V6 Exige LF1 First Track Day

[LF1]

We finally go the LF1 on track, a very wet and busy day on the SEN circuit at Bedford Autodrome.

Here's our first session, taking it pretty easy, short shifting and leaving the car in Sport mode rather than race:

The car was staggeringly good, even in the wet felt more planted than the Elise, small amounts of oversteer coming out of slow corners but none of the understeer I was expecting (probably not pushing enough). The speed differential with other traffic was noticeable, but also the ease of passing on the straights which I feel was the only downside to the Elise.

Track then started to dry, and I was very surprised at how quickly the tires went off, which turned out to actually be a show stopper puncture:

We think a bolt had gone into the tire, and then been thrown. I don't think it had been in long but I was pretty sure we had the puncture before we got to the pits, it would not hold any air, and you could see it coming out as we inflated. The bolt may have came off an MR2 Turbo that lost it's under tray on a little excursion across the grass early on... who also happened to be my best mate! You can see it hanging off early on in the video.

Ringing round locally found no suitable tires, so a call to the AA and 1/2 hour later they were there, fixed the puncture but on inflation discovered the side wall was damaged and could not be driven... lunch time.

Another couple of hours and the low loader arrived:

Off to Silverstone... once again Aimee, Matt and the team pulled out the stops and thanks another forum member who collected an LF1 the same day but wanted different tires they were able to sort and get me back on the road!

We did get out of the day what we wanted, check the car was ok, few laps on a track we know. We got about an hour of track time (and a full tank of petrol), the car was faultless and exceeded expectations, can't wait for the next one!

[Vipers]

Thanks for sharing Tom, sorry to hear about the little mis-hap though, what a shame it cut the day short, good to hear that you got it sorted pretty quickly though.

 

I will be using your video now for training to learn the track at Bedford before my first trip over there which will probably be next year now.

[Bibs]

Looks like fun, shame about the puncture! Is that your stereo feature list still hanging out of the dash? 

[LF1]

Thanks for sharing Tom, sorry to hear about the little mis-hap though, what a shame it cut the day short, good to hear that you got it sorted pretty quickly though.

 

I will be using your video now for training to learn the track at Bedford before my first trip over there which will probably be next year now.

 

Ha - I really wouldn't, go with LoT and get some tuition (free with your first track day with them), that's the best start you can get. My lines early on were very bad watching it back. I was a bit paranoid on the first few laps.

Looks like fun! Is that your stereo feature list still hanging out of the dash? 

 

Yea, it was just in there as a temporary measure as the upgraded one broke straight away - the lovely lot at Silverstone sorted the same time as the tyre so my car is now complete, got to check out their TLF Trophy at the same time!

[Bibs]

[LF1]

Earlier that same week:

Been a bit of a recurring theme for me!

[Vipers]

Oh Dear, that is unbelievable, looks like an expensive week

[LF1]

Porsche - warranty, Lotus tyre not as bad as I was expecting...

[Vipers]

Thats good to know regarding the Lotus tyre as if the track day bug bites I can see that you'd end up getting through a few sets.

[The Pits]

Very impressive that Silverstone got you back on the road that day.

Nice to see an LF1 being enjoyed properly too.

[LF1]

Very impressive that Silverstone got you back on the road that day.

Nice to see an LF1 being enjoyed properly too.

 

Yes, they were great. The LF1 is supposed to be tracked I feel. Although it's not the Cup, it does have a few options that drew me to it over the standard car (plus the awesome livery). I just watched your video at Spa (pretty sure it was yours anyway), looked awesome - I am a bit embarrassed posting the video now, clearly a huge amount more in the car. That was when we were in the Alps with Circuit Days, a few of the guys dropped in on that day on the way home - bit gutted we didn't, it looked like a fantastic day. One of the group was on the train with the white Exige, pondering the 80bhp upgrade, watching you follow not convinced!

[The Pits]

It's great to see so many LF1 owners on here. We're planning a return trip to Spa and the 'Ring next year so we'll keep you all posted.

 

LF1s definitely deserve some track time. Ideally they should all lap the circuit they are associated with. Trouble is, you need to get yours to Melbourne! I guess you could compromise on the Melbourne Loop at Donington (you'll need to do the GP layout for that!).

 

As far as Exige V6 videos go, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. First time out and in those conditions my video would have looked very similar!

 

Yes that was me dicing with the Komo-tec Exige. Great fun. There will be a write-up on it next week.

[The Pits]

Just moved your post about the Cayman to the article discussion thread here.

 

We'll carry on over there!

 

[DDubya]

 

 

LF1s definitely deserve some track time. Ideally they should all lap the circuit they are associated with. Trouble is, you need to get yours to Melbourne!

 

Having lived in Melbourne and knowing the roads well, I think VicRoads and VicPolice may have something to say about using public roads and Albert Park for fun!