GFWilliams Purple, Slightly Modified, Exige V6

[GFWilliams]

@Mark030358 - it's on a ramp. No idea how it's mounted to be honest.

Got a lovely new engine badge from Komo-tec!  Still want carbon engine covers, but other things always take priority...

If anyone wants to buy my @alias23 Lotus Badge, please drop me a dm

[Jack]

On 12/04/2019 at 02:32, GFWilliams said:

@GFWilliams -- Hey GF, when did the striping go on the splitter and barge boards?

I, obviously, think it looks good.   

 

 

[GFWilliams]

22 minutes ago, Jack said:

@GFWilliams -- Hey GF, when did the striping go on the splitter and barge boards?

I, obviously, think it looks good.   

I put it on temporarily to see if I like it.  I do like it, but I don't like the yellows not matching.  I will get it done properly in paint at some stage I think. 

[Jack]

I agree on the strip color  -- it's not close enough to pass muster or "mustard" to keep the color theme going.   

Before you paint, have you checked with a local "wrap" installer to get a detailed color chart of available wraps? 

You might get lucky and find one that is "close enough". 

There are several quality "wrap" manufacturers and they will send you samples directly upon request.

Some different manufacturers' sample color charts available here.... http://www.ultimatewrapsfl.com/color-chart/

[GFWilliams]

1 minute ago, Jack said:

I agree on the strip color  -- it's not close enough to pass muster or "mustard" to keep the color theme going.   

Before you paint, have you checked with a local "wrap" installer to get a detailed color chart of available wraps? 

You might get lucky and find one that is "close enough". 

There are several quality "wrap" manufacturers and they will send you samples directly upon request.

Some different manufacturers' sample color charts available here.... http://www.ultimatewrapsfl.com/color-chart/

I know you can get very close indeed with wrap, but I'd rather "do it properly" and paint it to get it absolutely perfect.  The car needs a couple of touchups anyway, so I'll get it all done at the same time.

[GFWilliams]

After 5 weeks, I finally got my car back yesterday!

So as mentioned above, whilst it's been away it's had:
 - New track rod ends due to wear
 - 3 way Nitron Dampers Rebuilt as one of them had seized adjustors
 - Front springs changed from 550lbs to 750lbs
 - Front uprights machined to allow for 2 degrees of camber
 - New Cup 2 tyres - 215/45/17 & 285/30/18

I got the car back and at first thought "what the hell have I done".  The car was all over the place over bumps, tram lining badly, and just not pleasant on the brilliant Surrey roads...

This morning I went for a drive and stopped a few times to adjust the dampers and got things to be really nice.   To give reference, it was set as 10 clicks of rebound all round, and 8 clicks each for both high speed and low speed compression.

I have only adjusted the compression as I need to jack the car up to do rebound, but I changed the high speed compression to 16 all round (so softened a lot, which gives more compliance over bumps in the road), then on low speed compression I did 5 clicks on the front and 8 clicks on the rear(so stiffer on the front for compression in cornering).  My reason for stiffening up the front was in an attempt to change the balance of the car to get more grip on the rear. With 2 degrees of camber the turn in is absolutely insane, so the back comes round quite readily.  I feel like softening up the rebound (more so on the rear) will make the car feel even better still on the road.

Being honest, the stiffer front springs, plus more front camber, do make the car worse on the road, meaning it follows bumps in the road more and has less ability to absorb bumps. I knew this was likely to be the case, and on track I believe the car is going to feel a lot better now. Of course, I can't make a judgement on this until I've done a trackday.

For track (depending on track and conditions), I will stiffen the dampers up a load and learn what settings work best.  Overall, I'm really happy with the changes, the car feels more "alive" and sharper, so I have no doubt that on smooth roads, and on track, it's an improvement and I think it will make me faster on track.

Still got an annoying rattle coming from the front of the car which will be investigated next week.  One of the joys of having a higher milage car I guess. I try to replace bits when needed and over service it to sort problems before the occur. I'm a regular at Back on Track!

[550superfast]

You didn’t try the 225 front then?

[GFWilliams]

1 hour ago, 550superfast said:

You didn’t try the 225 front then?

As I got the front uprights machined to get 2 degrees of camber, I decided it wasn't necessary and that 215 was plenty of tyre

[alias23]

40 minutes ago, GFWilliams said:

As I got the front uprights machined to get 2 degrees of camber, I decided it wasn't necessary and that 215 was plenty of tyre

Wuss

[RoflOnMyWaffle]

Looking good George, I need to re do my wheel bolts too - wheek refurb place knackered them, so I'll give them a new coat and torque them too.

Still not sure on the rear spats. Sometimes I love them, other times they feel stuck on and not part of the car. Time will tell!

Nothing more cathartic than washing cars - until you find a new scratch or chip or something. 

I have detailing friends who say coating the wheels doesn't negate the need to use elbow grease, just lessened how much was needed. Worth doing as a project in nice weather but definitely not needed.

Car still looks mega - is that from the detailing they did a while back or is it your photography skills that really make it shine? 

[GFWilliams]

@RoflOnMyWaffle - I think the rear spats are like the side skirts, once you have them, the car would look weird without them.  I like how visually they make the car look wider.

Regular cleaning makes it easier to clean wheels.  The performance friction pads leave quite a lot on wheels, but if you keep on top of it with regular washes it's a lot easier to shift it.  I think a ceramic coating will make the washing process easier, plus it gave the wheels a nice deep black, which is another benefit.

The shine is from the detail, it really looks great!   Especially when you consider it's a 50,000 mile car.

[GFWilliams]

My new helmet arrived at the painter today - same as my old one but with Hans posts, and importantly, it’s in date. My old one was out of date and had a few chips out of it so not ideal! Decided to go with KSD Custom Paint as a few friends recommended him. He’s been great so far, making sure everything is totally clear with the design, even though I’m keeping things very simple!

I intend to try @Arun_D‘s HANS device at some stage to see how it fits before potentially ordering the same one.

The performance of our cars is so high on track that I feel updating these safety items is worth doing, all it takes is one mistake or failed component and it could be a big off, so I’d rather spend a bit of money for in date safety equipment.

I’ll post up photos of the helmet when done, hopefully later this week 😎

[NW76]

Good idea! HANS is a must imho with 4/6point harness on track. Better be safe than sorry! Our cars are quite fast and even if you are careful you can always have a mechanical issue or a guy spilling coolant fluid ... 

I can recommend the Simpson Hybrid HANS

[GFWilliams]

@NW76 - my reason for wanting to try a Hans before buying is that @alias23 had problems with his with the Tillett seat.  I’m a bit taller (okay, about 1 foot taller), so hopefully I won’t have any issues.

I believe I might need to change my harnesses to the 2” straps instead of 3” to work with a HANS device.

[Arun_D]

You're definitely welcome to try mine, I had no issues using mine with my Tillett B6 and although I had the same concerns about strap width, the 3" straps lay happily within the belt guides, and the device itself is specced for all widths, I recall.

[KennyN]

14 hours ago, NW76 said:

I can recommend the Simpson Hybrid HANS

+1 for the Simpson Hybrid HANS, some models can also be used with a normal 3 point belt if you have a go or are a passenger in a car without harnesses.

[alias23]

Is there any 'dig in' to your back when sat down?

[MrP_]

14 hours ago, GFWilliams said:

@NW76 - my reason for wanting to try a Hans before buying is that @alias23 had problems with his with the Tillett seat.  I’m a bit taller (okay, about 1 foot taller), so hopefully I won’t have any issues.

I believe I might need to change my harnesses to the 2” straps instead of 3” to work with a HANS device.

Tillets were fine in my S2, used with 3inch straps and they just fit in. Schroth designed it this way and state it on the data sheet, it makes it a bit bulky but fine when not in a single seater. Rallied with HANS on 3inch belts for a few years apart from taking 20secs longer to seat it in the gulley.

Confirmation here: https://www.schroth.com/en/segments/racing/service/installation-instructions.html?file=files/schroth/pdf/installation-instructions/eas-ab-2019/ea_16-3_fhr_2019-01_online.pdf

ASM is also compatible with HANS

 

 

[Mattmahope]

I use my 3 inch Schroth ASM belts (now fitted the correct way round!) with my HANS and it works fine. I use the slightly wider “wings” that came with the HANS device which helps seat the wider straps better

[KennyN]

1 hour ago, alias23 said:

Is there any 'dig in' to your back when sat down?

Not in my case, but I guess it will vary person to person.  I'm 6'2" and a bit, so my biggest issue is fitting in the Exige with my helmet on whilst the roof is in place.  I'm still using the original seat which has been lowered and tilted back slightly, but I could still do with more headroom...I have been eyeing up the Tillett options.

[GFWilliams]

Thanks for all the information chaps, good news if I can use Hans with current harnesses!

[GFWilliams]

Today I woke up super early and drove to North Wales.  Loving the stance on the car now!

[GFWilliams]

Car is now cleaned again and tucked away safely under the TLF cover.

I also received my new helmet (Bell GP3) which I got painted by KSD Custom Paint.  He managed to turn it around in less than a week and it's absolutely stunning.  I'm really happy with the design I did, nice and simple, and the black is Lotus Motorsport Black, so has a bit of flake in it.

 

[rallyesax]

That looks epic ! 

Love it

😍

[Karls]

Paint your garage walls with white masonry paint; you’ll be amazed how much nicer and larger it makes the space feel. How long was the drive to North Wales btw?