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Today I collected my new Lotus Exige Sport 350 in Vivid Green in Mendig from KomoTec - unsuprising I'am still overwhelmed and just totally happy Beside the cool colour above all I'am exited about the AIM KomoTec MXS Strada Display - the quality of craftmanship conducted by KomoTec here is outstanding - regard how their control buttons for the MXS are intergated in the cover of the steering wheel! Awesome!

I’ve wanted a Lotus for a long time, ever since trying to buy an original NA 190 S2 Exige. Finally I can say I’ve joined the club after picking this car up from Charlie last week. Over the moon with it. Im away this week with work, so frustratingly I won’t get to drive it again for another week! Look forward to seeing some of you about. Plus a big thanks to @GFWilliams for putting up with my questions Oh and @alias23 I’ll be in touch

From LinkedIn...

As someone who does this work and understands the dynamic of porting i thought it may be worth me pointing out a few things the lay man is not aware of... Firstly port /manifold alignment is crucial as first move as it disrupts the air flow significantly. See Pic . This is typical on what you see with most 900 series, some worse than others .. However, you first need to ask why would Lotus leave this when they are a performance orientated car maker... The answer could well be that any disruption will assist in the fuel atomization at lower velocities.. What can not be ignored is the performance on cylinder filling (VE) will be reduced and so performance.. So it may mean the fueling system needs refining to match any porting.. We will never know why Lotus didn't address it, but i expect the cost of any refinements would be unacceptable at the time especially when you consider the performance figures were still up there .. So onto porting.. Align joints, yes , but don't barrel the port.. this will give you velocity pulses , disturb and vary the pressures on the back of the inlet valve, the port should be consistent or necking down towards the valve .. Your starting point should be calculations based on projected flow which will be influenced first of all be the Choke you intend to use within the carburetor. There will be laminar layers produced by the surface disruption within the port which can be reduced in line with projected requirements. (porting/polishing.) What you need to consider is that biggest is not best when porting.. For eg. there are some CNC machine ported heads available which look really good , but have far to big a port size for most basic road tune ups.. The reason for this is loss of velocity. For a given flow volume large ports have less velocity smaller higher. What you are looking for is the optimum for your particular engine tune .. So what is that.. Well once again it gets more involved and a secondary starting point is the exhaust system, particularly the manifold.. If you can not get it out you wont put it in. This is a subject on its own, technical points covered in threads on the turbo systems that have been developed. Fortunately there are already LCB systems available for the N/A engine which will give something to work from.. I have not studied them so can not comment, but what is important will be the length of the primary's and the expansion of the collectors. This aspect will have a big effect on the pressure wave inversion within the flow which greatly assist performance when timed correct. Back to the inlet ports .. As you can appreciate max VE is only obtainable through a balance of exhaust and inlets. Assuming the exhaust is optimum then porting size , flow , velocity, can be arrived at . Achieving the best for your engine will require each port to be as close to identical, in shape, volume and surface texture, deviations in this will create anomalies through the tuning process. Volume is easy to check using fluid measuring , same as when doing the combustion chamber, just a lot larger. Shape can be more testing. You will need to be diligent if altering the shape to achieve certain swirl benefits, otherwise following the original form using calipers and care should achieve the desired effect. The pics below shows work in progress from std (left) to porting (right) When you have arrived at the desired finish, it is always best to have it checked out on a flow bench , this will confirm you have the balance across all cylinders. if not then small mods can be done to correct.. The whole idea of porting is to get the max pulsed pressure on the back of the inlet valve prior to it opening.. This is achieved with volume and velocity. The air moving through the valve is momentarily interrupted as it closes, but its mass continues forward compressing a pressure zone on the back of the valve. When the valve opens this pressure acts like a tiny turbo forcing the air into the cylinder which aids better siphoning , This removes more of the exhaust gas , allowing more area for fresh charge , better VE. So what we can appreciate from this is the balancing act on porting , to big causes loss of velocity , to small loss of volume. Both are needed for optimum performance.. when achieved another benefit is being able to then modify cam timings and profiles to assist performance further. There are definitely gains that can be made, but the devil is in the detail . There is a reason why pro performance engine builders charge what they do .. hope that helps answer a few questions for you @Peter H. PS , any mods can only be properly quantified by dyno tuning when completed . To to honest i can not see how you could complete a porting process without full dyno set up to finish off.

thanks to @GFWilliams for this amazing shot!

Yes I did see this, looks good in the red. I've bought a black riviera last month to be honest .

Just the water deflector to fit and the cover is restored. The louvres are being painted. Lot of work just in the engine cover! Jobs left... water deflector bolt on tailgate and fit seals bolt on louvres MOT number plate change not quite sure what ill do after this, maybe therapy and a holiday!

As some of you know, I'm pretty new to the Esprit thing...... so I was unprepared for the reaction its gets. Two weeks ago I was at my local micro brewery members night with a mate. I was driving, so we took the Esprit and parked up. We only had the one pint and we went to leave around 8.30, just as it was getting dark. We turned the corner to walk towards the car only to find about 15 half cut men standing around and near it with pints in their hands. As it became clear that we were the ones getting into the car, there was general hubub and light hearted cheer of ooohhs and weyhays. At which point my mate received further laughter when, in sign language, he pointed out 'that I must have a small tinker'. This all grabbed the attention of a further dozen or so merry people who turned to see what the excitement was about. We got into the car, turned the ignition....and with the help of a performance exhaust, it roared into life. The previous light cheers was turned up in volume quit considerably as more people joined in. Strangely, there was then an eerie silence and everyone stared at me...... I started to sweat a little as I knew every person in the crowd was willing me to stall the car as I moved off. To buy a few seconds and since it was getting dark, I searched for the headlight button and turned on the headlights.....up they popped to the shear delight of the crowd, now numbering about 40 people. In amongst the even louder cheers someone screamed 'its even got pop up lights. Respect' as he and his mates held up there pints in a salute as I drove by with a new found confidence. We laughed so hard all the way home. Completely true story.

Old , decrepit , slightly frayed around the edges... but still at it.. .been semi retired for 10 years now , looking to slow it down further and only do 40 hrs a week after the next two jobs..

Finally the ignition box back on. So whats left? The quater windows and the tailgate. Then the second fix. Then the final going over.

The MOT for LHD conversion passed. The normal roadworthiness stuff had few minor items that need to fixed. Esprit is now legally a lhd car. This feels like the goal line and the remaining stuff is just details. Can't stop smiling....

I'm not sure how you're gonna fit that spare wheel in there!

Just got mine- back in Lotus ownership after a number of years out. Now all I need is some weather to get out. Photos a big rubbish I was skirting the rain.

1 of 7 JPS tribute at Australia's top Concourse in Melbourne, Motorclassica.The car is for sale and outside with a plethora of other exotic.

Well that didn’t last long - sold today to the first chap who viewed her

A look back to last years 70th anniversary.

Sadly I’ve gotta wait a week for this one to be delivered. Nice little tinkering job for the winter. Tomorrow and old flame comes back for a wee bit of work.

Day 20 (26.09.19) of my restoration and I finally took the head off the engine. To my surprise the head, pistons and bores are all looking remarkably good for 97,000 miles. The pistons are still a nice fit in the liners, which have a minimal wear step at the top, although bores will be checked to see if in tolerance. The piston tops are clean, just covered in a layer of oil residue. I did do a leak test on all the valves and compression chambers, as I was expecting number two cylinder to be possibly damaged with some wear, as this was down on compression so much when I tested it. Actually all the valves are really good, number one and two did drain in the leak test, but the damage just looks to be carbon build up, so I think a good clean, reface the valves and seats, all should be fine. Three and four did leak, but only minimal. As long as the valve guides are still a good fit, with indications that they are, then the head needs minimal work to put right and has saved me some money, always a good thing! The rest of the engine is coming apart reasonably well, with only one bolt head shearing off so far in the water pump thermostat housing, but that should still be possible to remove. Hopefully the bottom half of the engine will come apart as easily as the top has.

Ah you're emigrating.......

The shocks are on my website www.sbsuspension.com The shocks that I sell are the Ohlins ILX36 which are 100% the same as the specifications for the GT430. All brackets are supplied. I have worked closely with MGR to give the US customers complete factory support. I am a US based Ohlins dealer that also contracts support to OhlinsUSA in motorsport racing. Most importantly, I'm a Lotus enthusiast that wants the same handling for your Evora as I do for my Evora.

Yep, you still come across the long standing beliefs that “Labour is for the workers, Conservative is for the rich” with Labour already voicing the same slogan in readiness for a GE Why can’t people see the truth of the matter, “they are all in it for themselves.” No one should need any further proof of this after the charade in Parliament over the past 3 years.

Thanks Bibs. Thought I had already tried that but obviously not!! Full membership also bought. So handy this forum and a great bunch of people. Easily worth £24!

On the advice of other members. I'm starting a Evora GT thread. Feel free to post your Pictures, Mods and questions. Here is the my Evora GT. Luckily, it was the first one sold in the America. Lotus officially says "First in the World"!

Nice article remembering Jimmy in Autocar.

Just sold and heading from Perth UK to Perth Western Australia...

New alternator fitted. Part cost, 58 eur. While I am happy to support the Lotus specialists who do immensively important job in remanufacturing new parts and providing for us to keep our cars on the road, I have to say that 58 eur for a very common (if you know what it is) part vs. 200 pounds + VAT + shipping (takes a week) for the same part from a specialist makes me think... I truly don´t mind paying more for the knowledge and the parts availability, but in this case I have to say I feel a bit taken for a ride. And not in a good way...

Lovely stroll through the wolds, was spot on and good to meet you all

Good to meet you all guys

That's better than some Alfa Romeo Sportwagons. However I think I'd have to remove some missiles and what looks like Q's sub-aqua club gear before I could accommodate those paint tins.

It’s still looking promising weather-wise!

Ha ha! Good detective work Bravo. I have indeed got the one from Silverstone. It was on SOR with Silverstone but I actually met the owner elsewhere and purchased it privately. Lotus Silverstone have been fantastic though and are currently servicing the car before I pick it up on Thursday. I was already considering getting the roof wrapped for the sports racer look. Think I will have to let the bank balance recover slightly before I do it though, for me the colour is stunning in the metal (plastic?) But I can see it's not for everyone.

Hi Chris Are you still in contact with Nick:? Say hi from me. You could also ask him about the cling-film - That was one of the reasons for the concours condition There seem to be a few images missing from the gallery - I have a whole sequence of these.

^^ Keep in mind that V6 would be revamped by Lotus and has undergone a Geely-Volvo redesign and did spend some time in Trollhattan. This engine has never been tested by europeans motor journalists but the journos from the middle east have and the emirates in particular have been positive about the level of refinement the cars equipped with said engine. Now if ee consider that Geely saw fit to make this engine EU6 compliant, it makes for a good base for Lotus to fiddle with it... Forged internals, turbocharging, new ECU map could all be redesigned and reengineered in Hethel, before the changes could get implemented back at the Chinese factory. A bespoke engine with a trusted and somewhat mass produced V6 base... I say somewhat because this engine is only available on the Boyue and Borui (aka Emgrand GT and X7 in china). And it seems Geely is starting to phase out its "oldest" engine platform in favour of the Drive-E engine, which as we know has been the workhorse of the Volvo range, so maybe Lotus sticks to boosted to 4 cyl but for some reason I can't explain, I don't quite think so... Now I have a question for our UK based contributors and more specifically our Norfolk dwellers. Can anybody share any info about where they are at with the renovations of Hethel? Not a single pic has leaked over than on a few videos showing the old control tower not looking its best...

Öhlins worship can never be over done When the best is the best. Why bother with others! That was a fun sarcastic reply but the reason Öhlins is the best is one simple reason. "Product Support!" No other manufacturer goes to the lengths to give support to tuners and technicians. The data bases and valving charts are always available. The piston choices and valve stack information can be had for all types of racing. The speed that valving can be changed at the track is second to none. I've worked on many, many shock brands and only a single shock manufacturer keeps coming back as #1.

Well, following soldave's post about this, we took the plunge and completed the rally yesterday. For those who dont know about this, the Fireball Rally is an organisation that arrange various types of motoring holidays in Europe https://www.fireballrally.co.uk We signed up to James Bond's Switzerland one that is an endurance event planning to visit 8 countries in 4 days, totalling 1800 miles!! Many people buy cars specifically for the event, usually under £900 but we chose to take the Esprit. Now, my Esprit has never let me down ever, but the closer the rally got, the more nervous I became and sure that I was about to make a monumental mistake. However, with my son about to start at University, it also seemed likely to be a rare opportunity to bond (over some Bond) that may not arise again for some time. He got the grades, freshers dont start till next week and so we were on!! Planning is everything they say and this is no different. I went over the car with a reasonably fine tooth comb, finding a few minor faults and the need to replace all 4 tyres. The week before we were to go, I also managed to slice my index finger to the bone trying to remove some sealant on the rear quarter window. It really needed stitches but we used some superglue in the end (no different to proper skin glue but not really recommended!) Other things needed - check with insurance company that they will cover ALL countries to be visited. Adrian Flux were great about this and confirmed in writing but others had difficulty. The last minute covers are expensive so better to do ASAP. Add to that European breakdown for a classic car - the best cover will get your car back, provide a courtesy and cover all reasonable costs, along with providing some valuable peace of mind. Satnav provided by Google maps was great, as the destinations were given as global coordinates (mountains dont have postcodes) and worked very well. As we were camping, packing the esprit was not easy and infact as you will read later, created one of the worst problems we encountered on the trip!! This is with no clothes etc etc. The sleeping bags actually went in the front compartment in the and and our coats went on the little shelves but you can see the space issue. As we had just replaced all 4 tyres, we ditched the spare (gulp) to get more space and took a puncture repair kit, tyreweld foam tyre filling thing and crossed our fingers!! The Mustang that came got a flat on the first day but a French garage repaired it for free. Despite Brexit, they dont hate ALL of us!! The other fly that hit the ointment was reports of 50cm of snow on the passes the weekend before we were to go. Hadnt really expected that so, after a moment of panic, bought some snow socks. Didnt need them in the end so I now have a brand new set of AutoSocks to fit an Esprit should anyone want a bargain!!! Thursday 12th Sept and we are ready to go!! Ferry crossing to Calais at 0640 the next morning - smooth and event free. Then a 500mile run for the sun towards Switzerland, through France, first stopping at the Reims-Gueux abandoned GP circuit The main road just runs though the old start/finish straight/pit lane and is a must visit if you are anywhere nearby. The next 4 days saw us visit Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium. Amazing. Here are some of the highlights. A thing near Verdun Verdun Ossuary Piz Gloria restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn - On Her Majesty's Secret Service Grimsel & Furka pass (Goldfinger) Goldeneye Dam Stelvio pass Castle Neuschwanstein (get the Bond link???) I could go on and on but hopefully have illustrated the Lotus in places you might not expect it!!! Well, it performed very well indeed. Never broke down. Never failed to start. Was really quite comfortable, the GT as it is. We did encounter some issues though. Traffic jams around Nancy, Bern, M25 etc caused some overheating and coolant loss through expansion. I think this is due to the radiator fans failing to engage above 90 degrees - bad connection somewhere I think. The exhaust also started to blow. We lost a little power as a result but the roar in the tunnels made up for it, particularly when coupled with another roar from the sports exhaust of the MX5 we were in convoy with. The final issue we had was unexpected loss of all headlights whilst in the middle of the Black Forest (aptly named) We think was due to the overloading of luggage in the front compartment pushing against the mess of wiring/relays etc when taking a tight right hander. Not great losing light at this point!! Came back on but was very unnerving each time it occurred. Overall, an incredible trip, great people, amazing sights and putting paid to the notion of Lots Of Trouble etc etc. Everyone we encountered were amazed to see the car and Brexit has not altered attitudes as far as we could tell.

Superdudes! And beardy types. I am about to return my Esprit to the roads of Britain and thought I would give you a bit of a heads up, seeing as you're into this type of thing. But, please note; a, this is not a restoration, and, b, I have not done any of the work myself (thankfully for all concerned, including the car). Background - two and a half years ago I decided to buy an S1 and modify it (on the basis that the car in original form could not be considered a daily driver). But, it became clear that to modify an S1 would be a bit like touching up the Mona Lisa, so I decided not to take on the sandal and pipe brigade and settled for an S2. Now, at the time, there were actually more S1's (one) on the market than S2's (none)! The market has changed muchly since then (there are now more S2's (and Sport 350's, weirdly) than bearded middle aged men to drive them!). Luckily, Bibs rode his keyboard to the rescue and I ended up buying a partially restored S2 from Bell and Colvill, which happened to laying low at their super secret workshop in Bristol; namely Tomorrow's Classics. And, there it has remained for the past two and a half years, being stripped and poked and hammered and bolted. And sworn at. The intent - To create a 'G' Esprit that can be used everyday, with absolute priority going to safety and reliability, without fundamentally altering the look. The work - the list of work completed on the car is, not unusually, quite extensive. So, please take all the elements of a standard 'body off' 'nut-and-bolt' restoration as read, including upgrading where practicable. In sum, the major work has included: Mechanical: Refurbished, powder-coated chassis Refurbished and upgraded engine to high compression 2.2 litre fuel injection system and stainless steel exhaust Upgraded suspension system, lowered and adjusted for larger wheels Upgraded brakes Upgraded gearbox and clutch with new gear linkages, lightweight flywheel, clutchplate etc Refurbished steering rack Upgraded cooling system with alloy radiator, triple fans, water pump, stainless steel pipes etc Added oil cooling system Replaced HV unit with integrated, compact HV+AC system (compressor, condenser, evaporator etc) Replaced windscreen wiper motor, arm and blade with uprated version Replaced fuel tanks with baffled versions, increase tank-to-tank flow, fuel pump etc Interior: Re-sighted/replaced 2 air vents with 2 circular vents (to side window positions) Added control panel to binnacle for HV+AC Added sound proofing / insulation (dynamat and dynaliner and lots of it) Replaced seat belts (change belt colour to tan) Replaced interior marcasite trim with brown alcantara Added S1 style central chrome ashtray (central arm rest 'de-ribbed') Painted new binnacle facia satin black, upgraded gauges, replaced switchgear and warning lights Bodywork: Replaced fuel filler caps with locking versions (S3 style) and painted body colour Removed original aerial and painted hole in bodywork Replaced wheels with Woolfrace styled highly polished, wider replica 17” special build wheels Painted engine cover and hatch gold Replaced front and rear screens with 'special build' versions Electrical: Upgraded electrical system with high capacity battery, alternator and wiring etc Added reversing camera and 2 reversing sensors (flush into the rear bumper) Replaced speakers, relocated to rear bulkhead and added tweeters to A pillars Replaced stereo with double din Apple Car Play mechless system (Sony XAV-AX100), including phone preparation, integrated radio aerial and USB power socket to glove box Added central locking / remote boot release / alarm and immobiliser Replaced all bulbs everywhere with LEDs Added LED DRLs to front air intake (in front of grille) Added side indicators Added high rear LED brake light Replaced headlights with bi-xenon There's still a little of this list left to be completed, but the car is on the home straight, with just the electrical installation, ECU programming and road testing to be completed. The workers - as I have said, not me. Tomorrow's Classics, based just north of Bristol have completed the work (both before and after change of ownership), and I can not praise them highly enough. Nick, Rory, Steve, James (their leccie superdude) and Keith (on upholstery) have done a superb job and come highly recommended. But don't take my word for it, Bell and Colvill use them for their restorations and currently there are (I think) seven Esprits in the shop being worked on. Can't praise Nick and his team enough. They've been fantastic to work with on this project. And it's not been quick, or easy (apparently fitting air con to a non air con Esprit is a bit of a job - who knew?). The engine, incidentally, is an 'everything on the menu, please' LotusBits rebuild. You name it, LotusBits threw it in. The money - I'm all at sea about whether to reveal the cost, suffice to say, it's 6 figures and a whole lot more than any S2 is worth, or is likely to be worth anytime soon. But, that isn't the issue for me - it's my car, for me. So, in five weeks time (as I am away until early August), the car will be ready for the road, and I am superly turbo excited. I attach a montage of pictures from throughout the build (because pictures, right?) and would appreciate your thoughts (noting that it's too late to change anything, and I wouldn't anyway). Awe. Some.

There’s a guy on Facebook will make you one for £60. Good value I’d say. He’s recreating quite a few different owners cars.

Ah. No, you didn’t include the link to the car. And, yes, the owner is on here: @chip2257

Blurry burnt out resistor Nope - just make sure you fit bigger W rating ones

It will all depend on how many Labour MPs are going to vote with their own mind and defy their antagonistic leader, whose sole agenda for life is to cause as much disruption as he can without having any real purpose.

Greetings from Texas. I have lurked here for a while because I have worked on some Evoras and Elises over the years but I recently got my own 2002 Esprit V8 25th so I thought I'd better be a real person. The car is in pretty good shape (only 22k miles) although, I got it as a "does not run" vehicle. Luckily, it was the Cobra-alarm-permanently-immobilized immobilizer issue so I was able to get it running with two jumper wires. Now. on to the other "little" things. This forum has a great amount of information. Happy to be here. -MC

Love car not sure above loud red interior? Although it’s growing on me.

Hello Guys, some help would be appreciated. Drove the car on track the first time and the rear felt loose. Off gas into corner at limit and exit corner with moderate gas at Apex the rear end would slide. https://youtu.be/ZPpWEiqmxoE The car is 100% stock aside from adding harness and baffled oil pan. Here are the settings on geometry. Tires: brand new cup2 215/265 (hot temp. 31psi f/r) Front camber -0.5, total toe out -0.08 Rear Camber -2.06, total toe in 0.36 Is this normal from what i described? I thought stock setting is understeer bias (Need to improve before adding more front negative camber) To put in perspective, fastest m2 on the same day did 1:53, and my first time with exige did 1:56. You could tell my car needs rear traction from my YouTube video.

Not something as crazy as a gearbox, but way back in the Ford OHC days I had in the boot everything I needed for a cambelt change. I think I did 3 at the roadside.

Hardly a standard "S" though. This is a different conversation and I should think price wise it's knocking on the door of a GT410.

... with 490 hp and 520 nm in combination with standard gearbox ... ok, still not officially released.

Ooh, V6 Cup, great cars and perfect for the Job. Trevor.

Yes, the change to black for the logo badges was in response to the passing of Jim Clark, for whom ACBC obviously had the highest regard. The superlative results attained by Clark at the wheel of various Lotus in those crucial early years electrified driving and motorsports enthusiasts around the world, contributing immeasurably to what success the firm has enjoyed. RIP. Consequently the change was introduced in 1968.

A couple of pics from a dawn run last weekend to liven up an old thread. Not been driving much this year as I have a project on at home. Hopefully I can get a trip to Spa before the year is out.

I've just did this job so I think I can help lol. Front pads OEM spec HERE Rear Pads OEM spec HERE Disks Front OEM HERE Disks Rear OEM HERE The disks are taken off of a car converted to a race car and are as new with no lips and work perfectly. I just painted the bells with hammerite to make them prettier The total is £405.06 I would also buy a set of brake caliper pins as the current ones will be seized in the caliper and will need cut. Available here for £35 for a set of 8. Also remember they are different sizes front to rear. I would also buy a tube of ceramic brake pad lube to keep the brakes silent available HERE for £5.19. Hope that helps.