Arregueti

Mine is a 2012 S and also pushes forward when Sport is pressed under acceleration.

"Schadenfreude" must now be a Spanish word... Uff, that was tight! German does have some funny expressions, when you look from English. Who would have thought that every time you leave a town they would wish you "Gute fahrt".

That is quite a strong statement.

I am admirative and jealous in equal measure when I see your setup and progress. Keep the updates coming!

You must have replaced the tires with magnets.

We (local Lotus club) have also been offered tests under the 30 minutes “under surveillance and pre-established roads” rule book over here. It actually discouraged me from testing the car at this early stage. I am probably too old, too, but I don’t like it either.

Oh, yeah. I can recognize the hotel in the bend now. Very nice framing!

Very nice! Where is that?

I went to see mine when it arrived and decided to have it painted. There were only a couple of apparent scratches and looked mostly ok, but thought it would be better to go all the way and get a better finish. Regarding the possibility to have a quick swap between them, I was advised that aligning the tailgate is the most complicated bit and key to avoid any damage to the sail panel, so it is better if you are handy with this sort of tasks... more so with the heavier glass tailgate.

Hi Phil, Apologies if my wording was misleading. I found that taint of fuel in the water pouring down from the car when I washed the rear bumper. I didn´t say it was mixed with coolant. I was thinking that it must have been un-burnt "excess" fuel, probably as a result of the mix being much richer in fuel. That is my theory, at least.

Happy to help @Kevin Wheeler I don´t know exactly what you have done already and whether you prefer to stay in France. You could also head towards Ainhoa and the hills...

If it is just museums and car shows that you are looking at, this is probably worth the detour: https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/exhibitions/motion-autos-art-architecture I have not seen it myself, but the Guggenheim museum (and Bilbao) are worth a detour on its own. Not exactly around the corner from Biarritz, but not too far away (less than two hours on the highway or as long as you fancy if you take the scenic roads) and I am sure you could fill the trip with plenty of sightseeing and very good food along the way.

Thanks for that. It is located at the “end” of the engine bay, next to the rear diffuser. It seems far from the gearbox and it looks “lighter” than oil, so I am inclined to think it is fuel, but I will have a better look.

Thank you for your posts @series_one I have been discussing alternatives with my contact at Komo-tec based on your input and he suggested to go for their improved radiator rather than the Middle-east fan. He implied that adapting the ECU would be complicated and/or not adequate for all time driving (ie. driving when it is not hot, as the car could be below operating temperature...) and/or that fitting the switch would be costly, as they have not done it before. He therefore suggested that starting with the improved radiator would be more cost-effective and better for my intended use. Do you have any memories of how complicated this was in your old car? I guess not that easy if you suggest a specific gentleman to do the setup... I will in any case be swapping to a CF tailgate (bootlid?) so maybe that and the improved radiator should help improve things to start with. Incidentally, and having looked at my undertray, I saw a big mark of dirt (most likely fuel) on the right side... I hope it is just an isolated incident and not a leak in the fuel system or some damage related to continued overheating. I may be getting paranoiac but will rather sort this properly.

Probably difficult to judge, but have you perceived an improvement @Bravo73? It would be nice to find a simple and easy way to improve things.

I was in the Italian Dolomites (until Covid-19 kicked me out, but that is another story) at the peak of the heat wave in July. My car was experiencing almost constantly a slight overheat due to high temperatures and low speed through towns, heavy traffic, etc. Nothing serious as the fans kicked in as necessary, but at some point it went into limp mode when I tried to restart after spending a couple of hours in the sun. At Gavia, of all places… The codes showed an issue with the throttle actuator and it was solved by simply disconnecting the battery, with the help of other members of the group. For the rest of the trip it ran perfectly but I could feel the engine noise changed at times and the fuel/air mix seemed to have been changed. At points, mostly at low speeds in second gear, it seemed to be running like a car on carburetors when the mixing was not ideal. It struggled a bit before catching up normally. Back at home I washed the car and I could see rests of fuel leaving the rear bumper and diffuser…there was even a petrol-color taint in the water… I guess the mix was very rich in an effort to protect the engine, but I am no expert. This rose the question as to how to improve the engine cooling and what are the best mods in this regard. What would you advise? New manifold and cats (the car is ten years old now, would this be advisable anyway)? Would one of the fancy carbon boot lids currently on offer help? Bigger/better radiator? Any other ideas? Apologies for the long post, but I thought some background might help. Many thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Kimbers' one looks like a mega-bra. I would go for that one.

I experienced something similar on my maiden trip in my Evora, when I picked it up in the UK with my elder son. On the way to the ferry in Dover I was moved out of the queue and instructed to get the car into a warehouse where a strict looking female officer was waiting for me. I was then invited to open the boot for the car to be inspected, my son gently popping up and smiling from the rear seat, much to the surprise of the efficient officer. I was allowed to leave, greeted with a smile, and a phrase that sounded like "that is a beautiful car, sir. Enjoy."

Germany does not have pricing for the base model yet (ie beyond the FE), apparently.

You cannot beat that Twingo, though.

Indeed. Economies of scale.

You never have enough fun in that part of the world. I have never been as scared driving as in Melbourne, with those special rules you use there for "turn right coming from the left, at the end of the traffic light cycle in just a few seconds before they all come against you from the other side". More so because I discovered this local speciality in my first drive into Melbourne, just after landing and picking up the car from the rental company. The fact that the car we used had reversed wiper and turning light controls did not help either... You think you are indicating your turn and suddenly the wiper starts going frantic... My girlfriend was almost in tears (still don't know if it was laughter or fear). Not to mention the wildlife jumping at you when you leave the towns or your habit of burning eucalyptus intentionally around your towns and using road signs to warn drivers. Love the continent-country, though.

New benchmark. That is indeed the way to downsize and streamline a car collection. Congratulations!

I am biased because my car is dark green, but I like it as it is... Otherwise I would probably go with copper, which I think would suit nicely the light interior. Nice problems you have. 😉