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Red. Been thinking of getting an Emira for a while but a new one wasn't going to get approval from the Finance Committee. However, there are plenty of newish ones around for far less (still a lot of £ though!). After trying the 2.0 and not really enjoying it, I've gone for a V6 in Magma Red. Only picked it up last Thursday and still getting used to it. So far so good. Lotus really make purchase difficult - had to go to Silverstone to test drive the 2.0, and to Bradford for the test of the V6. Then over to Stratton's in Norwich to buy it. Better photos will undoubtably follow, but here's a starter for 10 (Son's AMG E43 in the background...) When I get a better picture I'll change my profile pic.

Left home at 9.30am this morning, just arrived home. Trip to a classic car dealer near Kettering, then thought I'd pop into Lotus Silverstone before heading home using part of Fosse way. Around 150 miles or so with the roof of. I'm biased of course, but if you've never driven an S1 Elise, I implore, with every fibre of my body that you need to drive one of these remarkable cars for at least a day. At various times today I uttered "suits you sir" to myself. What a feeling they give you. I bow to it.

Hey all, it’s taken a while (after asking questions here http:// https://www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/topic/70475-dropping-in-to-say-hello-%F0%9F%91%8B/) but I finally took the plunge and I’ve had this for a couple of weeks now. Got LOADS of questions about bits and pieces that need doing, but for now I thought I’d share the new member to the forum! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had Alex come over on Saturday from Wainwright specialist Detailing who is a great supporter of Mloc and LitP to detail my Emira well he worked his magic and the car looks Majestic. another great thing the polish he used is amazing, after a run out in the Peaks yesterday morning the car got covered in the muck of the thick brown nasty stuff 😜 so when I got home I thought I had better rinse the worse off ready to wash it properly on Monday as I had to go out to my amazement it all easily hosed off so in 20 mins the car looked great again 😀 I would recommend Alex to anyone who would like to treat their car to a makeover it's worth every penny you can reach Alex on 07555 238 739. and if your coming to LitP Alex has donated a couple of auction make overs your chance to get a bargain maybe

I'm Pleased to announce this years 'Lotus in the Peak' Store is now Open Please book early it helps the team to give you the best experience Please share with your Lotus friends lets make this another Success Thanks the LitP Team follow the Link for info and to book https://www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/litp/

I Like driving then of course there's driving and let's not forget driving

You can already tell who on this thread isn't married yet can't you? 😁

just got back from Classic Lotus where I enjoyed a very interesting talk given by Peter Wright who has just written a book about his life including the 60 years he spent engineering and designing racing cars. Well worth the early start, I did find some fun roads to drive so although I'm Knackered now I have had a good day

This sequential gearbox changed racing forever.View the full article

We’ve attended LITP for a couple of years now and 2024 saw our first raffle donation of one of our treatments. We’re proud to help support the raffle which goes to an incredible cause - supporting rainbows children and young people hospice both as an individual and as a business. We’d like to thank Ray and his team for all the effort they put in to running the event along with everything else that goes with it! 2024 saw Robert win our raffle. This was an Ultimate Detail which comprises of a methodical and thorough deep-clean. Both the interior and exterior would receive treatments to help remove some of the engrained dirt and add long lasting protection. Robert owns a stunning S1 Elise in black. A challenging colour which shows up everything, however once clean really does help to show off the curves the series 1. I wasn’t able to grab many pictures as I was focused purely on doing the best job possible but the interior was tackled first. Like many convertibles they suffer with a lot of dust and dirt that gets blow/drifts into the cabin. So a thorough vacuum was in order to start with. During our details we can vacuum the same Lotus 2-4 times depending on the level of dirt and also engrained dirt that gets agitated out of crevices. We use a multitude of tools and equipment to get into all the nooks and crannies. We then work into each of the areas using a gentle interior cleaner - this is on most trim, plastics etc, but not glass and not delicate trim pieces. The seats are then treated with either a cloth cleaner, Alcantara, suede or leather cleaner depending on what’s presented. The steering wheel and gear levers area treated next. We like to use a soft scrub pad which helps remove the engrained dirt. Usually steering wheels are dirtier and harbour more bacteria than your toilet seat at home. So these area’s are crucial to pay particular attention to. Depending on the dirtiness of the glass, is it a convertible? Has it been smoked in, or vaped in? We tackle this next. We hit these areas with a variety of tools and various glass cleaners and isopropyl alcohol to ensure a streak free finish. Finally we will tackle the pedals and the infamous ridged kick plates with soft brushes to remove dirt and also toothpicks to remove any stones that are trapped. We’ll then hoover again to remove any dislodged dirt and conduct a thorough check of the area before closing up. Once the interior is done we then tackled the exterior of the Elise. Now being black it shows everything, that doesn’t mean to say a white car doesn’t - just that it’s easier to see. Like many Lotus we tend to find they’re summer cars or weekend cars. As such they tend not to be too dirty on the surface but when you look closer you see more engrained dirt and usually a lot of road tar and iron contaminants. On Roberts stunning S1 Elise the first thing we do is perform an initial rinse. This helps remove any surface level dirt before we lay a cover of snowfoam over it. The snow foam we use is a gentle sugar based formula so it helps ensure a good level of cleaning power whilst being gentle enough to not cause any damage. This is then rinsed away and the Elise is then hand washed. Various mitts, mirocofibre cloths and brushes are used to get into all the different areas safely. Before moving onto chemical decontamination. Chemical decontamination we like to perform first as it helps breakdown tar and iron before hitting with a clay bar. This helps reduce the chance of picking up excess chemicals in the clay bar which we perform afterwards. Clay, when used correctly, is a really useful tool to help remove dirt that normal washing doesn’t. Effectively think of it as a blackhead strip, you put it on your skin, leave it a few mins and peel it off. This is in simple terms how clay bars work on cars. After claying and washing again we dried the Elise off and sprayed with a Panel Wipe. Panel Wipe is important as it allows the wax to effectively bond to the various surfaces and provide the best longevity. Waxes, we have various ones from all different brands for different vehicles and requirements but we went with a man made PTFE based wax to provide the best gloss and greatest longevity. The exterior glass was polished to remove engrained dirt and a hydrophobic spray sealant was applied to help with water beading when out on the road. Before dressing the exterior trim and applying a glossy tyre dressing. Finally we performed a final check on both the exterior and interior of the Elise before handing back to a very happy owner. I didn’t get many pictures but here are some from the stunning S1 Elise. Hope you enjoyed your Elise Robert and hope to see you out at an event soon. For those looking to get their Lotus, or dare I say it other cars, detailed please reach out to me or view our treatments on our website at www.wainwrightsdetailing.co.uk Thanks, Alex

Sorry I can't help but weigh in on a tyre question, i'm a bit of a tyre nerd! So I will try my best to not write a book on here! Long story short, it all depends on what you want from the car. The first thing I would say is think about what you do with the car, do you track it? Do you drive it hard on the road or do you drive more leisurely? Be honest with yourself, as that will dictate what is actually right for you (not what others say is right for you!) Me personally for my 'road' set up, I ditched the horrible semi-slick tyres and went with UHP road tyres and it made life, driving the car on the road, exponentially better in every way. On the subject of wider tyres, it's all about compromise. Typically a wider rear tyre will cause your car to turn/rotate less in corners, it also will increase your fuel consumption, and road noise, it will add unsprung mass on the axle, and it will give you less lateral (cornering) traction, if you do not in turn, increase the wheel width. Also takes longer to get them warmed up and usually costs more to buy, as well. Those are the cons. The pros are more contact patch which will give you more rolling traction, meaning better braking and acceleration (in a straight line), which on the rear will mean more stability under braking and better thermal management (for when you are driving really hard) the tyres won't go 'off' so quickly on track. That's a high level synopsis, me personally, i'd stick to the stock 265 width, and just get the best tyre you can in that size. Without the additional tweeks that the 380/410/430 have, you will only be reducing the capability/balance of your car. Tyrereviews.co.uk is a great resource to see other peoples experiences with their tyres and different comparisons in segments. For your car I imagine you will be looking at the UUHP tyre segment. If you have any questions, feel free to message me.

Yeah good, nice balance with a slight tendency to under-steer, but the under-steer encourages me to trail-brake to get the rotation, which is good really, as that encourages me to brake late. For once I was one of the fastest cars on track, It does make me smile having the least horsepower (120) and dominating cars with 2, 3, sometimes 4x the power. An example was I was stuck for 2 laps behind one of those BMW M cars, yeah on the straight it walked away from me, but in braking I was right back in there and then just coasting round the bend, waiting for them to finish navigating their yacht through the corner. I tend to just set the dampers to max on track, still feel the suspensions too soft, but going to fit uprated ARB next winter to try and reduce roll.

Nice to see an M100. Would be good to see it out on a Sunday morning meet.

I was told Option 1 in Bromsgrove was a good for fibreglass repairs etc

Wow. I didnt know that 18 year old paint could be restored to such a glossy finish! Its purely 2 stage cut, polished and ceramic coated. Swirl free in any light. It looks amazing. The guy did a super job, and the back end of these are not easy with tight angles and edges. He said he had to be real careful not to over heat the paint due to it not being on metal. Definitely a job for a professional, with experience and all the right kit. Paint correction is a real skill. Cheaper than a full wrap or respray. Enhances the car to its worthy state. And with sun all week, plenty of sunshine to enjoy it in!

WOW!!! 34 cars Booked on in the first 4 DAY's Fantastic It Really Helps the Team Plan your enjoyment booking early Thanks from the LitP Team

Photography Cycling Lots of DIY - kitchens, bathrooms, en-suites, and... just finished off my latest landscaping project! IT Technology and software development (now retired but my entire career was in this space) Not a hobby as such, but have a very keen interest in theoretical physics and cosmology Again, not a hobby, but am super interested in automotive design and engineering And just for completeness... Favourite sports - MotoGP and World Rally Championship

You know what they say. Always be yourself unless you can be Batman. If so, always be Batman

I really should get a 3D printer, but I got myself a VR headset for Christmas (Quest 3) instead 😄. So I can occasionally be found pretending to be Batman

Playing keyboard/session music. I've played keys all over the UK in various roles. MD for a Kylie M tribute act which toured all over the place. Did a short stint for Vampires Rock. Regularly spotted playing at 80's weekends in Butlins!! Played on a few albums. Nearly got to play on Later with Jules Holland but project fell at the last hurdle (It's along story.......) Don't do it much anymore as life has got in the way!! Still dabble when I get the chance but prefer driving my Lotus!!

Due to the ‘leather’ wearing away on my centre console, I have replaced it with a carbon one. I actually quite liked the Terminator look! Carbon one looks lovely but I need to fiddle with the hole for the rear window demister as it is currently too big. Might not bother as I never use it anyway!! Just need something to plug the hole!! Answers on a postcard 😆 Alcantara gear and handbrake gaiters to match my seats.

I really trashed the spoiler on my Esprit on a raised curb and Malin Motor Bodies in Sheffield did a superb invisible repair. https://www.malinmotorbodiessheffield.co.uk/body-shop.html. Both father and son race TVRs so have plenty of experience. You could try Brendan at Concept Performance - he is the go to man for TVR bodywork in the UK. https://www.facebook.com/ConceptPerformanceUK

I went with Goodyear Eagle F1 A6, which is a UHP tyre, which gives better balance in the dry and wet with more comfort and lower noise, which was more of a priority for me. It also doubles as my 'wet set' on track. With the higher HP on yours and if you like to push on in it on the road, I imagine you'd prefer more of a UUHP+ tyre. The Cup 2 is a Track/Competition tyre, and where may be great on track, does compromise a lot on road to get that maximised dry grip. If that's not a problem for you and they are working for you, just get some replacements. However FYI, the Cup2 Connect is the replacement tyre for the older Cup2. Tyre reviews: "This tyre replaced the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup Plus and this tyre has been replaced by the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect." MichCUP2Connect @ £313 per tyre If you wanted to go more extreme with the dry grip attributes, you could look at some alternatives like; The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R @ £365 per tyre or the Bridgestone Potenza Race @ £349 per tyre or the Nankang CR-S Tyre @ £330 per tyre So much choice these days

Started this year's trackday season opener at Bedford, sad to say I was the only Lotus owner there.

Hello Guy, I don't know how much advice I can give you regarding what's totally suited to your Exige. Barring the reality that all motor manufactures tend to specify an ideally sized tyre and compound spec to suit the particular vehicle. In our case with Lotus being amongst, if not the best road car chassis / suspension designer, they will take more time to make sure the individual models have tyres that suit them best for all requirements. One can see the higher power cars potentially needing wider tyres to increase all round grip further. Sometimes going wider / larger doesn't always mean an improvement IE you have more grip than you need and a wider larger mass to rotate - I'm sure the track specialists will know more about that. An example being that Caterham 7's look good on 15" to 17" wheels, but all the track boys and racers run them on 13" wheels/tyres, it reduces the weight and the slightly taller tyres help them with suspension compliance. It's fairly well known that it's a good thing on an S1 Elise to go to the 111S rear tyre widths to offset some of the on limit twitchiness they were known for. On the early S2 Elise Lotus altered the suspension geometry and made them understeer more for greater built in road safety and lessen the on limit snap oversteer. To aid this they fitted narrower front tyres than the S1 had, a common mod or upgrade for the more adventuress S2 owner was to fit the wider S1 sized tyre to neutralise the inherent understeer. On the classics, many people fitted the slightly wider Elan +2 tyres on an Elan - up by only 10mm to 165 x 13 - it doesn't improve the handling on them. To summarise - I guess only the owners of similar 350 Exige like yours can give a better idea. It no doubt will be that us mere mortals can't tell and you'd have to be a Track God to be perceive the difference 😁 Regards, Paul

After much deliberation, I took the plunge and have sent my 2006 111R in for a full 2 stage paint correction and ceramic coat. The first 2 pictures show the surface swirls that were on the car that show up in the light, no doubt after 18 years of washing and use. (Even though its garaged and not used in the wet) Overall the paint is really good, but the aged paint swirls let it down. Took it to a local professional detailer, as I didnt think I could do any where near as good a job as the car deserves. He has sent me a number of pics and videos of the 20hrs spent cutting and polishing. Today the ceramic coat goes on and I pick up tonight! Looking forward to seeing the transformation......

Right try again. I'm sure i posted earlier. Seems to have dissappeared Probably been non-platformed🤷‍♂️ 🤣 Amazing car. I am seriously trying to justify buying one too. You have some great fun ahead 👍 enjoy!

Lovely car. In 2017 I was thinking about buying an Elan M100 but didn't go through with it. We don't see many of them on here. If you don't get much success with your questions, there is another excellent forum (besides this one) www.Lotuselancentral.com that has some very knowledgeable people

Hey all, it’s taken a while (after asking questions here https://www.midlandslotus.co.uk/forum/topic/70475-dropping-in-to-say-hello-%F0%9F%91%8B/) but I finally took the plunge and I’ve had this for a couple of weeks now. Got LOADS of questions about bits and pieces that need doing, but for now I thought I’d share the new member to the forum! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Awesome! I want one 👍 You're going to have so much fun 😁

He really did do a great job

I keep hearing really good things about the detailing that Alex does. It looks like he did an incredible job on your car. 👍👍

Hi, I’ve shared your post on the Seloc FB page. It may be advantageous for you to add the event in the main Seloc events section on the main site to spread the word👍 https://forums.seloc.org cheers John

Mountain Biking, Swimming and TVR driving. Oh and Daimler V8 250 driving when I can start the sodding thing!

Mountain biking and climbing (more climbing than riding nowadays), not sure computer games count. Have a 3D printer but don’t classify that as a hobby…

Hi. I did my wishbones in gold last year. Have a read of my blog

I have everything you need Chip, drop me a Pm. Recently finished a refresh so could give you some pointers also.

Congratulations on the new purchase! Those Elmira’s are getting good value 👍

What's your plan to refurb the wishbones ?

I have a ball joint splitter you can borrow, but don't haven't the tool to remove/install the ball joints and bushes as I borrowed them

I've stuck with the champion plugs. No fancy reason. They were the oem plug if i remember correctly. They were the ones In. The car when I bought it. They are not costly They just work. I gap mine 1mm. They generally seem pretty well gapped out of the box...but I still check. For £20 I actually change them each year when doing the oil and filters Good luck 👍 MrWill

Booked up Ray, my S1 has been out and about and should be featured in a mag soon…..

Yeah, I booked on earlier today Ray, keep em coming. I’ve shared the link on social media, will keep doing so. 👍🏻

I know how you feel. I've been a VR Spitfire fighterpilot every Sunday night

A lifetime of hobbies:- Photography - I've won some trophies at club level. Snooker. Wind surfing. Skiing. Trail riding / Enduro / Moto-x - Packed it in when I broke my hip. Mountain biking. Snowboarding. Power kiting. Next on the horizon - sailing. I still dabble in all of the previous, except the motor biking.

1/10 scale off road model car racing! “Ludlow Radio Car Club” Check us out on Facebook every week.

Other makes of car toys of course:)

Looks fab. Hope you have lots of fun with it. 👍👍

What a Lovely yellow esprit you snapped. Great sortie Ray just my kind of day out 👍