Newish addition to the fleet

TOMGREEN413

TOMGREEN413

Senior member
 Somewhere in deep darkest Wales
Hi folks,
Had one of these a few years ago and after moving to a Z Coupe, to 981S which wasn't my bag , l have gone back to my first love ....Lotus, this one's a Club Racer Edition build number 25 or 25, in cool lemans blue, supercharged 1.8 Toyota engine poking out about 254 , but weight just over 900kg so goes quite nicely. I have a list of mods for the winter and hopefully will have it running closer to 280/290 next year and a larger intercooler. This little thing gets smiles n thumbsup on just about every occasion unlike the 981 . This will definitely be a keeper as it ticks all the boxes for me, fast rare,crazy looking,cheap to maintain and no depreciation. Screenshot_20260620-201432_Gmail.jpgScreenshot_20260620-201516_Gmail.jpgScreenshot_20260620-201629_Gmail.jpg
 
That's very nice @TOMGREEN413.
I am also a Lotus fan. They make great cars.

My next door neighbour had an Exige club racer in his garage a few weeks ago which he was putting reg plates on. Then it disappeared.
I can't remember if it was blue, but could have been yours? Where did you get it from?
 
That's interesting Pondy I'm in the LDC and they are only aware of the location of 5 in the Uk, some were exported to Japan and Australia.
They on.y came in this colour (lemans blue with phantom black stripes) but mine came from Southampton a few months ago.
I'm curious about the one your saw especially what reg as perhaps its not one known to the Club?
BTW l hadn't been on the forum since you finished the 250GT Californa and l must say it looks incredible, you've done a amazing job.
 
TOMGREEN413 said:
That's interesting Pondy I'm in the LDC and they are only aware of the location of 5 in the Uk, some were exported to Japan and Australia.
They on.y came in this colour (lemans blue with phantom black stripes) but mine came from Southampton a few months ago.
I'm curious about the one your saw especially what reg as perhaps its not one known to the Club?
BTW l hadn't been on the forum since you finished the 250GT Californa and l must say it looks incredible, you've done a amazing job.
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I will ask him. It may not have been a club racer but it had the big wing! He is a big Lotus fan and has an Emira in his garage.
 
Mr Tidy said:
That must be ballistic!

But whenever I see that colour I can't help thinking of a Gulf livery. :LOL:
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Yes, it's incredible, and having a supercharger just a few inches behind your seat makes the noise intoxicating, multiple overtakes are a breeze. The colour is inspired by the 1960s Gulf racing blue, this is what Lotus stated when they released this edition.
 
Thanks, it is Magnetic Blue. In direct sunlight it's much more vibrant than my Interlagos Blue Zed, but it lacks the purple hues of the BMW colour.
The wheels are from Team Dynamics, I think they're Pro Race. I had them powder coated in gunmetal but they're usually satin black or silver. My Exige OEM wheels were also black and they were the standard, rather fussy Y-Spoke wheels.
 
You have a great taste in colours, l also think the Interlagos Blue is perfection on a Z4. Back in the day when l had a Solar Yellow RGB it too had the Y spoke wheels and yes, what a faff to clean, the Club Racer are almost as bad.
I have plans for major work over the latter part of the summer into winter, Baffled sump, 2bular manifold, sports cat and back box, larger rear diffuser , wing and splitter , larger intercooler with additional cooling vents and finally a fuel pump, injector and remap upgrade.....maybe to 280+ and then she's just about perfect. Thing about the Exige is they are so tunable and so much available to modify them.
I'm quite sure this will be a keeper for me as it puts a smile on my face ( and others.....it always gets thumbsup or waves whenever l take it out) but doesn't cost much to run, and it quite basic to work on. Oh and the wife likes it as well so that's always a bonus.
 
Just in case anyone was wondering but didn't like to ask......"what's with the WOOPER theme?", well this is a tribute to my late daughter Grace, she and l loved the pokermon derived Wooper ( its a baby Newt) and its amazing that the Lotus just happens to be a similar colour to him, so with a few modifications the Club Racer became Wooper Racing.
In November 2024 after looking for the Perfect 981 l finally took delivery of one but unfortunately the day after it arrived my daughter rang with the news that she had a rare form of Luckiemia that required chemo, radiation followed by a bone marrow transplant to stand any chance of survival at aged 24, sadly Grace got sepsis shortly after the transplant in April 2025 and never had a chance, this tragedy made looking at and driving the 981 very bitter sweet and it would remind me always of the storm that hit us the day after it was delivered, hence it had to go .
Weirdly the day l sold the 981 this incredible car came up for sale and at exactly the same price I'd sold the 981 for and the fact it was in the same colour as the WOOPER we both loved made it the perfect car to replace the 981. So now l can enjoy some fun motoring knowing Grace would be laughing and would definitely have approved the WOOPER theme. The car is also good therapy for me as the last year or so has been very dark for our family and continues to be a challenge, my heart goes out to anyone who's lost a child, its incredibly difficult and each day is still a battle.
Sorry if I've gone on , but l thought it would be nice to share "the Wooper " to Car connection. Thank you for your understanding.
 
TOMGREEN413 said:
You have a great taste in colours, l also think the Interlagos Blue is perfection on a Z4. Back in the day when l had a Solar Yellow RGB it too had the Y spoke wheels and yes, what a faff to clean, the Club Racer are almost as bad.
I have plans for major work over the latter part of the summer into winter, Baffled sump, 2bular manifold, sports cat and back box, larger rear diffuser , wing and splitter , larger intercooler with additional cooling vents and finally a fuel pump, injector and remap upgrade.....maybe to 280+ and then she's just about perfect. Thing about the Exige is they are so tunable and so much available to modify them.
I'm quite sure this will be a keeper for me as it puts a smile on my face ( and others.....it always gets thumbsup or waves whenever l take it out) but doesn't cost much to run, and it quite basic to work on. Oh and the wife likes it as well so that's always a bonus.
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It’s not entirely by design! In both cases, I bought the best car available at the time and the colour was a bonus.
I’m on the fence about supercharging mine. I love the screaming NA engine and limited power means I keep my licence. However, I can’t stop myself from modifying my cars and it’s a very different car from the one I bought a few years ago.
I have a bespoke header / decat pipe that was engineered on a dyno by an Exige owner who wanted the very best NA build he could create (having done so, he’s now turbocharging it and the exhaust won’t fit). It's essentially tuned headers that are four into two, then two into one immediately before the back box. It increases the area under the curve by bringing up the low and midrange torque, without significantly increasing power at the top end. If you’ve driven a NA 2zz, you’ll know that corrects the stepped nature of the power delivery. I’m having a valved back section fabricated that will incorporate a cat and silencer on one limb and a straight pipe on the other. That way I can chose between quiet and legal, or utterly frenetic, unrestricted and likely shooting flames!
IMG_5518.jpeg
 
TOMGREEN413 said:
Just in case anyone was wondering but didn't like to ask......"what's with the WOOPER theme?", well this is a tribute to my late daughter Grace, she and l loved the pokermon derived Wooper ( its a baby Newt) and its amazing that the Lotus just happens to be a similar colour to him, so with a few modifications the Club Racer became Wooper Racing.
In November 2024 after looking for the Perfect 981 l finally took delivery of one but unfortunately the day after it arrived my daughter rang with the news that she had a rare form of Luckiemia that required chemo, radiation followed by a bone marrow transplant to stand any chance of survival at aged 24, sadly Grace got sepsis shortly after the transplant in April 2025 and never had a chance, this tragedy made looking at and driving the 981 very bitter sweet and it would remind me always of the storm that hit us the day after it was delivered, hence it had to go .
Weirdly the day l sold the 981 this incredible car came up for sale and at exactly the same price I'd sold the 981 for and the fact it was in the same colour as the WOOPER we both loved made it the perfect car to replace the 981. So now l can enjoy some fun motoring knowing Grace would be laughing and would definitely have approved the WOOPER theme. The car is also good therapy for me as the last year or so has been very dark for our family and continues to be a challenge, my heart goes out to anyone who's lost a child, its incredibly difficult and each day is still a battle.
Sorry if I've gone on , but l thought it would be nice to share "the Wooper " to Car connection. Thank you for your understanding.
Click to expand...
I’m sorry, that’s absolutely tragic. I cannot imagine how you came through it. I’m glad you have found something to cherish that you know Grace would have loved.
 
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