Vehicle Owner

Member ID: sandsmuseum

Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Vehicle Info

2008 Lotus Exige

Bragging Rights

  • 1/4 Mile0 sec @ -1 mph
  • 0-600sec
  • Top Speed-1mph
  • HP-1
  • Weight-1lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • nitrous
  • bore increase
  • port and polish
  • supercharger
  • extrude honed
  • stroke increase
  • engine swap

Ratings

    • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

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Last updated: Oct 07, 2008

Hits: 394

Michael’s Lotus Exige
“Nimby II”

  • Currently 2.9714285714285 /5 Stars.
4 guestbook comments

more extensive information at my website:

sandsmuseum's 2008 Lotus Exige

sandsmuseum's 2008 Lotus Exige

The Sands Mechancial Museum

What I like about the car

  1. It corners! It communicates with you and tells you exactly what is happening.
  2. It brakes!
  3. It accelerates!
  4. It is small.
  5. You sit close to the center of the car so that all corners are visible. It helps integrate you into the car, making it an extension of your own self.
  6. The controls fall readily to hand. The steering wheel, various ancillary controls, and the shift lever are all close and required little extra motion to manipulate. The 111R steering wheel is even better than the Federal wheel with the air bag.
  7. The seats provide exceptional support and have very little padding. I use my body and my derierre to help sense what the car is doing. Exceptional support, both side-to-side and front-to-back, help move my body the same direction the car is moving. The minmial padding provides a direct link from the car to my body and helps give me a direction impression of where the car is going and its response to my commands.
  8. (more to come)

What I would change

  1. No styling comments are included. It is what it is and I generally like it. Steve Crijns and I had a discussion about the apparance of a car and he softly corrected me. The car catches the attention of a very diverse audience, even people that previously never noticed my NSX or Super Seven.
  2. Put a logo on the key. Put the immobilizer in the key. I prefer to carry only the bare necessities in my pocket. Right now I am carrying the key, the immobilizer and a logo plate in my pocket.
  3. Gauges need a lot of work. The temperature is too small and there is not enough contrast. I cannot read it under normal lighting conditions. The tach and speedometer lighting at night is poor. Rather than lighting the background as is the current fad, the numerals should be lit. Adjusting the eye from the light of the road to the gauges should be minimal. I want oil temperature and pressure. I like the lack of color and do not like the red and now blue fads.
  4. The start button is an after thought by marketing. Make it a real button by having the car recognize your arrival, unlock and arm the engine. The car can sense the key fob and unlock and disarm the car. Then just enter the car and press start. Or let the third ignition key position start the car like normal. Why do I have to use two hands to start the car? The edges of the start button bezel are sharp.
  5. Head lights are poorly aimed upon delivery. Not a big problem as they can be carefully aimed and once pointed down the road, do an excellent job of lighting. There are many who claim the lights do not work well but I suggest this is an aiming problem.
  6. The sun visors are poorly implemented. I removed them.
  7. The seat was too low for my body type. I raised it.

sandsmuseum's 2008 Lotus Exige

sandsmuseum's 2008 Lotus Exige

Guestbook

Displaying entries 1-4 of 4

sandsmuseum  

Posted by: sandsmuseum

02/21/2009 09:27AM

Amazingly upkeep on the car was minimal. For the first 35,000 miles on my Elise, there were few items beyond what you might expect with a Celica or other Toyota engined car. The engine and suspension were totally reliable. As you might expect the cost of ownership will be dependent on how you drive the car. I participated in educational driving events and autocrossing. Cost of tires was a big issue as the car will wear out a pair of rear tires in around 8,000 miles and they cost around $600 for original equipment A048s. You can save a bit by going to something other than the Yokohamas, like the Toyos for example.

amiguel6  

Posted by: amiguel6

02/20/2009 01:19PM

sweet very nice car amazing!!!! 5 *****

Lotus2008ExigeS  

Posted by: Lotus2008ExigeS

10/11/2008 01:53PM

Love the car (obviously), and love your website too! Post more pictures!

tribalpanda09  

Posted by: tribalpanda09

10/07/2008 03:41PM

looks awesome. sweet ride, how much it cost u? keep it up 5*****

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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: sandsmuseum

Location: Sunnyvale, CA