2007 Lotus Exige S

[BriK]

Originally Posted by turbotalon1g

I've only been to regular auto-x's, I'm a noob at that shit.

I got 30 runs at the last TnT, and only because I took several breaks. Easily could've gotten double or three times that. You wouldn't be wasting anyone's runs.

Sorry to threadjack.

[Dizmm]

very nice car. Someday I'll get one, but right now I'm pretty jealous!

[craig]

always wanted one, pretty sure they don't come with carpet in them anyway just the raw floors. They were always crazy with getting as little weight as possible.

[asshanson]

Well I finally got back home and had some time to diagnose. After changing plugs it was pretty easy to tell it was out of gas, I could hear the fuel pump make a different sound after a few seconds. Hadn't filled it up yet and previous owner didn't bother to tell me the gas gauge didn't work. Plus he said he filled it up before delivery and I had only driven 50 miles, no reason to think the gas gauge wouldn't still read full since it's a few gallons larger than stock capacity. Now I have to figure out what else he didn't bother to tell me.

I'm going to track my mileage to determine if I really ran through an entire tank or if he just lied and didn't fill it up at all.

At least I found out two things about the car, it has the 48 liter tank and not the 54 liter I thought it did. Also tested compression, 224, 223, 218, 220, at least I can be happy about that.

[tehehodi]

Ouch, At least its not a bigger issue. Maybe the fuel level sender got nudged when he was installing the larger tank?

Hopefully you get it figured out. At least it runs!

[scheides]

Lol@200+ compression numbers. Nice.

That sucks that it was empty...maybe it has a leak?

[A//// Guy]

Lame that he didnt disclose the gauge didnt work, hopefully thats an easy fix. Also glad the running issue was just low gas too.

[asshanson]

Drove 100 miles over the past week, about half interstate and half in town roads. Took exactly 4 gallons to top it off, so I'm averaging 25mpg which is awesome. Also tells me there are no fuel leaks or anything, the car was just low on gas when I received it. I can get about 300 miles with mixed driving on a tank, not bad.

Scheides, the compression numbers seemed high to me since I was used to the DSM (175) and the Vette (195), both with big cam(s). But I compared the numbers to other 2zz-ge motors and it seems about right, variable duration cams FTW when it comes to static compression and gas mileage. VTEC WOOO!!

On another note, I think I'm going to wait for Winter to fix up the interior, like carpet, back up camera, radio, speakers, etc. Maybe some big gauges to replace the center vents which aren't hooked up anymore. I might also drop the tank to see what type of fuel system this car really has (plus check the fuel level sending unit), I can hear the fuel pump outside the car while idling, and inside the car even cruising around town, it rings in my ears for a few minutes after getting out of the car. I read that a bosch 044 is impossible to fit, but the previous owner swears it is and with the larger aftermarket tank maybe it's possible.

Edit for initial review:
As far as driving review, I still haven't been able to find the limits in a corner, it just won't slide or anything. I think I'll have to take it to a track or autox before I can feel safe about pushing it any further. I've never had really nice tires before, so star specs plus a great handling car are beyond my comfort zone on the street at this point.

For brakes, this thing is insane. I was never happy with the DSM for braking even with good pads, the CTS-V was heavy but braked decent because of the Brembo's, and the Vette was pretty good for only base brakes. But this thing will stop on a dime, again beyond my comfort zone for the street. Granted it has race pads and squeaks like a mofo at stoplights, but the few times I have pressed the brakes semi-hard to test them it's pretty scary how quick you can stop a light car. It's awesome getting weird looks from other drivers when I pull up to a stoplight in a nice car that sounds like screeching/dying cats.

I love this car, way more fun to drive than the Vette, even though it has less than half the horsepower. Maybe when I'm retirement age I'll want a comfortable cruiser again, but the Lotus is exactly what I want at this point, glad I chose it over the Viper and Vette, it is so raw and fun.

[Tachyon]

That sounds amazing, Andrew. Glad you are liking the less-is-more approach!

Here's a SAE whitepaper from 1999 I happen to have on the 2zz during it's development. Basic stuff, but the charts are fun to look at:

http://www.rallyshark.com/2ZZ.pdf

[scheides]

Glad you're digging in and enjoying the car! Pumped to see it evolve

[turbotalon1g]

So happy for you, i think instead of more displacement, less weight is the other way to go and you seem to be loving it.

[rose0529]

Glad your enjoying it and it was an easy fix! I defenitly want a ride in this thing.

[asshanson]

Originally Posted by turbotalon1g

So happy for you, i think instead of more displacement, less weight is the other way to go and you seem to be loving it.

Haha, yea I was going the more displacement route for several years, from 2.0 to 2.3, then 5.7, then 7.0. And now 1.8 It's the smallest motor in a car I've ever owned but the weight reduction is just as much fun.

[asshanson]

I measured interior sound level at 94db on the interstate which I read can damage your hearing in an hour or two. Not ideal if I want to drive up to Minneapolis, plus it's nice to have it a bit quieter. First two things on the list were adding a few square feet of generic dynamat and carpet to reduce the tinny sound. The dynamat stuff weighed 2.5lbs and the floormats and other carpet so far have been less than 3lbs.

Few interior shots without seats (you can see my new harness bar as well):



Each section was a different size (slightly bigger on drivers side of car), so I cut out a test piece of cardboard before actually cutting the carpet:


Then I put pieces of velcro down, it's nice that even the back of the carpet sticks really well to velcro:


Here are the floormats and carpet under the seats installed. It was a little tricky lining up the holes for the oem carpet buttons. I also cut holes for the submarine belt mount.


More pics to come as I install carpet on the rear bulkhead and the full sized center console.

[Speedfreak]

Looks good.

No carpet/dynamat on the center section of the floorboard(the raised area)?

[asshanson]

No, the raised sections are very thick/sturdy and came bare from the factory. The footwells and under the seats are just thin pieces of metal, you can flex them with little effort.

[Jungy]

Looks really good Andrew! Never realized that these cars are just aluminum sheet metal interiors with some plastic pieces here and there to spruce it up.

[scheides]

Looking good! Such a flat, bare slate for a nice clean carpet install, love it! Did you use dynamat brand sound deadener or something else? How thick is it?

[Jungy]

FU Ohio!

[A//// Guy]

LOL