VX Rearended - Maybe written off

[TW]Fox;10121948 said:
Did the VX220 really save Lotus from bankruptcy?

Also why did you not clean the wheels, surely leaving brake dust on them for months is doing them no favours?
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In all probability, yes. Lotus did pretty well out of it and it provided them with the basis of the entire range at present, the S2 Elise, S2 Exige, Europa & 211 are all based on the VX. I don't think Lotus would have agreed to the project unless they needed to either.

As for the wheels, I've got new ones to go on so these will just be sold. They got a little marked in places on the rears as they were underneath the car for a while to support the weight at the front. I'm going to give them a rub down and fresh coat of paint before I sell them anyway, won't take very long.
 
[TW]Fox;10121948 said:
Did the VX220 really save Lotus from bankruptcy?
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No. It did however give them a rather large cash injection which they subsequently put straight back into car development. This gave way to *some* of the features in the S2 Elise/Exige - such as the lowered door sills and much better quality soft top roof.

It's wrong of Muncher to say that the S2 Elise/Exige would never have happened without the VX project. The "M250" project was underway before the VX220 project and this really was the prototype S2 Elise. So it's clear that Lotus had a strategy to revise the S1 car long before Vauxhall came along. Lotus accepted the VX220 project because it is what they do. They are a design and development consultancy primarily. The Elise platform was always intended to be OEM'd and resold. Lotus scratch their heads almost every day wondering why no other people like Vauxhall have wanted sporty little 2 seater sports cars making for their market. They wish they had more VX220 type projects!!!

And after the unexpected "bumper sales" of the S1 Elise - Lotus were no where near bankruptcy during those years. They're closer to it today than they were back then!
 
I must admit I am not fully aware of the figures so may well be wrong, I can only go by what I've read on the VX forums and SELOC.

As for the the shared components, off the top of my head I'd also add the windscreen and surround, wishbones, steering rack and crash structure.

Regarding the M250 project, why was it canned in the end? Wasn't it lack of money?
 
Muncher said:
I must admit I am not fully aware of the figures so may well be wrong, I can only go by what I've read on the VX forums and SELOC.

As for the the shared components, off the top of my head I'd also add the windscreen and surround, wishbones, steering rack and crash structure.

Regarding the M250 project, why was it canned in the end? Wasn't it lack of money?
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Crash structure is unchanged (other than clamshell mounting points) from the S1 Elise.

Wishbones are welded together in about 5 minutes - they vary between cars as the wheel arches are often in slightly different positions as well as other reasons.

Windscreen and surround, both made by Lotus' partners and can be modified for a new car with just a phone call.

Steering rack is made by Titan Motorsport and can be modified for a new car with just a phone call also.

M250 was canned because it was just a design project to experiment with new CAD design tools. The M250 was in fact the first Lotus car to be 100% designed on computer. Secondly it was never put into production because no V6 engine could be sourced and the market for a V6 Elise type car at the time was not seen to be very large.

VX forums probably aren't the best place to form opinions on this subject.
 
Right, a little update :)

Some new pics at http://www.muncher.org.uk/vxrebuild

The car is back and I'm setting about getting it all together, which is going to take some while!

Here's a list of the improvements that I'm making while doing this, off the top of my head :p

List of VX Improvements

Brakes:
Pagid RS14 Pads
Mintex C-Tech Vented Discs
BF Goodridge Braided Hoses
Dot 5 racing fluid

Ride and Handling
Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 Lightweight alloys
Toyo R888 Semi slick tyres
8x New balljoints
2x new track rod ends
2x new Spitfire Engineering rear tie rod links
2x new Anti-roll bar drop links
2x New ARB bushes
20x new suspension bushes
3mm machined from hub carriers
Custom camber shims
Eliseparts steering rack riser plates

Body
2x New headlights
Complete respray
New stone protection film
Replaced Rivnuts
New side intakes
New hardtop
Anti rattle door pins
Boot lighting fitted
New Rear Grille
New number plates
Heated front windscreen with black surround

Engine
EGR Valve Deletion and EGR cheater fitted
New fuel filter
Improved timing chain and tensioner kit fitted
Piper 266 degree cams fitted
2.4L inlet manifold
Ported and Polished Throttle body
2Bular 4-1 Manifold
2Bular full exhaust system inc race cat
Coolant header tank UV cover

Interior
Leather centre console
Leather sill pockets
Carpet Set
Alcantara trimmed doorcards
Alcantara trimmed dash plates
Alcantara trimmed Dash
Alcantara trimmed Stack System
Smaller rear view mirror
ABS cutoff key-switch
 
nice list of improvements going on. I'm sure you're interested to see how different it feels when it's all back together, that's if you remember what it was like before :p

eta on how long until it's back on the road?
 
painted.jpg


:D
 
olv said:
nice list of improvements going on. I'm sure you're interested to see how different it feels when it's all back together, that's if you remember what it was like before :p

eta on how long until it's back on the road?
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It'll feel a lot better that's for sure!

Back on the road in a month I hope, substantially complete, maybe sooner but I'll be waiting on the exhaust and both manifolds I think.

The alcantara is going in as it reduces glare from the dash showing on the windscreen, which allows you to go faster ;). The weight increase from a bit of cloth is marginal.

The door pins because I've had a batch made up and they'll pay for themselves and the centre console I picked up for a silly price from a scrap yard :) Granted the carpets are a bit gay though :p
 
olv said:
How so?
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Just from chatting to a mate who has put several cars back on the road, he seems to think it's likely it may not have any category added as the third party insurers have never owned my car, they've never had the V5 and it could well be regarded as cash in lieu of repair. He also says it's possible to get the category amended as well.
 
DSC02273.jpg


Dangerously close to being driven home now!

Recently done (that I can remember!) includes:

  • ABS cutoff switch on dash
  • Handbrake cable fitted
  • New battery fitted
  • Door pins fitted
  • Every suspension joint torqued
  • Brake bolts threadlocked
  • ARB fitted
  • Exhaust and heatshield fitted
  • Piper Cams fitted
  • New timing chain kit fitted with new tensioners, guide rails, improved oiljet, gaskets, seals, sprockets etc
  • Throttle body ported and pollished
  • Alternator swapped for a smaller 100 amp one to allow a 2.4 litre intake manifold to be fitted
  • New alternator belt
  • EGR valve removed and EGR cheater fitted
  • Gazeebo patched up with two broom handles!

Probably loads more stuff but I'm losing track now. Just the new tie rod kit to fit which should arrive tomorrow, front and rear clams half fixed on and some lights then I can drive it home to finish it all off. (I say finish it off but there's still a LOT to do)
 
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