Tex’s Lotus Exige Cup 430

[C8RKH]

If it's said on the internet then it is 100% true. Silly you.

So much stuff is written as FACT but usually the evidence is never then provided.

I drove on a dead flat road in Norfolk for miles. Ergo, the world must be flat. I also read it on the web.

[Five50]

Lol.

Given the question was asked, I am just passing on what I was told by a reputable Lotus specialist when I raised the same point.

But feel free to put the time into doing your own homework kids.

Caveat emptor.

On the roll cage vs airbags point - just by simple logic, installing a roll cage in the car is the opposite of air bags - you're installing additional hard and immovable structures in and around the passenger cell that will injure you if you collide with them at speed - and so you probably don't want to mix that with much other than harnesses and a helmet anyway?

Most properly caged cars are probably 99% track and if you're going that far with the road compromises, there probably isn't much point in carrying the weight of airbags around with you? Under the circs, it's also a way to claw back some of the weight of cage.

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Five50

[Hangar 111]

"The SRS is designed to operate when the vehicle is involved in a frontal, or near frontal collision, and the impact (rate of deceleration) as detected by a vehicle mounted sensor, is sufficient to warrant airbag and seat belt tensioning protection to both occupants."

The sensor is within the SRS module, hence it's specific mounting requirements.

Dave

[Bravo73]

10 hours ago, Five50 said:

But feel free to put the time into doing your own homework kids.

I think that you and ‘Steff’ need to go back to school. 

[Arun_D]

It's just simply not true. Unless you've actively employed a measure to disable the airbags, they will still be deployed if the controller deems the impact sufficient enough to warrant, harnesses or not.

Example below is an S2, but I believe the control is carried over.

 

 

[Five50]

Wow - ok.

Nasty crash and clearly wearing harnesses.

Happy to stand corrected. 

Will take it up with Steff next time I see him. Tbh he didn’t actually fit my steering wheel straight last time I was there so perhaps I should have read the tea leaves.

[Tex]

Heard today that Lotus have only made/sold 25 Cup 430’s and that it is unlikely they will sell many more. Not sure how accurate this is but certainly for a non limited Special it does make you wonder even with the potential run out Exige Specials how they may become more sought after in the future. 

The 410’s though are still selling well with 23 in 2019 . Small numbers compared to Porsche GT’s

[The Pits]

I would have thought they would have sold more than 25 Cup 430s but the actual number will be small nonetheless.

There were 25 x Type 25 editions built for a start and they appear to have all sold now. So perhaps it’s possible that they have sold a further 25 (non Type 25s!) and the figure doesn’t include them. 50 total still seems low to me but not impossible. I very much doubt they ever got to 60 Evora GT430s. Total number of rhd cars is in the low 20s and the UK had more than anyone else by some way. Total number of Evora GT430 Sports must be less than 10.

Porsche GT cars make their first owners money so everyone who can afford one tends to want one. Very different proposition, you don’t even have to like cars to want one. Wasn’t always this way though. The now revered 997 GT3RS4.0 was not a guaranteed cash machine at the time, only 6 rhd UK cars were sold. Most thought it too expensive at around £140k compared to the regular GT3RS and a bit of a risk. Then the car world lost its marbles.

 

[Wilbert Camshaft]

Baseline: I suspect the Evija is the prologue for what has to be expected from Lotus in the near future.

I bought my first Lotus in 2017 – a Lotus Exige Sport 350 in metallic grey recently  with about 24.000 km mileage after 2 ½ years…

Regardless I experienced inconceivably annoying rattles and squeaks in the early stages of ownership (fixed by KomoTec) this car is the most exciting car I ever had the pleasure to drive and I don’t want to miss that in the years to come.

I basically decided to get myself a new Lotus from the current line-up as a long-term investment and pondered extensively if it’s a Sport 350, a Sport 410 or a Cup 430.

Finally I decided for a Sport 350 in Vivid Green that will hopefully be delivered within the next two weeks by KomoTec in Mendig.

Subsequent you see how I configured my amazing new Lotus Exige Sport 350 MY 2019

 

Vivid Green and Black Pack

Forged Wheels

Black Calipers

 

KomoTec Upgrades

 

Phase EX 460

Suspension Nitron "NTR 46 Pro-2way" KT Version

Brake Kit Ko-Bra 4-4

Limited Slip Differential Quaife

Uprated AP-Sport clutch and flywheel

Transmission Oilcooler Kit

Tow Eye Kit rear

AIM MXS (Strada) Display with Smartycam HD

Harness bar and 4 point harness

 

Price                                : more than 100.000 Euro (about 91.800 GBP)                  

Delivery expected          : hopefully Saturday 12.10.2019 at KomoTec in Mendig

End of run-in period      : we’ll see

First Trackdays              : Imola and Mugello March 2020

The lowest priced Cup 430 in Germany is offered at the price of 126.990 Euro (about 113.000 GBP) – that’s an extra charge about 11.000 GBP for a car that’s less capable and less attractive than the Sport 350 I ordered.

Insofar from my point of view the sales figures for the Cup 430 outlined above are not that bad at all…..

[Five50]

Fantastic - definitely living the Lotus dream there!

Youre going to have a blast at Imola and Mugello!

enjoy 👍

[geartox]

16 hours ago, Tex said:

Heard today that Lotus have only made/sold 25 Cup 430’s and that it is unlikely they will sell many more. Not sure how accurate this is but certainly for a non limited Special it does make you wonder even with the potential run out Exige Specials how they may become more sought after in the future.

25 cup 430 in UK ? 

[Bravo73]

Worldwide, I imagine. 

[Martrack]

1 hour ago, Tex said:

Heard today that Lotus have only made/sold 25 Cup 430’s and that it is unlikely they will sell many more. Not sure how accurate this is but certainly for a non limited Special it does make you wonder even with the potential run out Exige Specials how they may become more sought after in the future. 

The 410’s though are still selling well with 23 in 2019.

Could it be due to the fact that the 2 look very similar ?

I'm precisely in the process of choosing between an Exige Sport 410 and a Cup 430.

Sounds like the main difference is the 430 aerodynamic package with produces more downforce (171 vs 115kg at top speed of 174mph).
Some default 430 light carbon / titanium pieces, but which can be mounted on both cars.
Also the additional 430 knob which gives five pre-set traction levels when ESP set to off, may be interesting to play with on track.
And of course the 20 additional horsepower, but which should not make a big difference.
Some other minor differences, such as the lack of a splitter rubber lip on the 410 (strange, seems useful), and a different rollcage (as seen before).

Appart from that, chassis, which may be the most important part, seems to be the same (dampers, anti-roll bars, brakes, weels / tires dimensions).

Is this comparison fair ?
Perhaps I missed something ?

According to my various readings regarding the chassis, even dampers seem to have the same factory clicks settings on both cars.
However, in the 410 description : Nitron dampers have been re-tuned for road use and optimized to suit the car’s unique aerodynamic set-up.
However part number is the same on both 410 and 430 cars (A138C0096F).
I'm then not sure about a possible difference here...

If both cars have the same chassis, I then assume we can set both of them (thanks to their adjustable dampers) to feel equally (on road and track).
Then the only difference is that the 430 should be faster in fast corners due to its huge downforce (+56kg, almost +50%).
But do people care about this spec ?
Does it make such a difference on track ?

Finally, I'm still wondering why the 410 Hethel laptime (1:24.8 for the 430) does not appear in Lotus documentations.
Could perhaps mean 410 did a better, well at least the same laptime ? 
 

55 minutes ago, The Pits said:

There were 25 x Type 25 editions built for a start and they appear to have all sold now.

Sounds like there are also 10 Type 49 and 10 Type 79.
At least both new n°1/10 are for sale in France...

[Tex]

There are a number of  differences in the 410 and 430 not least the additional aero big wing and and Titanium Exhaust

There are also a n umber of smaller not so evident items such as the T45 Roll Hoop. 

These small standard differences on the 430 make for a lighter car than a 410 but clearly some of the differences such as the extra carbon and Titanium Exhaust can be specified on the 410.

As with everything a few small differences can make a larger difference, particularly on track but less so on the road. 

 

[geartox]

so 25 430 cup... I met 25% of this 25 😍

[rallyesax]

At least 10 Exige 430s are advertised and in stock at France dealers. Maybe more, I didn't count 'em exactly but they seem to sit here for quite a long time 🙁

[NANO]

to summarize if I understand well there should be :

-25- 430 Cup

-25- 430 Cup Type 25 editions

-10- 430 Cup Type 49

-10- 430 Cup Type 79

maybe I'm wrong ?

 

 

[Tex]

This may not necessarily be accurate as the specials are  recorded as just Cup 430’s. 

In any event there are in region of 7 for sale in the U.K both new and used so i would imagine only in region of 50 built 

[Tomsk]

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/lotus_exige_cup_430

22 Cup 430s currently registered with the DVLA. Which won't include unregistered stock in dealers.

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/lotus_exige_sport_410

Vs 38 410s

Figures include cars registered before 1st July 2019

[Martrack]

On 05/10/2019 at 11:29, Tex said:

As with everything a few small differences can make a larger difference, particularly on track but less so on the road.

I totally agree.

On 05/10/2019 at 11:29, Tex said:

There are a number of  differences in the 410 and 430 not least the additional aero big wing and and Titanium Exhaust

Could you elaborate on this please, perhaps based on my previous post above ?
i.e., what are the differences, appart from the "visible" ones ?
I would be happy to learn more 🙂

On 05/10/2019 at 11:29, Tex said:

There are also a n umber of smaller not so evident items such as the T45 Roll Hoop.

430 has a "full" rollcage, T45 type, FIA homologated.
410 has a simple hoop, but which seems, as per its diagram, to be T45 type, comparing it to the same part of the 430 rollcage...
I wonder however how we can attach harnesses to it, without the A frame (item 5 of the 430 diagram)... Looks like it's impossible.

Still on the process to choose the correct Exige model which would perfectly suit my needs 🙂
Had my first Exige run a few days ago in a Sport 380, on my preferred mountain roads, and I'll test a Sport 410 in a few days on track.
Coming from a race car, I'm looking for a trackdays focused car, which I would be able to bring during the WE on my favorite mountain roads 🙂

Many thanks !

Edited October 7, 2019 by Martrack

[The Pits]

Total 430 production number will be tiny in any event. Even among those interested in the Exige, most opt to give their money to Komotec rather than Lotus. Factory 430 would be my preference. I’m not convinced a Komotec 460 is actually much quicker.

[Ben410]

all the numbers you are telling guys are worldwide or uk ????? if it is worldwide , fukkk we do have super rare cars Oo

[Tomsk]

The numbers from my post are for cars on the road in the UK

But yes they're rare.  For comparison, there are over 200 Ferrari 458 Speciale on the road in the UK:

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/ferrari_458_speciale_ab_s-a

[Mark030358]

thread drift.... and about 59 380's of all types according to that site too...

[Suto]

5 hours ago, The Pits said:

Total 430 production number will be tiny in any event. Even among those interested in the Exige, most opt to give their money to Komotec rather than Lotus. Factory 430 would be my preference. I’m not convinced a Komotec 460 is actually much quicker.

Maybe because the aftersale product does´nt understeer this much, got no ceramic catalysts ( https://www.2bular.co.uk/engine-protection-kit ), is a little bit faster on the straits, costs u less ( if u start with a 350 ), got a less unsprung mass ...