Project Compomotive

[The Pits]

might be Richard although a fairly subtle place to add some bling, not many will notice. The original finish was zinc passivated which has a light golden look, plenty bling enough for me!

 

The compomotives definitely make the car look older but in a good way. Perhaps 'more classic' would be a better term!

 

[RichardJGC]

Jonny

Did you have to replace the spacers on the rear suspension setup? The parts list shows the Compomotive setup spacer as being a different part. Would be easy to make them...if I knew the size of them. I'm guessing the only difference would be in length?

Richard

[hopo]

Jonny your nuts but I love it. I think for such s top notch car that is spot on in every respect it's certainly worth doing things proper. I know the car is a keeper and all but it will only add to the value...... After all it's not like u put many miles on it?!?!?!?!!!!!!

[The Pits]

Jonny

Did you have to replace the spacers on the rear suspension setup? The parts list shows the Compomotive setup spacer as being a different part. Would be easy to make them...if I knew the size of them. I'm guessing the only difference would be in length?

Richard

 

Just spoke to Mike at Lotusbits about this Richard and he says there's no need to change the spacers due to the new bushes. He's the man to speak to about this and has all the parts in stock built from jigs made from original Essex parts.

 

And Hopo if you could provide some childcare I could get out in the car a bit more often!

[The Pits]

There were many days I questioned the sanity of what I was doing.

 

Not yesterday.

 

[Bazza 907]

That looks wonderful.

[steve930]

Against the white, I felt the wheels/tyres looked a bit heavy, but now you've done the lettering it breaks it up and looks absolutely spot on  

[The Pits]

 

Having the Goodyear logo on the tyres looks to be worth another 100bhp at least!

 

It wouldn't be fair to say that I could really notice the reduction in unsprung mass but there are certainly no downsides from going from BBS to Compomotives in terms of steering feel, response, handling and ride comfort. In all respects it's at least as good at the BBS's in some ways very slightly better. Of course the tyres are new as well so hard to say what's doing what but the car feels terrific on the road. Still a little bit of set up work to do, the rears have a little too much negative camber but we're into fine tuning now. 

 

The wheels balanced OK which was a relief for such old wheels and I hope the new tyre valves will get rid of the slow leak I had on the front left. 

[Numanoid]

That looks the absolute danglers - Gorgeous!

[cbclotus]

Wow looks fantastic .What a car ...Mike

[stephenwhyte]

Looking good!!!! First time I've seen a pic of the car with the new reg number too - lovely!

[The Pits]

thanks, better one here (any excuse to post another pic ):

 

[The Pits]

[Bibs]

[nello]

Stunning Jonny - never has there been a car that has had to have White tyre lettering as much!

[The Pits]

yes, advisable with BBS wheels, compulsory with Compomotives!

[nello]

I've also always thought theres something about the twin stripes at the bottom of the door line that makes the early cars look lower. I know they are anyway but I'm sure theres something about them that adds to the effect. So much so I'm considering adding gold ones to my car at some point in the future.

Edited November 23, 2015 by nello

[MJK]

Nice work. Stunning Pictures.

[The Pits]

Compomotives? Here's why.

 

[soldave]

Love the look of the car, the wheels and tyres. You've got the whole package nailed down there

[The Pits]

Took these today in the New Forest. So great to be back in the car. Running beautifully. It really is a peach!

 

[MJK]

10/10 ! Who did the body work restoration!

Wish goodyear still made those tyres!

Any ideas where I could get a set of

Compomotives wheels silver or gold for my 84 S3?

Any ideas as to a cool white lettering tyre available on todays market for an S3?

Edited December 23, 2015 by MJK

[The Pits]

take a closer look at the tyres....

http://tredwear.com/

[stephenwhyte]

Jonny what size of tyres are you running all round as I'm being put under pressure to change what's on mine......even if we end up changing back to the Goodyears in the Summer? Pirelli P600 on the rear and P6000 on the front but what sizes?

[The Pits]

195/60R15 fronts.

235/60/R15 rears.

Many fit 225/60/R15 rears (Vredensteins are a popular choice as they have 'Guigiaro' on the sidewall) they are far more widely available and don't adversely affect handling according to Lotus. Being a stickler I went for 235 rears, even if the fronts aren't a perfect match. I still have a correct set of Goodyear NCTs (from 1984!) and hope to buy another set if I can beat Barrie to it one day (he's an ebay arch sniper!). Until then, these do the job, grip feels strong on fresh rubber and there's more peace of mind at motorway speeds.