Lotus Exige Facts and Quirks. 7 years of ownership
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- I'm coming up on the 7 year anniversary of owning my 2006 Lotus Exige! To celebrate I've created a video showing odd facts and and things I find interesting about the car after owning it for so long!
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
2:15 The pedals are very close for a very important reason: to be east to perfom the heel toeing technique, it's a dirivers' car.
Cool! Nice, I have an 05 Elise... and just picked up an S240 too. Getting used to little quirks, but stored away from me for now.. :(
Great video. I am soon getting a 2011 Exige S260. I love these tips so that I don't spend half the day scratching my head wondering what I am doing wrong. I would love to see you race your Exige.
New car & good tips Craig, cheers 👍🇬🇧🏆
I love your solution for the TC button problem :D
Very good video
Great video pleased to view
Great video. Subscribed! Hey - I'm also a Sox fan!
Nice video. I have a Krypton Green 2006 Elise and likewise love it. Haven't had to change aheadlight bulb yet so good to hear that tip. I got it out of the garage for a picture with the snow in the yard today but otherwise she is off the road until spring.
Good time to change the brake fluid, oil and antifreeze so she will be ready to go. Getting in and out is a little more difficult once you get into your sixties, but I'll keep doing it as long as possible and if it gets to where I can't drive it .... the kids can take the old man for a drive on some local curvy roads. Never selling it.
Love this. I don't think I'll ever sell mine either. It's so much more than just a car to me after all these years
@@craigdaniel6423 Definitely a unique vehicle worth keeping. I also have a couple older XKEs I'll never sell. A '63 coupe is just about road ready after 15 years of sitting - needed a full brake job so I upgraded the fronts to Wilwood 4-pots. Had to pull the independent rear suspension to do the rears, which now have stainless brake cylinders I had to wait to get shipped from Great Brittan.
Just rebuilt the entire IRS while I had it out - a big job with close to $2500 just in parts. There are a LOT of parts in there. Now I'm doing little things like rebuilding the heater box and changing the fuel pump before firing it up and taking a test drive, hopefully within a month. Then, I'll get on the '67 roadster and start with the IRS rebuild while fresh in my mind.
These are cars I bought in my 20s and have been waiting until retirement to have enough time to complete them. I was able to drive the coupe until my mid 40s but I bought the roadster as a basket case so it is a full up restoration. About half done/estimating about 100 hours to finish. I have the British car disease bad - also a 2006 MINI convertible so we have 4 of them total right now, besides the other routine drivers.
The Lotus was to give me something fun and dependable to drive while I finished the XKEs, but it will by far exceed their capabilities and it is dependable and starts .... a major draw after owning several other British cars over the years. The E-types have appreciated dramatically and have a classic look. I love those cars for different, nostalgic reasons. The Elise may also appreciate and its design is also holding up well, but from a driving standpoint it is worlds beyond. Well, off to the shop for me to work some more on the '63 coupe. Enjoy your Lotus and hope you are likewise able to hold on to it forever !
Passenger window not a problem with seat belts 👍great video
lmao that dog. Thanks for the video! Yes, I don't have to have the clutch in to start the car.
Love that shirt. It's kind of a forgotten car.
Driving a Lotus in the US must be such a leap of faith! I have a 2006 Elise 111R with the inferior seats in Italy and it was tough as a daily drive ... By the way, love the super-cool size-10 Lotus sneakers in green and yellow. Way to go ...
Nice video! Made me a bit nostalgic for my 2006 Exige S in Starlight Black. I miss that car!
Thanks! What do you drive now?? If you don't have the Exige anymore it makes me curious
Loads of cars in between but in Lotus-world I had an Elise 111R after the Exige S, and am currently driving an Exige 430 Cup. I feel very lucky! - I don’t think they have them in the US
@@hairyaardvark Wow, that's awesome! You are lucky indeed, and I'm glad you know it. I tell myself all the time. Thanks for the comment! Enjoy it to the max. Life is too short
Amen to that my friend - enjoy
If we're talking manual cars in general my celica gt-four will turn on with just a turn of the key no need to press the clutch which I thought was very weird but apparently normal. Btw lovely car I'm hoping to get one someday 🙏
Yooou Look Cooooool Brooooo....!
Nice colour, I have the lotus exige 350 S here in the UK.
Great cars to drive but to be fair they are not really cars, they are a driving experience.
An expensive toy, but worth every penny 🏎
Yes, yes, and yes! The most fun toy!
What is ownership costs like? In 3 years time I will be getting a dream car and a series 2 is on my list of which car to get.
@@xkimopye no different to a normal car, if anything slightly cheaper, of course insurance is quite high and road tax too. Reliable cars, bomb proof
Would like more videos of Exige
I like this
Don't know how this happened but my new Favourite colour for the Exige.
Awesome! It was the only color I wanted when I was searching for one almost 8 years ago now
My S240 starts without the clutch too. I guess it's a factory thing? It's the "correct" way to start the car to preserve the thrust bearing
this is debatable, depressing the clutch removes the extra drag of turning the input shaft and all the gears through cold gear oil which would otherwise put a lot of unnecessary strain on the starter and hence the battery from cold starts ....
@@ianmichaelbryant2643 yeah, but, who cares about the battery or starter? The theory is you don't want to put a lateral load on the crankshaft while it isn't properly lubricated. Right or wrong, I don't know. It's just the theory.
Dealership turned off my press clutch to start it. Said wasn't needed.
Exige
Supercar kill 💣
LESS
IS
MORE
Could start mine without the clutch too. At least that's normal for the 06 and 07 cars. Not sure psst that
Lotus shoes are rad. The car too. Very cool
I still want an Elise.
My lotus starts without the clutch as well
This is my dream car. I'm 5'1", so I wouldn't have any trouble getting in, haha. The first time I saw the Exige was about 6 years ago, and I was at a Caffeine and Octane car show. I feel in love with ii. I love it in the green and yellow. What state are you from? And where did you find your Exige? I would love to buy it one day. I'm from Georgia. The closest place to me would be Florida. I still have to save up a little bit more though.
I live in Illinois, so unfortunately can only drive it about 8 months of the year. I remember the first Exige I saw too, and fell in love right away. 10 years later I had one! I hope you get one sooner than later!
There are many lotus owners in Georgia and have local Facebook group. Couple of cars for sale locally.
@@sugarliev Thank you for the information! I will seek them out. :)
I thought only cars with an automatic gearbox needed you to press the clutch down to start it?
I love the Lotus shoes!
Thanks! Me too! 🥰
Clutch interlock switch is installed on Canadian market cars because of their law. US cars don't have the switch but the car is wired for it. Evora has such switch, and 2011+ S3 Elise/Exige have it because those cars have cruise control now.
Good to know! Thanks for the info!
Does it leak? Rattle?
Not sure about exige but in my 2020 Elise, if clutch pedal is not depressed while trying to start up the car, the “clutch” message will come up in the little odometer display area reminding the driver to step on the clutch pedal
I think the previous owner removed the 'foot on clutch' to start. My dealership did that for me as default. (Elise 2007)
Make an oil change video
I will definitely do that when the weather gets nicer! Here in Chicagoland I'm not driving the car until all the salt is off the roads 🙁
The shoes 👏
2:20 nice shoes
Has the car been reliable?
Extremely! Knock on wood... The only major repair I've done is a coolant tank replacement. Everything else, I like to think I take care of the maintenance pretty well.
How tall are you? I am 6'3" and wondering if I'd be too tall haha. Thanks
I'm only 5' 9" so I have no problems. I actually have the seat all the way back as well. I think anyone over 6' can fit, but your knees will come up on each side of the steering wheel..
You can't start a Canadian Exige. Nor can you start a Canadian Elise without depressing the clutch pedal. In a US model, you can drive around all day on the starter motor, so it's an EV. You can get two into a standard igloo.
You didn’t even take it for a drive 😔
Oh man! I didn't even realize I said I would and didn't. Except just talked about driving lol Epic fail by me...
I have questions do you have an Instagram?
I do! @cdaniel777
Where’d you get your Lotus shoes?
I got them years ago from a website called onemoreshoe.com, but it seems like they went out of business because the website doesn't work anymore.
Craig, thanks for the reply. I’ll see if I can find them somewhere else then.
Lotus shoes mmmm sweet feet