High Speed issues mirror and service cover

[NW76]

Hi,

after severe Lotus whitdrawel I decided today to take my Exige V6 CR with me on a long Autobahn business trip to Hamburg and back ... I usually only take her out on B and C roads and avoid Autobahn, as thats much more fun ...

I couldnt resist to push her hard as I had very little traffic and a lot of 3 lane Autobahn in dry conditions. I was able to spend a decent amout of time > 250.

While it was a great trip overall I had two issues come up at very high speeds and was wondering if those are common/known?!? It must have been north of 250 / 260 kmh or higher:

1) the mirrors fold back in at very high speed ... just a bit, but enough to mainly see the car body and not the traffic anymore ... not that you would really need them at that speed but still anoying as you have to manually readjust ... is there a way to prevent that?

2) Service cover opening up at all fixing points several times ... first time north of 275 kmh ... I was quite surprised when that happened ... ended up closing it (very dilligently) 3 times until it finally seems to hold nows ... it came loose always at speeds north of 250 kmh ... but I do not dare to touch it at the moment ... strange ... I would have thought aeorodynamics would prevent that?!? Wasnt dangerous, as it only came up maybe 10-15 cm but very anoying ... I wonder now if the stock mechanism is not strong enough in general or just mine is not adjusted/working properly?!?

Thanks for any help on this

Cheers

Norbert

[Arun_D]

Neither are common issues, but there aren't many owners pushing that sort of speed. I suppose the nature of the mirrors being adjusted how they are (the entire mirror body moving for adjustment) means that with enough front pressure from they will start to fold inwards.

The service hatch issue I had once on my previous V6, it popped up the same amount on track at Goodwood circuit, but only happened the once. I couldn't explain how as I was 100% sure it was latched, but it seems you've had repeat occurences after latching it properly.

[NW76]

Hi Arun,

I usually really have avoided long Autobahn stints with the Exige ... as its much more fun elsewhere.It actually wasn't as a bad as I expected it to be, knowing how tricky other sports cars behave at very high speeds compared to my usual Autobahn car an X6M (w/o limiter - and also capable of speeds well north of 275). The Exige was very well planted and gave a lot of confidence even in high speed corners. By the way: great to see how quickly people move from the left lane to the right when they see the car in the rear mirror ;-) ... even an AMG E63... he wanted to play but had no chance when accelerating from 100 kmh up ... impressive to realize how the Exige even outperformes those cars...

Back to the topic: 

Thanks for your feedback. I think with the mirrors thats exactly what is happening ... I will check if there is any way to tighten the mechanism, but its not such a big issues as it really only happens above 240 kmh. 

On the Service Hatch though... I gave it some more sort and I think my latch might need adjustment or replacement. I have to hand guide it into the latch and I can not hear it click at all... but this should be an easy fix or adjustment...

Rg

Norbert

 

[LotusPilot]

Suggestions for the latch.

1. If the mechanism isn't freely latching on its hair-Spring, "slightly" loosen the M6 Nyloc nut that secures the release lever to its central pivot.  If the M6 nut has corroded, replace the OEM steel nut for a Stainless Steel M6 Nyloc.  Surface corrosion on the nut is enough to prevent free movement and correct latching.   The objective here is to ensure that the latch mechainism is moving freely and able to correctly latch; if it can't move freely, the hatch will not be properly retained in the closed position!  The use of a lubricant should be avoided as it will attract and retain dirt making the problem worse.

2. When latching down the hatch, press down firmly on the hatch immediately above the latch.  The latch should audibly click as the release lever moves into the "locked" position by its hair-Spring.  If the lever does not fully return to the locked position, whilst pushing down firmly above the latch, assist the spring by pushing the black release knob outboard towards the near-side (assuming RHD).

3. Ensure that the locating pins, located at the extreme ends of the hatch, near the windscreen, are properly located in the ,arching rubber sockets.  Treat the sockets with some care as they are easily damaged if the pins are carelessly aligned.

[NW76]

Thanks a lot! I think my problem definitely is that the mechanism isnt latching correctly. Your instructions are very helpful. Worst case I will have Lotus fix that as my car  goes to service soon anyway.

 

Cheers

 

Norbert