[Kazi]

Previous owner already put on some other good track mods, Nitron singles, oil pan, catch cans etc. Looks like oil pan is leaking a bit around the gasket, need to look into that.

Over the past few weekends I:

• replaced the front caliper seals
• installed the BOE SS pistons along with titanium shims all around
• replaced stock intercooler with the RLS kit
• installed the Radium surge tank kit (no pics, can't really see it)
• installed the Difflow Square Jr
• BOE silent touch + rear panel delete
• new R888 all around
• fresh rotors with Carbotech Xp12 / 10 pads.

I recently got access to a CNC, so I am going to try and make some custom winglets to screw on the sides of the rear wing. It will probably make the car slower as I have no knowledge of aero, but it sounds like too much fun to pass up as a first CNC project.

I want to drive it so bad, the sun is teasing me. I can see it, but between us is the pouring rain and sleet.

 

[BCspeed34]

My Exige handles surprisingly well in the rain, then again I don't have those 100+ extra horses yet!

 

[Kazi]

My Exige handles surprisingly well in the rain, then again I don't have those 100+ extra horses yet!

I don't have much confidence with standing water and the tread pattern on the Toyo tires. I may also just be a wuss :shrug:

I'll probably get a second set of wheels with better rain tires at the end of summer.

 

[oldmansan]

I don't have much confidence with standing water and the tread pattern on the Toyo tires. I may also just be a wuss :shrug:

I'll probably get a second set of wheels with better rain tires at the end of summer.

I drove my Exige S in the rain for two week as my daily driver (Corvette C6) was on jack stands due to a shock failure. I was on the stock A048s (which were bald), which are even less predictable.

I was surprised at how easy it was to control the Exige even under throttle in a wet corner. After I had the rear end break loose (bald rears, lots of throttle and steering) I was challenging the car to handle badly. It wouldn't. Even in the worst scenario above it was very controllable.

I'd advise some practice (I didn't say wuss).

San

 

[Diny]

I don't have much confidence with standing water and the tread pattern on the Toyo tires. I may also just be a wuss :shrug:

I'll probably get a second set of wheels with better rain tires at the end of summer.

Don't forget that the car was engineered and made in the UK, where it rains a hell of a lot. Just be mindful of your driving and you'll be fine.

 

[Ryephile]

Very nice upgrades. Best of luck the weather clears so you can go for a proper spirited drive.

 

[ShahulX]

does that rear air diffuser really help a lot?

 

[Kazi]

does that rear air diffuser really help a lot?

I have no timed lap data to say it does. But I spent money on it so my brain tells me yes, huge improvement over stock.

 

[Nessal]

How involved was it to rebuild the front calipers?

 

[Kazi]

How involved was it to rebuild the front calipers?

I found it easy, although I've taken calipers off my GTI a few times before. The calipers are pretty darn simple, two pistons and 4 seals each. There are what I believe to be outer dust seals and an inner fluid seal. I only replaced the inner fluid seals and cleaned off the dust seals. I read somewhere that you should soak the new seals in fluid for 30 minutes prior to installation, so I did do that. You don't have to split the caliper open either, there is enough room to keep it in one piece.

Buy some brake line plugs like these Amazon.com: Dorman Help! 13889 Brake Hose Plug: Automotive to keep your fluid reservoir from drying out. I took mine off so I could give them a thorough cleaning before putting in new seals.

I used my compressor with a handheld air blower to pop the pistons out, doesn't take much pressure to do it. You will need a C-clamp to put the pistons back in, they are a tight fit and I couldn't move them all the way in by hand.


Trickiest part is getting air out of the caliper when you put it back on .
There is only one bleed nipple and two cylinders, air will get trapped in the cylinder that does not have a bleed nipple, so flipping it upside down while carefully rotating it with the bleed nipple open (and using a pressure bleeder) will release the trapped air. Just imagine the air bubble floating to the highest point in the cylinder while rotating it.

I used the motul pressure bleeder while making sure the reservoir didn't run dry.

 

[Kazi]

Replaced my expired, red four point harnesses with silver ones. Now they match the paint :up: Added a cup holder on the passenger side, now my bottled water doesn't roll around the car. Also made a plate holder for the front using the Home Depot lumber bracket.

I took the roof off to make replacing the seat belts easier. I discovered that at some point one of the rear roof brackets was overtightened and cracked. I put some super glue where it fractured and clamped it down. Hoping it holds well enough that I won't have to buy a replacement.

 

[BCspeed34]

Looking good, you need to make it out to Redmond Town Center one of these Saturdays!

 

[spiller]

Cool build, feedback on the RLS intercooler over stock? Thinking about pulling the trigger on one.

 

[andy7777]

Nice car, you'll have fun. But the 4 points are a hazard to your health. Go 5 or 6 point. Easy to do with stock seats, it's one (correctly placed) slit and the Sector 111 6-pack and you're there. The 4 points ride up your hips and do nothing except direct your body to slam into the steering column. And yes, that's a possibility even with the supposed Schroth breakaway feature.

 

[Jim-C]

Nice car, you'll have fun. But the 4 points are a hazard to your health. Go 5 or 6 point. Easy to do with stock seats, it's one (correctly placed) slit and the Sector 111 6-pack and you're there. The 4 points ride up your hips and do nothing except direct your body to slam into the steering column. And yes, that's a possibility even with the supposed Schroth breakaway feature.

+1.
I know a guy who really got banged up unnecessarily with a four point.

 

[qu1Z]

Looking good, you need to make it out to Redmond Town Center one of these Saturdays!

I miss ERTC!

 

[Kazi]

Cool build, feedback on the RLS intercooler over stock? Thinking about pulling the trigger on one.

Haven't made it to the track yet, but for what its worth, it is cooler to the touch after a spirited drive on the street. If you do get the kit, you will want some rubber/silicone bushings to put under the intercooler heat shield. It will vibrate like crazy against the mounting brackets. I took some silicone sheet and cut strips to fold over itself, then cut out a square with a razor to fit them over the bolts. I also silicone glued a couple stacked sheets under the center of the shield where it was coming in contact with the large metal bracket that holds up the intercooler.

+1.
I know a guy who really got banged up unnecessarily with a four point.

Any more details on this? I have been unsuccessful in finding events of people being injured from the claimed dangers of 4 point harnesses. Also, what is involved with mounting the 5/6th strap to the car? Do I need to rivet special brackets to the floor?

 

[andy7777]

Wear it for a couple track days and see what happens. The buckle will ride up past your pelvis no matter how tight you cinch it. If you hit anything that causes you to move forward there is nothing to prevent you from submarining underneath. The Schroth tearaway claims that the outer belt will stretch and allow your torso to go forward a bit, like a traditional 3 point belt. So maybe it works. And maybe not.

The chances of getting actually injured in a track day are pretty small, so I'm not hugely surprised if you haven't heard of anyone actually getting injured by a 4 point. Let's hope it stays that way. Enough people who have done this for a long time would never use a 4 point that I became convinced.

Aside from all that, once you go to a 5 or 6 point you will realize that the only real utility out of a harness is to use it with a 5th or 6th point, since it actually keeps you in the seat. With a 4 point once the buckle wriggles up it's fairly useless at the task of keeping you tight, and more importantly keeping your butt tight to the seat.

It's not a big job to get the remaining strap. You need to get a slit in your seat to thread it through and a good attachment point in the floor. Sector 111 sells a kit to do that. A pro race shop that is at all familiar with Lotus can do it for you in a few hours, or custom make a good bolt system. The slit in the seat can be trimmed by a leather shop so it looks OEM or for a few bucks Sector 111 sells a plastic harness hole ring. I don't think it's hugely comfortable, so after a year of using that I went the leather shop route with the same seats you have.

 

[Kazi]

Thanks, andy7777. That is the type of practical information I was lacking. Main reason I wanted something other than stock seatbelt was to keep myself planted in the seat.

I have an appointment on Monday to get my suspension setup with a motorsport shop that works on lotus cars. I'll ask if they have setup the extra mounting points for other customers cars.

 

[Kazi]

I forgot that I also swapped out my pedals for the DBW set. I have long skinny feet and found I couldn't touch the gas and brake at the same time in a comfortable manner. Ended up using 1 shim on the brake pedal and put the gas pedal high and far over to the left, reducing the space between the pair. I'm still a noob, but I can now at least attempt to heel toe.