Not for the faint of heart! - Now "Exige Cup 430"

[Swiss380Cup]

@The Pits you're definitely right about going for a factory charged cool.....so much potential with this engine......the thing is...... I've just spent "some" money on my 380 Cup (had it for 3 ½ months only....),and thought I could do something different :):):)..... I'll have the winter months to think about it, and will waite for the detailed price for Switzerland of the Cup 430, which should be shortly available....and see what deal I can have with my dealer.. he'll love me more if I buy a 3rd Lotus in 2 ½ years......my banker won't......but I'd rather spend the tuning money on the new one, that's what reason tells me.... but we love to be un-reasonable... a 380 Cup KT Ex 460 could be quite "stunning".....or maybe I just enjoy my car and waite for the 1st 430 Cup to hit the swiss dealers .....in the end if you drive your car you don't need another one.... you just simply enjoy it......

[The Pits]

Only trouble is with KT460 is that you might as well start with a V6S. A modded 380 Cup needs to go further. You need and the car deserves 500. Then we are talking factory 430 money I'm sure. Still. No-one's catching a 500 Cup!

Good thing with the 430 Cup is that there is no rush with unlimited production. You can take your time and make the move when its right (or not at all of course!).

[Swiss380Cup]

@The Pits you're right, the reason tells me to stick to mine, and wait for the 1st 430 Cups to hit the shelves and see....there will be plenty of reviews of that car I'm 100 % sure of that, it's unlimited so the supply will be there for magazines to test it, since it's definitely super car territory and its performance will be stunning I'm sure... spring time will be very exciting.....

[NW76]

The reviews will be interesting ... just learned that there will be a 380 Cup Supertest in the next German Sport Auto in December. We will see what Chr. Gebhard will get out of the 380 Cup vs. the V6S (that he tested a couple of years ago)... will be very interesting. He is a pretty good driver and knows the NOS very well...

If I remember the NOS Sport Auto Supertest Laptime correctly it was a 7:54 for the V6S .... any bets where the 380 Cup will land? Sub 7:40?!? 

[The Pits]

Has to be a major step on from the V6S, will be interesting to see. The cold air at this time of year will definitely help!

[BAS]

Anyone noticed that the Cup 430 utilizes new seat runners? From the press release:

The composite concept continues into the Cup’s cabin with visible-weave, handmade sections including a new lightweight carbon fibre binnacle surround, Lotus’ bespoke carbon race seats, with new lightweight seat runners

Possibly this fixes the seat movement issue?

[Maxi_z]

[geartox]

the 3 eleven race can reach 466ps with the same engine, but not the same gearbox...

 

[SamoL]

3 hours ago, BAS said:

Anyone noticed that the Cup 430 utilizes new seat runners? From the press release:

The composite concept continues into the Cup’s cabin with visible-weave, handmade sections including a new lightweight carbon fibre binnacle surround, Lotus’ bespoke carbon race seats, with new lightweight seat runners

Possibly this fixes the seat movement issue?

 

Maybe the runners are the best improvement of Exige so far  

 

[Swiss380Cup]

@NW76 Hello Norbert can't wait to practice my german and read that test...hopefully it won't snow too much in your ara My wild guess regarding a time would be in the range of the 996-997 GT3 - RS ....so between 7:40 and 7:45.... I doubt they'd be much faster, but I'm ready to have the surprise of my life.....

Porsche destroyed these times with all the electronical gimmicks and the PDK...... worth a lot of seconds on such a track....

If they go below 7:40 I promise I won't even dare think something bad about Lotus in the future.... can't wait..... don't forget to post a copy here once it's out......

This Cup 430 is definitely a most desirable car.... I LOVE IT.... and can only thank Lotus to have introduced the Charged cool engine in the Exige........ Many many many thanks...... Now the next iteration is a detuned version ???? Like a Sport 410 for € 100k, to replace the Sport 380...... and a Sport 380, to replace the 350 ???????

Bets are open .......

[NW76]

The test must already have happend... the last couple of weeks... I doubt that they would announce it, w/o actually knowing that it has happened... but you never know... at the moment its definitely too cold and the NOS has seen the first snow already last weekend...

The 380 Cup has to be at least 10 sec faster than the V6 S ... anything else would be a huge disappointment looking at how much faster a Cup 380 is in Hethel than a V6S...

[cobwatch]

With the usual caveats in place, that this is just statistical fun etc...lets see how quick on the 'ring a Cup 430 may be.                  The 3-11 race has a 1'19.5 round Hethel and a "theoretical" 7'06 at the 'ring. Yes, it is all rather sketchy, but are we not curious?  On this same basis i have also calculated a 'ring time for the GT 430 and the Cup 380. Forum members who have driven the 'ring may be able to give an opinion on the credibility of these potential times. These are hugely quick times...

Exige  cup 430....7'34.53        Evora GT 430....7'39.89       Exige cup 380....7'40.96

 

 

[NW76]

@cobwatch interesting ... some mighty fast times but not unreasonable ... 

[The Pits]

An interesting exercise @cobwatch.

However the Nordschleife is not like your typical race track. Really there are many long flat out sections where high power and low drag is where you want to be. Caterhams used to be quick there relative to other cars but aren't any more because they hit an aero wall at 140mph and struggle after 120mph no matter how much power they have. North of 120mph something like a GT3 is much faster and this shows now at the NS.

To what degree the NS suits either the Exige Cup 430 or the Evora GT430 better I could only guess at. Maybe the more slippery GT430 Sport with the wider wheels and tyres might match the wingy GT430 there, whereas at Spa I think the wings would really show an advantage.

[The Pits]

Seems like a very high cost to change. They can't seriously have valued your car at £52k, I sold my 2013 V6 Cup for close to that.

Could be worth trying another dealer?

[cobwatch]

Nurburgring lap time for Evora GT 430 sport, should have included it....7'45.25. 

[The Pits]

Still think dealer's worked in a hefty mark up against a new high margin car. They'll have your 380 on for £68k at least, maybe more. I think they need to sail closer to the wind on the 380 and make the money on the 430. If you're serious about a 430 I would ring around. Who knows the story, they may have more 380s in stock than they know what to do with or have sat on one for ages. There could easily be a £5k better deal out there for you. I managed to improve on my trade in with a private sale too. Another option, then negotiate hard against the new one. Outright sales with no part ex are attractive to dealers, esp those with lots of stock.

[The Pits]

Not sure who you think has been talking prices down here but even if you were given all your money back on the 380 you're still in for a cost to change of £28k. Clearly that's not going to happen after 6 months use. What therefore do you think would be reasonable? £38k? £10k depreciation? If you could find a £5k better deal that puts you at £42k cost to change, you're only £4k away. Private sale and a bit of shopping around could see you improve on that.

[NW76]

@Mark030358 in your case its very clear ... I would go the upgrade route similar to what @Jokke Vlo did ... no matter if its the KT Kit or the TVS ... you will get a car that performance wise will be very close to a Cup 430 for a friction of what a trade up would cost you ... 

You will still run into the rev limiter though but at 7200 rpms and because you can not shift gears as fast as your engine will rev ...

[Swiss380Cup]

Well, you'll always be disappointed when you buy the last one of a model, and the new one comes out 1 month later.... but Lotus has been doing that quite extensively lately...... no wonder they're now closer to getting profitable.....So now we'll have to waite for the one Exige to supersede the Cup 430.... If we were all driving instead of talking we would not be as tempted to change.... Hopefully due to winter season, no new model should come out of Hethel until Geneva in March 2018.... 4 ½ quiet months....  I'm looking forward to seeing the 1st one in the showroom anyway.... I wonder what's the market for a £ 100k Lotus Exige ??? How many will they sell.... pretty much I guess it will depend on the results of the reviews, the specs of the car are so impressive that it should attract the tests and reviews from the press....afterwards it will all depend on the results..... if they are at the level of the specs I believe it could attract a new crowd.... but my guess £ 100k, is a little bit too much, or are they doing that to test the market and maybe revamp the whole line with the charged cool engine at 380 - 410 to replace the 350 and 380 Sport ??? Any sales and marketing genius out there ???

Let's do the maths, the 380 Cup was £ 85 ? a KT 460 prep £ 8k ? the titanium exhaust ??? £ 4 k ? it's £ 97k, so the Cup 430 is worth the £ 100k ?????

[Jokke Vlo]

Man's maths, expert level  

 

 

[Swiss380Cup]

@Jokke Vlo to be fair, if I add to the £ 100k the KT tune to get to 475 HP, than the 430 Cup is £ 104k....will it be faster than the KT Ex 460 ???? Who will try for us to compare....there're plenty of Ex 460 on this forum so we need to find one to have the first Ex 475 ......

[Jokke Vlo]

With this kind of power I would say other things will decide:

- skills

- set up

- tyres

- LSD

......

[stephenwhyte]

My plan for the last 6 months was always to buy a brand new Exige but the closer I get to that prospect the more I think I need my head examined........so right there with you Mark, but admire the fact you did it

I’d love my very own spec 380 Sport but I’m starting to think that the only way to buy one is to buy second hand......but will I truly love it, if it’s not the exact spec that floats my personal boat. Suddenly finding myself owning an Evora S has only highlighted this further and made me think harder, because as much as I want the Exige is it really going to be worth twice the Evora cost in grin factor value?

I know this is all subjective & personal choice but it’s good to share..... I’m not the first in this position and won’t be the last.

Slightly off topic - apologies 

[CRM82]

About price drop of 380 Cup: just saw this one, practically identical to mine a part from the wheels color, now at 100k CHF, instead of the original 126k.

https://www.autoscout24.ch/it/5279752?utm_campaign=as24_share_android&utm_medium=social_sharing&utm_source=email

I am curious to see if he will sell it: at least he got it early August, while mine arrived only end of September. 

Winter time is a good period to buy a new one, if you get it in March you have all the season in front. But personally, although I am a bit pissed (430 out 1 month after mine arrived), I will not do the upgrade. 26k (maybe for me less given I did only 1500km), plus another 25-30k CHF is too much delta.

Lotus should however think about the fact that most probably I would have bought a 430 not having my 380 Cup.. so at present time they lost 25k from my pockets.

If November 2018 they release a Cup 460 I might consider buying it. If they do earlier no - now I decided to enjoy one full season with this car. It does not make sense to go for something "faster" without having properly driven and tested this one.