Next upgrade kitty

[Ryan]

Bought my first lotus, a 2004 111R with Toyota VVTi at the end of last year, and all seems to be stock.
First upgrade was a new tubular 7" silencer to make it sound like the car that it is. That is now complete and itching for my next upgrade.

I have used this to commute over the winter and even in town driving the ABS has been on more than I envisaged. This seems to kick in more than I expected. This is most likely due to the AD07s, 175 wide front tyres and scottish road conditions.
That said I am still looking to upgrade the brakes in the hopes of improving stopping power. It is currently fitted with Lotus/AP-Racing twin-piston fixed aluminium alloy front brake calipers, Brembo single-piston sliding rear calipers and likely stock pads. Is there a pad that is recommended, or is a caliper/disc upgrade the next step? Also unsure of current brake fluid so recommendations of fluid to change to would also help.
Another option is to try 195 tyres on the 5.5" rim to improve contact area, apparently these can fit on the same alloy.

The bigger the project, the more saving time required and dry roads are hopefully not too far away, so is there a short term fix before a major overhaul next winter?

Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ryan

[Shug]

Get it on warm, dry roads and evaluate. The ABS kicking in a lot suggests it's not a lack of braking power, but grip, so perhaps that's an area to concentrate on. No Elise has any grip or traction in winter sludge though.

Usual upgrades involve pads (Pagid RS4/2 are a good road/track pad - just steer clear of anything that's too track focused as they'll need to be warm, so will actually feel dead in road use) Fluid is only really an upgrade if you're boiling it - best to just change it out with a good Super Dot4 from a recognised brand though on a regular (annual) basis.

Like I say though - make the call when the weather is warmer and drier - the Elise platform is actually well sorted for brakes until you go to extreme power levels and heavier engine combos - overbraking them gains you nothing as all you do is lock tyres (or spend your life with ABS engaged). Caliper/disc upgrades don't really feature (IMO) until you're well north of 200bhp and living on track.

Usually a good set of fresh performance pads and fluid change, especially if your current set are glazed with cold winter use, and you'll think the thing will stop in its own length.

[rawsco]

I was out in my Exige with brand new scrubbed in ad08r tyres on it to give it a run before it went in the garage again, that was night before last, cold dry but with that dampness/condensation and the car was all over that place abs pump going mad just thinking about brakes... Obviously TC was set to 7% and some fun was to be had on the odd roundabout... At 9mph lol these cars don't fair well in cold damp conditions. Adding wider tyres will probably make it worse as the contact patch pressure goes lower. 205F/225R on mine

The AP brakes assuming it's the same as the AP ones on my Exige are very good I doubt they would be troubled by even sticky slicks and serious track abuse.

How old are the tyres on the front, old hard tyres will compound the problem...

[Ryan]

Difficult to gauge the age of the tyres or pads and even harder to judge the age of the brake fluid. I dont think the tyres have gone hard with age though.
The guy who owned it previously had it garaged and hardly did 1k miles per year. Its an 04 plate and still hasnt done 25k yet.
Im thinking i will change the pads and fluid as this cant do any harm and might only result in a spare set of pads.

Thanks guys

[StiflerMR2]

Tyres should be date stamped so you can find that our fairly easily:

http://www.simplemotoring.co.uk/tyre-ma ... r3s8vmsVEM

As shug said, I've never had any issues with standard brakes and pads, on and off track. I'd say the grip is just devilishly low atm, but a fresh set of pads (I use mintex 1144's) and new fluid wont hurt

[Ryan]

Ok cheers will have a look for a date.
Just investigated the pagids. Have I found the right pad? Internets saying around £170 for fronts compared with EBC yellow stuff or your suggested mintex around the £65. Is there a worthwhile difference between them?

[Shug]

Look more expensive, but last a good chunk longer in general. The Mintex 1144 was what we ran on Elaine's 111R when we had it and had no problem with them - barring perhaps a decent amount of dust. No more dusty than OEM, mind you.

The RS4/2 are seen as a definite upgrade in retardation though - the Mintex aren't night and day with OEM. No doubts, they are expensive in comparison, but you asked for upgrades

PS - and don't touch yellowstuff - utter mince.

[Ryan]

Dont mind spending the extra if they are worth it.

Heard there used to be problems with the yellowstuff but they changed the compound and now alot better. Had the redstuff on my mini works and they were excellent. Still dont know enough about them to take the chance though.

[campbell]

If you need to use it through winter, go with winter tyres.

Another vote for Pagid RS42 here. And a good quality fluid, changed annually.

Braided hoses too perhaps.

Narrow tyres good for damp.

[robin]

Spend your money on tyres not brakes.

For road use stick to the standard 175 fronts but get something new. Any new tyre is better than any >4 year old tyre. The rubber just hardens up and it becomes a vicious circle - as the rubber gets harder, it gets harder to put heat in the tyres and you rapidly lose confidence.

Leave the brakes alone until you've got the tyres sorted.

The Mintex 1144 are the intelligent choice for a road car on a budget.

Cheers,
Robin

[istoo]

Echoing above, the right shoes will bring about the best from the rest of the package.

I put in AD07s and pagid 42s running road and track it's a sublime combo.

I had continentals on my 53 111s before and they were skittish as hell, old and hard. Yokos make it much more predictable


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[Ryan]

Had the car in for a service with Craig and my pads are needing changed in the next while, so have ordered the Pagid pads all round so thanks again for the suggestion. Hopefully have these fitted soon.
Craig changed the brake fluid and said it was desperately needing changed and I have noticed a big difference, the ABS is now only coming on when required rather than almost every time.

Have also fitted powerflex engine mounts this weekend and they make a considerable improvement to the car in lower gears and around slower corners. Would recommend to others if looking for small/cheaper improvements. Cost around £50 for a full set.