Buying an exige - hopefully

[vw tt]

Hi, I have spent the last few weeks on the forum reading through pretty much every post about the V6 exige and trying to digest as much info as possible. I won't be buying for a few weeks yet but to get a feel for the car lotus have offered me a test drive next week and I wondered if there is anything I should know before I drive it so I can make the most of the opportunity. DPM modes, best type of roads to best see the cars potential, should I avoid a rainy day or does the car still perform well in those conditions, etc etc. Basically I want to get the most from the short drive and make a positive decision if it's the car for me. 

 

I believe its a 350 I'm testing. But when the deals are being done I may well have to look at an older V6 or Cup (if i can find one). Unless the deals on new cars are really good. 

 

Thanks for your help. 

[Chrisc]

By testing an Exige, your face will get rather excited 

I was undecided until i drove one, as the 981 Cayman was in close runnings. But the Exige was just perfect! From what ive looked up on, there are not many issues at all, and i could not find any common things that do go wrong with them. Toyota engine says it all, as the previous S2 charged engine before was brilliant as well.

Enjoy the test drive! Make sure you have the options on the car you want though, well there are not many obviously 

[Ian Lockwood]

As long as the car you try isn't on Trofeo tyres, you'll be fine in the wet (although like any car, you won't be able to push it as much as in the dry). If it has the Race pack, I doubt you'll be able to explore that on the road (it requires the car to slide a bit first to learn the surface, but as our roads have highly variable surfaces, I'd advise against testing it out...)

The gear shift on a 350 should be much better than on previous models - it's the weak spot of the driver interface and from what I understand, a bit variable as some cars are worse than others. Bear that in mind if you try the 350 but buy an older car. The geometry has been altered on the 350 too, I haven't driven one so can't comment personally, but the original V6S understeers a bit, the 350 might have had some of that dialled out. It's also a bit lighter of course, so you might find the driving experience a little different to what you might buy.

I suggest you try and find roads that allow you to test the braking and cornering, handling on different surfaces, some roundabouts to get a feel for the balance of the car. A mix of a few A roads with roundabouts and mostly country roads is probably best.

Take some sunglasses if it's a bright day, the sun visors on a Lotus aren't worth the name!

[vw tt]

8 minutes ago, Chrisc said:

By testing an Exige, your face will get rather excited 

I was undecided until i drove one, as the 981 Cayman was in close runnings. But the Exige was just perfect! From what ive looked up on, there are not many issues at all, and i could not find any common things that do go wrong with them. Toyota engine says it all, as the previous S2 charged engine before was brilliant as well.

Enjoy the test drive! Make sure you have the options on the car you want though, well there are not many obviously 

Thanks. Yes the Cayman is the only car not to be driven yet. 

 

After a long line of hot hatches I need something a little more interesting and something I can track (having never done that before). I have a cheap daily car (fiesta st - fun little car!) for running the kids around, so it opens up the chance of a two seat car, or I can sell the daily and buy a do everything car.  

 

So here's the list of cars I've narrowed it down to.

M4 - driven and loved

GTR - driven and loved but running costs scare me

A45 AMG - nice but not exciting (and another hot hatch)

caterham - pure track toy, loved it but how often can I use it.....

exige V6 - test drive next week 

Cayman - test drive tba 

So I'm down to selling the daily and buying an M4. Or keeping the daily and buying one of caterham/exige/Cayman as my fun car............. Decisions decisions

[Chrisc]

Ive just come from a modded M4, and unfortunately it did very little for me. Straight line is ok, though it cant shoot you straight for some weird reason. And it is really numb to drive. Saying that, i have some nice Intrax 1K2 coilovers for sale for it 

i did quite a few track days, and the only car that i just could not get used to, and that was so unstable at speed. Personally the E92 M3 is a far better drivers car. The M4 seems just like a 435 with an LSD and better seats. 

[vw tt]

56 minutes ago, Ian Lockwood said:

As long as the car you try isn't on Trofeo tyres, you'll be fine in the wet (although like any car, you won't be able to push it as much as in the dry). If it has the Race pack, I doubt you'll be able to explore that on the road (it requires the car to slide a bit first to learn the surface, but as our roads have highly variable surfaces, I'd advise against testing it out...)

The gear shift on a 350 should be much better than on previous models - it's the weak spot of the driver interface and from what I understand, a bit variable as some cars are worse than others. Bear that in mind if you try the 350 but buy an older car. The geometry has been altered on the 350 too, I haven't driven one so can't comment personally, but the original V6S understeers a bit, the 350 might have had some of that dialled out. It's also a bit lighter of course, so you might find the driving experience a little different to what you might buy.

I suggest you try and find roads that allow you to test the braking and cornering, handling on different surfaces, some roundabouts to get a feel for the balance of the car. A mix of a few A roads with roundabouts and mostly country roads is probably best.

Take some sunglasses if it's a bright day, the sun visors on a Lotus aren't worth the name!

Top stuff. All noted thanks Ian. 

44 minutes ago, Chrisc said:

Ive just come from a modded M4, and unfortunately it did very little for me. Straight line is ok, though it cant shoot you straight for some weird reason. And it is really numb to drive. Saying that, i have some nice Intrax 1K2 coilovers for sale for it 

i did quite a few track days, and the only car that i just could not get used to, and that was so unstable at speed. Personally the E92 M3 is a far better drivers car. The M4 seems just like a 435 with an LSD and better seats. 

That's very interesting. Thanks for that. 

 

I have to admit to loving the M4 but this next car must be a drivers car through and through. The little fiesta st I'm driving now puts all the much more expensive cars I've owned to shame for driving fun, handling, and feel. So this time round it has to blow me away or I just won't buy it. 

 

Maybe be ill test an old e92 M3 as well!

Edited August 9, 2016 by vw tt

[vw tt]

1 hour ago, Chrisc said:

By testing an Exige, your face will get rather excited 

I was undecided until i drove one, as the 981 Cayman was in close runnings. But the Exige was just perfect! From what ive looked up on, there are not many issues at all, and i could not find any common things that do go wrong with them. Toyota engine says it all, as the previous S2 charged engine before was brilliant as well.

Enjoy the test drive! Make sure you have the options on the car you want though, well there are not many obviously 

What about the Cayman put you off? Or in what way was the exige better? 

[Bibs]

Image

[vw tt]

8 minutes ago, Bibs said:

Image

haha

[Chrisc]

1 hour ago, vw tt said:

What about the Cayman put you off? Or in what way was the exige better? 

The fact i could not afford the GT4 

lovely car. PDK is not for me, but the manual is good. Just it did feel quite slow, and coming from the M4 the exige snaps your neck in 1st and 2nd. Not something the porker does. It really was an excellent car, though looks wise it does blend in a tad, where as the exige certainly doesn't 

[Gashead1105]

1 hour ago, vw tt said:

Top stuff. All noted thanks Ian. 

That's very interesting. Thanks for that. 

 

I have to admit to loving the M4 but this next car must be a drivers car through and through. The little fiesta st I'm driving now puts all the much more expensive cars I've owned to shame for driving fun, handling, and feel. So this time round it has to blow me away or I just won't buy it. 

 

Maybe be ill test an old e92 M3 as well!

I have a fiesta ST3 for the every day and a V6 exige for the weekend. It's a great combination in my opinion...

[vw tt]

42 minutes ago, Chrisc said:

The fact i could not afford the GT4 

lovely car. PDK is not for me, but the manual is good. Just it did feel quite slow, and coming from the M4 the exige snaps your neck in 1st and 2nd. Not something the porker does. It really was an excellent car, though looks wise it does blend in a tad, where as the exige certainly doesn't 

Haha yes the GT4 is amazing. There is a white one regularly parked in my gym car park and it's just stunning! 

 

Surprised the the exige performs so much better off the line. The M4 is no slouch. 

How do they compare for traction off the line and in the corners. It's the one thing that worries me with the M4. I've never owned or even had much time driving a powerful RWD car and it worries me a little that I'll loose the back end. Esp in our winter weather. Is the exige as twitchy as I read the M4 is? 

[vw tt]

9 minutes ago, Gashead1105 said:

I have a fiesta ST3 for the every day and a V6 exige for the weekend. It's a great combination in my opinion...

Yes I'll be honest the little fiesta was bought as a put on between my old mk6 dsg golf R and the next car. But it's really grown on me. The golf was at 400hp and with 4WD I really miss the oomph, but the fiesta is a different league in terms of steering feel and handling. It's such a lively fun car.

That and an exige would be perfect for me! 

 

[Chrisc]

It's the way the Exige puts it's power down, it just squats and takes off in a straight line. The M4 tends to pull to one side or the other, and wants to shoot off the road  not something I liked to be fair! I was running around 540bhp and 500lb of torque though. 295 cup 2 tyres, and when warm it was a lot better. Though was a handful in the dry, let alone the wet. They are decent, but i maintain the E92 M3 is a much better drivers car, and predictable on the limit.

All the pro drivers I do track days with think the same as well, and not one prefers the M4 to the E92 M3. Electric steering, softer suspension setup and turbo charged, and all at once in the M4! Not good unfortunately. 

Porsche or Lotus has to be the way.

GTR again a straight line machine, and on track it does everything for you. 

[Gashead1105]

1 minute ago, vw tt said:

Yes I'll be honest the little fiesta was bought as a put on between my old mk6 dsg golf R and the next car. But it's really grown on me. The golf was at 400hp and with 4WD I really miss the oomph, but the fiesta is a different league in terms of steering feel and handling. It's such a lively fun car.

That and an exige would be perfect for me! 

 

The fiesta is great fun because it will lift off oversteer in a way that the exige will not - and you wouldn't want the exige to either because you would need to be quick to catch it. The exige has a lot more grip, it's not a drift car by any stretch of the imagination. But on a wet road with the traction set to sport the back will step out a little before the safety systems kick in. If you leave it in touring mode the exige is pretty unstickable no matter how bad the weather is (on corsas at least). Race mode on a wet track is like witchcraft. And I haven't had the balls to turn it all off because it's worth too much to me and I am not sure I have the talent! Am working up to it...

[vw tt]

5 minutes ago, Chrisc said:

It's the way the Exige puts it's power down, it just squats and takes off in a straight line. The M4 tends to pull to one side or the other, and wants to shoot off the road  not something I liked to be fair! I was running around 540bhp and 500lb of torque though. 295 cup 2 tyres, and when warm it was a lot better. Though was a handful in the dry, let alone the wet. They are decent, but i maintain the E92 M3 is a much better drivers car, and predictable on the limit.

All the pro drivers I do track days with think the same as well, and not one prefers the M4 to the E92 M3. Electric steering, softer suspension setup and turbo charged, and all at once in the M4! Not good unfortunately. 

Porsche or Lotus has to be the way.

GTR again a straight line machine, and on track it does everything for you. 

Yeah it seems the GTR would be out of my league from a maintenance point of view esp if I track it. And from running a light-ish nimble ST I can see how a light car wins all day for driving thrills. So GTR and M4 won't give me that. I was excited about the cheap cost of running a caterham on track and of course it's even light than the lotus. But I doubt id drive it more than half a dozen times a year. 

 

Exige though could be used all the time, with the fiesta being there for those terrible weather days and when i need the back seats which is rare. 

 

Well the exige test drive is Monday at 11am. To say I'm excited is an understatement haha. I need to test the Cayman as well I guess but it sounds like I'm testing the right car on Monday!

 

[Gashead1105]

7 minutes ago, vw tt said:

Yeah it seems the GTR would be out of my league from a maintenance point of view esp if I track it. And from running a light-ish nimble ST I can see how a light car wins all day for driving thrills. So GTR and M4 won't give me that. I was excited about the cheap cost of running a caterham on track and of course it's even light than the lotus. But I doubt id drive it more than half a dozen times a year. 

 

Exige though could be used all the time, with the fiesta being there for those terrible weather days and when i need the back seats which is rare. 

 

Well the exige test drive is Monday at 11am. To say I'm excited is an understatement haha. I need to test the Cayman as well I guess but it sounds like I'm testing the right car on Monday!

 

Not sure which Cayman you are driving. I tested (quite hard!) a Cayman R prior to trading up my S2 Exige to the V6. Even compared to my S2, the R was just slow. It was very nice, but the one I tested which was 'comfort' spec, pdk, non-bucket seats etc) and was just not very exciting. I've also driven my neighbour's few month's old, reasonably highly spec'd last of the previous line Cayman S. It was, again, very nice, but basically a 2 seat golf gti with an N/A flat 6 in it. I imagine the turbo version is even more of a golf Gti now. In fact, I find all cooking porsches to be, basically, a golf Gti in drag. In other words, ZZZZZ. 

V6 eats the Cayman alive for thrills, feedback, driving pleasure and excitement. 

[Bibs]

Just now, Gashead1105 said:

just not very exciting

Sums up the Cayman in my experience, even on the Brands Indy circuit.

[Gashead1105]

PS: - OP - I've done shit loads of trackdays, starting in a 182. Yet to get my Fiesta out on track but it's definitely something I want to do, a lively FWD chassis can be sooooo much fun on the right circuit. Don't think that you have to buy an exige prior to doing a trackday - in fact I would suggest that starting out in something less expensive (to buy, track and fix if you get it properly wrong!) so you can switch the traction control off, and working up to the exige, would be the way forward. The exige has some awesome systems on it and it's bloody fast, but it you don't have the confidence to switch them down (or off) I think you might find the whole trackday experience expensive (I get through between £100 and £150 per day of petrol on track, you basically empty the tank in 2 runs) and over-rated - see the relatively recent thread from @ChrisBueron the playground (also posted something on here). (Not meaning to pick on you here Chris!)

Edited August 9, 2016 by Gashead1105

[Chrisc]

As above re the Cayman. Shame as they are a decent car, just porsche keep them slow as don't want to infringe on the 911. 

I have had many cars, and all have had things I don't like. So far the Exige is perfect. Though getting in and out is fun lol. But I am back to getting excited about driving it every day! Something I have not had in some time! Well since my E46 M3 CSL really. 

 

[Bravo73]

3 hours ago, vw tt said:

So I'm down to selling the daily and buying an M4.

If you want a 'do everything' car, you should consider an Evora. I track mine reasonably regularly and yet there is also room in the back for a car seat (or two). 

On track, an Evora (particularly a 400) would leave an M4 for dead. Particularly after a few laps, once the M4's brakes have overheated. 

[vw tt]

Well thanks to all. So many great replies I don't know where to start. 

 

Erm well I won't expect too much from a Cayman then. I'll test one anyway just to prove it to myself.

Good point about tracking the fiesta. Honestly though I need a car for work every day and worry about tracking my only car. Maybe the exige will be my daily road car for a few weeks and I can use the fiesta to get the hang of track days then bring the exige in when I feel more confident. I always fancied throwing the fiesta around the track  

 

Good idea with the evora but it's still just too small. My kids are 12 and 9, and I'm 6"2', so there's no way we would all get into the evora. Shame as its a beautiful car. 

[cbaileyuk]

OP,  will this be the first lotus you have driven? 

[vw tt]

Yes it will. I'm hoping it's as engaging and exciting as the caterham but just a more everyday useable car. Can't wait to find out. 

[marky68]

Some interesting reading and comments regarding choices.

I sold a GSXR Powered Mk Indy kit car (my 3rd kit car) and an E92 M3 for my Exige 350 Sport and although I've only covered about 300 miles so far (and one track test evening provided by the dealer) I have no regrets. The kit car was an obvious sale as taking it out was becoming a pain having to consider the weather, helmets and suitable clothing and lack of security if you parked it up.

Selling the E92 M3 DCT was not so easy as it was probably my favorite car to date and I've had a good few, very practical, fast if you worked it, comfortable and makes a lovely noise if you have the rear box modded. I would have liked to keep it but financially it didn't work out sensible so I kept my E46 M3 instead (third world problems )

 I too test drove a GTR, Cayman S, 911 Turbo but if you appreciate the raw feel of a car and the road it is clinging onto then the Lotus is the one in my opinion.