[Newer 380-style front access panel]

@Kristof Thys -- Thanks for the info Kristof....it's on and now I get to play with it.  I'm curious to look at data and see if the newer-style  access panel has any effect on cooling.  Given its pronounced leading edge, it serves as sort of a "gurney flap", creating a high/low air pressure differential areas which could have the effect of speeding up the  evacuation of hot air coming off the radiator -- not sure that will make a noticeable difference, if at all.  I am by no means an aero expert but have been informed by an aerodynamicist that the design of the newer access panel could have that effect.  

 

[Newer 380-style front access panel]

 I've been thinking of installing the newer 380-style front access panel on my CupR.

Has anybody done a DIY install of the Elise-Shop carbon front access panel?

If so, any and all suggestions, tips, etc would be most welcome

[AiM MX2E Elise/Exige specific dash]

More of a track-car solution -- move the buttons to your removable steering wheel for easy reach with a wireless system.  Clearly, this is a more expensive option, but putting "buttons" on the dash or binnacle cowling would not  work for me once on track and strapped in, if I wanted to change "pages" on screen for example---I guess my arms are too short. 

Of course, with this system,  you can also handle other functions like radio, traction control, even paddles mounted to the steering wheel.

[alias23 aka Kung Fu Panda - Modified Exige V6]

3 hours ago, alias23 said:

I took a bit of time out to review the work I’ve been doing with Liteblox which may be of interest to folks as I realise I didn’t really cover the reasons for the change and ‘why’ on my previous update.

 

I also had a great time last week with friends at Donington. Good to be out with the 430s and 410s. It was also a good first test of the AiM dash and SmartyCam setup.

I dearly missed my rear wing and currently three seconds slower than last year 😳

New wing hopefully arrives in the coming weeks and the 8th July diarised at Donington to get back on it!

@alias23: Looking good Imran!

Couple suggestions, if I may w/o being too impertinent, regarding the config for your SmartyCam -- easy changes in RaceStudio 3:

1) "Throttle bar."... you should calibrate/set the range ..... it's not showing full throttle when I'm certain you are. Default setting may be 0-100, but a 100% for your car may be 86% or some other number.  You can determine such by using live measures, pressing the accelerator to the floor (engine not running but key in stage 2 and see what % number pops  up.

2) I would add "gear dtg" to your config... may have to do a math channel for PreCalcgear, but I think you've already done that  for you AiM dash, so you would just have to assign that channel (precalcgear) to the SmartyCam stream function "GEAR"

3) Add the "best lap/Num/Time" label to your config, you might find it useful to have your best lap time displayed on the video, while it's also displaying current lap timing.

4) Add the "date/time dgt" to config.

5)  I think you can get the "Brake bar" to register -- probably need to pair the appropriate channel from your dash/ECU protocol with the SmartyCam function...all done in RaceStudio 3 for your dash config.

All the best!

[Front Canards]

Front rubber lip FTW!   

[GFWilliams Purple, Slightly Modified, Exige V6]

Beautiful interior GF!  👍

[Exige V6 Air Intake System]

On 04/04/2020 at 02:55, Kristof Thys said:

Don't take my word on it, just install a wide band O2 sensor pre cat any you'll see what I am rambling about (or read out your short term fuel trims for both banks over OBD)

Kristof, I did have a wide band O2 sensor installed on my CupR and have been logging A/F ratios since 2015.....very helpful in highlighting potential lean issues before causing engine damage. I highly recommend that "mod".

As a result, with some help from Lotus, we discovered early on in 2015 that the carbon MAF tube was causing a lean condition.  We installed an aluminum tube (without an air straightener) and changed out the HKS filter to a ITG filter --  subsequent testing showed good A/F ratios.  Turned out that the carbon tube, while smooth on the outside has by its nature a very rough, uneven internal structure and that, indeed, was causing the A/F problem.  I'm sure we've all heard the saying ... "lean is mean, until it's not".   

As an aside, we also found out (from reliable factory sources who shall remain unnamed) that originally when Lotus was doing initial tuning on the CupR, they were using an aluminum MAF tube w/o straightener and all was good.  The change to a carbon MAF tube was a "marketing" decision and no testing was done which would have revealed the unintended AFR consequences.... after all, carbon looks cool....crazy I know.

If interested, you can see my A/F numbers (as well as post-blower IATs) on the attached video...look for the AFRs when the car is at full throttle throughout the RPM range in various gears .... you will have to be the judge on the whether the AFRs are OK.  For reference, I do run unleaded 100 octane fuel and currently have 12,000 track/racing miles on the car, virtually all with the intake shown below which is very similar to Imran's, FWIW.

 

 

[The next upgrade to the V6CupR.....]

32 minutes ago, Five50 said:

Looking chunky...

Sorry for the noob question but what is the benefit?

Nothing to do with aesthetics.

The goal -- get the car down to 95-100mm front, 105-110mm rear and improve over all handling. However, lowering a car's center of gravity is good....until...it's NOT.  Lowering our cars too much can have the opposite effect of reducing grip unless you can lower the roll center while still maintaining favorable geometry and camber change throughout the functional range of the suspension travel -- we don't want to  drop the roll center below ground.   Hence the need to change the uprights.

17 hours ago, EldonZ said:

Not if I don't ship them to you! 😜

Please.....Eldon....I'll be good.  

 

[The next upgrade to the V6CupR.....]

.....Race Uprights --

 

 

Lower is better...  

[Tex’s Lotus Exige Cup 430]

31 minutes ago, Nightfire said:

I replaced my titanium exhaust with the Komo Tec
https://www.komo-tec.com/de/lotus-exige/mk3-toyota-v6350380/abgassystem/104/edelstahl-sportauspuff-exige-s-v6-evora-s-mit-klappensteuerung?c=884
We tested the Komotec exhaust on race tracks for a year, whether the flap is closed or open, there is no loss of performance. The flap can only be adjusted manually, so it does not open and close automatically.
The sound is wonderful, not too loud for the track when the flap is closed. Without loss of performance. brilliant

 

 

 

 Looks like you are running quite rich...any idea what your A/F ratios are?

[Which DPM mode do you prefer on track?]

Lotus must have spec'd the CupR with X-Trac to have an LSD so it would handle worse than the standard Cup.....just kidding.   

[AiM MX2E Elise/Exige specific dash]

@Mark430 -- Mark, can you take a couple photos of your configuration setup as displayed in RS3 Analysis before you attempt to transfit your new configuration to your dash....here is are examples of the two pics I would be interested in seeing....taken of my config for an MXS.....

 

[Forged Wheels]

I have heard the same and seen some wheel failures which were attributed to powder-coating.

Apparently, the process can weaken the structural integrity of the wheels.....painting would be the safer route to take.

[Help me diy fit new pads to my V6S]

18 hours ago, Antflies said:

Thanks Jack.

Andy from Cobalt was extremely helpful. He actually told me your front/rear selection.

I managed to get CL RC6 for front, and CL RC5+ for rear.

Seriouslylotus stock them for our car.  They are in England, and no VAT is charged.

 

Anthony

@Antflies--Anthony --- Dave@SeriouslyLotus and Andie@cobalt are both great.👍

Brake pads are a personal preference, I tired the CL's long ago on my 211 and didn't like them.

 I have also experimented with different compounds and brands on the V6 over the past 4 years...never felt the need to go with a more aggressive pad on the rear with the CupR.  Ultimately settled on the  XR4 compound Cobalt pads...more aggressive pads were "too" aggressive upon initial  application. This resulted  in over-slowing the car, due to the vacuum booster acting as an on/off switch....modulation was virtually impossible.  Hence my recent decision to ditch the booster and go with a dual master/brake-cage setup.  For that setup, Allen@VSA suggested running a more aggressive Cobalt compound. 

We will have 3 CupR's at Spring Mountain running the non-boosted peddle-box which really increases the resolution of the brake peddle.   

 

 

 

[Something new for the V6 CupR in the braking department…….]

Updating my braking thread......it took me awhile, but I thought I deserved a proper B'day present.... so, time to ditch the vacuum booster and go to a dual master brake cage setup.....work is in progress....photo worth another 1000 words. 

Looking forward to learning how to brake anew.   

 

[Help me diy fit new pads to my V6S]

@Antflies--Anthony, I highly recommend Cobalt pads, they  have the correct sizes for the V6 with 2-piece rotors and several different compounds.

Conversion chart for selection of compound based upon competitor pads...... http://www.cobaltfriction.com/category_s/1911.htm

You will want AP7 for the front and AP27 for the rear -- even though it's the same AP caliper front and rear --  the Cup 2-piece rotors for the rear have a larger diameter hat than the fronts, hence the need for a slightly narrower annulus for the rear pads...51mm vs 55mm, (rear vs and front, respectively) to be exact.  Otherwise the rear pad backing plate will make slight contact with the center hat bobbins.

I recommend compound XR4, but you can decide if you want a more aggressive compound

Order info: Cobalt XR4 | AP7 | AP Racing CP6600D55 | 16.8mm

 Cobalt XR4 | AP27 | AP Racing CP6600D51 | 16.8mm

[Exige V6 Cup - Register]

16 hours ago, GRP said:

Just picked up #128   -- Metallic White -- 2016 

Congrats Greg!  Enjoy it to the max.  Let the "mods" begin.   

Great talking with you yesterday....let's keep in touch.

[Exige picture & video thread]

Best way to end 2019 -- V6@Spring Mountain Motorsport Ranch on one of the longer, more technical track configurations. Car driven by my coach for reference/data analysis.  Even had the car on old tires and he turned the fastest sports car lap of the race weekend. 

While I turned the fastest sports car lap in competition over the weekend, I was still several seconds off my coach's pace.  Good to know that I don't need to buy that Ginetta G55 GT4 just yet; at least until I can exploit the full potential of the CupR  

I apologize for the video quality -- I was messing with the video settings on the SmartyCam right before this run and really screwed things up.  

 

[AiM MX2E Elise/Exige specific dash]

I cheated.....    ...... I know, it's not the same thing  -- different dash for non-street car.

 

[AiM MX2E Elise/Exige specific dash]

On 20/12/2019 at 06:31, EldonZ said:

Any idea if they are going to make this available for the 2008-2011 Exige ECU? I have a Garw dash now but it is having some small issues.

Don't waste your time helping this guy......LOL....😀

Love you Eldon.    😝

[Exige V6 Air Intake System]

23 hours ago, alias23 said:

Got some extra colours of the rainbow made up for the intake hose kits

Ooooohhhh.....you've got ORANGE.   

[Moroso Baffled Sump]

On 16/11/2019 at 05:36, Mark030358 said:

@Jack Any chance you could give me a part number/thread size for the temp sender in your sump?

cheers

Mark

@Mark030358Moroso pan has a 1/8" NPT fitting for an oil temperature sender.... I'm using a sensor sold by AiM.

[Exige picture & video thread]

On 21/10/2019 at 09:20, Wilbert Camshaft said:

Today I collected my new Lotus Exige Sport 350 in Vivid Green in Mendig from KomoTec - unsuprising I'am still overwhelmed and just totally happy 😀

Beside the cool colour above all I'am exited about the AIM KomoTec MXS Strada  Display - the quality of craftmanship conducted by KomoTec here is outstanding - regard how their control buttons for the MXS are intergated in the cover of the steering wheel! Awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remote buttons are great -- wonderful option from AiM.......  http://www.aimsports.com/en/products/remote-buttons-interface/index.htm

Love my MXS dash/data logger. 

Car is beautiful...enjoy.

[Exige picture & video thread]

Beautiful!!!!

[5 Year Birthday for my V6 CupR]

Got this reminder on Facebook that my CupR was ready for its plane flight to the USA.  Photos courtesy of the fine chaps at Lotus Headquarters.

I guess I can't say my car has never seen rain ...... getting wet awaiting loading on to the lorry.   

Can't believe I've owned this baby for 5 YEARS!