11/09/08 - ????: Five months ago Jaime and I ordered a new car. Today, we picked it up. Very, very cool. More pictures and details soon!

11/18/08 - Lotus: Third time is the charm. We tried to buy a Lotus two different times in the past (Elise and Esprit) and it didn't work out. Last weekend, the third try succeeded. Say hello to our new 2008 Isotope Green Lotus Exige S240. Besides the paint color, the only option we added was the limited slip diff. It's the quickest street car Lotus has ever built (0-60 in 4.0 seconds), and on the way home from San Diego, we averaged over 26 mpg! It's tiny, fast and nimble and comes from the factory with race compound tires. It feels very much like driving a go-cart on the street. Extremely fun to drive.

12/04/08 - Lotus: We've had some fun with the little Lotus over the past few weeks. Jaime made us a custom shift boot the day after we brought the car home. It's a perforate black Alcantara material with bright green stitch. Looks awesome in the car.

The roof scoop sucks in air to cool the supercharger's intercooler. When you remove the roof and look towards the motor, you can see there is a significant lip in the connecting section of the body. Lotus says that removing this lip with a dremel increases the airflow by 20%. Easy enough to do. Took us about fifteen minutes to remove the roof and do the whole job.

Not pictured are a couple small jobs that Jaime and I finished up. The area in front of the rear tires was getting a little beat up by rocks. They get kicked up by the sticky front tires, so Jaime and I installed some clear bra over that section. Should provide some protection. We also reduced the weight of the Lotus by a whole 2 lbs! We replaced two cast aluminum intercooler tubes with some light weight mandrel bent aluminum tubes. They have a smooth texture, look nicer and are lighter weight. Win win win!

We also stopped by a local garage where some Lotus forum folk were having an informal get together. Sure does make for lots of pretty colors!

1/24/09- Lotus: We're not gone, we're just busy! Here's a little of what we've been up to lately. Jaime recovered the Lotus door panel insterts with the same material that she made the shift boot out of. Looks super nice. Also, if you ever wondered what the bottom of an Exige looked like, wonder no more! Pretty fancy if you ask me.

7/26/09- Lotus: This weekend we finally got around to installing our new six quart baffled oil pan. Lotus recommends you install this kind of pan if you intend on racing the car. Hopefully this means we'll be able to attend an autocross soon.

1. Here's Jaime helping get the stubborn factory oil pan off. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to remove. Silicone can be really stubborn.
2. Here's a shot of the underside of the motor with the oil pan removed. You can see the flywheel, crank and push rods here.
3. New oil pan is installed and we're letting it sit overnight so the silicone can cure.

7/26/09- Lotus: We installed a new cat-back exhaust system on the Lotus a couple months back but I never got around to posting photos, so here they are.

1. The under tray and rear diffuser have been removed to reveal the exhaust system.
2. There I am preparing the new stainless system for installation. You can see that it's significantly smaller than the stock system, but it's also a surprising amount lighter.
3. Removal of the factory cat-back section of the exhaust reveals some beautiful heat shielding.
4. New exhaust system is installed and sounds glorious. The rear diffuser and under tray were then reinstalled.