Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Lotus Exige

[LarryT (l02turner]

Thx Mike -
That was very helpful.  Since I'm 6'1" and overweight it's probably better 
for me to look elsewhere.  Actually I'm not in the market - just saw some 
photos & was struck by the beauty.

My '69 Lotus was small also - the pedals were so close together I had to 
remove my shoes (size 9D) to drive - but man oh man - when it was right it 
was very cool.. Cornered great and even with only 85hp the car was so light 
it had a great power to weight ratio.

Thx again - BTW, just saw a 98 Boxster with Tip for $5800.  Hmmm  - I like 
the Tip BTw - I am disabled and the tip would make life easier..

If my savings hadn't been killed over the past 2 years I'd consider it. 
But, I;m happy with what I have.

LarryT

Read the Constitution - It's Interesting!
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Fleischer" <themightytoe [at] gmail.com>
To: "LarryT" <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 6:03 PM
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Lotus Exige


> Cool story!
>
> So I did a track event a few weekends ago and there were 4-5 Elise/Exiges 
> out there.  I had a pretty good look at them and was nearly dead set on 
> getting one last summer myself until someone gave me a great deal on the 
> Vette I have now.  Some points:
>
> 1.  Best if you are not taller than 5' 8" for either car and are not at 
> all overweight.  Getting in and out requires agility.
>
> 2.  Many owners rice out these cars with exhausts and cams, turbos etc... 
> These seem nice but likely are grenades with a loose pin.
>
> 3.  Handling and driving feel is awesome, but the suspension at the limit 
> tends to load up in a corner and if you go past the car's limits the 
> unloading is quite sudden, this makes the Elise (probably Exige also) a 
> handful at the limit (where you don't want a car to be a handful).   That 
> said its limits are very very high and most people just won't get there 
> unless they are a true track junkie.
>
> 4.  Build quality is not superb, they have bits of rubber glued to the 
> body work to cover gaps, lots of plastic parts, the car buzzes and shakes 
> a lot.  foot pedals feel loose and have some slop in them.
> 5.  Its super tiny.  Like stick in the trunk of your Hummer tiny...
>
> 6.  Any damage to one will likely total it.  Front and rear clamshells, 
> any frame damage and its pretty well toast.
>
> 7.  Toyota sourced motors had some cam problems several owners wanted to 
> sue Lotus over these back when the Elise first showed up.  Car will either 
> have the problem or not (like the E46 M3 motors I guess).
>
> And the Exige is not much faster than an Elise, you can't remove the roof, 
> and no rear window...  But it is a lot cooler looking.  I like the 
> practicality of my Vette compared to the Elise.  Also the ElMise is really 
> targeted as a true track weapon, but out of the box it really isn't quite 
> there once you get to the point where what you really want to drive at the 
> track is a real race car and not a hopped up street car.  I think the only 
> car that fits that bill today well is the GT3 though.
>
> My $0.02
> Mike
>
> LarryT wrote:
> > You wrote <<the car doesn't like to be parked sideways on a steep hill >> 
> > LOL - that's typical Lotus in the finest Chapman tradition!  The Europa I 
> > had also had some, Hmmm... unique traits.  It was definately a car that 
> > would warm the heart of a tinkerer.
> > A friend owned an 63 Elite a while back who had similar experiences.  But 
> > one Saturday he had a problem.  He called the factory and some guy with a 
> > Brit accent answered.  David asked several questions and was impressed 
> > with the guys knowledge and helpfulness.  He wanted to send a note to 
> > Lotus and express his thanks for the excellent help he'd rec'd.  When he 
> > told the guy what he wanted to do and asked for his name he was told, 
> > "Colin Chapman"  who said he appreciated the kind words.
> >
> > Interesting guy & heck of an engineer.
> >
> > LarryT
> >
> > Read the Constitution - It's Interesting!
> > http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
> >
> >   ----- Original Message ----- 
> >   From: Michael James To: LarryT Cc: The FerrariList Sent: Thursday, July 
> > 23, 2009 9:37 AM
> >   Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Lotus Exige
> >
> >
> >         A local member of our club bought a year-old spyder just a couple 
> > of months ago.  He had the cams 'upgraded' before he took delivery, as 
> > there's a factory recall on pre-mature wear.  He paid nothing for the 
> > upgrade, but added a sports exhaust and an upgraded suspension since he 
> > like to hit the track once and awhile.  He loves the car, and has spent 
> > considerable seat-time in everything from a 308GT/4 to a 360 CS on the 
> > racetrack, so he knows full-well what a car is supposed to do - and what 
> > it shouldn't.
> >
> >         BTW, at our FFIC BBQ last sunday, we found-out that the car 
> > doesn't like to be parked sideways on a steep hill - the gasoline can 
> > empty into the secondary saddle-bag tank, and the car may not start (fuel 
> > starvation).  Get it level, and all is well....humbling, but well.
> >
> >         M
> >
> >
> >         --- On Thu, 7/23/09, LarryT <l02turner [at] comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >           From: LarryT <l02turner [at] comcast.net>
> >           Subject: [Ferrari] Lotus Exige
> >           To: "Michael" <Cavallino_Rapante [at] yahoo.com>
> >           Cc: "The FerrariList" <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
> >           Date: Thursday, July 23, 2009, 8:35 AM
> >
> >
> >           Any Exige owners out there?  saw this 
> > http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2199/Lotus-Sport-Exige.html
> >           and fell in love.
> >
> >           has Lotus improved their quality control?  my last Lotus was 
> > ... well, - let's just say it was a work in progress...
> >
> >           thx
> >           LarryT
> >
> >           Read the Constitution - It's Interesting!
> >
> > http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
> >
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