my former Ferrari 355 weekend toy? Nope.

Is a Porsche 911 more comfortable? Hell yes. Is it faster? Depends on where. On the street, I'd say the Exige 260 is more 'usuable' as it lets you play on the back roads around where I live for a lot less coin and gives you more 'fun feedback' than a 911 (and I have owned many of them too.) As a 'cut and thrust' weapon on the street, it is nigh on unbeatable.

The Exige 260 is a great weekend street toy. It is fun cutting in and out of traffic as well as wailing around the back roads. The road tests do not know what they are talking about. And the fellow in the M3 who tried to stay with me in and out on the interstate is talking to himself after I disappeared on him and a 911 about 3pm yesterday.

Perfect driver on the street? Hell no. The utter lack of rear vision and the dependence on your side mirrors requires a lot of car in passing and maneuvers in general. That leaves you adopting the motto of Raul Julia in GUMBALL RALLY when he leapt into the Daytona Spyder and ripped off the rear view mirror: "Firsta rule of Italian driving, what is behind me is of no importance!"

Dave

[opeche]

You've had some great driving opportunities, noticed in a previous post that you have HKS exhausts, do you hear a note inside the car? All I currently hear is the supercharger,(stock exhausts).

[Tpup]

Depends on where you live; I have a house in MKE and keep an Exige there. Based on where I drive mine, I disagree with you. On the highway, it's great, on city roads, it's horrible imo.

When it was in Atlanta, I'm with you.

[antinym]

Originally Posted by opeche

__________________
"09" Exige S260, graphite gray

"09", eh?

Hulu - Saturday Night Live: Update - Bennett Brauer

[dnovo]

Originally Posted by opeche

You've had some great driving opportunities, noticed in a previous post that you have HKS exhausts, do you hear a note inside the car? All I currently hear is the supercharger,(stock exhausts).

Nope. The HKS is quite good there. I took my wife out today for her first ride and she said we could actually converse in the Exige as opposed to the Elise with the Lotus Stage II, which was not simply louder than necessary but had a terrible resonance inside at virtually all speeds. Very impressed with the HKS. Dave

[dnovo]

Originally Posted by Tpup

Depends on where you live; I have a house in MKE and keep an Exige there. Based on where I drive mine, I disagree with you. On the highway, it's great, on city roads, it's horrible imo.

When it was in Atlanta, I'm with you.

\\

I wouldn't say horrible. Livable and not as bad as running my former Catherham Superlight with a 275 Cosworth in traffic. Doesn't overheat or load up. (Ran about 188-192 in traffic.) On country roads, it is a blast. Dave

[fast+forward]

preaching to the choir sir

[MacMan]

If it was really a track day car, it would have come with the baffled oil pan, or accusump instead of the bright yellow ammendum in my S240's manual that said it needed one if I ever wanted to track it.

I love the car, don't get me wrong. I just don't understand Lotus not taking car of the issue themselves.

[Darth G-F]

If it was a track car, it would have something like the RTD brace instead of the ball joint that pops on the track (causing crashes).

It would not fuel-starve on left hand turn. It would have a dry sump or at least a baffled oil pan so it doesn't oil starve on right hand turns. It would have a 5th point hole in the seats.

It would have effective aero instead of decorative stuff.

You bought a street car... that is very fun and still trackable with a few (well actually many) mods to it.

[dnovo]

Given that the 260 comes with the Accusump, and all the other track goodies and the more supportive seats, it seems a bargain upgrade as well as more track friendly. I priced out the extra goodies at my dealer and almost puked when I saw the cost of upgrading a 240 to a 260 even without all the cf bodywork. Good grief! Dave

[kestrel74]

Originally Posted by dnovo

Perfect driver on the street? Hell no. The utter lack of rear vision and the dependence on your side mirrors requires a lot of car in passing and maneuvers in general.
Dave

answer:
Multivex Mirrors

[Darth G-F]

I didn't know the 260 came standard with an accusump. I guess they got tired of paying for blown engines.

[dnovo]

Comes standard with Accusump, LSD (the suspension bit, not the drug), and lots of either neat bits. Check out the specs at the Lotus site. Dave