The Lotus Grand Tourers

Hello all,

After battling all summer to get my Excel on the road, running out of time and patience (Only got front brakes left to do for MOT) why is every job a pig? Thought i had it beat and then the bloody door dropped off!!.

Ive decided to have a go at doing a few track days next year has anyone had a bash? or got any advice to give.

Ive been looking at replacing the seats with some buckets, i have a set of harnesses organised, now just looking for some uprated brake pads, maybee disks. Again if anyone has any sources, please let me know.

Moon

Moon,

I do track days in my Elise, not the Excel, although I think it would be great on a fast flowing circuit like Silverstone.

If your thinking of giving it a go, have a look here:-

www.lotus-on-track.com

Always a good crowd, well organised and safe.

A good place to start is Bedford Autodrome, this is a purpose built 'Trackday Track' approximatley 4 miles long, lots of run-off and no barriers, making it very safe. Unfortunatley the last date there this year is sold out I believe, but I'm sure there's plenty more in the pipeline.

Hope this helps.

I have done a number of trackdays with the Excel

Brands Hatch, Elvington, Bruntingthorpe, Castle Coombe, Abbeville (france), Nurburgring (Germany)

People are always surprised how well it goes and how fast it is

here it is on the Ring

here it is at castle coombe

Just fitted LSD and new diff bushes so should be going round the corners even better on it's next outing

Martin

There is a track day a week on Friday at Abbeville france - about 30 mins from Calais - with LOT - great track loads of runoff very safe but fun - and only £60 I think if you are a memebr

Martin

I did Castle Combe this year, a dry morning session and a torrential rain session in the afternoon.

Brilliant fun in the morning working the car hard, brakes were great (PNM 4 pot & 285 discs, Red stuff pads) .. no fade at all, came in and they were gently smoking and smelt great!

I was a bit apprehensive about the afternoon wet session but it was even more fun, balancing the car on the throttle. Hitting the rumble strips on the chicane at the back of the circuit was fun .. the whole car slid sideways about a metre every time - nice and predictable! Ok, I should've changed my line but it was fun! The rain also evened things up a bit more with the exiges and their semi-slick tyres!

Once you've done one, you'll want to do more!

Thanks for the info im defo going to have a go.

I wont have the car ready for a few months yet. Next purchase is a pair of chairs, been looking at Cobra Monaco's, if i can get a set at the right price/condition on EBay. Im presuming that they should mount to the existing runners without too much hastle.

Next is the brakes, the 4 POT idea sound interesting? More info please. I found some uprated Supra Celica disks but wasnt too sure about calipers.

Moon

As Tex2201 said the fast tracks really suit the Excel -- to the point of embarassing all but the the very fastest Caterhams ;-) Slow tracks, Brands Indy for example, you're going to be as good as a 1700 Caterham, which is not bad for a 4-squeeter.

Get some dampers you can adjust with a screwdriver and tighten them two or 3 clicks over what is just bearable on the road. Put an extra 5-8 pounds in the tyres for the dry, 3-5 for the wet. Put an extra 1/2 litre of oil in, over the "full" mark on the dipstick. Get a 4-point harness and anchor the lap straps to the normal mountings and the shoulder straps to the rear seat belt mounting. Cross the rear straps over before reaching your shoulders otherwise they'll slip off. With a 4-point tightened down HARD you won't need a new seat.

The standard pads are OK (-ish) when hot, but after they've cooled they'll be useless for the first lap of the circuit, or the first 50miles on the road.

Fuel pickup seems OK, so you don't need to run the tank more than 1/4 full, but the consumption is much higher than you'd expect, so keep an eye on the gauge.

I made a pin which converts the tilting seat-back into non-tilting to keep the RAC scrutes happy. Cost one short pin and a few minutes with a drill. If you're going to do *real* competition, for example the excellent Paul Matty series, you'll need a timing strut too. Mine was made from offcuts of a Europa ABS tunnel-top. Check the rules though 'cos it's 10 years since I did an RAC-sanctioned event.

The traction of an Excel, or any Lotus without a solid rear axle, is excellent, and you don't need an LSD with standard engines. Really decent modern track or road-rally tyres would help, although mine has always been fast on the 1980's NCTs. I would only go for better brakes for 20 lap+ stints, the usual 8-10 laps of most sessions are OK on standard brakes -- just watch them the first lap of the next session and particularly when going home.

Excel & me at Brands: http://www.mikecauser.com/lotus/excel/index.html
Circuits & tracks we've done: Brands Indy, Snetterton, Goodwood, Nuburgring, Cadwell, Castle Combe, Bruntingthorpe, North Weald, Loton Park, Curborough, Tibenham, Shelsley (or was that in the Mk Six?).


Mike