MadaboutKitcars

Just thought I would say hello,

Im new to the world of kitcars and am thinking about buying a used 5exi... there are a few of them about at the moment.

Just wondered if anyone had any buying advice etc... what to look for... know problems etc...

Ive been reading the forum and am a bit apprehensive over the handling and rear suspension set up... are all the cars skitish when backing off at over 80mph? has anyone found a solution to this problem?

thanks for the advice you will no doubt dispense,

cheers,

Marcus

(Manchester)

Hi Marcus & welcome.....

Most people I've spoken to have been adjusting / modifying their suspension set up to improve the handling.

The Marlin Mark 2 rear suspension cures the bumpsteer...but I'm not sure how succesful this is with regard to the otehr handling attributes.

My car (orange R plate on the gallery) has the Mark 1 suspension and I have redesigned the rear upper track links to remove bumpsteer....

Handling....not as good as an elise. Can be unpredictable, but with spring / damping / toe changes I have managed to get a car I am now confident with.


Eithehr way it's still good fun.

...oh, and it's reluctantly for sale....£9K

Rich

Or you could buy mine for £7k - 1.6lt with 2000miles on the clock.

Mike R

The best thing to do is go for a drive in them before you buy.

Test the 1.6's and the turbo John's got.

Here is the locations.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111994729502750855611.000450b338d524c1d8abf&ll=53.67068,4.306641&spn=7.775073,19.6875&z=6

How much are you looking to spend??

Just thinking that you will have quite a bit to spend on the car after purchase to get it sorted properly

4x 48's
rear suspension
etc

There have been a few advertised for 5K (all rover variants) and its these that im interested in.

Im probably going to ask a stupid question... but what do you mean by 4x48s??

Apart from the rear suspension geometry is there anything else that may need attention/i should look out for?

Cheers

Sorry, if you are going to track/drive the car hard you will need 4x A048's or something similar (tyres) and these are not cheap

Look out for rust as mine has not seen water and has been garaged for two years until 1st sept and in places looks like the titanic

Ah i should have worked that one out.... i figured it must have something to do with the wheels! Have you guys used Kumho Ecsta MX tyres? I changed over to them from pirielli p zeros and they offer up much more grip and are very progressive when your on the limit. Ok it might not be an apples for apples comparison at the Kumhos are track tyres but they might be worth considering if your on a budget (they were less than half the price of the p zeros!) and so far look like they will almost cover the same mileage.

Any particular areas to look for rust... or just everywhere?