Notes for the next Exige

[Bloke79 13]

Steve - Jack (a few posts up) has done that on his Cup R.  Unfortunately, you can't get things like notification of Traction control mode (Eg. race mode) to display on the AIM Dash, so it's not a complete replacement.  That being said, given the car has a distinct change in RPM when you activate it, I'm not sure you need a special light on the dash.

 

Wow, would that dash actually work on an exige now retrofitted? Has anyone done it?

 

http://www.aimshop.c...ts/aim-mxs-dash

[Steve Banks 35]

Awesome, Jack, how difficult was this to do? If theres a thread on this, please piint me in the right direction... Thanks!

[D.no 16]

For me things i'd like to see in next Exige would be:-

 

1. Sort out the issues with gearbox/clutch/linkage

2. Larger fuel tank(for standard road cars at least)

3. Forged wheel option(should be standard on Cup/ CR cars)

4. Carbon parts instead of cheap black plastic, especially considering the price bracket it falls into now.

5. Decent Lights

6. Ditch Pirelli in favour of Michelin pilot sport cup tyres or similar

7. Baffled sump as standard

8. Limited slip diff (as option at least)

9. Intigrated cup holder for pasenger side (could be built into blanking plate for lights/traction panel) 

10. Proper switch gear and stalks.

11.....chepaer would be nice

 

I love the car as it is just now and to be honest if they sorted No.1 on my list the rest are just nice to haves really but seems like there are a common few that everyone would like to see changed which hopefully they have/will have taken into consideration.

 This. (not sure on 6.)

 

With the addition of a "range to empty" readout on the IP.

 

And PLEASE NO! to the LCD screen idea. They have their place, but imbue a sense of non-emotional gadget-like pure functionality to the interior of cars when they become the all-dominating feature like a 60" TV in a box-room. I couldn't stand more than 5 minutes in a Tesla S - the interior was too clinical. Felt like high class public transport, not a driving tool. In my view cars (and brands like Lotus in particular) should maintain a sense of connection with their mechanical nature. I guess big touch-screens do make more sense in a Tesla, but the execution is not for me.

 

Besides, I just want to be able to get in the car and drive, without spending 15 minutes checking my emails, configuring the air-con, and twittering about something I've seen on FaceTube, or YouBook.

[The Pits 4,411]

My recommendation would be that it's for future Cup cars and maybe as an option for the 'S' model.

 

But if it's done properly I'd love one on my next Cup car.

[simon mac 74]

Were you successful?

 

Fairly, but it could be neater/easier!

 

I basically put a mount on the under side of the top lip of the diffuser (where the parking sensors are). I had to do this in such a way as it's "permanent", i.e. you can't unclip the mount. I just clipped a J curved-mount into a flat surface adhesive GoPro thingy, and stuck the whole lot on in one go.  You can't see it unless you lie down and look up, but you get just enough clearance for it not to vignette on the body work.   I was a little worried about it coming loose, so have backed this up with some rubber bands round the camera and one looped through the rear mesh.

 

For the front, I have a dashcam, powered off the convenience pack USB. This is actually pretty good quality.

 

I've also mounted a adhesive block on the underside of the body work just above the left front air intake grill.   It's pretty unobtrusive, and in an area that won't be seen if the lacquer is damaged, but I'm not 100% happy with this location, so it's coming off.  I have cracked that grill (I hit a crow), so need a replacement. I will investigat a better solution when I do that job!

 

Finally the microphone. I took the lazy route here.  I got a long microphone extension cable from Amazon, and fed it through the driver's side pod grill, and fed it through into the boot area,  making sure it was behind the roll bar and various other hard bits to make sure it couldn't get caught in the moving parts. To get in the cabin I simply followed the joints in the clam, around the door rubber, and crossed over the door rubber, behind the seat.  It works, and doesn't leak, but not my finest job and right now not permanent.

 

The dashcam has a microphone input, so once in the cabin I just poked the cable around various bits of trim and up by the windscreen pillar, purely on a friction fit basis.

 

The hardest part has been finding some software to do multicam editing, as my Arctic trip was my first go at having multiple viewpoints.  I am experimenting now, and hopefully should make my first production of a run up the Trollstigen some time this week with something called Magix

[Jack 547]

Awesome, Jack, how difficult was this to do? If theres a thread on this, please piint me in the right direction... Thanks!

 

Steve, I didn't do the work myself, but if you are handy it's definitely "doable" by an amateur.  

 

It can be plug and play into the car's ECU with AIM's ECU bridge or direct wire, which may require a bit more skill.  How you fit it into the binnacle can require some "fabrication" skills for the best look.  Without the addition of extra sensors, your logged data (and what can be displayed on the dash) will be limited to what is available on the ECU stream.  All the important stuff (and much more) is there,  Some photos below of the 25 ECU channels you can see with one of the AIM CAN templates for the Lotus.

 

 

Also,  for some photos of the MXS install and more info can, go  here .... http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/74217-need-more-data-from-my-cupr/page-1

 

Hope this helps.

[Steve Banks 35]

Awesome, thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing some final pics of the install... I am very tempted to do this!.

[simon mac 74]

 This. (not sure on 6.)

 

With the addition of a "range to empty" readout on the IP.

 

And PLEASE NO! to the LCD screen idea. They have their place, but imbue a sense of non-emotional gadget-like pure functionality to the interior of cars when they become the all-dominating feature like a 60" TV in a box-room. I couldn't stand more than 5 minutes in a Tesla S - the interior was too clinical. Felt like high class public transport, not a driving tool. In my view cars (and brands like Lotus in particular) should maintain a sense of connection with their mechanical nature. I guess big touch-screens do make more sense in a Tesla, but the execution is not for me.

 

Besides, I just want to be able to get in the car and drive, without spending 15 minutes checking my emails, configuring the air-con, and twittering about something I've seen on FaceTube, or YouBook.

 

To be clear I'm not suggesting the big centre screen! Just replacing the gauges like the AIM upgrade Jack has done, or that in the 311.

 

As for going on youtube/twittering/checking emails. You can't do any of that in the Tesla, you can't even watch movies whilst stationary. (Which you'd think would be a no brainer for a car that potentially requires you to sit in it 30 minutes to "refuel")

 

It's there just as a big marketing gimmick, which I suspect also saved Tesla a huge amount in dev / production costs not having to design and install all the physical switches and wiring

 

Like many owners, after a period of use we are finding phyiscal dials for the AC / Volume /other key aspects would be better ergonomically, and there are some quarters within the customer base asking to reintroduce them. 

 

But the dash itself is much clearer way of display information, far better than analogue gauges. It is the clearest layout I've ever used (I haven't tried a Merc S class though).  It requires no faffing, it's just the dials being replaced with a better tech.

 

Saying it's not to enhance driving of the car is a false argument, when every top level motorsport now uses glass dash tech, WRC/F1/BTCC/GTC.... Of course in this evnironment money is no object (as in the Merc S, and to an extent the Tesla) so cost comes into play. But the prices are dropping everyday, and like lots of features from top end cars, it will filter down to even your basic daily run-a-around in the next few years, and analogue dials will just seem dated.

 

If mechanical = nostalgia, then fine analogue dials will do. But I'm not in the market for a Morgan in 3 years time

[D.no 16]

To be clear I'm not suggesting the big centre screen! Just replacing the gauges like the AIM upgrade Jack has done, or that in the 311.

 

 

 

Yes - I don't have a problem with that, or necessarily with the huge screen in the Tesla (as long as it stays in the Tesla!). I believe any controls in a car require some form of haptic feedback as an indicator as to whether one's blind prodding has been met with a desired result. Not sure whether haptic feedback features on the Tesla screen (don't remember it) but this is probably the reasoning behind the drive towards "physical" rotaries for input (for example).

 

What I was trying to convey (no doubt unsuccessfully) is that I don't want precious development monies for (my) future Lotus('s) to be spent on IP hardware and software, when there are far more intrinsic brand qualities that would be more deserving of the investment. I've just come from an R35 GT-R and in my entire tenureship I probably spent all of 30 seconds looking at/configuring the LCD display. Once it was apparent that there was sufficient temperature in the engine/gearbox to let rip, that was all the information I needed/cared about - everything else was gimmickry.

[simon mac 74]

Your memory serves,  no haptic feedback on the Model S, and you are right real dials/buttons/whatever are missed after you use it for a while. TBH I now use the steering wheel buttons for everything.

 

I completely agree it's a sales gimmick, but it certainly shifts cars, and really that's what Lotus need.

 

Sure for me personally some of the features are superfluous, and I really don't think the dials make any difference to the driving experience (though I do miss the previous ones on the non airbag Elise which you could actually read in sunlight with the roof off ), however it's about the overall feeling of the car as a modern product. 

 

So for me it's more about getting new sales and fans into the Lotus brand, and unfortunately this means "gimmicks"  With a firmer financial footing, they could do absolute wonders with a car like the Exige, right now everything seems done on a relative shoestring  Personally I'd give up laptime improvements for a few years, just so Lotus can invest in the other cars in the range, I think it would pay dividends in the medium term.

 

The Elise really is getting long in the tooth now so we are probably arguing about the wrong car actually. Whatever development budget they have should go into making it relevant in a world where it's competitors are all far more modern.