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@Paul_DThanks Paul! What an incredible detailed information sharing, as well as the setup from your AIM log! Awesomeness😱 About the engine coolant temp on tracks, I'm happy to say even early model Exige like mine, with an enlarged radiator, it has been doing a very very well job. Compared to other streets or even some heavy tuner cars, the Exige has a very good cooling system (except the gearbox which mine doesn't come with a cooler). On that, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to bail on this colder thermostat. I don't want to car to take too much longer than it already as for warm ups, and definitely do like the car to run more efficiently on the street with the optimum 85C temp (not below). Some very very interesting things I found: Out of odds, there was a GR86 in the shop with a broken gearbox, and compare to the Exige EA60 gearbox, they look if not the same but very very identical. So with more digging in to the forumns, I found GRMN Yaris to be the "same" EA6x Aisin gearbox! The GR Yaris owners were taking reference a lot on the Lotus cars and our gearbox for durability comparisons (they were also replacing the forks with the same brass pads). Looking at the GR Yaris gear ratio, I can say there wild ideas are happening.😇 Frank

Thank you @Paul_D, always enjoyed to read your project as well. May I ask where did you purchase your side skirts from? I love the little end-tip that they go up instead of all flat. So far the information I gathered are: 1) Colder thermostat opens up sooner, which it could potentially keeps the motor cooler at around 75-80C (given the traffic and outside temp conditions) on the street/hwys. 2) However, it sets a lower start point for the cooling system to work on given conditions (like on cruising), but it makes no difference on track when the engine under full load. 3) More importantly, the 2GR runs best at 85-95C, but not below. Running lower than optimum temp could lead to motor running richer and unburned acids or other craps. Being an optimist, I want to use a colder thermostat, but logically I just don't see any benefit for using one. Frank

From last track sessions, my Exige can't shift into 3rd, hence many parts were ordered immediately. The last few days were like the long waited Christmas gifts unwrapping. 😆 The followings are what I have for this batch of upgrade items: JUBU single disc clutch kit (3kg lighter than stock) JUBU gearbox cooler kit (my early model Exige doesn't come with one) JUBU engine cooling kit Mfactory ATB LSD Moroso Oil Baffled Pan MWR Lift Point Kit Shift Fork Upgraded Pads And a few more replacement misc... First box was from JUBU. All the transactions and email replies from them were excellent, and the parts came in as good as how they were expected. The Komotec cooler is also a good consideration which it does the job more affectively by air. However, after more researches on a heat exchanger, I choose Jubu's heat exchanger. It cools the oils by transfering the heat to the engine coolant, according to Martin from JUBU, this also help the gearbox get warmed faster on every cold start. This would be very beneficial for my need since I would like it works well for street drivings. Heat exchanger is being used on many other oem's solution as well as Lotus on the Cup cars. I have not yet seen this kit used on other members here, so I will see how it goes in a long run.🤞 I pick the Single Disc Jubu clutch kit over the Evora 400 stock clutch due to the redesigned flywheel from JUBU. This is a beautiful one peice design which is lighter (3kg overall saving) and should solve the flaw from oem flywheel teeth that protentially can be shattered by its design. Fun thing that I was looking at the more aggressive twin disc system (even lighter than the single disc kit), but as told by the Jubu team, the noise it makes would not be best suitable for street use, so I backed off. Inspecting the organic disc, it is one size bigger than the Exige V6S stock disc, which both are made by AP. I believe it is very likely the same disc as used in Evora 400. The Mfactory LSD and Moroso pan looked nice and legit. Matt from MWR was very helpful for introducing the Mfactory which it was good price saving comparing to a Quaife, and which it should act 100% the same functionalities and lifetime warranty as well. Should there be any weight difference between the two, I bet it should be very minimal. To swap out the plastic ones to the new bronze pads on the shift forks, I saw surprises after opening the box. 😥 My third gears were worn out, and this explained why the third was the issue on the track, but I have yet to find out why It couldn't be shifted into gear in the first place. To make this even more nerve wracking, I was told by the mechanic a number of peices had to be replaced at the same time, where were the 3rd gear itself, the synchro and the fork sleeve (altogether as one gear package if any of them get damaged). Of course, I did more studies understanding the MT gearbox. Once the gears had their first grind on the teeth, they will become worsened as time adds up. And this is non reversible by changing new oil or any solution. They had to be changed out for new ones. Thanks to the new learned knowledge on the gearings, I went on Deroure and ordered the fourth gear and the synchro as I saw them had a bit minor wear as well. 😭 All and all, I guess it is part of the "fun" experience for modifying cars. My Exige is now opened up and having peieces laying around the shop, but I appreciate so much for the help from Chris and Gary getting the parts to me, especially running into the situation that Lotus is changing out their computer system, which is making the whole thing more chaotic than it seems. Questions: During the studies on a colder thermotat, I'm yet to be decided on using JUBU's engine cooling kit, which is a colder themostat + waterpump pulley. There are pros and cons on the colder thermostat. Out of all the researches I found, 2GR runs best on around 180-200 degrees F (82-95 degrees C). Colder thermostat usually use on higher hp motors, but not likely for street applications. Please do share if anyone has some insights on this as I will be installing all the parts soon. Cheers, Frank

To further investigating the cause of this. It is weird that the gear went out before the synchro does. I can't shift into 3rd gear only after a few laps when the car got hot on track. I suspected that about 50 mins track sessions with constantly trying to force into 3rd and that worn out the gear. I think it was due to a bad clutch travel which being too short for disengagement, ultimately causing the 3rd gear a bad alignment. The 4th is a bit worn too, but not as bad. I'm worn on no.1, no.2 and no. 24 shown in the diagram.

You are absolutely right Dave! Every gearbox work requires a lot of labor time to get to it. However, sadly every the part order take a long international shipping to get to me. I'm still debating if I can stick with this condition for a few more track sessions till I get to the point for another overhaul upgrades. Cheers!

Hello all, I'm undergoing a new clutch installation from JUBU and a LSD fitting on. While I'm at it, I have the shop opened up the gearbox to have an inspection since I can't shift into 3rd after a few laps on the track. I was guessing the one or two synchros went bad, to my surprise, the actual gear looks worn! If anyone has the the experience can help to tell how bad is it? Is it bad enough to be salvaged? Thanks. Cheers, Frank

Thanks Bibs. Track time!😈 It was the first all-day practice session opened to the public. There was a crowd and quite a big turn out for Lotus' as well. The Emiras had a great contribution to the number of the group. Of course, the Lotus service vehicle was also on site. Kindly enough, they were helping some other fellows for tire patching. The Lotus was put into the same class with some of the big boys. The fastest car of the day was a heavily modified G82 M4 (the only one with a tire warmer shown in the picture), which was in the open-class. It was a big crowd showed up at around 200 cars in 10 groups for two days. It was pretty much a fun event opened up for joy rides and which about 70% of the drivers were amateurs like myself. The track was a approx. 1.3x.xx min track, but due to it basically all new and very very slippery, there were many spun outs but fortunately no major red flags for the entire event. The Lotus'es (even Emira 2.0) were all put into the GT-b class, which was a class with 992s, 911s and 718s. An one class up was GT-c where GTRs and GT3s. And then the higher ups were open class, where the 1.3x.xx boys were.. Our class winner was proudly taken by an IPS Exige V6 (with Nitrons 3way, Alias intake, full custom exhaust and LSD), which ran 1.40.36, followed by a 911 with 1.40.65 and a 500hp 718 with 1.40.76. The Lotus gang walked home with the 1st place trophy, which was surely the greatest pride and joy in the car community here! 😛 Although I had terrible issues for not been able to shift to 3rd (which it ruined my time), I was still faster than all the GT-c GTRs 1.46.97 on that day! It was a blast to finally taking the Exige back on track😂 Frank PS: Jubu clutch, Jubu gearbox oil cooler, LSD, etc. were all paid and on the cargo as we speak. 🤘

Finally the new track in here was completed! Before heading back on track, some mandatory towhooks had to put on: After some researches, I decided to have my friend to completely redo the front tow hook struct. Now it made up to be completely rust-free, strong and light weight! Big kudos to my friend who designed and built it in his workshop. Combination with the Rennline towhook, it looked like a thing of beauty. 🤘 The rear towhook was also on. The new Spitfire rear toe links made it on time as well. The old one had a tiny movement in the ball joint section. The newer version was a bit shorter. According to Gaz, with a different ball joint design, it should be solid and free of any movement acting on the car cornering. Gaz from Spitfire sent over the new version toelink free of charge! The new redone rear louver from Aerie was also here. All the white blemish from the first one was all gone and looked pristine. Applause to both of the respectful brands which stood up for their products! Frank

Thank you Dave! Valuable inputs as always. I just cross referenced on Deroure between Evora S and Exige V6S. Exige has updated part numbers and sports ratio gearbox as standard! I didn't, but I went through some searches on this forum and saw some related matters from some old GFWilliams' threads. He revealed that his gearbox had a worn out 4th gear. However, it shouldn't be the same issue if this gear had different part number to begin with. Hooray Dave, thanks again for the clarifications! Cheers. Frank

From the researches I have done on upgrading the EA60 gearbox, there were many articles clearly stating that the 4th/5th gear had flaws which will ultimately fail at around 30-40k miles even without excessive driving. Many early model Evora owners continued to share such gear failure, which they had the same gearbox with Exige. Even Jubu had a well documented blog back in 2014. I wonder anyone here experienced the same problem? The Evora had close-ratio or sports gearbox option, which I'm not sure that Exige has such options (especially for earlier model Exige). Lotus had upgraded the gear by adding spacer inside. Here are the replacement info and part numbers taken from my research: "Lotus changed 3,4,5,6 gears for their Close Ratio or Sports box from VIN CHxxx10452 onwards to B132xxx and later the specific 4/5th input gear identified in the video as problematic from PN B132F0047F to A132F0160F which is used in current production Evoras and Exige V6's. Main parts needed - 4/5 Input gear A132F0160F 4 Output gear B132F0051F 5 Output gear B132F0053F" In additional, there's upgraded 4th/5th gears from MWR, which it is the same part number from Lotus. If anyone is interested, feel free to share some thoughts, as I'm not 100% sure to resolve this issue would whether required replacing the 4th/5th gear alone or the 4th and the 5th output gears altogether? Frank

I was told that there is another LSD option called Mfactory, which should be the same spec as Quaife, but a bit cheaper. Maybe someone who is having this can share some feedback as well.

Good news, Jubu is making a set of forged insulator kit for Exige, and should be available soon. Hopefully it could be a road & track solution. 👍

bump for a long shot.

Hi all, I'm undergoing a fairly major transmission upgrade. In the meantime, I see Powerflex has developed a brand new Emira transmission mount inserts for the V6s. Out of curiousity I sent them emails to see if they can be used on our Exiges; however the answers came out to a maybe (or no most likely). From their kindly replies: "The OE parts don't cross reference, so I couldn't be sure to be honest with you. Kind Regards" I had an Elise, with the 2zz motor, the Powerflex inserts helped tremendously with the terrible shifting issues due to the motor rocking and the cables unable to align themselves properly. I find my aging V6s Exige is begining to have the same issues with the rubber mounts. With all the information I found online were limited to our forum member -- Imran's upgrade of a Innovative mounts posted years ago. I'd like to know anyone had changed or upgraded the transmission and engine mounts. I wonder how anyone raced the Exiges with the oem rubber mounts, especially the earlier models like mine. The Cup Exiges do however have upgraded mounts, but they have different gearboxes which our manual boxes can't be utilitzed. Hope anyone can give further insights, much much appreciated. Cheers, Frank

Thanks for the clarification Dave! Respectful products as always. @CM96 Always keep a good routine refreshing the oil definitely helps. I have recieved replies from JUBU which they suggest use oil gear competition 75W140 from Motul. I've pulled the trigger and placed an order trying out the JUBU cooler. Some experienced race drivers suggested air cooler like Komo's product works better; however, I see Jubu's heat exchanger is very similar to the oem spec. After further explanation from Jubu, they preffered their kit works better in combination with cooling upgrade kit. Basically, it's a cooler thermostat, which I believe the theory making sense. The gearoil temperature won't go under water temperature. Due to the basic principal, the gearbox heat exhanger kit helps gearbox warm up faster on a cold start, and the combination with a lower temp thermostat would bring cooler and higher flow to the entire cooling system. Also, their pump works constantly in ignition, contrasting to the oem spec, the oem pump kicks in when the gearbox temperature reaches 90 degrees and then shuts when the temp drops. The principal behind making a pretty good solution to both road&track use, which it suits my situation of needs. I will give different products a try and see how it goes. Frank