I love lotus and I don't mind how underrated it is because you'll be the only one driving a Lotus in your area :) so it'll feel a lot more rare/special. I wanted an elise but I purchased a corvette instead and now I sold my corvette and I'm trying to get into an Elise first and then work my way up to an exige. I think these cars are done depreciating, they might even appreciate since there aren't many being sold so it's not a bad investment :) can't wait to get my hands on one soon! Keep making exige videos.
Unique, head-turning and rare is, for me, the definition of "exotic." I'm loving your upgrades. The Elise/Exige owners seem to be not just car guys but engineers, who love to incrementally improve what was already an amazing driving experience. My Elise has so much BOE Engineering stuff on it now, after 14 years, that I finally put their logo on it. One plus for the Elise is BOE's Clam Hinge. Four bolts and I can tilt the rear clam all the way up and out of the way. And, yep, that stamped steel shifter was the worst. Love your upgrade.
I would love to see a video where you break down all the parts you put on it and how much everything cost. This is the classiest most functional, Exige I have ever seen. I would seriously consider trading my Evora for it...
Nice build, but I personally would like you to share more info to your viewers about the absolute joy these raw machines are to drive and track. Especially mentioning the differences your modifications have made from stock.
I'm in high school and I got a lotus exige for my first car. It was $28,000 but I was able to lowball the offer to 25 grand. I think that the whole no one knows about it is good. It means that when you see someone else in one you know they didn't but it to be popular they got it because they wanted it.
Very impressive video! I like how you talk about stuff like 'changed the interior' and 'pulled the gearbox' as if they were just random easy jobs, u must be very good at it 👏
It is not a Supercar, but Lotus never said it is. It however is most definitely an exotic, no argument there at all! You even went on to explain why to a degree in your next statement, as it's interesting and not a Prius. The name Lotus in the car industry and particularly racing, is absolute royalty!
For wheels, try Gregs Racing Parts. I got a set of Rota's all around for my 2005 Elise. The trouble with the stock wheels for me was the availability of tires. All I could get were Yokohamas for the front and they suck when the outside temperature gets below 50 degrees. With the new wheels I was able to get a full set all around of Continental Extreme contacts. They are an inch wider all around and work great for me. I do love my car though....
I've only driven one for a few minutes on a track. The only thing I didn't like was trying to get out , the early version had tiny doors. Had to drag myself out on my hands, letting my legs drag along behind me.
I own 3 Lotus, one of them being a Lotus Exige. One thing I dislike about my Lotus Exige is the fact that the radiator hose flows the the driver side firewall heating up the tube chassis. Living in the south, the outside ambient temperature somehow magnifies the cabin temperature to the point where the AC at full blast doesn't really work. I would occasionally have puddles (sweat) even with the AC on at max setting. This is generally common among Lotus because they are known to have crappy AC from factory. Even my Evora had issues with the AC not blowing cold.
John Mc Keown I never had overheating issues with my Exige. In fact, it never exceeded 200F in dead summer with the avg temp of 105F in stop and go traffic. Fat people like me need that freon blowing lol. Other than that, I don’t have any issues. Rattles doesn’t bother me either which is another common issue lol
Will you ever upgrade to the 3.5L version or straight to the Evora? Idk man, the 2zz super charged seems fun, but dang the v6 would feel insane with such light weight chassis
Oh boy, you missed the biggest one, and that's because you're so new to the car. The worst part about the car is the cost to replace Lotus specific parts, especially the front and rear clams. Granted you won't be crashing into stuff all the time, but stuff like $100 wheel arch liners, $150 side marker lights, and the 3 month lead time is pretty terrible. I've resorted to using parts from other cars or homemade solutions in most cases. In the 6 years I've had my Elise, it HAS been the best track car. You can't get this much speed for the dollar anywhere else!
At least you are not in New Zealand. Costs more than double just to start with because of the exchange rate. Then add shipping from other side of the world. And let's not mention that time factor. If you think you have problems with tyre choice. Try finding 175/45 R17 for the front. Bridgestone NZ told me I have to order 400 sets of I want them.
The Car needs owners that can prove what they can do, not just 1 or 2 of you guys. You need a lot more Exige guys out there putting in work at the track where people can see it.
Most Lotus people don't buy these cars to be seen in. This is because the thing has a big problem -> it's only desirable for the handling, and the general public does not care about that because it cannot be expressed in numbers. This causes two issues: - The Exige S2 is not built to be the fastest thing out there, so on a trackday the dude with the GT-R will get a lot more praise by the general public because it is so fast. It does impressive numbers around the nurburgring and spa even if you are just moderately experienced. Other numbers like top speed are also dissapointing to most that ask me, because they would expect a high top speed because of the way it looks. This doesn't make it a "bedroom wall poster car" for 5 year olds to dream about. - The other end of the spectrum of hypercar ownership is those that buy a car to show off in. And to show off, it has to cost a ton of money. Showing off in a Lotus only gets you laughed at, so that's not going to fly either. these two things make it difficult for the car to be popular on a bigger scale. It will only attract car-guys that like to drive and those are getting more and more limited everyday so it seems. That being said, I think I'm going to marry mine and move to Scotland.
@@PJH1111 Another issue is repairs. My 2008 S240 was rear-ended by a drunk driver, his 4th offense, and it's been at the repair shop for nearly 7 months. I was lucky to get the only OEM rear clam in the country directly from a Lotus warehouse. It was about 7K unfinished, raw. The other option for an OEM clam was having to order one made in England which takes months and may not even be possible anymore. It's nearly impossible finding a re-built clam in the US and even aftermarket suppliers only make them to order however I believe Inokinetic has them on hand ready to ship. To end, minor damage can easily total an Elise but usually not an Exige assuming damage was only to one or two body panels. I've seen Elises totaled for a few cracks in the front clam. Bottom line is owners know how expensive these are to fix and how easily they can become damaged and possibly totaled for something extremely minor. This unfortunately may play into their decision to not do track days or drive them at night for example. They are hard to see even during the day. Prior to my Exige I had a 2006 Elise, bought it new at 26, that was backed into by a pickup truck, someone opened a door into my door causing large dent (not fixable, must whole door), shop damaged rocker when it fell off a lift, lady backed into the rear clam in a parking garage (claim), essentially people do not see these cars. Lotus should have provided a defensive driving course for buyers. This car is a keeper, but it is hard to keep it out of danger.
Exige wouldnt be allowed now as too dangerous, but a Tesla that drives itself (which doesn't work) with driver not touching wheel is perfectly legal to add to a car and sell.
The Exige S is faster than a porsche gts, an nsx-r, a porsche 911 turbo. It's one of the fastesr cars ever built. Is IS most definitely a supercar AND exotic. This week Toyota will build more cars than Lotus has built in their lifetime. It's a shame you sound ungrateful and feel the need to grossly modify every part of the car you supposedly liked. I think Lotus Engineers know what they are doing. Lotus don't have many wheel options because they are hand built road legal race cars, they are not mass produced porsches.
You should realy lose the peanuts first, didnt your mom learn you it not polite to chew with a mouth full, just joking :p love you and your car, have great taste, I have an elise s2 also but besides the rear clam it's all exige, don't like the exiges rear clam. I also have A LOT of mods and the mods alone were around 20000 to 22000 euro, together with the car that makes 42000euro, I know your car goes over 100000euro so I don't get how you accumulate that amount?! I have all the Mods needed realy can't imagine getting a 100000gees in mods.
easy maintenance, ok lets change a lightbulb, have to take off the whole freakin frontclamp, jack the car ect, no it's noet easy maintenance on this car, believe me I know I have one. Also Wheel options are as huge as any other car realy, just make em custom, you put so much money in this so custom wheels is nothing for you.
You have great video stuff but your narrative needs to be the point.. it becomes endless and you lose me. Internally, I say to myself.. get to the point
You have absolutely no idea how incredibly wrong you are. Next you'll be saying something like the AC Cobra is an American car... Hahaha. Educate yourself before making subnormal insignificant comments!
@@julianneale6128 you're right...I'm mistaken...its a 6 cylinders that still sounds like 4 cylinder rice burner. For the money the Z06 gets you more perfomance than the Lotus...but I know it's not a eye grabber to the kids and it's just a 'vette'.
I love lotus and I don't mind how underrated it is because you'll be the only one driving a Lotus in your area :) so it'll feel a lot more rare/special. I wanted an elise but I purchased a corvette instead and now I sold my corvette and I'm trying to get into an Elise first and then work my way up to an exige. I think these cars are done depreciating, they might even appreciate since there aren't many being sold so it's not a bad investment :) can't wait to get my hands on one soon! Keep making exige videos.
this ages terribly
Always been my dream car since Need Speed Most Wanted.
I love how it looks and I hate that I can't afford one!
Start with a NA Elise, Supercharge it later. Lotustalk.com classifieds
I own an Exige S and agree with nearly everything you had to say. I think you've captured its essence well.
If I was your grandma I would pinch your cheeks like a crazy crab
Unique, head-turning and rare is, for me, the definition of "exotic." I'm loving your upgrades. The Elise/Exige owners seem to be not just car guys but engineers, who love to incrementally improve what was already an amazing driving experience. My Elise has so much BOE Engineering stuff on it now, after 14 years, that I finally put their logo on it. One plus for the Elise is BOE's Clam Hinge. Four bolts and I can tilt the rear clam all the way up and out of the way. And, yep, that stamped steel shifter was the worst. Love your upgrade.
Bro your shifter looks super nice. How much did that run you? I would have LOVED to have that in my 2005 elise
I would love to see a video where you break down all the parts you put on it and how much everything cost. This is the classiest most functional, Exige I have ever seen. I would seriously consider trading my Evora for it...
Nice build, but I personally would like you to share more info to your viewers about the absolute joy these raw machines are to drive and track. Especially mentioning the differences your modifications have made from stock.
I'm in high school and I got a lotus exige for my first car. It was $28,000 but I was able to lowball the offer to 25 grand. I think that the whole no one knows about it is good. It means that when you see someone else in one you know they didn't but it to be popular they got it because they wanted it.
Very impressive video! I like how you talk about stuff like 'changed the interior' and 'pulled the gearbox' as if they were just random easy jobs, u must be very good at it 👏
man I forgot about this channel! Great Video I will be watching the rest of the videos!
Awesome shifter. Worth all the money in my view
Like how you did the rear speakers. Looks like it should have came from the factory.
Nice update! I’ll save this for the stair-master later
It is not a Supercar, but Lotus never said it is. It however is most definitely an exotic, no argument there at all! You even went on to explain why to a degree in your next statement, as it's interesting and not a Prius. The name Lotus in the car industry and particularly racing, is absolute royalty!
Nice style you did in your upgrade👍🏻😎
For wheels, try Gregs Racing Parts. I got a set of Rota's all around for my 2005 Elise. The trouble with the stock wheels for me was the availability of tires. All I could get were Yokohamas for the front and they suck when the outside temperature gets below 50 degrees. With the new wheels I was able to get a full set all around of Continental Extreme contacts. They are an inch wider all around and work great for me. I do love my car though....
Very informative as always !! Love the exige great build. Where is that part list tho !?!?! :D:D:D
I've only driven one for a few minutes on a track. The only thing I didn't like was trying to get out , the early version had tiny doors. Had to drag myself out on my hands, letting my legs drag along behind me.
Can't wait to get my hands on a Lotus. Awesome channel man. Loved your ae86 as well. Subbed
I own 3 Lotus, one of them being a Lotus Exige. One thing I dislike about my Lotus Exige is the fact that the radiator hose flows the the driver side firewall heating up the tube chassis. Living in the south, the outside ambient temperature somehow magnifies the cabin temperature to the point where the AC at full blast doesn't really work. I would occasionally have puddles (sweat) even with the AC on at max setting. This is generally common among Lotus because they are known to have crappy AC from factory. Even my Evora had issues with the AC not blowing cold.
John Mc Keown I never had overheating issues with my Exige. In fact, it never exceeded 200F in dead summer with the avg temp of 105F in stop and go traffic. Fat people like me need that freon blowing lol. Other than that, I don’t have any issues. Rattles doesn’t bother me either which is another common issue lol
AC witch craft I tell you.
A real Lotus driver turns up.
Blue in winter
In a pool of sweat in the summer.
Hey CB, just went for a test drive in one, and gonna get it! Thanks for the vids helping me along! Cheers
Does the roof scoop funnel in air to the cockpit or just the engine bay? Be cool if it does both.
Car looks awesome, are those side skirts the GRP Race?
I have heard the air con is not strong enough to counter the heat from the engine - what are your thoughts?
Is it effective?
Will you ever upgrade to the 3.5L version or straight to the Evora? Idk man, the 2zz super charged seems fun, but dang the v6 would feel insane with such light weight chassis
The others get significantly heavier unfortunately
I am in the process of buying an Exige S2. Is it better to buy with Toyota engine or Honda engine!? Which engine is more suitable for this car!?
What wing is that?
Yes it is an exotic. Very exotic looking.
Totally agree. 300zx TT is a pain in the ass to work on.
Supercar.. unfortunately no. Exotic car!? YES
such a clean build
Imagine how many have crashed! It’s a sad thought since I haven’t got my hands on one yet...
have you ever driven the Alfa Romeo 4c? It'd be nice for you to compare them.
the thing i hate most about the lotus is that i dont have one anymore :(
quantums and tillets , great minds think alike hahaha
I'm wondering if 3sgte would fit in there 🤔
Martin you can get off the shelf mounts to fit a k24. That's the ticket in my book.
Is there another car out there for about 40-50k that looks as good? 🤔
Jon J don’t think so!
Corner Balanced fd rx7 def comes close tho
@@jonj4357 R33
Oh boy, you missed the biggest one, and that's because you're so new to the car. The worst part about the car is the cost to replace Lotus specific parts, especially the front and rear clams. Granted you won't be crashing into stuff all the time, but stuff like $100 wheel arch liners, $150 side marker lights, and the 3 month lead time is pretty terrible. I've resorted to using parts from other cars or homemade solutions in most cases. In the 6 years I've had my Elise, it HAS been the best track car. You can't get this much speed for the dollar anywhere else!
At least you are not in New Zealand. Costs more than double just to start with because of the exchange rate.
Then add shipping from other side of the world.
And let's not mention that time factor.
If you think you have problems with tyre choice.
Try finding 175/45 R17 for the front. Bridgestone NZ told me I have to order 400 sets of I want them.
More videos on this car pls!!
MCM should thank you for all their talking points in their latest video hahahahaha
Can you give me a site where i can buy a lotus exige/elise🤔🤔
Is there not a hub conversion you can do to something with a more common lug pattern?
The Car needs owners that can prove what they can do, not just 1 or 2 of you guys. You need a lot more Exige guys out there putting in work at the track where people can see it.
Same with Car shows, and what not. Just needs to be seen more. I agree its not the car you think of, but damn is it good !
Yup agree needs to be seen
Most Lotus people don't buy these cars to be seen in. This is because the thing has a big problem -> it's only desirable for the handling, and the general public does not care about that because it cannot be expressed in numbers.
This causes two issues:
- The Exige S2 is not built to be the fastest thing out there, so on a trackday the dude with the GT-R will get a lot more praise by the general public because it is so fast. It does impressive numbers around the nurburgring and spa even if you are just moderately experienced. Other numbers like top speed are also dissapointing to most that ask me, because they would expect a high top speed because of the way it looks. This doesn't make it a "bedroom wall poster car" for 5 year olds to dream about.
- The other end of the spectrum of hypercar ownership is those that buy a car to show off in. And to show off, it has to cost a ton of money. Showing off in a Lotus only gets you laughed at, so that's not going to fly either.
these two things make it difficult for the car to be popular on a bigger scale. It will only attract car-guys that like to drive and those are getting more and more limited everyday so it seems.
That being said, I think I'm going to marry mine and move to Scotland.
@@PJH1111 Another issue is repairs. My 2008 S240 was rear-ended by a drunk driver, his 4th offense, and it's been at the repair shop for nearly 7 months. I was lucky to get the only OEM rear clam in the country directly from a Lotus warehouse. It was about 7K unfinished, raw. The other option for an OEM clam was having to order one made in England which takes months and may not even be possible anymore. It's nearly impossible finding a re-built clam in the US and even aftermarket suppliers only make them to order however I believe Inokinetic has them on hand ready to ship. To end, minor damage can easily total an Elise but usually not an Exige assuming damage was only to one or two body panels. I've seen Elises totaled for a few cracks in the front clam. Bottom line is owners know how expensive these are to fix and how easily they can become damaged and possibly totaled for something extremely minor. This unfortunately may play into their decision to not do track days or drive them at night for example. They are hard to see even during the day. Prior to my Exige I had a 2006 Elise, bought it new at 26, that was backed into by a pickup truck, someone opened a door into my door causing large dent (not fixable, must whole door), shop damaged rocker when it fell off a lift, lady backed into the rear clam in a parking garage (claim), essentially people do not see these cars. Lotus should have provided a defensive driving course for buyers.
This car is a keeper, but it is hard to keep it out of danger.
Feedback - Darker shades help hide your wandering eyes to the off-camera list.
Woah, thought there would be more then 1000! Insane
can you please tell us where you buy the aftermarket stuff for the exige.
Exige wouldnt be allowed now as too dangerous, but a Tesla that drives itself (which doesn't work) with driver not touching wheel is perfectly legal to add to a car and sell.
Where did you buy that speaker panel? :O
7th ward shit! Nice car and nice suicideboys intro
I love the fastback back. Jk lol. good stuff man
More of this please !!! Eric yo ma idol bro ...
Can i ask what the wing name is... I want to change mine
I have a Esprit S4, I love that damn car
Those were not hates. They were simply opportunities for personalisation.
Tastefully modded example.
What wing is on your car?
Very nice vidz..
And very nice car ! ❤️
Where can I get those side skirts? HKFever?
@@CornerBalanced they look great. Having a hard time deciding. Where did you get the gasket that goes between the side skirt and against the body?
Beautiful exige!
Your Exige is super nice 👏
Couldn't watch this video with all the hand waving and mixed or completely misquoted metaphors.
Great video
The Exige S is faster than a porsche gts, an nsx-r, a porsche 911 turbo. It's one of the fastesr cars ever built. Is IS most definitely a supercar AND exotic. This week Toyota will build more cars than Lotus has built in their lifetime. It's a shame you sound ungrateful and feel the need to grossly modify every part of the car you supposedly liked. I think Lotus Engineers know what they are doing. Lotus don't have many wheel options because they are hand built road legal race cars, they are not mass produced porsches.
Yo what's up...? Drop it bro
Humm rolled up on this car ,
Thinking is would be a challenge and fun but after 2 runs its was slow very disappointed what a shame.
You should realy lose the peanuts first, didnt your mom learn you it not polite to chew with a mouth full, just joking :p love you and your car, have great taste, I have an elise s2 also but besides the rear clam it's all exige, don't like the exiges rear clam. I also have A LOT of mods and the mods alone were around 20000 to 22000 euro, together with the car that makes 42000euro, I know your car goes over 100000euro so I don't get how you accumulate that amount?! I have all the Mods needed realy can't imagine getting a 100000gees in mods.
easy maintenance, ok lets change a lightbulb, have to take off the whole freakin frontclamp, jack the car ect, no it's noet easy maintenance on this car, believe me I know I have one. Also Wheel options are as huge as any other car realy, just make em custom, you put so much money in this so custom wheels is nothing for you.
You have great video stuff but your narrative needs to be the point.. it becomes endless and you lose me. Internally, I say to myself.. get to the point
So basically you are a toyota fan boi who is too scared to be a toyota fanboi... Should have never left the mazda lifestyle smdh
Car is garbage go buy back your corolla
It's a 4 cylinder and more less a glorified civic/integra that went on a diet with a big sticker price on it and a body kit slapped on :/
You have absolutely no idea how incredibly wrong you are. Next you'll be saying something like the AC Cobra is an American car... Hahaha. Educate yourself before making subnormal insignificant comments!
@@julianneale6128 you're right...I'm mistaken...its a 6 cylinders that still sounds like 4 cylinder rice burner. For the money the Z06 gets you more perfomance than the Lotus...but I know it's not a eye grabber to the kids and it's just a 'vette'.
@@SteveZ919 oh I thought the Corvette was more or less a glorified Civic/Integra that wasn't on a diet...
@@julianneale6128 = triggered Lotus fanboy
Steve Z possibly the most ignorant comment I’ve read in a long time haha
What wing is that?