TOQ's Exige Orange Exige Cup 430 Final Edition

[Toqcars]

 Hi,

It's Exige Cup 430 Final Edition. Got it in the December 2021. Color is called "Exige Orange". I am not 100% sure about the color name, because this name is mentioned quite rarely. Can't find the picture with this color at all. I know that there are Burnt Orange (quite often) and Metallic Orange, but I guess those are not the same.

Love the car, the way it drives and the way it sounds. Steering feedback is just awesome. Exige owners will understand, but to the others; closest thing to compare regarding the steering feedback and vehicle dynamics is race kart, but way more planted. It's not a problem to drive unassisted (no servo) wheel, not a problem to park at all. Not sure why some people are complaining it's hard to park. It's light, especially over the front wheels. So... steering is just perfect 👌

Gearbox is stunning. I know that there were some issues in early models (never driven one), but looks like this is fixed. Gearbox was a bit hard and not perfectly moving between the gears in the first 1000 miles. After break-in period, it's gone. Shifts like it should, shifting could also be superfast. Still working on it.

Biggest surprise was how comfortable the car is. OK, I am not talking about the stereo, infotainment and number of cup holders in the cabin (don't need it, don't want it). Neither I am talking about how hard is it to enter the Exige compared to the modern hot hatches. I am talking about the drive or tour. I was expecting it to be totally solid, rock hard suspension. But no, driving over non-ideal surfaces full of potholes is not a pain at all. For the reference, I also drive an BMW i8, lowered suspension, fast road setup and BMW Z4, also sport suspension... and they are both way stiffer to drive. And yeah, i8 has semi-active suspension, car is a way better GT, but suspension wise... it's just stiffer. As far as you know, CUP 430 is equiped with the 3-way adjustable Nitrons. It's on the track setting by default. Still on default settings. I guess I need a bit more damping on the front, but have no clue how to set it up yet. Reading documentation and forums regarding the R3 settings. Hope it's easy to put it back to the default setting, if I totally mess up 😂

What I really miss in the Exige is Oil temperature and possibly Oil pressure. It looks like it's not possible to enable additional sensors on the factory digital dash, so I am thinking about the AIM.

Enough talking for now, show us some photos, right 🙂

So long story short, this car was the best automotive decision I ever made. Drives perfect. Sounds like Symphony. Looks awesome. So happy 😀 Thank's Lotus for making it... and for making it street legal 😃

 

[Bibs]

What's the paint code on the chassis plate? C200?

Have a look at page 21 of this brochure...

https://www.howardsgroup.co.uk/assets/media/exige_price_list24072019-123055.pdf

 

[Colso]

Absolutely gorgeous car @Toqcars orange suits the Exige so well. Nice to hear your thoughts on the comparison with the I8.

 

Enjoy your wonderful car.

[lotus_exig3]

Nice car! love the colour.🤩

[Toqcars]

8 hours ago, Colso said:

Absolutely gorgeous car @Toqcars orange suits the Exige so well. Nice to hear your thoughts on the comparison with the I8.

 

Enjoy your wonderful car.

Was not 100% sure about the orange... but once I saw it... yep that's the one 😃  Will share the comparison about the hill climb races between those two, once few hill climbs finished. 

 

12 hours ago, Bibs said:

What's the paint code on the chassis plate? C200?

Have a look at page 21 of this brochure...

https://www.howardsgroup.co.uk/assets/media/exige_price_list24072019-123055.pdf

 

Thanks for the brochure. Checked the chassis plate, I can confirm that it is Exige Orange, so C200. 👍

[Toqcars]

I've added magnetic registration plate holder on the front. Registration plate is simply removed once on a racetrack to improve the airflow / cooling / aerodynamics. And the car looks better without it. Since there are only 2 mounting points behind the mesh, two more were added a bit lower. Most of the holding force is on the upper mount, lower two points is just to prevent oscillations of the plate. 

 

Steel screws are used to hold the aluminium clips. Steel screws allows additional holding force (because magnets). There is a big screw washed behind the mesh. Oh, and washed was painted in black (because camouflage) 😂

 

Magnets were added over the clips:

There is a double sided adhesive tape between the magnets and the clips, a bit of magnetic force between the magnet and the screw and a few drops of a 2 component epoxy. 

It holds the plate very well. Will report if the registration plate will be lost 😂 Original idea was to hide the magnets behind the mesh. To do it, new holder needs to be integrated behind the mesh. To put anything bigger behind the mesh, it needs to be removed. In order to remove the mesh, the whole clamshell needs to be removed. So I've just put this project onto the TODO list and went the quick way.

 

[DangerousDave]

https://www.gregsraceparts.com/products/grp-front-license-plate-bracket-kit-elise-exige

Yeah that factory dash is junk i'm gonna get a real aim as well. Built in laptimer and all but no they had to give us a half assed version for no good reason.

[Toqcars]

I can only confirm that the dash is not what I expected. Sure it looks cool, graphic is nice, but I miss the functionalities (sensors, cameras, alarms, UI config…). Would will/would you add the AIM dash, GPS only or some other sensors as well?

[Toqcars]

After two months of owning it, I finally made it to the race track. It's winter here, so hard to find any track activities 🙂

Did some small prep before the track:

- Rear Michelin Cup2 were damaged from the factory. Small bubble on the side. Replaced with a new set

- Oil and filter were changed approx 1000 miles before the track

- @GFWilliams mirrors were put on it. Check the photos, they look stunning. Visibility in mirrors is stunning as well 😀 Can't believe it, but visibility is drastically improved. Very helpful for the first track day on the car, when GT3 RS and GT4 are still overtaking you 😂 ... not for a long time...

- Haven't liked the factory suspension setting on the road. I knew it will only be worse on the track, so did the proper alignment. This is the setting:

It's way better now, love this setting for the road. Car is still very stable at the top speed, but enters the curves much easier. Very stable on hard braking as well. Nice traction on roundabouts as well, so if you are running the factory setting, do yourself a favour and at least try this. Regarding the track and this setting... I see it as a nice starting point 😃

- PPF - paint protection film was put all over the car. Not super happy about it, but hey, protection first.

- New full face helmet with HANS, still waiting for the 4 point harness, so just the helmet was used

 

 

But most important thing or how it was. I can only say what a car. A lot were expected, but car is just above all of the expectations.

POWER:
It pulls like crazy. Gas pedal is very sensitive, engine has a lot of torque, so you need to be very careful during the long curves. Car was driven in the SPORT mode all of the time. But I still had some problems by catching the rear end when accelerating out of a corner. I guess I was starting too hard. After a few sessions this problem was gone. Some say it lacks some power or that the top speed is just not enough... I can tell some reference numbers. Record holder for the road legal car can hit 265 km/h on the straight (GT3 RS). I've managed to hit 238 km/h. My entry to the straight was far from optimal, also my shifting from 4th to 5th gear was far from optimal. Let's see what speed will I manage to achieve after a few track days with this car

TRANSMISSION:
Had manuals before, but never for the track. Was afraid that tons of seconds will be lost due to the shifting. Quite surprised that this was not a thing. It's very simple to shift down. A bit harder to shift from 4th to 5th when in a curve and need to hold the steering when very hard with one hand. Had some problems on the end of the straight, where you shift from 5th to 3th, because there is a slightly right turn before the hard left turn and track is bumpy there. So you need to fight bumps, braking forces, shifting... it's so much going on. It's so much fun. Just awesome. Just can't drive automatic after this experiences, because it seems so booooring. Sure it's faster shifting, but boring. Yeah, I changed my mind about the awesomes of the manual cars on a track. It looks only proper transmission was needed 😂

AERO:
I can only say that the downforce works and I felt it in fast curves.

BRAKES:
Lack of initial bite, otherwise great. Combination of the brakes and lightness is hard to figure out for the people who came from heavy cars. I guess only 50% or even less of brake performance were used. Just can't switch in my head to brake so much later. Even when I was moving brake point forward, were always too early. Full brake pressure were never used. 

RUBBER:
Cup2 is fine, could be warmed up quite quickly. Has very soft sidewall which I am not fan of. It's shaking in fast curves. Feels like brake vibrations, but you feel it when off the brake. There was a drastic improvement in lap time on a Porsche GT4 when it went from Cup2 to Trofeo. Not sure whether this would work on Exige. But would really like to have harder sidewall.

OVERALL:
Wow, what a car. It's not easy to drive fast. A lot of practice is needed. Slowly got the feeling how to setup the damping and that's the only thing I would change for now. Love it.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Toqcars

[Paul_D]

Wow, those photos are great. Car looks amazing.

The mirrors look fantastic too. I've got a set waiting to go on, and I'm dying to fit them!

[Toqcars]

Thanks 🙂

When mounting the mirrors, use allen key with ball catchers. Or strong magnets. Otherwise you will make your life complicated by removing the door panel to extract washers and screws 😂

[Paul_D]

@Toqcars Yeah, I’ve got everything ready to go, but I’m still expecting to drop at least one bolt! 🤣

[DangerousDave]

Never tried the oem mirrors but i'm not happy with the visibility of these mirrors.

With oem alignment the front end feels twitcy to me on hard braking. Wonder if more or less compression would help with that.  I got some new ds1-11s coming in for next track day.

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by DangerousDave

[GFWilliams]

6 hours ago, DangerousDave said:

Never tried the oem mirrors but i'm not happy with the visibility of these mirrors.

I strongly advise you don’t replace them with OEM mirrors then, you’d be shocked at how little you can see by comparison…

[Toqcars]

12 hours ago, DangerousDave said:

Never tried the oem mirrors but i'm not happy with the visibility of these mirrors.

With oem alignment the front end feels twitcy to me on hard braking. Wonder if more or less compression would help with that.  I got some new ds1-11s coming in for next track day.

 

Twitchy front end or nervous rear end? I was happy with the oem setting on heavy braking. However, don't like oem damping setting for the front end. Front end is oscillating when hitting a hole or curb at high speed. But the speed of the oscillation is not fast neither slow, so not sure which setting to change. I will try with low speed damping first. 

[DangerousDave]

Rear end has been very planted but we will see when the 475 kit goes on for the next event.

[Toqcars]

Car is just after the second track day. It's way faster than the first time... mostly because of the driver 😂

Was still driving it in sport mode only, but started to notice that the TC is limiting/panicking on some corners, where there is no need to. So I will switch to the RACE TC on the next traction day.

Don't like feeling on the brakes or better said lack of feeling on the brakes. Brake pads are fine, but not initially. It's quite noticeable that the last part of the braking is more intense than the initial. Especially during the long braking intervals, like braking after the long straight. Could be that the brakes are too cold after the long straight, so might be that it should be warmed up before braking. Besides braking intensity, don't like the initial brake feedback, so I am looking for a brake pad alternatives. Ferodo DSUNO seems nice. Any experiences?

Front end of the car is impressive... grips is just unreal. But I do have some issues with the rear end. I know that there is tonne of a torque and that the gas pedal prefers gentle operation, but I still think it's not fine. It's very very very nervous on the exits. Need to measure the bump steer, because some photos show some weird wheel angles. Not sure about it, will report when measured. Will try to increase the camber on the rear and stiffen the low-speed damping on the rear Nitrons. Will not touch the geometry of the front end, because grip is perfect and car is very stable under heavy braking. However, low-speed damping needs to be increased on front as well...wonder why? Let me show you a photo of a heavy braking:

Please note that the ride height is stock. It's not lowered yet.

And some fast curves:

 

And some art:

 

I also run out of gas... on a track during the session. I can only say that the fuel level indicator is a liar and that I am taking the old approach from now on and am not talking to the fuel level indicator at all 😂 Love the car. The faster the better. I just hope that the Lotus after sales services would be a bit better.

Edited March 15, 2022 by Toqcars

[Cemil Tacir]

 

On 16/03/2022 at 02:32, Toqcars said:

Car is just after the second track day. It's way faster than the first time... mostly because of the driver 😂

Was still driving it in sport mode only, but started to notice that the TC is limiting/panicking on some corners, where there is no need to. So I will switch to the RACE TC on the next traction day.

Don't like feeling on the brakes or better said lack of feeling on the brakes. Brake pads are fine, but not initially. It's quite noticeable that the last part of the braking is more intense than the initial. Especially during the long braking intervals, like braking after the long straight. Could be that the brakes are too cold after the long straight, so might be that it should be warmed up before braking. Besides braking intensity, don't like the initial brake feedback, so I am looking for a brake pad alternatives. Ferodo DSUNO seems nice. Any experiences?

Front end of the car is impressive... grips is just unreal. But I do have some issues with the rear end. I know that there is tonne of a torque and that the gas pedal prefers gentle operation, but I still think it's not fine. It's very very very nervous on the exits. Need to measure the bump steer, because some photos show some weird wheel angles. Not sure about it, will report when measured. Will try to increase the camber on the rear and stiffen the low-speed damping on the rear Nitrons. Will not touch the geometry of the front end, because grip is perfect and car is very stable under heavy braking. However, low-speed damping needs to be increased on front as well...wonder why? Let me show you a photo of a heavy braking:

Please note that the ride height is stock. It's not lowered yet.

And some fast curves:

 

And some art:

 

I also run out of gas... on a track during the session. I can only say that the fuel level indicator is a liar and that I am taking the old approach from now on and am not talking to the fuel level indicator at all 😂 Love the car. The faster the better. I just hope that the Lotus after sales services would be a bit better.

An absolute beauty. What a car.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Cemil Tacir

[Toqcars]

Was doing some fast road trip weekend with a quite fast group. Audi R8 RWS, tuned Porsche GT4, Ferarri F8 Tributo, 780 HP BMW M3...  Lotus was for sure the loudest... even louder than some straight pipe monsters 😂

Regarding the driving dynamics... Lotus Exige Cup 430 is somehow comparable with the F8 and tuned GT4. There were no 911 GT3, so can't comment. Sure it lacks top speed, but has similar (similar is not same, clear?) accelerations like F8 until 200 km/h. Similar accelerations like GT4 until 100 km/h, faster until 220 km/h, slower after 220 km/h. GT4 had PDK, which was quite noticeable when I was shifting and he "was not". 

Braking is way better than the GT4, but quite similar like F8.

Exit of the curves is similar like GT4 (yeah I finally got the feeling for the gas pedal). 

Entering the curve is worse than F8 or GT4 or R8 RWS. I guess it's just a setting, so low speed damping will be increased before the next drive. Front end was very nervous. There were some initial slides (short understeer) when entering the curve, lack of the front grip during the first half of the curve, but quite good after the apex (when rear end is compensating). I was running Cup2 tires, GT4 was running Trofeo Race, so way better rubber. I am afraid that the combo of the light front axle and Cup2 is not the best. Don't trust the front end. It's somehow fine on the fast GP circuit with a nice surface, but untrustful on the road. Since no trust means no speed... slow entering speed. 

I was running 2.1 bar front and 2.2 bar rear.

Plan is to run the higher pressure, increase low-speed damping front and rear. Thinking about softening rear rebound, but not sure yet. Just ordered reduced bump steer kit from eliseparts. Mostly because of increased camber, but also due to the bump steer when front-end is on the floor. 

Not sure what to do to mitigate the instability on the front during the fast left-right-left-right curves.  Will see if the damping and camber will help. Will not touch the roll-bar setting for now.

Believe me or not, but I only have one normal photo 😀

 

Oh yeah, still love the car and think it's the best drivers car. For me it was the best in the group. I am totally aware that the active suspension and dual-clutch gearbox would make it faster, but also boring. Was driving other cars... you can't go back. Love the GT4, but it's just a huge step back regarding the overall experience. I guess I love the drama... and Lotus steering... and pain in my hands and legs 😂

 

 

[Paul_D]

Regarding tyre pressure - have you been experimenting to end up with those pressures?

You are currently running your front tyres 1.5psi higher than the recommended setting. 

Sorry if I've missed this, but have you actually checked every single damper for the rebound and high/low compression settings to make sure they are correct. (Before you start trying different settings)

[Toqcars]

Well.. I was dropping it a little since 2.1 bar "should" be optimal for the front. After your comment I checked and they (Lotus) recommend 2.0 bar (29 psi) for the Cup2. Funny thing is that the suspension specialist suggested 2.3 for the front. Just for a test. But for example 2.5 was for sure not fine (tested when heating tires on the first few sessions on the track). What pressure are you running?

Good point regarding the damper. Hasn't checked yet, but wanted before the first setting. Yeah you are right... it might be that setting is not the same as it should be. Have you seen the photo of my bar during heavy braking? Isn't it a bit too low?

[Paul_D]

I run 29psi cold on the road and 29psi hot on the track, as per recommendations. I haven't really seen anyone suggest higher pressures than this. 

Your car did look like it was diving a lot in that photo. I wonder if your low speed compression is currently set too soft?

[Toqcars]

Will test lower pressure next week on a track. Always taught 29psi/2.0bar is not fine for Cup2... but my previous cars were heavy category compared to the Exige.

Just checked my suspension setting. It is like it should be from the factory, so front low speed 4 clicks, front high speed 10 clicks, rear low speed 2 clicks, rear high speed 12 clicks. 

Wanted to stiffen the front low speed for 2 clicks, but since it's already running on 4 clicks out of 24 (so 16%), I just increased it for 1 click (so 12.5%). Did the same for the high speed and on the rear as well.

@Paul_D what is your ride height? I guess lower ride height would mitigate front dive or "side dive" as well

[Paul_D]

@Toqcars I think mine is more or less standard ride height. I haven't lowered it at all. I think it's around 130mm front and 135mm rear from memory, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Looks like your compression settings are ok, although rear low speed should be 3 clicks as standard, not 2 I believe. 

That hints that your rebound is also ok, but it would still be worth checking. The biggest difference in my settings between road and track is on the rebound. 

[Toqcars]

@Paul_D you are right, typo. Rear low speed was 3 clicks. Now it's at 2 clicks. What rebound are you running on the road and on the track? I know you are constantly chaning it, but just a rough estimation of the difference, please 🙂

Adjusting rear left damper is a pain. Can't imagine to setup it when the car is hot. How do you do it? @GFWilliams suggested Komo-tec airbox for comfier track life 😃