S1ARM

Shocking weather but a lovely breakfast! Nice to meet some new guys. I took a couple of pics....up for a summer meet there ?

hi guys I will pop by to say hi at 9.30 (will arrive probably a bit earlier as it's local) once I've dropped one of my kids off locally at a riding event for her to get ready but will need to head off just after 10 to watch her so I hope they do bacon rolls at the flying club!

Hi chris I may well join you guys as it's only 10 mins from me in Gaddesden. It would suit my timings as I've got kids pony club from 8-9am then I'm free until midday for another horse session with them and wife spectating again but at an event! Ive done the gliding before it's awesome and I'm going to join up this summer as a member as it's a cheap hobby to (same costs as a track day all in yet for a whole year) Cheers Drew

Great cars the R26r! You should of kept if with how rare they now are....a few friends have them for track use....truly special cars ?

BDM (BackDraft Motorsport) in Bletchley Milton Keynes. I wouldn't go anywhere else as the owner mark works on all the cars (super cars and racing cars) and really knows his stuff with his years of racing and mechanic experience. He talked me through the whole process to fully explain what the changes would do the car and make sure it wasn't beyond my currently ability to make the most of the revised set up. He also did a full assemble then go all the suspension and key parts to check the condition and advised on how to maintain it along with obviously carrying out some maintenance on it when it was having the geo. Great guy who would advise on a progressive GEO set up to go with the greater experience the harder the set up that's if you do lots of track driving. He will only adjust what he thinks best to suit you and the better you get the more aggressive he can make it if you so wish. Mine is set up for fast road/track but to make sure it behaves on road for the longer European journeys (doesn't tramline) but with that added front end grip for turn in and the rear cambers also turned in a little more which I can certainly notice the amount of extra grip I now get and with the AVONs it was pretty endless yet confidence inspiring to make me want to faster and harder on my last two outings in December at SS without wanting to kill myself and risk smashed the car up!

Nice write up Luke ? I love my 350 sport to they are wonderful cars and feel so solid! Picked mine up at the end of Sept with nearly 4K covered already on only track and road trips! Fitted the ZZR on a set of TD1.2 wheels and the tyres are amazing on track they just work! Had 4 other v6s on a track day recently and they just couldn't keep up through corners...also has the GEO tweaked by a few mm for fast road and track use. It will of course still under steer when taking too much speed into corners when missing the apex! Has cup 2s on my M4 but the ZZRs have way more grip and don't over cook themselves hence why I guess they are the preferred racing tyres. Enjoy and it looks great in white! Pic of my Red Devil! ?

Ok so good news! Just thought I would update the post. Lotus have been great in dealing with the issue. The car went in a few weeks ago at SS Lotus. Driving it back and a outing one sunny day this week the box is actually better than it first was and changing better and smoother with the new cables. It may need to go back for some adjustment after longer use but the service all round was excellent I had a good chat to the Lotus field engineer Andy French who is a great guy and very passionate about the brand which is just want every brand needs! All is golden and I still love my Exige! Thank you Lotus ?

Luke get it checked for sure as it becomes an even better car with the geo tweak in my view. Bibs I agree they are checked pre delivery from the factory but we all know how as human beings we over looked things! Had the wife's new car recently delivered (Land Rover) and that wasn't set up correctly! Still it doesn't change the fact I love my 350!

Thanks Luke nice to know there is a like minded guy who gets how you have to play with the tyres to suit the car and driving style! The car came as per the top before pic it's only 3 months old and I kept thinking it wasn't quite right! But those I've met a lotus meets have all said they always come with crap geo and lotus never properly check it. I took my mine to a racing team garage who have state of the art gear....so to someone who really knows his stuff as a vertan......he also showed me his McLaren read out from his own car and even that was badly set up!

Agree that's what they say on the website for road use but I know a few of the lotus racing guys and they run the tyres when racing 24-28 Avon also emailed me saying that I could run 26-30 psi on the car when tracking but we all know it's about finding balance with what your comfortable with and I found that 28 at the last track day worked better for than 30 psi which I started off out at for the first session of laps to feel how the tyres worked so played with the pressures to see how they reacted. And of course it's also all weather dependant so it's playing with the pressure to suit. 30 psi is the mean hot average by lowering a few psi does no affect the tyres negatively and I found created a better surface contact area on track so better grip. Each to there own as we all run are cars set ups differently.

Before and after settings shown. i would say the ZZRs change the whole dynamic of the car with he immense grip levels But the tweaked geo added a far better turn in and balance of the car over all on the road and track A key thing I noticed on track was that it helped the tyres keep a stable tyre pressure (28PSI all day when hot) and the heat accross the surface was even so all good and looking forward to the spring!

I will get a photo a post it on the page for you Its subtle set up but has made a huge difference. If I was to trailer it I would make it more aggressive but I wanted a good road to track balance for long trips and it also rides better so as it's more settled on the roads with how the tyres behave

So all suited and booted now with new TD alloys and ZZRs......oh and upgrade pagid break pads and a full GEO for gentle track set up......I was at Silverstone today for the PureGT day and the car was just sublime! The grip the Avons give is just awesome and I did 16 laps until my fuel ran low before coming in they just kept going on and on! I was able to carry far more speed through corners, turn in later and harder then let the chassis do the work of pulling it around the corners at speed. These Exiges are just special things for the money. So easy to put right and know there limits....coupled with a the right GEO set up by BDM in Bletchley MK (experienced racing and sports car outfitters) the car is far more settled on the road and track t turns so much faster into corners the front end just sticks with far less understeer. I know the Avons add to this but playing about recently you notice it has even more positive feel and grip. The standard GEO the car came with was just crap which the print off proved why I had been experiencing certain issues on the limit Andy on road so with the new set up the balance is just so much better and easier to control and I would say you feel a lot more of what's going on! On the pad the Paris RS29 stop on a stick pence never really over heat to cause over braking they added another positive layer to a initially very good car it now feels like the real package its up the level of confidence I have in the car and it's abilities. To sum up.......Better on road and better on track can't ask for much more! Who needs a 380! This little baby of mine can now seriously attack!

Yes Trev that was a good stint back! The Alfa has to be said looks lovely and I didn't realise they sounded so good! When you turned off I wondered what short cut you were taking through Hertford as I've not done that one. Avons cold in the wet are a tad slippy but they took standing water really well! ? Catch up soon.