[spiller]

I thought i'd start one of these threads, well because I like to think it helps organise my excessive car thoughts, but hopefully others can enjoy also!

I bought this car 12 months ago from a middle aged gentleman from Sydney who only used the car for track day fun. I have bought it as a weekend car with the intention of also using it for club level track days.

its a 2005 Cup 240 and street legal here in Australia. Has currently done 16,000 kms (10,000 miles). I chose the Cup 240 because it was the most focused Exige base from which to start from (didnt intend to modify anything...yeah right!).

The previous owner had fitted some goodies such as...

SSC Harrop TVS supercharger
SSC PIP ECU
Larger fuel pump/injectors
AP Racing 4 piston front brake upgrade
Larger rear diffuser
Baffled fuel cell

Here is the car just before I took delivery

 

[spiller]

and a few pics of the "bits" that make it a cup 240








next task was to refit the roll cage as the previous owner had removed it. Lotus say this is a 1 hour in or out job and although it wasnt too difficult, it look longer than that.

The cage had been stored behind the guy's house at one point so it was a little surface corroded.


After a light rub down with some wet and dry and two cans of this...



...I ended up with a decent enough finish for a roll cage



Off come the sill covers to reveal all of the hard work that had already been done for me...



And after a fair bit of pulling, pushing and rubber malleting, it went into place. It was a two man job but actually a lot easier than I expected.


The car felt complete again and despite what the middle aged man I bought the car from said, getting in and out is no more difficult with the cage in place.

At that point I also replaced the EXIGE and Cup 240 decals on the rear of the car since they had been removed at some point in its life.


Now I was ready to go to the track...

 

[spiller]

So the night before my first track outing in the Cup 240, I decided to do a basic inspection to make sure everything was in order. That's when I discovered one of my rear brake rotors was cracked all the way to the edge...


Also on the same corner, the tyre looked like this - partial delamnation


Not things you want to go to the track with! So I turfed that idea and went for a light run with my brother and his 350Z instead



Parked next to my dad's GTR in his shed...shows how big the GTR is!

 

[spiller]

with my wedding being on the horizon, I didnt have the time to get back to the track, so instead I decided to get modifying. One of my beefs with the car was the horrible exhaust note from the standard muffler. It had had its brains blown out over the years and the end result was a raspy rattly note

To cure the problem, into the picture came BWR who supplied me with the BOE Quarter Stick. Very easy to fit and VERY light.




The end result, much MUCH louder than the original exhaust...to be honest louder than I thought, but I am used to it now. Its a very aggressive note and your ears ring for about 24 hours after a full day at the track! Very happy with my choice though.

So, a few months ago, I finally got around to replacing the cracked rear rotors with DBA 5000 two piece items.



At the same time, I fitted Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.4 which are the cup 260/sport 260 wheels, but in satin black




One day ill actually take some pictures with a proper camera rather than the iPhone!

 

[spiller]

A club dyno shootout day was the first opportunity for me to get the car onto the dyno. It pulled a measly 149 rwkw (201 RWHP). This alarmed me as I am aware of the cam wipe issues with the 2ZZ. With the TVS blower I was expecting something closer to 250 rwhp so I had to get things checked out.

Into Willall Racings stables for some diagnostics. The cold start tune was adjusted (for drivability purposes) and the car run on their dyno to confirm the low HP reading. Boost was at a lowly 5.5 psi.

The cause? A cheap restrictive air filter. The filter was turfed a boost immediately rose to 8.5 psi. amazing how much difference a filter can make. This resulted in 240 rwhp, a lot more throttle response and more power throughout the entire rev range.





So with everything sorted, it was FINALLY time to get to the race track (after owning the car for 10 months!). On the day, the car ran flawlessly with over 40 laps completed. The only issue were warped front brake rotors resulting in a pulsating pedal and increased stopping distances towards the end of the day. I have ordered some Performance Friction floating front discs to combat this.

Here is my best lap for the day (note the missed apex after the back straight from the warped discs)

Some pics from the day confirmed my initial thoughts that the car is too soft. Look at that body roll!






To overcome this I have ordered some new springs to go onto the Ohlins dampers. The factory rates are 325/425 lbs and I will be replacing them with 425/600. At the same time I will be fitting some Elise Parts steering arms and re-aligning the car before going back to the track.

 

[Nessal]

Are you running catless?

 

[oldmansan]

Rotors don't warp. Did you properly bed the rotors/pads?
-Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths

San

 

[spiller]

Nessal, the OEM cat was gutted by one of the previous owners. Exhaust is very smelly.

San: the rotors have been machined in the past so I suspect that's why the pedal went that way. The track that I frequent is incredibly harsh on brakes and the OEM drilled rotors aren't up to the task.