Pauls Exige 410 Sport

[Paul_D]

The AIM MX2E records two brake channels that can used. ECU_BRAKE_SW# and ECU_BRK_LIGHT#

[Paul_D]

Another video, this time following Viren in his Exige 350.

 

[DangerousDave]

Hows that exhaust holding up for the tracks?

[Paul_D]

The exhaust is working well so far. No issues at all, and it’s proved to be effective at Snetterton and Donington. 
I’m at Cadwell in a couple of weeks so we’ll see if it does the job there as well. 
 

If it works at Cadwell too, then I’d also be confident if I tried Silverstone. 
 

Brands Hatch could be borderline? And I imagine Bedford might be a struggle. 
 

 

[Paul_D]

Yesterday I had a go at addressing one of the few things about the Exige with is sub standard - the headlights. After looking at some threads on here, I decided that I wanted to give LED bulbs a try. I know there are cheaper options available from a few places, but I wanted to play it safe with something from a known manufacturer. After a bit of research I purchased a set of these:

My thinking is that they should have hopefully developed them to have an OEM type beam pattern, and the 5 year warranty gives some peace of mind.

These newer versions do not have a separate ballast box to worry about.

 

Fitting was fairly straight forward with two points of note. If installed straight out of the box, the bulb will be in the wrong orientation. The light should be shining left / right and not up / down. As you may be able to tell from the photo above, the bulb have a little allen bolt which you screw in, and can then rotate the holder until the bulb is aligned as required. The second issue once fitted is that the dust cap no longer fits. A larger one from ebay has been ordered to try and resolve that.

 

So how does it perform? I took some photos of the car parked in front of my garage with the OEM bulbs. This was mainly to get a record of the original beam pattern as much as to try and record the brightness. The bulbs were then fitted and I took a second set of photos. The car had not been moved, and I used an app to lock the exposure and shutter speed of my iphone camera to try and get as fair a comparison as possible. Here are the results;

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: I'm very happy with them. Hopefully you can tell from the photographs that the brightness is much increased, but the beam patterns has remained identical to the OEM bulbs.

The only downside is the cost. They were £137 which quite frankly is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for the some headlight bulbs. Can you put a price on being able to see where you're going though?😁

[Paul_D]

Had a trip over to @Hangar 111 for an alignment check and adjustment today.

The main purpose was to get a bit more camber put on the front for less understeer on track, but it's always good to have the settings checked on a car you've bought.

Arrived first thing and they got the car on the machine.

 

Despite only being a couple of years old, the rear toe links were seized and were therefore a bit of a pain.

As for the settings, well the initial settings were pretty much as you'd expect apart from one thing...my front toe was quite a way out. The car had way more toe out than you would expect. Here are the initial and final results:

On the drive home the car felt completely different. I had assumed the amount of 'wandering' and steering wheel tugging around over poor surfaces was just how this car was. Obviously that wasn't true, because on my 40 mile journey home I didn't feel it do that at all. The car just felt planted and stable, and I didn't need both hands on the wheel to keep the thing from darting around all over the place. 

In conclusion, I highly recommend getting your alignment checked out, even if you want standing settings. You never know had bad it is, and how much it's affecting the drivability of the car.

 
 

[Paul_D]

No mods this time, just another track day. This time at Cadwell Park.

The day didn't start of great when my name wasn't on the list to be there, so I had to go back at 8:30am when they could ring head office. Turns out I was the first person to try and sign on, and they actually had the attendee list for a different circuit. Nobody there was on the list...

Next up was noise testing, and I'd heard from somebody that their 410 had squeezed through the week before with a wink. I decided to chance my arm and I also managed to get through. A full day with maximum noise and no additional stupid silencer hanging off the back of my car. 

I've only been to Cadwell once before, and it was about 8 years ago. So I was basically starting from scratch again. I'd forgotten what a daunting circuit it is, and it took me much longer than normal to build up speed and confidence in the grip levels. The best lap in my first session was over 2 minutes. By lunchtime it was down to about 1m50s. And by the end of the day I was down to 1m44s. The laps were still far from perfect, and I've identified a few places to improve when I go back.

As usual, the car itself performed faultlessly. I had a few people come up to me to chat about it, and more than one person say it was the best sounding car out there (normally followed by "How the hell did you pass the noise test").

This video is from the final session of the day:

And a few of the photos from the day:

I think the Clio in the final picture might have been pushing quite hard...

 

 

[Bibs]

Very smart, nice driving and that does look like a very intense track to drive! The Clio looks like he'd forgotten there was a corner there!

[Rooge]

What camera do you use mate ? 

[Paul_D]

It’s a GoPro Hero 8 black.

‘Spot metering’ is turned on so that it sets the exposure on the outside view, rather than on the car interior. If you don’t do this you sometimes see videos where the interior is really clear, but the outside view is far too bright. 

[MrD]

Beautiful car and pics - typical Clio driver eh?:)

 

[Mitch Foden-Clarke]

On 10/04/2021 at 12:50, Paul_D said:

Just finished off a little cosmetic change that I'd been thinking about before I'd even got the car. 

I was never quite sure that the silver stainless fastenings on the wing and door cards looked right. This is obviously a personal opinion thing, but I prefer fasteners to blend in.

£15 worth of black stainless fixings were ordered.

Wing Before:

Wing After:

 

 

Door Before:

Door After:

 

 

 

I'm really pleased with the result. Plus it's my favourite type of modification: Cheap, Quick, Easy, and reversible in minutes if I changed my mind.

Nice touches 👌

[Mitch Foden-Clarke]

 Just read through the whole thread and I must say Paul you’ve done some excellent modifications and it’s very good of you to take the time to share them with everyone. 
 I will be having a go at most or all of then myself too.  
 First on my list will be the exhaust valve switch (no key fob after reading this as I originally though I wanted) you’ve saved me a lot of hassle there mate thank you 😊 

 I’m really chuffed after seeing this it’s answered a lot if queries I had, thanks 

👌👌👌

[Paul_D]

Finally thought of a simple solution to something that I've been trying to figure out. I really like doing videos of my track sessions with the data overlay, but I think it adds something when you also have a rear view on the video. Finding a way to do this on an Exige isn't as simple as most cars - an internal camera looking backwards won't show a lot! I initially tried a clamp mount on the diffuser, but as well as being a bit low, it was too hot and the GoPro kept shutting down. Next I considered a suction cup mount on the surface where the number plate lights are, but I just don't have enough confidence in them. That's when I thought that looking back from the number plate is actually a perfect place, especially if you could find a way to attach an external microphone for the exhaust noise...

Number plate was previously stuck on with pads, so I took this off, cleaned everything up, and fitted some strips of proper heavy duty velcro.

 

Then it was just a case of finding an old number plate, and mounting a GoPro base on it. I fitted a tether point and tether in case the main mount fails (and to potentially keep the track day marshals happy). It also allowed me to mount an external microphone with wind shield permanently on the plate. 

 

Now once I get to the circuit it'll take me about 20 seconds to go from this..

 

To this...

 

Okay... it's not the prettiest thing in the world, but then neither is a big suction cup with an additional safety tether. The heavy duty velcro grips well, so there's no way it's going anywhere, which means I won't constantly worrying like I would with a suction cup.

Now to just wait and see how the footage actually turns out.

[Inversed]

That is very slick! Do you have link/brand of heavy duty velcro? 

[Paul_D]

It’s this mate: VELCRO Brand VEL-EC60241 Heavy Duty Stick On Tape 50 mm x 1 m, Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00186Q9AK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_JDTRS57Z0N2PSX7JT5G3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Rated at 7kg per 50mm x 100mm strip. So in theory what I’ve used could take about 28kg of load. It certainly feels it! 

[Paul_D]

Not the best track day I've ever had. My front end doesn't look quite so immaculate now. Must admit it took the shine off the day a bit.

 

[Mitch Foden-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Paul_D said:

Not the best track day I've ever had. My front end doesn't look quite so immaculate now. Must admit it took the shine off the day a bit.

 

FUMING 😤 That beautiful Exige front end 🥺 

[Brendonian]

Just read through this thread. Fascinating stuff, and you've done some great, well considered mods. Didn't see you report on the success/otherwise of the replacement dust caps for the headlamps though. I'm picking up my Exige this weekend, and guessing the bulbs are going to be high on my list of things to upgrade!

[Paul_D]

Hi Brendon,

As far as I know the eBay dust caps for the headlamp bulbs are working fine. In reality, I’d have to take the wheel arch liners back off to check that they were still perfectly in place and haven’t started melting or anything like that. 

[Brendonian]

16 hours ago, Paul_D said:

Hi Brendon,

As far as I know the eBay dust caps for the headlamp bulbs are working fine. In reality, I’d have to take the wheel arch liners back off to check that they were still perfectly in place and haven’t started melting or anything like that. 

Hi Paul, thanks for that. I don't suppose you have a link to the specific items you bought? Or exactly what criteria you searched for?

[Paul_D]

These ones from this seller mate:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-85mm-Inner-Diameter-Rubber-Housing-Seal-Cap-Dust-Cover-For-LED-HID-Headlight-/313638417168?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

[Brendonian]

Thanks Paul 👍

[Paul_D]

So, just a small post about my track day on Monday which is fun but fairly uneventful other than getting about 300 stones thrown at me. :laugh:

The car was loaded up more than normal due to the petrol station issue. Snetterton had e-mailed in advance saying you would be limited to 20 litres per person from the on site pumps and to try and bring your own. I took 45 litres along with all my usual equipment including a trolley jack, and my extra exhaust both of which take up a bit of space. Who says an Exige isn't practical?

1 x 20 litre container
5 x 5 litre containers
1 toolbag
1 trolley jack
1 exhaust silencer
1 impact driver
1 torque wrench
1 rucksack
1 helmet
1 HANS device

 

With everything unpacked I just needed to fit my 'add-ons'. And the award for most ridiculous looking Exige goes to...
 

 

So on the subject of the exhaust, this was the first time I'd been properly static noise tested since I made it. Previously all I'd known is that is was working on the drive by, so I was quite interested in the result.

I manually opened the exhaust valve to ensure it was in loud mode, and told them my red line was 7000rpm. 

The result - 99.9dB. Now I don't know what my Exige 410 is as standard with the valve open, but from previous forum info I would say that I've had a fairly decent reduction.

I know that I'm ok with it at Snetterton, Cadwell and Donington Park. And based on that static, I think I'd have a good chance at Brands Hatch, and possibly even Bedford Autodrome. So for now I'll be keeping the standard exhaust and seeing how well the bolt-on works at other tracks.

Ready to play...

The other test of the day was my new rear camera set-up. Overall, I was very pleased with it. Quick and easy to fit, the mounting is solid with no movement, the marshals said nothing about it all day, and the sound on the video was definitely an improvement.

My friend came along in his Audi RS5 which has been remapped. It's a big heavy old thing, but the acceleration and braking (huge ceramics) was pretty impressive.

This video is from a session where we went out together:

This one is my fastest lap of the day. It should have been much quicker, but there was traffic it the end so I had to slow down and go off line. I'd have been in the 2:10's otherwise:

 

Main lesson from the day...I really need to find a way to get comfortable with heel and toe in this car. Every time I try it seems awkward and difficult compared to previous cars. I definitely need to spend some time addressing that as it will make a big difference.

 

[fjc27]

Hi

I see that you have fitted wheel studs. What kind of wheel socket do you use ? I have a Ks-tool one, and have to remove the protective sleeve for the rear wheels. I never found a narrow wheel socket with protection.