Project Lotus Exige

[Kaan]

K20/K24 <3

yes. The engine that should have been in this car had Honda not been little punk bitches and rejected Lotus.

However, its a really shitty swap. Lots of fitment drawbacks, trans never feels right, with lots of custom work and an asston of money.

You can actually probably pin this on the Ariel Atom. But never the less, the trans issues are related to the shifter box and the design of the cables (and probably the shift mechanism on the trans itself). when swapping into a FWD turd bucket, the routing of the lines is important, and new/refreshed lines are helpful, and they make after market shift boxes.

The fact that the engine and trans would go in the rear probably doesnt help in the conversion

[WRXtranceformed]

well I have this tax return sitting here but no way would I blow it on something stupid

I think you've got your next logical step right there :twisted: Actually not a bad price for a supercharger kit

[Evan]

quick update. have done a bunch of work but havent had time to write it up.

Ive never been a huge fan of the black semi-gloss trim on the car (splitter, scoops, wing), and apparently neither did Lotus, since after 06 they painted them body color. I had the option to either paint it or buy carbon fiber.
Duh. Carbon fiber is always the answer.

custom ordered a carbon fiber splitter. 6k weave, glossy finish, dry autoclaved cf, and remove the ugly plate mount. very nicely made, not ebay junk.
had the option for 12k, but I think thats too flashy, and matte was an option which looks nice but I think the outside of a car should be shiny. call me old fashioned. Also, I have a weird thing for symmetry so I asked them to lay the carbon fiber weave in an 'arrow' pattern. very subtle but it makes my inner ocd happy.

slow boat from china finally came in and I stuck it on last night

old splitter with fugly plate-mount-ish type of thing


no splitter. looks a little old-school jaguar-ish.


new splitter. yay.


Ill snap some more close up shots of the splitter tonight, hard to see it against the tiles.

thats it for now, (much) more to come later.

[Goodspeed]

:thumbup: Looks a billion times better. I quite like all the little carbon bits you can get for those cars, adds a nice touch.

[ScottyB]

i demand closeup carbon porn immediately

[ispoonwithmugen]

Dope! That OEM one looked like shit (sorry).

[D_Eclipse9916]

Definitely get closer pictures, can't see as much of the detail from those pics.

[Evan]

so demanding!



here is the arrow weave that I mentioned earlier

[ScottyB]

that is so choice. love the way that looks.

but now you know that if you ever spring for a carbon roof, spoiler, etc....it has to match :lol:

[Maengelito]

that arrow weave is hot

[ispoonwithmugen]

[JPolen01]

that arrow weave is hot

This.

[Evan]

you know this isnt a miata thread, right?

[D_Eclipse9916]

Looks great, I like how the weave lines up. A little carbon fiber bling doesn't hurt.

[Evan]

well the carbon fairy isnt done leaving presents,

to continue the "dont like the semi-gloss plastic looking trim" , next on the list is the side scoops

new vs old


only real pain on the install was that the mesh grills came separate, so I had to glue them in with some silicone adhesive.

on the car

[Goodspeed]

What kind of furry beast was moving in on your photo? Looks great btw.

[Evan]

What kind of furry beast was moving in on your photo? Looks great btw.

thats Sasha. Sasha loves to "help" in the garage. Usually by getting in-between me and whatever Im trying to work on.

[WRXtranceformed]

Dude that carbon fiber looks incredible. This is super nitpicky but I think you and I are sort of the same on this kind of stuff: The bare metal colored screws / washers holding that scoop on really stands out against that CF. Thoughts about giving them a quick spray of black?

[Evan]

No, I actually like them. They are CNCed aluminum and give it a raw industrial look.
The car has them all over, on the wing, access panels, front end, so it looks balanced.

[navin]

+1 what Lee said.