Lotus Exige S para venda: VENDIDO

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O meu Lotus Exige S está à venda. Parte-me o coração vendê-lo. Apenas o faço porque a pressão no trabalho tem sido muita e não vai abrandar. Nas últimas 4 semanas andei 2 vezes com o carro. Não é o que o carro merece.

CONTACTO: jvc@fe.unl.pt / 91-452-6180




Está por iso à venda o meu Lotus Exige S, comprado no concessionário Lotus em Portugal em Junho de 2007. É o primeiro Exige a ser vendido pela Lotus em Portugal e o único em Portugal Continental (há um nos Açores).



O carro pode ser comprado com toda a confiança. Nunca teve um acidente, nem sequer um toque. Têm a manutenção em dia, está na garantia (até Julho de 2009) e TODA a minha experiência com o carro está descrita em detalhe no meu blog. O carro é conhecido do Fórum Autohoje e do Fórum Contra-Brecagem . Sou membro da direcção do Club Lotus Portugal e se o carro ficar na zona de Lisboa e o proprietário quiser juntar-se ao Club, vai ver-me pelo menos uma vez por mês. O mêcanico da Lotus ADORA o carro e conhece-o bem. Pode ser contactado na Lotus para dar referências sobre os estado primoroso em que o carro se encontra (Sr. Loureiro: 226158620).
O carro esteve sempre guardado na garagem com cobertura por cima e nunca andou à chuva.



O carro está melhor que novo. A venda incluí:

a. O Lotus Exige S na côr mais bonita (Laranja) em estado mecânico irrepreensível e óptimo estado comético.

b. Um ‘voucher’ para um serviço na Lotus que inclui mão de obra e materiais para ara pôr o carro irrepreensível do ponto de vista estético (do ponto de vista mecânico o carro já está irrepreensivél, do ponto de vista estético está óptimo, mas para ficar perfeito precisa de três detalhes mencionados no ponto abaixo), incluindo uma lavagem / detailing.

c. Uma série de acesssórios que tornam o carro melhor que novo:

--> Espelhos multivex Acabam com o ângulo morto e permitem fazer marcha atrás em plena confiança sem retrovisor central. Este espelhos estão colocados por cima dos espelhos originais do carro e podem ser tirados sem deixar qualquer marca (Custo: 75 EUR)

--> Piscas frontais reforçados, para evitar o efeito dos ‘piscas voadores’ comum ao Lotus Elise e Exige

--> Um CD com todos os manuais técnicos, incluindo o do motor (custo apróximado: 200 EUR)

--> Um extintor original Lotus

--> Uma cobertura de garagem original Lotus (custo: 400 EUR)

--> Uma cobertura de cockpit para quando o carro andar descapotável (Custo: 50 EUR)

--> Escape desportivo orginal Lotus (custo: 800 EUR)

d. O Club Lotus é um dos clubes automóveis mais activos em Portugal, permitindo-lhe disfrutar do seu carro em conjunto com outros entusiastas


As epecificações técnicas resumidas são:

Peso: 900 kgs
Motor: Toyota VVTI supercharged 218 cvs
Configuração: Motor ao centro / tracção traseira
Suspensão desportiva independente
Travões brembo


Mais especificações ...

Mais fotos do meu carro ...

Videos da minha condução...

Relato de TUDO o que aconteceu com o carro desde que o encomendei...


Algumas perguntas:


1. O carro tem 16 000 kms e andou 3 vezes num kartódromo, está em bom estado mecânico?

O carro está irrepreensivel do ponto de vista mecânico. Eu não gosto de andar muito depressa. No Fórum AutoHoje disseram que eu tinha medo do carro por não andar depressa. Sempre deixei o carro aquecer antes de andar mais a sério. Sempre o deixei arrefecer antes de o estacionar. Prova do cuidado que tenho com o carro são os pneus. Enquanto que muitos dos proprietários de Elises tiveram que trocar os pneu ao fim de um ano, na última revisão o mecânico da Lotus disse me que eu tinha pneus para mais um ano (revisão feita aos 15 000 kms, o carro tem 16 000 kms agora).

O carro esteve três vezes em pista. Duas com o Club Lotus e uma com o Contra-Brecagem. No total andou cerca de 40 minutos em pistas de Kart sempre com muito cuidado. Apesar de ter o carro mais potente do Club Lotus, sempre fiquei para trás nos tempos porque não quis estragar o carro. Chegaram a comentar no trackday do contra-brecagem que ‘ele nem acelera a fundo nem nada’ e no trackday do club lotus disseram-me que eu não tinha confiança no carro – não o queria era estragar.

Depois de cada destes 15 minutos em pista (menos do último, que foi o fim de semana passado) levei o carro ao mecânico da Lotus para ter a certeza que estava tudo bem (uma vez riu-se de mim).

Usei o carro em 6 estradas: 3 passeios do club Lotus (ver percursos no blog), Estrada da lagoa Azul, N237 e 238 em Tomar, e montejunto. Todas as estradas têm óptimo piso e todas implicavam uma deslocação grande por auto estrada (até há pouco tempo tinha o carro no centro de Lisboa). A maior parte dos kilómetros do carro foram feitos em auto-estrada. Na venda incluirei um print da via-verde para comprovar estes factos.

Percurso garagem-lagoa azul:


View Larger Map

Percurso garagem-montejunto:

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Percurso N237/238:


View Larger Map

Há várias pessoas que podem dar referências sobre o carro. O Sr. Loureiro, mecânico da Lotus (telefone acima), os meu colegas do Club Lotus, e alguns membros do Forum Contra-Brecagem que foram algumas vezes à Lagoa Azul comigo (ver neste tópico...). Todos dirão que tenho uma condução muito cuidadosa e o Sr. Loureiro confirmará que o carro tem tido uma manutenção exemplar.

Como disse acima, sou membro da direcção do Club Lotus. Se o carro ficar em Lisboa, o dono vai ver-me todos os meses para qualquer dúvida ou pergunta que tenha.

O meu blog têm tudo o que aconteceu ao carro e todas as alegrias que me deu, pode por isso comprar este Lotus com toda a confiança porque sabe TUDO sobre o seu passado.

2. O carro está em bom estado cosmético?

Não tive só cuidado com o estado mecãnico do carro mas também com o seu estado cosmético. O carro é lavado e aspirado com frequ~encia. Uso produtos de boa qualidade, panos de micriofibra, luvas de pele de ovelha e a técnica dos dois baldes. No entanto um carro desportivo baixo como o Exige não está imune aos elementos. Apesar de todos os meus cuidados, a matricula da frente partiu-se estalando a pintura no splitter frontal por trás da matricula (como podem ver nas fotos, é invisivel a não ser que se olhe por trás da matrícula), houve um pedacinho de borracha que saltou de um pneu traseiro que fez um risco pequeníssimo na pintura, há também alguma sujidade (alcatrão muito dificil de tirar) nos autocolantes de protecção lateral. Todos estes três promenores serão corrigidos pela Lotus. Encomendei um splitter frontal novo já pintado, um conjunto completo de autocolantes e pedi para pintarem a zona onde o pneu riscou. O carro ficará assim tão perfeito do ponto de vista estético como do ponto de vista mecânico.

2. O Carro é mesmo assim tão bom?

Este carro é um orgasmo. Não é um carro é um kart. É um carr de corrida para a estrada! As bochechas inda me doem do sorriso que este carro traz. Não é preciso aceitar a minha palavra. Aqui vai um video em inglês e outro em português:

Video da Lotus...

Teste Top Gear (Inglês)...


3. O carro é assim tão diferente de um elise?

É mesmo. Estéticamente é brutal e super agressivo. Não tem comparação. Eu nunca tinha visto um ao vivo antes de ver o meu, mas já tinha visto muitos Elises e fique de boca aberta. É lindo. As pessoas cenam-nos na rua, as crianças dizem-nos adeus, a rua fica cheia de poças de baba e os polícias manda-nos parar só para ver io carro!

O Exige têm um pacote aerodinâmico muito avançado que poduz cerca de 15 kg de força atrás e á frente. Nota-se. À medida que a velocidade vai aumentando, o carro cola-se à estrada. Um Elise ‘levanta o nariz’ quando anda muito rápido – assusta um bocadinho!

O motor e o compressor são uma delícia: 80% do binário disponível às 2000 RPM. O Exige S é quase 1 segundo mais rápido dos 0-100 do que o Elise. O compressor é diferente do compressor usado no Elise SC - é mais agressivo.

Além disso como podem ver nas fotos abaixo, o Exige é descapotável. Tenho um email da lotus que afirmaa que o carro pode ser descapotado sem nenhuma consequência a não ser a perda parcial do efeito aerodinâmico. O manual diz o mesmo. É incluivé possível comprar um soft-top na Lotus e instalá-lo como se fosse um elise (ver conversões aqui)





4. Onde é que se faz a manutenção? É muito cara?

A manutenção pode-se fazer no Porto ou em Lisboa, nas oficinas da Jaguar. O carro está na garantia até Julho de 2007. O preço da mão de obra é 35 EUR / hora e as peças mecãnicas (motor e transmissão) são Toyota (motor VVTI do Celica). A manutenção é muito em conta. A revisão anual ficou-me por 400 EUR, pageui mais 200 por uns discos de travões novos para a traseira e um extintor.

5. E mesmo assim queres vender?

Não uso o carro como ele merece. Quero dar-lhe um dono que o leve a passear e até quem sabe o leve á pista. Vou ter muitas saudades. Como podem ver no blog, este carro é uma fonte de eterna felicidade

6. Quanto é que consome: 8l / 100 em AE - 11l / 100 em cidade


7. O carro é confortável:

Sim. É o úncio carro de produção com bancos Pro-Bax (já fiz 1000 kms num dia e quando saí do carro estava com as costas óptimas). A suspensão é perfeitamente tolerável. Não tem ar condicionado, mas mesmo em agosto é perfeitramente confortavel com a janela aberta (ou sem capota!!!).

8. E quando quiser aumentar a potência?

Há varias opções. A melhor e mais reputada é a da Komo-Tec: 280 cvspor 5000 EUR . 280 cvs dão ao Exige S a relação peso potência de um F430 Scuderia!

Link:

9. E o preço de venda do Exige S, É muito caro?

Não. Estou a pedir 56 000 Eur. É mais barato que o Elise novo sem extras e é ao mesmo preço de um Exige com 3 anos que se vendia no standvirtual (com 192 cvs). O carro pode ser pago a pronto, ou então o comprador pode ficar com o meu leasing: aí o pagamento seria 31000 a pronto e 25 000 em leasing (cerca de 700 eur /mês até Julho de 2011).

O seguro do carro (cobertura máxima) são 1000 EUR / ano.

My Lotus Exige S is for sale

My Lotus Exige S is for sale. It breaks my heart to sell it. I only do it because the pressure at work has been very high and it will not abate. In the last 4 weeks I drove the car twice. It’s not what the car deserves.

CONTACTS: jvc@fe.unl.pt / 91-452-6180




My Lotus Exige S is the first Exige to be bought in Portugal. I ordered it in February 2007 and it was delivered in June 2007.



The car can be bought with complete confidence. It never had an accident, not even a scrape. All service work is up to date and the car is under international warranty until July 2009. All my experiences with the car are described in detail in this blog. The car is known of the Forum Autohoje and the Forum Countra-Brecagem. I am a member of the board of Club Lotus Portugal and if the car is staying in the area of Lisbon and the owner wants to join the club, you will see me at least once a month. The chief mechanic at Lotus Portugal loves the car and knows it well. He can be contacted at Lotus to give references about the pristine state of the car (Mr. Loureiro: +351-226158620).
The car was always kept in a closed garage with a dust cover and never drove in the rain.

The car is better than new condition. The sale includes:

a. The Lotus Exige S in its more beautiful color (orange) in excellent mechanical condition and impeccable cosmetic condition.

b. A 'voucher' for a service at Lotus that includes manpower and materials for making the car showroom-new from an aesthetic point of view (from a mechanical point of the car is impeccable, cosmetically it is also superb, but to be showroom-new it needs three details mentioned in section below), including a professional detailing job.

c. A series of extras that make the car better than new:

-> Multivex Mirrors (link: http://www.hangar111.com/ckshop.php?item=746) which eliminate the blind spot and allow reversing in full confidence without using the central rearview mirror. The mirrors are placed on top of the original mirrors of the car and can be taken off without leaving any marks (Cost: EUR 75)

-> A CD with all the technical manuals, including the engine (approximate cost: 200 EUR)

-> A fire extinguisher original Lotus

-> An original garage cover from Lotus (cost: EUR 400)

-> A cockpit cover to park safely with the roof off (Cost: EUR 50)

-> Lotus Sport Exhaust (cost: 800 EUR)

The summarized tech specs for the car are :

Weight: 900 kg
Engine: Toyota VVTI supercharged 218 bhp
Setup: Central engine / rear traction
Independent sport suspension
Brembo brakes

More specifications here...

More photos of my car here...

Videos here...

Reporting of everything that happened to the car since ordered: see the remainder of this blog


Some questions:

1. The car has 16 000 kms and has been driven 3 times in a Kart track, is it in good mechanical condition?

The car is irreproachable from the mechanical standpoint. I am a slow driver. In AutoHoje Forum people wrote that I was afraid the car because I did not drive it fast. I always let the car warm up before driving. I also let it cool afterwards. Proof of care that I have with the car are the tires. While many of the owners of Elises had to replace the tires after a year, in the last service the Lotus mechanic told me that I had tires for another year (revision made at 15 000 kms, the car has 16 000 now) .

The car was three times in a kart track, for a total of 40 minutes. Two with the Lotus Club and one with the Counter-Brecagem. I always drove it with care, well below its potential. Despite having the most powerful car of the club Lotus, I was always relatively slow because I did not want to ruin the car. In the ‘contra-brecagem’ forum, people wrote that 'he does not even reach full acceleration' and comments to my driving included that I had no confidence in the car – I just did not want to spoil it.

After each of these 15 minutes stints on small kart tracks I took the car to Lotus to make sure he was all right (once the mechanic laughed at me for being overzealous).

I used the car on 6 roads: 3 tours of the club Lotus (see roadmaps in the blog), Estrada da Lagoa Azul, N237 and 238 in Tomar, and Montejunto. All roads are excellent and all involved a large travel by motorway. This car was mostly driven in highways. In the sale include a print of the highway logs to prove these facts.


Route garage-lagoa azul:


View Larger Map

Route garage-montejunto:

View Larger Map


Route garage-N237/238:


View Larger Map

There are many people who can give references on the car. Mr. Loureiro, the Lotus mechanic (telephone above), my colleagues at the Lotus Club, and some members of the Forum Counter-Brecagem that drove with me occasionally (see this thread). Everyone will say that I drive very carefully and Mr. Loureiro will confirm that the car has had an exemplary maintenance.

As I said above, I am a member of the board of the Lotus Club. If the car stays in Lisbon, the owner will see me every month for any questions or concerns you have.

This blog details everything that happened to the car and all the joys it has given me, so you can buy this Lotus in confidence because you know EVERYTHING about its past.

2. Is the car is in good cosmetic condition?

I was not only careful with the mechanical condition of the car but also with its cosmetic condition. The car is handwashed frequently only with the best quality products, including microfiber cloth, sheep-wool gloves and two buckets, of course. However a car that sits as low as the Exige is not immune to the elements. Despite all my care, the front splitter has collected some chips behind the number plate (as you can see in the photos, it is invisible unless it is look behind the registration plate), there was a piece of rubber who jumped from a rear tire that drew a very small fine line in the painting, there is also some tar (very difficult to clean) in the self-protection adhesives on the sidepods. All these three details will be corrected by Lotus. I ordered a new front splitter from Lotus painted to match the car color, a complete set of stickers and asked to paint the area where the small line in the paint is.

2. The car is really so good?

This car is an orgasm. It is a race car for the road! My cheeks still hurt from the smile that this car brings. Here are a couple of videos in English:

Video from Lotus...

Top Gear Test...

3. Is the car is so different from an Elise?

Yest it is. Aesthetically it is more brutal and super aggressive. There is no comparison. I had never seen an Exige in person before my own, but I had seen many Elises and I was amazed when I saw my first Exige. It is beautiful. People wave at you on the street and the police stop you just to see the car!

The Exige has a very advanced aerodynamic package that produces about 15 kg of downforce at the back and at the front. In the Exige, as the speed is increased, the car becomes glued to the road. The Elise 'raises its nose’ when going too fast – quite scary!

The engine and compressor are a delight: 80% of torque available at 2000 RPM. The Exige S is almost 1 second faster to 100 km/h when compared to the Elise. The compressor is different from the compressor used in the Elise SC – it is more aggressive.

Also as you can see in the photos below, it is possible to drive the car roofless. I got an email from lotus stating as much. There is no conseuqnece at all to the engine, only a partial loss of aerodynamic effect. The manual says the same. It is possible to buy a soft-top from Lotus and install it as in an Elise (see conversions here)





4. Where do you do maintenance? It is very expensive?

The maintenance can be done in Lisbon and in Oporto, in the Jaguar workshops. The car is in warranty until July 2007. The price of the manpower is EUR 35 per hour and the mechanical parts (engine and transmission) are Toyota. Maintenance is very reasonable. My annual service was EUR 400.

6. Why are you selling such a great car?

I don’t use the car as it deserves. It deserves going to a new owner that will use it as it is intended to be used. I will miss it, though. As you can see in the blog, this car is a source of eternal happiness

7. Is the car is comfortable?

Yes, it is the only production car with Pro-Bax seats (I have done 1000 kms in a day and when I left the car my back was still not aching). The suspension is perfectly tolerable. It has no air conditioning, but even in August it is quite comfortable with the window down (or without the roof!).

8. And when you want to increase the power?

There are several options. The best and most famous is the Komo-Tec: 280 bhp for EUR 5000. 280 S bhp give the Exige the power to weight ratio of an F430 Scuderia!

Gas mileage: 8L / 100 in highways 11l / 100 in city driving.

10. And the sale price of the Exige S, is it very expensive?

No. I'm asking 56 000 Eur It is cheaper than the new Elise is without any extras. The car can be paid in cash, or so the buyer can stay with my lease: that the payment would be 31,000 in cash and 25 000 in lease (about 700 eur per month until July 2011).

The insurance of the car (maximum coverage) is 1000 EUR / year.

News

I haven't been writing for a while, so time to give a good update.

First item of news: I moved the Lotus into a private one-car garage close to Lagoa Azul. It was pointless to drive the car through Libon traffic and congested highways. This means that a couple of workdays a week I actually go for a drive in the morning.

After much thought, it feels pointless to get a track car that performs below the Exige. I am off to England in a couple of months to get myself spare front and back clams, so that I can track the car with some peace of mind.

Also, I saw a Lotus 23 at the Caramulo Motor Festival (that's the car in the pic above, more pics here). I was underwhelmed. I'll probably get an Eleven instead.

OBD2 scanner

My Exige has an OBD2 port just below the dash. I've been thinking about getting an OBD2 scanner to do some data acquisition. Here's a source for this type of equipment.

Trackdays in kart tracks / Portugal

Driver's Legion is a TD organizer in Portugal that specializes in kart tracks. I've done one of their events and I really liked it. Quite well organized.

Made to measure helmets

Safety i an important part of tracking and racing. Many of the discussions I have read on helmets claim that not all helmets fit every type of head. So why not get a custom made helmet from stand 21? If you drive a classic, you may be interested in one of these nice autostoria vintage helmets and racing gear (notice that helmets and some of the clothes on this site are not track safe).

Tuning the K-series engine

Now that I am getting an S1 for the track. I have been trying to learn all I can about it. In the process I found this great resource that provides a deep and thorough discussion of the tuning possibilities of the Rover K-Series engine that powers the car.

POI in Portugal

Looking for a good POI database for your GPS in Portugal? Try here. You can find POIs for most GPS systems. Restaurants, speed camermeras, ATMs, WiFi spots... everything is covered.

What happens when your Lotus is left alone?

Yahoo! Cars on the Elise 135R

"The picture is significantly brighter on the open road, where the Elise comes to life. It's hard to think of an appropriate analogy to convey just how much grip the car has, in the dry at least. Cornering speeds are determined more by courage than the chassis' capability; a complete recalibration of the mind is necessary to comprehend just how rapidly you can travel from A to B.
Roundabouts are more a question of the boundaries of your social conscience than a function of the radius and one has to be wary of the speed differential between you and other traffic. We continuously found ourselves exiting corners wishing we'd attacked so much harder due to how much the Elise still had in the tank."

Change to the car line-up (updated)

This first year with the exige really changed my orientation from a street driver to a track driver. The tructh is that while the Exige S is still on leasing and market values are high, I dare not use it as a track car, except in very controlled conditions. However, I really do want to build my track experience, especially because after the 7 I am planning to stick to full on race-cars.

I was looking at some catherham's but basically they are the same price of S1 Elises. So I'm getting one of those ASAP.

I've been struggling with that because I might have gotten that in the first place instead of the Exige and saved some money (only getting an exige later after having outgrown the S1). However, although I like the S1, I love the Exige and I am sure that once I get enough track experience under my belt, I will take the Exige to the track instead. I love the Exige as a fun street car. My ride in an S1 conbinced me that I would not have the same feeling in an S1, but it's a brilliant track slag.

This means that I am probably dropping the 7 off the list. It really does not make any sense owning one because the type of historical events that a roadgoing 7 can compete on are limited.

So, the new lineup is.

My baby: Exige S



Lotus Elise S1 111S



Lotus 51



Lotus 23B

BTW, instead I could get a caterham 7. I'm not doing it because I prefer finesse and subtelty to brute handling and holding a car by the scuff of the neck:

Blat today

I didn't get a chance to drive the Exige all of last week. To compensate, I took the top off and drove it to Tomar yesterday and did an hour-long blat through N238 and N237 today at dawn. Driving the car roofless is a blast. It feels like it lost 100 kgs and the connection with the road is much tighter. Of course, not a single problem and no perceptible change in performance. I enjoyed the medium turns and the long sweepers today, took them 10 to 20 km/h faster than usually and the car still felt planted. Still not having to much fun on tight corners though.

Recent updates

Two big pieces of news.

1) I picked up my Lotus from the annual service. I paid a 700 EUR bill that included a couple of hundred EUR for new rear brake pads and almost 100 EUR for a fire extinguisher (I'll post pics of that later). All in all, not too bad. Tires and front brake pads are in good condition. All in all, not too expensive.

2) Yesterday I went topless. I had loads of fun. It was really hard to tell how the car took it. I didn't push it past 5000 revs. Temps were at 88c, up to 95 when I was in traffic. This was in a mountain road ad noon with 34c outside. Coming back on the highway doing 130 km/h in 6th gear the car was at 86-87 C, so going roofless doesn't seem to have that much of an impact on engine temp.The roof bolts are really easy to thread, mine are probably a bit threaded already :-( I also found out that the wrench Lotus supplies is too big for the bolts :-D I had to borrow one from my father in law.

Check out the pics below:

Superb end to my B'Day

34 last Monday. Finished the day in the best possible way!

Post # 100 - My first track video

It only seems fitting... This is the video from my first ever track day on the Lotus Exige S (for a report see two posts below) ...sorry about the swearing :-P

Blat last night

Went to the LA road as usual. The first sprint was as boring as it can be inisde a Lotus. I had two cars ahead of me far enough from one another to forbid a clean double pass but close enough to forbid a couple of single passes. I then started working on my consistency. Not great at the beginning but better towards the end. In the last couple of sprints I was heel-and-toeing somewhat consistently :-) My shifting was not very smooth though, need to keep working on it, I guess. I took a slightly different route back through Janes and the seaside road. It was fun!

First (mini) track day

(Photo credit: Pedro Aroso)

13 days ago, I took the Exige to the track for the first time. All I can say is that the car is mindblowing on the track and until you drive it there, you have no idea of what it is capable of. The track day happened in the second half of a meeting of the Portuguese Lotus Club. See a full report of the day on the Cluib’s blog here.
The day started with a *very* ealy rise. I picked up my friend José Gil in Benfica at 6:20 am. I then picked up to M100s on the first highway stop towards Oporto and a black Esprit halfway through.



(Photo credit: Paulo Canedo - i think)

We arrived at Oporto and had breakfast at the Lotus dealer’s premises. Huge number of Lotus there… unbelievable turnout for the meeting. I was really happy.



(Photo credit: Pedro Aroso)

We started driving towards Vila do Conde – a city with a road circuit where Lotus ran in the 60s. After a short pit stop we went to the karting track where many of the cars would taste ‘racing tasrmac’ for the first time. It was an almost magical trip. I was leqading the convoy – looking «in the rearview mirror and seeing a bunch of Europas, Elans, M100s and a few Elises and an Exige… wow!
After lunch, Manuel Pinheiro and I led the laps. I drove the car as hard as I use to do on the street but not much harder. Basically braking late but not carrying too much speed on corners. I only lost control of the car once, but was able to hold it from spinning. It was fun, but nut really all the superlatives that I had heard about how this car behaves on track. I was soon to find out that the fault was the drivers’, not the car! Look at the poor racing line :-(




(Photo credit: Pedro Aroso)

My times were as follows: 1'04"031, 1'05"366,1'04"230, 1'03"651, 1'06"073

Second time around, I basically looked at the car and told it: ‘I’m going to have some fun with you, slut!’ (sorry about the graphic language, but that’s how I felt!)



(Photo credit: Marco Costa)

OMG! OMG! OMG! I did carry more speed this time. I just grabbed the car by the scuff of the neck and drove the hell out of it.



(Photo credit: Marco Costa)

Still not brilliant, but much better. The sense of exhilaration that I felt during the 5 laps and afterwards is impossible to put into words. Finally I drove the car like it deserved. Finally I drove like it a Lotus driver would drive it.



(Photo credit: Marco Costa)

Oh yeah!!!!! Do you know how much faster I was?! Almost 5 seconds faster!!! My times were: 1'01"619, 1'00"397, 1'00"449, 59"661 :), 1'00"172 on a kart track.



(Photo credit: Marco Costa)

I was really proud of myself and I did make the top 10 times for the day. For me, this was a big accomplishment because I drove the car in a completely new way.



Like I should, like a race car for the road should be driven! It was a metamorphosis, a quantum leap. Can’t wait to take the car to the track again.

Car list

Haven't posted a 'wish list'. Things have not changed that much, except that after I tasted the track for the first time (well to be honest even before that) I really shifted into track-only cars. I do want to have a clasic road legal Lotus. So next up is a Lotus 7 (what else?!):



Then a Formula Ford (a 51, please)



And then a Lotus 23.



In an ideal world, I'd would get a new round of cars.

The Exige would be paired with a 2-11



The 7 with an Elite



The Forumla Ford with a Formula 2



The Lotus 23 with an 11

10 000

Yesterday, my Lotus reached its 10 000 km mark as I was driving here:


View Larger Map

I went to an open parking lot with some gravel on the ground to drift the car a bit, but I was unable to get it to loose traction... dam A048s... Understeer kicked in before I could upset the rear. I think the solution is a nice slalom course. This is what I will be experimenting with next:



Just in case you're wandering if I'm going to risk cones... no I'm not. I am going to use putty :-D

TADTS #1

On a thread asking people for help about a knocking noise on the front wheels, someone replied:

"There's many noises and things that come from Elises; when I first got mine I was hearing every noise and thinking "what's that? is that a, no, it can't be, oh hang on there it is...uh oh" every time I drove it. Slowly you get used to the noises.

Enjoy!"

Drive last night

It had been raining during the day, so I just took an easy drive last night. I went to a possible location to experiment with loosing traction an found it to be quite satisfactory. There were too many people around so I just did a few rounds trying to loose traction (not succesfully) and then went for a longer drive. I quite enjoyed having a more relaxed time with the car. It is a very competent mini-GT :-)

Turn signals

Found out on Lotustalk that flying turn signals are a common problem. Some useful solutions here.

This pic shows that it happens to the pro's as well :-D

Blat last night

Went to the LA road trying to get back in shape... I only did one sprint because there were a few large piles of dirt on the road. Still I was able to train heel-and-toe and it went quite well. Haven't lost the touch. I was a bit bummed to have to com back so soon :-(

Lotus 2-11 base

I am sooo lusting over this....

Superb drive this morning

I was sick with food poisoning this whole week. Couldn't take the Lotus out. This morning I meant to wake up at 5.00 and go to Sintra. I did wake up at 5.15 but couldn't bring myself out of bed until 6.15. By the time I got to the car, it was almost 7.00. As soon as we were on the open road to monsanto, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of childish happyness as I allowed myself to connect with the car. I even screamed of joy. This is such a superb driving machine. I was just going for a quick blat through Monsanto but ended up going all the way to Sintra. Lots of traffic, so I just went for a one way sprint. I hadn't done a mountain road blat in a while, I was really rusty... even my heal-and-toe sucked. Oh well :-P

Not again!

Yesterday I was cruising on the highway on the way to Porto and my left front blinker came out flying again!!! It's the third time this happens in 6 months! Not happy. The darn thing hit the front clam a number of times, making no damage (thk god!)

Other than that quite a pleasant trip up and down. Had a great time at the Jag launch party and then had dinner with a bunch of Lotus enthusiasts. Check the pics here.

Crashing the Jag XF launch party

Tomorrow a bunch of Lotus will be meeting at the Jag XF launch party. I will be leaving Lisbon around 4pm, we're meeting at 7pm at the dealer in OPorto.

In other news, I finally got the acknowledgement from Via Verde - I had sent them the papaerwork over a month ago! No more embarrasing moments having to step out of the car at toll gates :-)

Finally!

Yesterday I was dead tired, but after a spell of terrible weather, I *had* to take out the Lotus. I was so tired I did not dare to take on the LA road. Went to Monsanto instead, which is a much faster circuit. All I can say is that I had a BLAST! Drove much faster than uual... The car needed a good beating after being in storage for so long! Superb!

New license plate

BTW, on new year's eve I went for a quick blat and broke my license plate again. Add this to the list of 'you know you're a lotus owner when':

... license plates are consumables just like brakes and tires

Blats and crap

Major sadness!

Well kind of. First. I have only been on one ride in a whole week. I took the car for a ride in the wet to check a couple of drift spots, but no luck yet. I only have one to go.

Then miserable weather... :-(

Called the service rep at Lotus and got the news that my front blinker was finally here. However, got a call today from my salesman saying that the service rep found a leak in the radiator. I am going to have to take the car to OPorto. Bummer!

Here's a pic of my blinker before it was fixed: