Shifter improvements - There are several mods available to improve shift quality ranging from easy to hard and from nearly free to ~$2K. I decided to start with two of the cheapest and easiest. First, after experimenting with adding weight to the shift knob and feeling a difference, I purchased The Bollock knob from Inokinetic. On my scale, weight increases from 118gr to 367gr (vs. a claimed 400gr) and it is a slightly larger diameter at 1.9" vs. 1.8". Second was Stan's Mod which adds shims, typically in the form of washers, between the floor and the bottom of the sheet metal shifter frame to reduce lateral play. Rather than washers, I opted to 3D print a custom spacer to maximize the footprint and to match the sawtooth shape of the floor rather than just sit on the tooth peaks. The photos of the spacer below show the POC version printed in PLA. The final version was printed in PETG-CF.
Between the two, shift quality is improved. It's a big enough change that I don't believe it's a placebo effect, yet not so big that it elevates it into the realm of good shifters. It has, however, moved it further into the more-than-acceptable-for-me category.
Between the two, shift quality is improved. It's a big enough change that I don't believe it's a placebo effect, yet not so big that it elevates it into the realm of good shifters. It has, however, moved it further into the more-than-acceptable-for-me category.
Seats - Seat comfort has been considerably improved through a combination of tilting it back a few degrees via 3D printed spacers and adding the Sparco kidney/side pads. For the pads, I wanted to make sure they could be removed with no damage to the leather and ideally affixed in a way that allows slight repositioning. The fix was a sandwich of Command strips affixed to the seat, then EVA (a flexible closed-cell foam) stuck to the adhesive side of the Command strips, and finally adhesive backed Velcro loop material is attached to the EVA. The pads, which have Velcro hook material sewed to their backs, mount to this sandwich. This setup will allow for fine tuning of the pad position, while providing enough strength to keep them in place. Or so I hope.
Earlier, I had tested a Command strip on an inconspicuous part of the seat to check for any reaction to the leather or dye. After a couple of weeks with no issues, I'm optimistic, but I will pull them in a month or two to confirm, and then again after a longer period. Provided things are still okay, and this fix holds up to regular ingress/egress, I'll cover the pads with Alcantara for aesthetics and consider it done.
Earlier, I had tested a Command strip on an inconspicuous part of the seat to check for any reaction to the leather or dye. After a couple of weeks with no issues, I'm optimistic, but I will pull them in a month or two to confirm, and then again after a longer period. Provided things are still okay, and this fix holds up to regular ingress/egress, I'll cover the pads with Alcantara for aesthetics and consider it done.
Tires - The car came with AD09s that had aged out. Unfortunately, that tire is no longer available in the US in 195/50-16 needed for the fronts, so after digging through a number of reviews, I went with the Bridgestone RE71RS. Not a good standing water tire but reportedly does well on wet tarmac and very well on the dry stuff. Given how I'll use the car, this should suffice. Tramlining, grip and ride were immediately improved with them installed. It's hard to say how much of each is down to a better tire and how much is due to it simply being a fresher tire. Regardless, these are very noticeable improvements.
Alignment - After the tires were installed, the car had its first alignment since leaving the factory. Because I will drive the car almost exclusively solo, I opted to limit ballast (176 lb.) to the driver's seat. But I did stick to the factory's other recommendation of 1/2 tank of fuel.
The target numbers are based on the commonly recommended settings on LotusTalk:
The stock settings have significantly less camber front and rear, with a tiny bit of front toe out and a little less rear toe in. Caster is unchanged.
The top table shows the starting alignment numbers followed by the final numbers in the bottom table. Coming in with positive camber on the left front, and total rear toe over double the recommendation, was surprising. Even if I wanted to stick with the factory settings, things were still well out of whack.
Alignment - After the tires were installed, the car had its first alignment since leaving the factory. Because I will drive the car almost exclusively solo, I opted to limit ballast (176 lb.) to the driver's seat. But I did stick to the factory's other recommendation of 1/2 tank of fuel.
The target numbers are based on the commonly recommended settings on LotusTalk:
- Front: maximum achievable negative camber with all front spacers removed, and 0 toe.
- Rear: -2.5° camber each rear side, and 3mm (0.40°) total toe in.
The stock settings have significantly less camber front and rear, with a tiny bit of front toe out and a little less rear toe in. Caster is unchanged.
The top table shows the starting alignment numbers followed by the final numbers in the bottom table. Coming in with positive camber on the left front, and total rear toe over double the recommendation, was surprising. Even if I wanted to stick with the factory settings, things were still well out of whack.
Initial Settings
Front Left |
Front Right |
Rear Left |
Rear Right |
|
Toe |
0.05° (out) |
0.05° (out) |
0.4° (in) |
0.5° (in) |
Camber |
+0.2° |
-0.3° |
-1.3° |
-1.9° |
Caster |
4.1° |
4.0° |
Final Settings
Front Left |
Front Right |
Rear Left |
Rear Right |
|
Toe |
0.0° |
0.0° |
0.2° (in) |
0.2° (in) |
Camber |
-0.7° |
-0.9° |
-2.5° |
-2.5° |
Caster |
3.8° |
3.7° |
Although I haven't yet had an opportunity to really test the setup, initial findings are that the tramlining is further improved, turn in feels sharper, and on a very tight right hander I was finally able to get the rear to rotate a bit. Perhaps the rotation is a result of improved right turn grip thanks to no longer having positive camber on the left front?
Weight - While it was in for the alignment, we put it on the scales. With ballast, cross weights were a perfect 50.0/50.0 and F/R split was 39.0/61.0. Weight without the ballast was 1940 lb. Photos below show the scales with ballast and without.
Weight - While it was in for the alignment, we put it on the scales. With ballast, cross weights were a perfect 50.0/50.0 and F/R split was 39.0/61.0. Weight without the ballast was 1940 lb. Photos below show the scales with ballast and without.
Safety - I've had good success adding a brake flash module to the 3rd brake lights on both the Westfield and Caterham. Drivers behind seem to pick up on the fact you're braking more quickly than with a steady light - always a good thing in a small car. The Elise received the same treatment, but this time I opted for a different module that is smaller, cheaper, and programmable for flash rate and number. Chalk this up to them becoming more popular and more people making them.
The PO warned me that the wiper blade was shot. After researching replacements on LotusTalk, I installed a 24" Bosch Icon. This is 2" shorter than the factory length, which shortens the visible overhang on the curved windshield when the wiper is parked, yet still provides full coverage of the section visible from the driver's seat. It worked very well on the rain that fell on the drive home from the alignment shop.
The PO warned me that the wiper blade was shot. After researching replacements on LotusTalk, I installed a 24" Bosch Icon. This is 2" shorter than the factory length, which shortens the visible overhang on the curved windshield when the wiper is parked, yet still provides full coverage of the section visible from the driver's seat. It worked very well on the rain that fell on the drive home from the alignment shop.
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