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.
No comments:
Post a Comment