Fishguy,
Search this forum and you'll see that others report front radiator hose clamps coming off and losing coolant -- and these folks have NOT tracked their cars. So who tightens the clamps on my car then prior to sale? I know it wasn't me. So I guess Lotus should just deliver the parts and leave assembly to the customers??
To suggest everyone that tracks their Lotus in an HPDE type situation should check EVERY single bolt, nut, and fastener on the car prior to doing any event is ludicrous and completely unrealistic. And it still wouldn't save their motors. I agree they should check the items listed in their tech sheets and/or get tech'd, but not every bolt. And given that this particular clamp isn't even visible unless the front clam is removed...
I am now familiar with the last part of the car, that until yesterday I had never touched, the front.
And for the record, this is only the 4th track event I've attempted with this Lotus. I've had failures in 3 out of 4 events - spent most of my time finding cures for problems and fixing them. Compare this with my 04 STi, 0 out of 14 events. Or my 99 Cobra 1 out of 45 events (events being HPDE or TT type events not races). And considerably less money was spent on these cars and they survived the track just fine.
I'm not trying to bash Lotus, but I'm gonna call BS when I see BS and Lotus have delivered a BIG bunch of BS. I wish it were a one off situation and I was the only one to have problems, but like I've said before, I've had enough PMs to know I'm not alone. I'm certainly NOT in the majority, but I'm not rare. But have you thought that perhaps, just perhaps, the piss poor Quality Control from Lotus is why Lotus have almost gone under many times.
I suppose because I did find the passenger side hose clamp loose a few months ago, I should have realized the same assembly line bonehead that tightened that one up probably did the driver side clamp also. I'll admit to my failure in having too much trust in Lotus.
And I've never, ever, ever had a hose clamp vibrate loose on any track or race car or even on my 125cc shifter Kart (which is KING of vibration).
Deddie,
I heard about the Ford GT, but was too busy trying to get my car fixed that I never got time to check it out -- major bummer, that was a beautiful car (I have it on my 2nd session video). Assume driver/passenger were not hurt?
Sorry to hear about the red M3, hope she is ok.
Cheers, Rob.