Ray32

Holy hell, what a read! Enjoyed every bit of the 17 pages! Your attention to detail is epic and you have definitely inspired me to refresh my rather tired-looking V6 CR now 😀.

I'm running 18x10 et35 & 17x8 et25 on my car - no issues whatsoever with 215/45/17 & 265/35/18. Planning to run 235/40/17 & 285/30/18 later on but not sure if that will rub.

The Yokohama AD08R are excellent tyres - I have been using them for both road and track (daily driver) for the past few years. They have really nice, stiff sidewalls which gives the handling response a slight boost, and in my own experience they are way stickier than the P Zero Corsas which my car came with. Newer tyres such as the Direzza Z2 Star Specs or Potenza RE71R are said to be better than the AD08R in terms of outright dry grip, could be worth a try. Just my two cents.

Sure, I don't mind but I honestly think this isn't the most flattering photo

Try looking for him through his website's 'contact us' page - http://www.win-ace-bodykits.com/ Or you could pm him personally at: https://www.facebook.com/ron.lim.9809 Hope that helps! Just let him know that Ray (Matt Black Exige) says hi! He actually has a few Exige V6 bits available/coming up soon - but his website rather needs an update! He recently showed me some Exige 380 Sport-style side skirts and canard prototypes. They look great imo.

Hey Imran, it took around half a day to remove the entire tailgate, removing the glass, cleaning the glue residue, and sticking the louver on. Another day for the new glue to fully cure. Wouldn't call it a very difficult process, just a tedious one. The louver is double-skinned so it's pretty from outside and also when the tailgate is lifted . The louver was made locally (Malaysia) by CK Lim from Win Ace Bodykits. He's a real lotus nut who produces lots of kit for the other Lotus models, such as the Evora.

Installed a custom-fabricated CF rear louver along with some CF side scoops last month! Really gives the Exige some personality, and lightness of course Pardon the image editing - it was taken by a photographer at a recent car meet.

New racing stripes Unfortunately, my car was in dire need for a wash.

I was recently looking at a Mercedes Benz A45 AMG (Facelift-e 2016 model), perhaps as an alternative daily driver to my 2015 Exige CR. A pocket rocket which could serve as a family carrier if necessary, with a very lovely interior to boot. The new facelift model now includes adaptive suspension, new infotainment system, upgraded trim, extra 20+ horsepowers, and so on. The extra cost from the pre-facelift model? A bit under 200 quid in my country. That's reasonable for a facelift from Mercedes, if you ask me. I see myself as a 'new generation' Lotus buyer who has zero prior knowledge of Lotus cars beforehand - neither do I know anything about their racing heritage. Previously, buying a Lotus would have been the very last thought on my mind, and that changed only when I stumbled upon an online article by EVO which piqued my interest. I saw a sexy little car which is pretty on the eyes and sounded like a hell lot of fun to drive. More importantly, on paper it looked like good value for a vehicle comparable (arguably) to a high-end sportscar/supercar. An affordable fun sportscar with semi-supercar looks, finally. I didn't bother with the Evora S because I didn't like how it looked - not to forget the extra weight. Upon test driving the Exige S, the cheap and dated interior did in fact turn me off, and so did the lack of standard bits that come in most new cars. The thick side sills were so ridiculous I laughed at the fact that I had to figure how to get in. The vague gearshift irked me a bit, coming from a car with a much more positive shifter. The turn signal/wiper stalks were laughable at best. And where is the glove box? Truth be told, right then from a non-Lotus fan's perspective, the Exige was ridiculously unappealing. However, the test drive itself was wonderful enough that I told the salesperson I wanted one right after the test drive. And what a 'ride' it was. I could live with the drawbacks, if it was that fun. So I ordered the Exige CR in October 2015, thinking it was the newest and best model they had to offer at that point in time (bar the Cup models, of course). Reasonably priced for the performance too at about 56k GBP list price. While waiting for my CR to arrive, there came the news of the Sport 350. Ahhh, a small update which made it slightly better. Bummer, but oh well. One year after, there's the 'newer' Sport 380 which actually gave a small power increase, updated aesthetics, although the interior is still the same. Bummer once again... my CR suddenly feels outdated now. That aside, I actually consider the Sport 380 a true facelift model, while the Sport 350 itself was just a slightly different iteration of the S/CR model. But wait, the price has gone up by a full 10 grand in the period of one year! For a car which, let's be honest, is not much different from the car they introduced in 2011. And as for this new cup car... I can think of a handful of other lovely cars I'd rather have for the money. I understand that this new pricing strategy is part of Lotus' tactic to be profitable, but it's just downright unsustainable. To receive value, you simply have to give value. And as much as I would love to own a Sport/Cup 380 since it's the newest and fastest Exige model, most buyers (or potential buyers) who are like me will find it extremely hard to justify the prices they are charging for these 'updates'. There are only so many hardcore Lotus fans who would continue to buy their cars, perhaps up to a point where they start questioning the rationality of buying essentially the same cars, over and over again. The sad reality is: Lotus just doesn't have the brand power or prestige as some of the more established players in the industry, and attempting to command that premium is not going to make them a luxury brand. Not with that decidedly early-90s interior. Not without a large-budget refresh of the entire line of cars. As it stands, I genuinely fear for Lotus' future. Just wanted to share my thoughts.

That's odd... 28-34 psi should be within the optimum pressure range AFAIK - what makes you think it's worse? Is it getting greasy at high temps or is it that you are getting lower lap times as compared to the Yokos? I'd imagine after getting a heat cycle into the Toyo it should start gripping like nothing else. I think you could certainly try 26-30psi hot and learn the characteristics of the tyre from there. The AD08R has a very gentle breakaway at the limits and perhaps that is something you are not experiencing with the Toyos. Quite a few cars here in my country run the R888R, including heavier ones such as the GT-Rs, BMWs and whatnot. There's also quite a number of Exige S2s who run them as well and they seem to be very well-received. If it doesn't work well, as Norbert recommends, they are some other really nice R compounds available for the V6. My personal favorite is the Yokohama A050 or the Hankook TD Z221 (We don't get the Trofeo, ZZR, and Cup 2 here unfortunately).

Thanks guys Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding the wheels.

Hey Dani, what hot pressures were you running it with? I'd imagine the Toyos would probably run best at the 28-32 PSI hot range - that's what some of the local Lotus fellas here run. They also tend to get a bit slippery once over-inflated. If you're on a track, try dropping 1-2 psi (hot) after every few laps to gauge how it behaves. I'm sure you'll find the sweet spot then. And you are right: the R888R (as a R-compound) should definitely give you more grip over the AD08R. Good luck!

That's awesome info, thanks! And his wheels inspired my purchase in the first place He seems to be doing OK with more aggressive specs than mine as well... do you happen to know what tyre sizes is he running on his Exige?

Thanks! Glad to know of someone having the same wheels on My wheel guy said that the fronts were 7.5Kg each, so that's just a tad lighter than the OEM weight. It should be about another 0.3Kg lighter at OEM 7.5" width instead of 8" width. The rear is where the real weight savings are.

Today is a good day (Pardon the dirt - it has been raining cats and dogs)