Sport 350 or Sport 380 that is the question?

[mycerbera]

Hello all,

New member here, had a test drive at my local dealer of a 3 year old V6 S and was smitten, then they showed me a customers Sport 350 in the showroom and mentioned the 50:50 finance deal... Well you can guess where I am now lol

Want the car for mainly road use / road trips and the odd track day a couple of times a year, looking to keep it a long time so want to make sure I get the spec / colour / options spot on!

Big fan of the carbon bits but would want the roof colour coded as think it looks better showing the car as a coupe shape... Definitely want the Carbon fibre tailgate and front access panel plus carbon sports seats and carbon sills. Standard wheels (not a fan of the lighter multispoke ones looks wise) and red calipers.

Decided the red stitching with the red interior colour pack is what I want to be sat in along with the alcantara trim for steering wheel, air vents and (manual) gearbox surrounds, then a few day to day luxuries like AC, carpets and mats plus cruise control.

Questions:

Can you get a Sport 350 Spoiler in Carbon? (any pics?)

Can you get the little side air vent matt black pods in carbon? (any pics?) - option list implies "Carbon look" i think?

Current colours I'm leaning towards are carbon grey (as pictured) or a blue... Do like Orange but as i want the red interior bits that's a no no lol... Had two Green TVRs so not green (unless maybe a very bright one) as fancy a change!  BMW's Estoril Blue is one of my all time favorite colours, am i correct in thinking with the Lotus "Exclusive" scheme you can order ANY colour for £1,800? Any one got any pics or can render a Sport 350 and Sport 380 in Estoril Blue (including the roof but with the carbon front access panel) for me please and thank you?!

So what are peoples views on the 350 vs 380 when it comes to more road biased usage?

Can you spec the larger 380 fuel tank on the 350? (Would help on road trips)

By the time I've speced the Sport 350 the way I want it I'm nearly at base 380 list price... however then I'd have to spec all the above on top of the 380 and all gets rather expensive especially as the new TVR is going to be £90k As a mainly road use car I'm thinking the 350 should be extreme enough, plus I prefer the 4 larger rear light setup of the 350 anyway

Sorry for waffling on, I feel I'm at the beginning of a very exciting process but all the options are making it hard to decide lol... hopefully getting a test drive soon of the Sport 350 and 380 to compare against the V6 S i drove, that should fingers crossed make some things clearer in my mind or not

Look forward to your comments and renderings / pics!

Thanks in advance

Edited September 30, 2017 by mycerbera
spelling mistakes!

[GFWilliams]

Can you get a Sport 350 Spoiler in Carbon? (any pics?)

I don't think so, plenty of aftermarket big wing solutions but I haven't seen the standard wing in carbon.

Can you get the little side air vent matt black pods in carbon? (any pics?) - option list implies "Carbon look" i think?

Yes, but the ones I've seen aren't the nicest quality carbon.
https://www.reverie.ltd.uk/exige-s3-v6-carbon-fibre-side-scoops-pair/R01SB0466

So what are peoples views on the 350 vs 380 when it comes to more road biased usage?

Both great cars, the biggest things between them IMO are the lower rev limit on the 380 and the silly loud exhaust on the 380, which sounds awesome, but means you can't do trackdays without changing the exhaust.

Can you spec the larger 380 fuel tank on the 350? (Would help on road trips)

The 380 never ended up the claimed size of fuel tank. It's bigger than a 350, but not by much from what I gather.  Your best bet is fitting a pro alloy 60l tank. I'm planning on doing this.

 

My personal advice would be to buy a Sport 350 with the lightweight forged wheels (one of the best things I've changed on my car), then put in the bigger fuel tank and go to Komotec or @Hangar 111 for some power improvements which are genuine without a big torque dip and low rev limit like the 380. 

[The Pits]

No point in the 380 if you're planning to modify. No point in a brand new 350 either for that matter as it will void your 3yr warranty.

For mainly road use the 380 is a strong package, heavy track users might be better off with the 350 for the reasons George outlined above.

I'm sure you could get Estoril Blue but there are some very nice Lotus blues that might cost you less. Nightfall Blue is the darkest and is magnificent in bright sunshine. Essex Blue is a Lotus classic and a few shades lighter. Then you get into colours like Azure Blue to Lazer Blue which is full-on electric blue. For a solid blue Daytona Blue is well worth a look. Never seen a car it didn't suit yet!

Serious deal to be had on this one if you like the colour. It's been sat around for a bit before recently being turned into a demo.

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/exige-s3/lotus-exige-s-v6-380-sport-finished-in-an-exclusive-colour-daytona-blue-book-a-test-drive/7178392 

[Seriouslylotus]

2 hours ago, GFWilliams said:

 

My personal advice would be to buy a Sport 350 with the lightweight forged wheels (one of the best things I've changed on my car), then put in the bigger fuel tank and go to Komotec or @Hangar 111 for some power improvements which are genuine without a big torque dip and low rev limit like the 380. 

Don't discount the SSC TVS 1900 kit, it's really rather good, see some of Gary's videos against some komotec cars!!!!!!!

Lightweight wheels are available aftermarket......https://www.seriouslylotus.com/v6-exige-ultralight-forged-alloy-wheels

.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Seriouslylotus

[mycerbera]

Interesting comments people, much appreciated... Has anyone on here owned / lived with a Sport 350 for a period of time and then upgraded to a Sport 380?

I've been watching and reading many road tests and reviews on both models but as usual it's all done by journalists or people who have just driven one for the 1st time, so as expected opinions are all very positive and full of excitement No bad thing but I'd like a real life review from an owner of a Sport 350, any long term test articles or words online or any YouTube links you can point me at?

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by mycerbera

[mycerbera]

P.S. Can anyone render the Mercedes GT Green onto a 350 / 380?

[stephenwhyte]

To keep you going until someone actually does what you asked for......Motorsport Green @The Pits is the man to help you out.

[Gashead1105]

@Jokke Vlo went from a V6S (modified) to a Sport 380. I don't think he's the happiest camper in the world though...

[Jokke Vlo]

6 minutes ago, Gashead1105 said:

@Jokke Vlo went from a V6S (modified) to a Sport 380. I don't think he's the happiest camper in the world though...

Understatement

[mycerbera]

Motorsport Green is nice but not different enough from my previous TVRs in colour... If I go green it needs to be bolder like that Merc pearlescent GT Green Not many Sport 350 upgrade to 380 owners on here then? Guess there was not much of a gap from the 350 to the 380 in terms of time between releases! May still be undecided on the exterior colour scheme but definitely decided on my interior spec Well plus the Alcantara Steering Wheel and some carpet and mats!

Edited October 2, 2017 by mycerbera

[rs200evo]

I'm about to go from a 350 Sport (Carbon grey too!) to a 380 Cup, so should be able to provide some comparisons in a couple of weeks. I absolutely loved the 350 Sport for the year I have owned it, one of the best driving cars I have ever owned, so for me it's purely down to budget and preferred looks but the premium is pretty hefty between the two cars so I would maybe recommend doing what I did, buy a lightly used 350 Sport to get to know just how highly you rate the car, then if like my you absolutely love it, and foresee long term ownership, it then makes the premium easier to justify. Without a doubt the price point for a lightly used 350 Sport are superb just now. Really can't see them losing much within the next year.

DJ

 

[stephenwhyte]

52 minutes ago, mycerbera said:

Motorsport Green is nice but not different enough from my previous TVRs in colour... If I go green it needs to be bolder like that Merc pearlescent GT Green Not many Sport 350 upgrade to 380 owners on here then? Guess there was not much of a gap from the 350 to the 380 in terms of time between releases! May still be undecided on the exterior colour scheme but definitely decided on my interior spec Well plus the Alcantara Steering Wheel and some carpet and mats!

Yip the red accent alcantara interior wins hands down for me too - love it Particularly like it with the carpets and alcantara steering wheel as it is in this Cup

[The Pits]

That Merc colour looks like a matt finish so won't do much with light unlike Motorsport Green which is a different shade of green according to the time of day. Tons of pics of MSG Exiges on here already.

I had a Reflex Charcoal Tuscan S, absolutely adore that colour, tried to order an Evora in it but Lotus refused. Motorsport Green is a much brighter shade of green. More vivid than Reflex Green and Starmist Green too. The current Lotus Racing Green has more blue in it, they are similar but not the same.

[mycerbera]

16 hours ago, rs200evo said:

I'm about to go from a 350 Sport (Carbon grey too!) to a 380 Cup, so should be able to provide some comparisons in a couple of weeks. I absolutely loved the 350 Sport for the year I have owned it, one of the best driving cars I have ever owned, so for me it's purely down to budget and preferred looks but the premium is pretty hefty between the two cars so I would maybe recommend doing what I did, buy a lightly used 350 Sport to get to know just how highly you rate the car, then if like my you absolutely love it, and foresee long term ownership, it then makes the premium easier to justify. Without a doubt the price point for a lightly used 350 Sport are superb just now. Really can't see them losing much within the next year.

DJ

 

Thanks DJ, just the sort of insight I was hoping to get on here from someone with real day to day experience of both models!

What made you think the 380 is the long term ownership choice? Are you using the car mostly on road or is it a track toy?

Would certainly be interested to hear your views on which is the more usable / road preferred of the two and your opinions of the two back to back with comments on good / bad bits from the 350 and 380 as that may help me when speccing my options (seat choice etc).

Do you have any photos of your current carbon grey 350?

What colour / spec have you gone for with the 380?

[rs200evo]

Someone took a pic on a trackday as seen below. I have the harness bar/harnesses fitted which are great (aftermarket), thoroughly recommend. It will be for sale at Murrays in the next few weeks as I'm trading it in against the 380 Cup. No doubt the nitrons will be the biggest difference on the new car, especially for road use, so interested to see how these affect the car in that area. For track I'm sure they will be superb. Also looking forward to the Cup 2's as these seem to be a step forward. I believe the 350 Sport does not have the sound insulation as standard, so not expecting a lot of difference there, but I have not included carpets on the Cup so expect NVH levels to be higher. I've spec'd the titanium exhaust so very much hoping for a big step up in audio feedback  

For colour I've gone for military grey in combination with yellow calipers/highlights, but also I've had the interior components also done in military grey as I felt yellow was too bright for inside the car. Deleted the airbag as well, so have the alacantara wheel though I do have the removable wheel here ready to go (not a factory option now  ).

I have some vbox times from my 350 from Knockhill so will do some back to back comparisons asap to see how the new one compares. The 350 was superb around Knockhill though.

In respect of the long term ownership question, I have had a lot of luck with many of my other cars when considering whether to spend money upgrading one or going for a manufacturer special (I have a 993 GT2, 430 Scuderia, had a Diablo SV) and in the long term they have been much better investments than sticking with a regular production model and spending less money to upgrade. I think (hope!) the 380 Cup will be similar in the long run, but it's always a leap of faith as well. That's not my main motivation though, I do rate the V6 Exige as one of the best cars I have ever owned, and that makes it justifiable to go the extra mile for a long term keeper. 

DJ

 

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by rs200evo

[k20Rob]

4 hours ago, rs200evo said:

 

Nice plate ?

Edited October 3, 2017 by k20Rob

[rs200evo]

Even the camera angles are almost the same, as well as the plates

 

[stephenwhyte]

Spotted this comparison and thought it might be of use to you @mycerbera

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=15&t=1663293

[mycerbera]

Thanks chaps :) Will let you know my own thoughts once I get a back to back test drive of the pair of them :D

 

 

[mycerbera]

What colour is this?!

[vd9]

Canyon Red, it's @Arun_D's car

[stephenwhyte]

Nice isn't it

[vd9]

Just now, stephenwhyte said:

Nice isn't it

It certainly is, but I'm primitive enough and prefer just plain Solid Red. 

[Bravo73]

32 minutes ago, vd9 said:

Canyon Red, it's @Arun_D's car

(Although that 'thread highlight' above seems to be showing a blue Beetle!) 

[stephenwhyte]

Solid Red is effective too with all the black.......and cheaper as it's the only no extra cost paint (as it's the only non-Metallic paint on the featured price list) for the Sport 350 & 380.....weird or what? 

Top tip too......look on the link below if you want to see some unusual examples of paint options for the 350 and 380. Seems there's more went across the Channel than stayed in the UK.

http://www.theparking.eu/used-cars/lotus-exige.html#!/used-cars/lotus-exige.html%3Ftri%3Dprix_decroissant

And finally Solid Red in all its glory on a 380.....click the photo on the page to enlarge

https://www.autoscout24.ch/fr/d/x-occasion?vehid=5154311