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Hi Guys, I've just joined the forum so thought I should say "Hi!". I am Joe, I have an Exige 410 Sport in Military Grey. It is my second Exige - the first being a black 350 Sport. I am 100% smitten with my 410 and hope to keep it for many years to come. I live in Northants on the Cambs/Rutland border and i am a life-long petrol head. I have a regular column in Absolute Lotus Magazine and i am a photo hawk on Instagram @jcxmig posting tons of pics of MIG 191 my beautiful 410. I also feature on the #MyLotus page richly filled with Lotus owner stories. I recently attended the C&M meet organised by Lotus Cars and was pleased to meet a bunch of guys who I had gotten to know a bit via Instagram and i guess some may well be on here too. I look forward to meeting more of you in due course. Cheers! Joe

Hi All Thanks for all your feedback and as you suspected it was the battery, and thanks to Jonathan E a new battery was collected and fitted today! Here’s hoping that the weather will be good this Sunday so I can make up for the aborted drive last Sunday keep safe all Kevin

An older/second hand car will always hold its value better because somebody else has taken the initial hit in regards to depreciation this bit is no different from any other car. Things get a bit different when it comes to options, touring packs are popular but add little come resale time, hard tops are great if the car is going to be used all year round, having said that, a dry and bright winters day with the roof off is hard to beat. I’ve never purchased a new Elise with a hardtop and those that came with a hardtop I’ve sold the hardtop on as a separate item, some people like them for track days but personally I think they are an expensive option which is also a bit of a faff to change over, and if your looking at newer cars the soft tops have got better over time. Most newer cars come with a stereo, they’re pretty pointless over certain speeds this will certainly be the case with the factory supplied units and most prefer to listen to the soundtrack of the car, however there are a few out there that have upgraded the head unit to Knebworth* matching standards, adding huge amps and speakers so they can drive aimlessly around their local town centre playing a choice of crap music at ear damaging levels for the benefit of people within a 3 mile radius of their car, not only does this go against the Lotus ethos, it also makes you look a weapons grade bellend to boot, and should be avoided. A/C is a real anomaly, I’ve just purchased my 10th Elise it’s the first I’ve ever had with air con, I was strongly advised to add it as an option, I don’t think it adds value at resale but it probably does make the car more desirable, I’m very much in the no A/C camp here, the car is a convertible take the roof off if it’s hot, but that’s from someone who has always been very aware of the cars power to weight ratio and in the end I figured that losing 25kg from my personal fat bastard framework and the addition of the extra bhp from my previous 111s the addition of a/c wouldn’t be noticeable and I can report it isn’t, although it is renowned for breaking so if your buying second hand check it works well. The single biggest thing in regards to Lotus ownership is the mindset, don’t expect it to be on a par with German/Japanese build quality, it will have “issues” even new ones do, be prepared to have to take a screwdriver or spanner to it occasionally, if something squeaks or falls off be prepared to roll your eyes and sort it yourself, fast Audi and Fords will beat you off the lights and probably be faster too and every Chavved up shit bucket will want to race you. Your car will probably leak too. I’m not sure what age you are or your personal situation but they are not a fanny magnet, young boys will take a very keen interest in the car, girls will think your missing something in the trouser department and give you a very wide birth. The above are just my opinion, but one thing is a given, get it onto a decent road or track and you won’t stop smiling! Hope the above helps. *age related content, google for information if required.

Fantastic car in a amazing colour welcome to MLOC 👍

Thx @Neilshannon27 I share 1 in 20 or 30 pics taken. I find if it take enough pics i manage to capture a few worth sharing.

Welcome mate, I have seen your car on tour on Instagram. Love car and you sure know how to take a picture. Be great to see you and your car at a meet one day. 👍🏼

Welcome Aboard Joe, if your want to Join a Run keep an eye on the events Thread, I look forward to seeing you and your car Cheer Ray ps Great Pic by the way

Hi Joe, welcome to MLOC. As soon as I saw the photo of your Exige I thought I've seen that car somewhere before and after reading on realised it was in Absolute Lotus. The Exige looks stunning in military grey and obviously worthy of a second glance from the feline fraternity by the looks of it 😄

Especially if he’s following you!

Thanks Ray. 2 sleeps to go though...a little over 36hrs to go.

You’ll need to remember where your car is first 😂

Looks good to me and neat. Could do with strapping some permanently to my wife’s car doors 😂

I don't know anything about them personally but there's plenty of info here... https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/91260-transforged-racing-afterburners-grp-halo-lights/#comments

New acquisition agreed with collection next Saturday. As it’s covered c300miles and described as new/mint my expectations are rather clearer than the last purchase attempt. For those like me who enjoy the geeky lotus build specs, for some reason this car has the door cards (arm rest/pocket) belonging to the Phil popham gt410 (or 400), yet it was built after the 400 ceased production and prior to the launch of the gt410🤔.

A friend of mine has started his own YouTube channel reviewing & discussing various different cars. He's just finished a video with an Elise SC Give it a watch and give him a follow please.

Having a free evening and looking through my Elise paperwork I found my notes on sorting out a sticky accelerator for my K series Elise. So thought I’d post this after spending the better part of a year trying to resolve it, and boy it was horrendous. I’d gently press the accelerator and… nothing. A little more pressure and still nothing. A little bit…OMG the accelerator would drop 10-15mm and I’d be 10meters down the road or stalled. This would happen all the way through the travel but was a bit better on the move. When it wasn’t too dangerous to drive it completely ruined the whole driving experience - for me and seemingly for all those who put up individual posts. I think I noted down and tried every tip and suggestion I found on various forums in different posts. To make things a little easier for the next person to suffer 'sticky throttle', I’ve downloaded my notes here and made the title as search friendly as possible. So without further ado; here are the problems and solutions which have helped various Elise owners sort out a sticking accelerator pedal on a K series Elise. I was quite discering when reading posts so hopefully it is all killer and no filler Starting at your right foot and moving back through the car: Is the accelerator pedal being fouled by the floor mat? § Secure floor mat to floor Is the accelerator return cable seated properly and working correctly. § Adopt the Lotus position and check the spring is located properly, not fouling on anything and retains good tension § Replace or reposition as necessary. Is the pedal box pivot sticking? o Sometimes the plastic bushes in the pedal box cease to rotate smoothly. § Adopt the Lotus position and spray the pivots in the pedal box with a suitable lubricant – such as ACF50 or Lithium Grease or something with PTFE § Take a deep breath and spend 10 hours removing the pedal box and replacing all the pivots with a new set. Is the throttle lever rubbing on the top of the throttle plate? o On K series cars the throttle plate pivot supports a rudimentary lever on a plastic pivot connecting the pedal to the cable. This can start to see-saw rather than rotate and so doing rub and stick on the throttle plate. § Replace with improved aftermarket throttle linkage kit like the ones from Elise Shop or Elise parts. § Late K series and Toyota cars had a much simpler and more direct throttle plate / cable design. A few forum members upgraded to this and said it was great. Are the plastic gromets at the end of the cable properly seated in the throttle plate abutment? § Follow Lotus manual instruction and made sure all the gromets are properly seated. Is the space between one grommet at the end of the cable and the other gromet in the throttle linkage/lever set to the right distance? o Theres a specific distance require here – 20mm from memory - for the design to work as intended. § Consult the lotus manual and make sure this distance is as per manual. Is the cable routing kinked? § Make sure your cables run in natural arcs wherever they have to make a turn. Is the cable pinched or crushed? o People have crushed the cable when tightening up the central tunnel back onto the tub. § Make sure the cable can be pulled and pushed - i.e. is free at this point. § Another pinch point is the exit from the cabin to the underside of the rear So make sure cable still moving free here as well Are the cables exiting the cabin all laid up in the right order? § Make sure the accelerator cable is under the handbrake cable (i.e. nearest to the underside of the car) and that the handbrake cable horseshoe is the right way round with the to two bumps of the OEM shoe facing upwards § Check to make sure the handbrake cable isn’t fouling the accelerator cable when tightened. Have you used the right thread on the sheer panel to route the cable? o There are two potential threads in the shear panel to use to route the accelerator cable via a small plastic clip. The one that looks the straightest and ‘best’ route should be avoided at all cost. While in practice this maybe on 10 to 15 mm difference; in reality it is the difference is between melting the inside of the cable and it causing an irreparable sticking point… or the cable working fine. § Always and Only use the thread which takes the cable furthest away from the manifold. Does the cable have a heatshield sleeve attached to it? o on the cable and make sure there a silver heatshield sleeve it was put there for a reason. That being that the heat from the manifold can be marginal as per the difference 15mm has been found to have on thr cable. § Make sure the heatshield is fitted. Is the heatshield in the right place? § Make sure it runs along the manifold and under the sump. It should start at the sheer panel end on the initial up-turn after the sump. Has the cable been frayed by the driveshaft? o On the turn, up the side of the engine, the next danger is being worn away on the drive shaft § Use an extra cable tie on the existing wiring loom to keep the cable away from the drive shaft. § There should be a clip at the top where the cable reappears – make sure this is a) present and b) positioned to help with the cable routing in relation to the drive shaft. Consider the clip on the inlet manifold o There’s a clip on the inlet manifold to route the cable over. This shouldn’t be an issue but some people found letting the cable find a natural route or arch freely to the throttle body or using a p-clip instead of the clip helped. § Give it a go and set it free if nothing has worked so far. Lets face it you’re running out of options Has the cable dried out or is it full of grime? o Many sob stories have had a happy ending by cleaning and lubing the cable itself. § Cable lubers from the motorbike world which you wind down to push oil into the cable don’t fit the k series accelerator cable – check before you buy. § Most people rig up a small water bottle and make a hole in the bottle top for the cable and then tap up to make it tight. Hang the bottle above the car and leave gravity to do the work overnight. § Squeeze the bottle a bit to help pressure oil down the cable IF you’re confident your seal is tight and you’re not courting disaster and going to pour a bottle of oil into the boot. § You can get bicycle lubers which come with a syringe and you can achieve the same result with this and a little patience. § One more suggestion was always lubricate a new cable before fitting. · Use the right Oil to lube the cable o Do Not use heavy oil like gear box or engine oil thinking its more viscous and therefore better at lubricating the cable. It’s not; its worse (and attracts dirt). § The oil you use should be a light oil § people have said the used standard 3 in 1 to good effect or PTFE based spray or some other light oil. Someone used ACF 50. There were other favourite oils used but the general consensus is it should be a light oil. § You can buy specially formulated oil for lubricating motorbike and bicycle cables. One of more of the above scenarios has damaged the internal cable and it needs replacing. o Crushing or frayed cables are more easily found than if this is heat related. But while heat damage may not be visible externally but you should feel a subtle or possibly very definite resistance in if you free up both ends of the cable and feel for resistance / sticking when gently pushing and pulling on the cable. One of the red herrings heat damage can throw at you is that sometimes the heat when in use causes the problem and on cooling the restriction somehow shrinks back and isn’t as pronounced or even there, while you were on the go. § Replace the cable. § I recommend that you send off your existing cable to be made up by a specialist. If you choose an aftermarket specialist (like Venhill Engineering Ltd) you’ll get a better cable at a lower price than buying new. § Some of the old style S2 cables just aren’t available to by new anymore, so sending off to renew is the only option – they’ll reuse the existing gromets at the pedal end of the cable. Is the throttle body sticking? o This is always said in reference to the OEM plastic throttle body of k series cars. It is usually attributed to heat affecting the housing in such a way as to make the butterfly cease to pivot smoothly. § Replace with an alloy throttle body. A variety of sizes are available (48mm or 52mm) depending on what benefit you believe you get from a larger throttle body. Faulty Throttle Position Sensor o Sometimes a faulty TPS can cause hesitation on acceleration – this isn’t a sticky throttle in the mechanical sense but it’s been one of the items investigated and for some was the issue. Worth exploring if nothing else has worked. § Reset the TPS by turning on ignition and turning off immobiliser and cycling through 5 steady and deliberate depressions and releases of the throttle either via the throttle pedal or throttle body § Replace the TPS That's all I've got. I’m sure there’s options I’ve missed but hopefully this captures the majority of possible causes and cures, and helps someone out in the future Please add to the list if you think there are some other aspects not covered here. MrWill