Ben J
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Registered: 31st Jan 05
Location: Cheshire
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Those track sessions look awesome (especially if you get dry conditions!)
Does the car size deceive or are you a tall mofo??!!
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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quote:
Originally posted by Stuart H
Love reading your posts always so in depth. Cars looking good.
Glad you're enjoying it, I enjoy writing 
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ben J
Those track sessions look awesome (especially if you get dry conditions!)
Does the car size deceive or are you a tall mofo??!!
I'm 6'2 so not that massive. The cars are rather intimate, I removed the seat a few weeks ago to hoover under it and there were some washers spacing it up a bit. I removed those which now lets me sit inside it, with the roof on, with a helmet on 
It's my knees though I think make it look so cramped, I sit a bit closer to the wheel than maybe I should.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Got tyre repaired last night:
Still undecided whether I'll keep it long term or replace the front tyres completely. It's a £290 swing we're talking about but safety n' that.
Spoke to a few people who have no concerns tracking or even racing with repaired tyres but then others of course that would not risk it.
Also dropped a bit of a clanger with the car, it was so wet on the day and I got soaked, carpets in the car got soaked etc. I left the roof on the car in the garage for a few days and now the interior is a musty fusty mess, and stinks. Will give it a few days of airing out, hopefully no nasty mould or leccy gremlins show up.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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chris_uk
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Jul 03
User status: Offline
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dont worry about it, i tracked and drove on a repaired r888 and it was perfectly fine 
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by chris_uk
dont worry about it, i tracked and drove on a repaired r888 and it was perfectly fine
That's what I like to hear.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Just been out for 30miles or so of aimless driving. I didn't die with the repaired tyre and it appears to be holding pressure a treat. I do however have a knuckle whitening wobble in the wheel at around 80mph.
I guess the repair has knocked the balance out of whack, even though the guy who repaired it said he had it back on the balancing machine and it was fine.
Will get it checked out somewhere, but should be an easy fix
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I took the wheel back to the shop that repaired the tyre, he double checked balance and all came back fine. Still vibrating like crazy at speed.
Took it to another shop at lunch today and the wheel was 65g out! He got that balanced up and now it's smooth as you like. Winner.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
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 amazing how different 2 tyre shops can be. Same thing happened when I got new tyres fitted to my alloys. Vibration at speed. Wheels refurbished and balanced correctly and they're now perfect.
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Aye, could have been machine calibration out or something I suppose.
Noticed tonight that my rear tyres are almost dead  Will probably get a couple of trackdays out of them but they're just about illegal on the road, must have scrubbed loads of tread away between fitting toelinks and alignment as they were massively toed in... but only did about 50miles!
Annoying, but that combined with the repaired front is making me consider a new set of tyres which are a bit cheaper to keep on top of than A048s longterm...
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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chris_uk
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Jul 03
User status: Offline
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AD08R's are pretty good all rounder.. obviously not a semi slick by an means but they are not bad.. i currently have them on mine but they cant deal with the power
because R888's are now illegal on the road and ther R888R are asymmetrical but not directional my ocd wont allow me to buy them so i think my next tyre is going to be an Avon ZZR or ZZS.
ZZR
ZZS
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tom_simes
Show Staff
Organiser: South Wales
Premium Member
Registered: 12th Jan 05
Location: Undy, Newport Drives: Skoda Octavia vRS estate
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by chris_uk
because R888's are now illegal on the road
Since when? That's news to me.
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oJNAo
Premium Member
Registered: 30th Sep 14
Location: Gloucestershire
User status: Offline
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Enjoyed reading, do you prefer the rear wheel drive compared to the Scooby?
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VrsTurbo
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Jun 10
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by tom_simes
quote:
Originally posted by chris_uk
because R888's are now illegal on the road
Since when? That's news to me.
Old ones are still legal.
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Nic Barnes
Member
Registered: 5th Apr 04
Location: nowhere near ginger people
User status: Offline
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No longer e marked
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I didn't realise that about R888s... shame.
Avon ZZRs seem a good shout, my plan is to drag a friend along to Blyton on the 15th May (my next trackday) with my A048s in their boot. I'll be wearing the OEM tyres and wheels to avoid any Imperial entanglements on the way.
I'll smash the fuck out of the A048s at Blyton then at least I can say I got SOME use out of them
quote:
Originally posted by oJNAo
Enjoyed reading, do you prefer the rear wheel drive compared to the Scooby?
It's probably unfair for me to say at the moment as I've still not pushed the Lotus on a track in the dry, for road hooning though my thoughts are as follows:
Subaru was easier to drive fast, and feels faster due to all the torque.
Subaru is a more stop/go type car - or certainly encouraged me to drive that way. Go barrelling up to a corner, slam on and then full throttle as soon as I've turned in, it'll grip and off I go. With the Lotus I find myself entering corners on balanced part throttle and it feels like my driving "flows" better.
The Lotus has too much grip and too little torque (not to mention lack of LSD) to create any big power drifts out of junctions but the back will move around seemingly at will if I enter a corner quick enough to generate a bit of understeer, any throttle will quickly kick the back out and push me around. I can't wait to play with that more on a track.
Subaru was very difficult to get out of shape unless doing silly speeds, and even then it quickly snapped back into line.
Fuel economy of the Lotus means I'm driving it much more just for random pleasure drives, I resented driving the Subaru a lot due to its running costs.
The Lotus is much quicker than it "feels" with the bum dyno, it revs really freely and I missed driving revvy NAs tbh when I had the Subaru. It only takes a quick glance down at the clocks to realise I'm going much quicker than I thought I was, with the Subaru you kinda knew you were being a dick because of how aggressively it accelerated.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Simon_16v
Member
Registered: 14th Aug 06
Location: Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
I didn't realise that about R888s... shame.
Avon ZZRs seem a good shout, my plan is to drag a friend along to Blyton on the 15th May (my next trackday) with my A048s in their boot. I'll be wearing the OEM tyres and wheels to avoid any Imperial entanglements on the way.
I'll smash the fuck out of the A048s at Blyton then at least I can say I got SOME use out of them
Chuck them in the Leon and I'll be your pit crew 
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Toby
Premium Member
Registered: 29th Nov 05
User status: Offline
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ZZRs are brilliant. Well attached to a 620r caterham at some interesting speeds...
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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I'm pretty sure the ZZR is the control tyre in the Lotus Cup series thingy. They do get good reviews.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Simon_16v
quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
I didn't realise that about R888s... shame.
Avon ZZRs seem a good shout, my plan is to drag a friend along to Blyton on the 15th May (my next trackday) with my A048s in their boot. I'll be wearing the OEM tyres and wheels to avoid any Imperial entanglements on the way.
I'll smash the fuck out of the A048s at Blyton then at least I can say I got SOME use out of them
Chuck them in the Leon and I'll be your pit crew
I think Steve fancies going in his 197... not to run it on track though  It's a sunday though so come ride shotgun if you want.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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Simon_16v
Member
Registered: 14th Aug 06
Location: Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
quote:
Originally posted by Simon_16v
quote:
Originally posted by Kyle T
I didn't realise that about R888s... shame.
Avon ZZRs seem a good shout, my plan is to drag a friend along to Blyton on the 15th May (my next trackday) with my A048s in their boot. I'll be wearing the OEM tyres and wheels to avoid any Imperial entanglements on the way.
I'll smash the fuck out of the A048s at Blyton then at least I can say I got SOME use out of them
Chuck them in the Leon and I'll be your pit crew
I think Steve fancies going in his 197... not to run it on track though It's a sunday though so come ride shotgun if you want.
What a wimp he is!
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flybikeslee
Member
Registered: 2nd Jan 07
Location: Liverpool
User status: Offline
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love these, very nearly got one myself
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by flybikeslee
love these, very nearly got one myself
It's been a busy week or so of tinkering on the Lotus. We've had some miserable weather recently so I got the car up on jack stands to address a couple of rattles I had.
I know rattle hunting in one of these is a futile job, but these were new rattles since fitting the toe links so just wanted to make sure everything was still torqued up, though I suspected the heatsheilds that I needed to butcher to fit the kit.
The rattles I found/fixed were as follows:
Both driver and passenger seats had come a bit loose  Quick nip up and that's sorted, if they come loose again I'll consider some loctite.
Handbrake cable on the undertray, evidence of some scuffing on the undertray:
I had a little foam circle I think used to be a firewall grommet in the Subaru, so stuck it on.
Exhaust heatshields, the flat one pinned against the inside of the 'tailgate' had broken free of its mountings so refitted with some oversized washers.
The second one was the snailshell looking one that surrounded the U bend from the cat to the backbox, I had multiple attempts of adjusting it and ended up ripping it off and swapping it for some heatwrap leftovers I had from the Subaru.
The next thing I decided to tackle was my battery. I can't remember if I mentioned it yet, but after my CarLimits day I found my battery was *this* close to breaking loose of its bracket and smashing the fuck out of my rear clam from the inside. I didn't take any photos of my car specifically, but this is what the stock bracket looks like:
My battery had shuffled backwards towards the tail lights and was barely hanging on. My first aim was just to see if I could tighten up the clamp, but that allen bolt was completely seized into my boot floor. I tried grinding flats on to it, cutting the head off (removing the clamp) and then molegripping the stud out. Gallons of penetrating fluid, not budging at all.
It would seem the rear clam would need to come off to access the underside panel (to replace the bolt/fixing) so I planned out an alternative. In line with the OEM battery position are two bolts that hold the clam onto the rear section of the subframe/longeron things. I found a universal battery tray on Amazon and made up a cardboard template to trial fit. The tray would cover the space used by both longeron bolts... so that was my plan.
Few days later, the tray arrived:
...and roughly fitted:
(since tidied up the carpet, cap for the positive terminal and fitted some sticky foam strips to the brackets.
I'm pretty happy with it, Battery seems 10x more secure now. The only chance of it coming loose and bouncing around my boot is if the longeron bolts shear off... hopefully that doesn't happen  I can also use the bracket for a small lightweight race battery if I decide to go that route.
While the car was on stands, I decided to tidy up the unknown service history. It's got stamps for each year, but nothing to indiciate when the plugs, gearbox oil or coolant has been done - so I'm assuming none of it has been done.
Plus out, I'm no sparkplug forensic expert but they seem OK to me. Gap was a little too narrow actually, would have expected old plugs to have had a wider gap tbh.
Pretty clean up here:
Got the news ones refitted with some dielectric grease on the boots.
Also dropped out the gearbox oil, forgot how bad this stuff stinks. Vile hateful stuff.
Used 2.5 of these, this stuff stinks too.
I got the Redline stuff as it apparently helps to quieten down the racket that the Toyota gearbox makes when fitted to the Lotus. I think it's something to do with the cable linkage vs the mechanical one it was supposed to have - but on overrun at certain rev ranges you get some nasty sound effects coming into the cabin. This oil has made it a bit quieter tbf, but it's still there if you listen for it.
Oil and filter was done a few weeks ago with new sump, so left that alone. Coolant I'll do later too, I think I'll need to swap my rad/fan out soon so will do it then.
Finally the car was ready to come down on its wheels, I fitted the OEM gypo wheels and tyres until my trackday. The rear A048s on the TDs are no longer legal, so will ferry them to Blyton in a couple of weeks and finish them off there before buying new ones.
Car was looking pretty sorry for itself after a week or so in the garage, covered in dust and greasy handprints so it got a proper wash this weekend. I gave the Megs DA kit a glowing review a few weeks ago but I've since decided that it DOES need an additional LSP as the finishing polish/wax in the kit just isn't offering much longevity.
I'm a Collinite virgin, so thought it was about time I gave it a try.
Also got some C4 for the large amounts of crappy black plastic on the Elise to blacken them up a bit. This stuff is great, lasts at least a year and is worth spending out on rather than re-applying back to black every two weeks...
The TD wheels got done too, a good polish and new coat of Poorboys. Looking good!
Ready to go, really does look naff on these wheels/tyres now though!
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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chris_uk
Premium Member
Registered: 8th Jul 03
User status: Offline
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im going to croft on the 16th may.. do you fancy it?
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
User status: Offline
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Can't do weekdays atm, would love to though.
Will be at Blyton 15th...
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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