French Frie

as it is an IPS, there's already an gearbox oil cooler ... But you can (should ?) upgrade to synth oil and do regular gearbox oil change ! I use Motul ATF VI, but don't do many trackdays ... PS: BTW, shorter gear ratios would be beneficial for IPS, as 5 and 6th are very loooong, but, AFAIK, it hasn't be offered by anyone yet...

an Exige with a big TVS1900, intercooler, (KT?) airbox and a lot of other upgrades :

Thanks ! Another one, in B&W :

I barely dare to post pictures after those from @GFWilliams, but let’s forget my shame : https://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/21346916B2BB112BC54F07BE790768B72DEF68.jpg BTW, i just fitted a Visium Hard-top for winter, and I’ll make a review in the correct topic !

A grey GT430 has made a trip around French dealers this week, and was reunited with a blue GT430 sport in Marcassus facilities yesterday evening :

As said in the Evora topic about @chylld's IPS, I trust in Motul synth oils, and I also experimented the Gear 300 75W90 in my Elise S2 few years ago (and in Porsches as well)... within 200 kms from the oil change, gear change was noticeably better and smoother ! I won't put anything else than 300V oils in my engines and full synth Motul oil in gearboxes ...

it seems wise ... The point with the oil I use is that it is a full high spec synthetic oil, and I do think (believe ?) it is a good thing to cope with high temps and hard use ... even if on recording history, mine has never gone above 120°C (but it's an hairdresser car) ! and I'm a big fan on Motul full synt products for a long, long time, so it's a no brainer option ...

great news ! as I only do very few placid trackdays and 99% fast road use, I chose to change the oil on a 2 years/30,000 kms basis... By the way, I used full synthetic Motul ATF VI (Toyota WS compatible) for peace of mind. they made a recall on the thermostat and radiator's oil lines as well (but it may only concerns the IPS Exige, not the Evora) !

F430 is a lot bigger ! There was a 328GTS too, and it was more the same size... anyway, it was a pleasure to have 50 roaring cars in the streets of this city that now wants to ban them ! But I guess that’s what they call progress...

Exige 380 at Simply Sportscars, in Anniversary Blue color :

« Sinday » ... what a lapsus ! Another one, at Vendôme square :

if it's Venom red, it looks this way (when premium pack is selected) ... it's a bit darker in RL than on pictures :

@550superfast : Transforged is the answer ! https://transforged.com/collections/lotus-exige/products/front-speaker-blanking-plates

@Daveb99: yep ! (Very) early sinday morning in Paris, with some friends ... I’m not as talented as @GFWilliams, though !

PS : and don't forget to put a powerful fan pointing towards engine side scoop !

@Daveb99 : beautiful pics ! and the roadster looks so classy ... but I'm maybe a bit biased !

always the same issue... on the dyno, maximum torque is almost always measured equal or beyond the spec sheet, which means that if this torque is applied at higher spin, the max power should respect the spec sheet as well ! but, unfortunately, torque just collapses at top end, hence the power (power= torque x rpm /5252) ... So, my thought is that these engines deliver what they're supposed to do ... until 6,000/6,500 rpm, on rolling road at least ! what is not totally clear is why torque is collapsing this way : is it because ECU is enriching the mixture (for engine safety reasons) at top end, or is it essentially a dyno mode problem (if front wheels are not spinning at the same velocity that rear ones are, ECU detects a problem and cut top end torque curve) ? that's the second point that @NW76 , with KT, has pointed out ... and I'm about to second this main point, as each time very low stock bhp were measured, it was on a non -sync rolling road, and max rpm weren't reached ! @Maxi_z, your workshop use a full sync rolling road, or front wheels don't spin ??

oh, really ? IIRC, the replacement part from lotus was around 5,000€ ... PS: I checked on DeRoure Website : £4,114 ... http://www.deroure.com/partinfo.asp?MAK=1&MDL=40&TBL=11471&SMA=0&SMO=0&ST=&SC=0&PBID=679827

eeeeerrrrr... Do you really want to talk about France's ranking ?? http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/pisa-worldwide-ranking-of-math-science-reading-skills-2016-12/ ... switzerland is far ahead ! hopefully, UK is just behind ... seriously, the fact that KT is not that far away from you and takes in charge the fitting and put the car on rolling road after the mod is for me another very important point, even though I'm sure there are skilled workshop in CH ...

I agree with your maths, Antoine ... but ther's one thing that you do not take in account : once the TVS1900 installed, you can sell your barely used TVS1320 ! I assume it can go for about 3 to 4 thousands euros ... Nonetheless, I'd go the same KT route, because I assume proper manifolds and sport cat are mandatory !

you mean 1,000 kgs and 500 bhp ?! I second @The Pits that it's all about driving cars... that's what we (french) called it autoMOBILE in 1866 ! I just can't figure out how you can own such a car and not drive it ! I've got several car, a rather busy business, and I manage to drive my toys for about 25,000 km each year (and about 35,000 more with "normal" cars) ... and what beautiful memories it makes !

any update, @chylld ?

I really like the new front clam ! and I must confess I was not a big fan of the racer-wanabee canards ... the new face looks neater to me ! I also noticed the larger side engine scoops... were they already present on the 380 ? the grey 430 is really beautiful !

ok, I checked the Lotus website ... Claimed Torque is indeed increased : 440Nm !

yes, a bit of course... but in my case (mild EX370), the main difference is made in the upper range (> 5krpm), where the OEM torque falls (by richtening the mixture), whereas it remains flat on the retune ... As the rpm rises, it makes more bhp overall ! measured torque was already 423Nm though ... there's no way to make more HPs without making more torque, if max RPM remains the same ! the HP=(RPM * T) / 5252 formula can't be avoided (when torque is your lbs/ft unit) ! ok, but higher air pressure (and fuel) means stronger explosion... so more torque produced !