Lotus Exige

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2010 2011 2012

Exige Owning Experience -- 2011

November 21,2011

Winter is upon us, which means no more auto-cross events till next spring. What to do during the off season. Aside from rack up miles, and visit friends/family for the holidays. Oh I know! How about a winter project to keep us busy, but what shall it be? Preparations are already taking shape, only hint I'll give is that my roof scoop will soon have a purpose. Check back for details once things get more finalized.

September 26, 2011

Today, on my drive home, I rolled 25k miles on the Exige. As you can see from this blog, it's been a great ride so far. To celebrate, I of course will tear something apart :-) This weekend I will re-align the headlights (aim them slightly higher), and install LEDs for the driving lights so they will match the color of the HIDs. It will look much better, and perform much better. I also added the Sector111 front folding tow hook. Pictures of that later.
HID
autox-2

September 11, 2011

Second Autocross event under my belt and this time I was much more successful. The course, nicknamed "Laguna" was based on the track layout of Laguna Seca, and it was a lot of fun. It's been over 1k miles since the brakes were upgraded/replaced, so it was also the first time I'd really test them. All I can say is, they bite hard, and predictably. It was really excellent. I got in a somewhat exhausting 16 runs. Jo Ann (my wife) even came along for many of them including my personal best run of the day. All in all it was a lot of fun, GGLC puts on great events.

August 21, 2011

After some time thinking it over, I forked up for the HID conversion. This car's light output at night is somewhat laughable (often described as driving by brail). I decided on a 55w 5000k HID kit from DDM Tuning. Installation was straight forward and in typical Schreiber garage fashion, the first light took 2hours, the second took 25 minutes. The results are outstanding. In the picture shown here you can see the difference between HIDs and Sylvania headlights on my car.
HID
Service

August 17, 2011

I took ownership of my car on July 29th of last year, so she is officially due for her yearly (and 4 year) service. After a lot of reading of reviews etc, I decided on Rob from Deitsch Werks as my mechanic. Located in San Jose, he's a Lotus specialist to say the least, but also dabbles with the occasional (read: often) super-exotic as well. As pictured, my car had good company in his shop. Aside from the fluid flushes, she also had a full brake job, new battery, and rear control arm bushings. Not bad for a year owning an exotic.

August 13, 2011

Wasn't it about time I took this thing out in some sort of race. Sure this wasn't a full out track day, but I'm not ready for that yet. Auto-x was amazing, it's really technical driving. I took the opportunity, especailly since it was included, to take an instructor with me. I feel I'm a good driver, but man, driving the course is very different than driving the street. Hand placement, using the harness, left-foot braking, steering with the throttle, etc, what an exhilerating day!! I've already signed up for the next one on Sept 11. Car 731 in honor of my wife's bday: 7-31.

GO CAR 731
autox
tint

August 5, 2011

Not sure there is much reason to give here, but after much research (like everything in my life) I pulled the trigger on 15% tint for the side windows. Tinting the rear on an exige would be a joke (if you've seen the car, you'll get it), so it was actually pretty cheap to get "the good stuff." Makes a world of difference, in both the styling department, but also, and more importantly in keeping the interior cool. I got it done at the same shop that I trust with detailing the car, so with the detail+tint I thought a photoshoot was in order. I'll add a section for those pictures later.

January 22, 2011

Saw on Lotustalk a member selling a Carbon Fiber center console for cheap (dirt cheap), and I couldn't pass it up. I'm not usually one for modifications that impact looks alone, but the plastic center console was a tad tacky. This piece looks amazing, and in a car built to be minimalist and light weight, it fits right in.
Carbon Fiber Center Console
Fumoto valve

January 18, 2011

A day after my birthday finds me on my back under my car, I'm a happy man. Anyway aside from the usual oil change, today I installed a Fumoto oil valve. This means, for those unaware, that for future oil changes, rather than deal with the drain plug/gasket etc, I just "flip a switch." Yes it drains slower, but it's no mess, and so much easier, this one item is not about speed anyway. I've had this on all my cars, wouldn't have it any other way.

 

2010 2011

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