2002 Superformance S1 on Ebay

[11Budlite]

No affiliation, etc: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Lotus-Super-7-2002-Superformance-S1_W0QQitemZ180432204541QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item2a0298f2fd#v4-37

[G2sound]

I've been lurking these pages for quite sometime with the intention of buying a Seven "someday". That day was last Tuesday. I saw this thread on Monday night and quite impulsively hit "Buy It Now" on Tuesday. I'm flying out to Mississippi next Sunday to check it out. If it's all good, I will be promoted to the rank of Owner next week!!

 

A question for the in-the-know, is there anything specific that I should look for/ask when checking this car out? Any input will be appreciated!

[S1Steve]

G2,

Get the body #, and we can see what dealer sold it and who was the first owner.

From looking over the photo's on ebay, it looks to be all there. I wonder what happened to the gauges that it came with, and what else was changed under the dash.

It has very low miles on it, so I would think it is not worn out. I put almost 14000 miles on mine and to is a 02. Drive it, take a GOOD HARD LOOK at it. Find out all of it's history.

Find out who built it ?????????

I always thought the S1 looked good in silver. Best of luck, Steve

[G2sound]

Thanks for the reply Steve. I was hoping that you would respond! The body # is SPS0017. Was the digital gauge package not an OEM option?

 

I know that the current owner bought the car for $20,300.00 in April,2008 from Wirewheels.com. It was in Vero Beach, Fl and had 2000mi. at that time. The digital gauges were on the car at that time as well.

 

Is there anything specific to S1's that I should inspect? (ie. structural weak points, suspension components). How can I find out who the builder was?

[S1Steve]

G2,

Glad to help you out !! I would call Hayes at wirewheel and see if he can cough up some info. I f not , go take a look at it, If you are happy with it, let the smiles start. I posted a photo of my S1 dash. A few came with white face gauges, most are black face.

The gauges in " YOUR " car , did not come from the factory.

The S1 is a strong, well built, fun car, I think you will be very happy with one. Just for a heads-up, Superformance offices are in Cali. Oh, join the USA7's, only 20 bucks, and we can PM.

All the best with # 17, Steve

[imarcr2]

I have admired the Superformance car for a quite a few years. Good buy!

[G2sound]

The car was just delivered on Saturday... what a weekend!!!! Here is my first of (I'm sure) many questions: What is the second switch from the left (next to the wiper switch)?

[11Budlite]

Do you have a better photo of the switch? Or if you don't, what does the emblem on the switch look like?

[G2sound]

It looks a bit like a transmission with a bell housing on it.

[yellowss7]

Washer fluid?

[scannon]

On a Caterham that symbol is on the switch that turns on the windshield washers.

[G2sound]

"The washer it is !" he said wiping the overspray from his way too cool shades.

[Kess]

Hi G2,

 

Car looks very nice! I am a former S1 owner (sorry to say- both my son and I miss the car). I collected quite a bit of info on the car from fellow owners (thanks Nick!) and I posted it on-line as well as some of the mods I undertook to make the car work better for me.

 

Here is a link to the build manual it has a dash diagram as well!

 

http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/S1_Manual.pdf

(that is my former car on the cover - just not at my house! I live in Vermont that is OH)

 

 

Here is the link for my car when it was for sale. It has lots of info about the car which you may be interested in:

 

http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/s1sale.htm

 

Here is a link to some of the mods I undertook. Some of my fellow owners gave me great suggestions and were very helpful.

 

http://www.gmsr.info/pre2007/S1.htm

 

You should checkout the S1 owner's forum. Pretty slow from a traffic perspective but folks on the forum can help you if you have S1 questions.

 

http://performanceunlimited.com/s1/subscribe.html

 

 

I am also happy to help based on what I learned. I would not mind getting another superlight sports car. If I can only find one in my price range I will be set.

 

Gary

[11Budlite]

Gary - Lots of good info there, that manual is pretty impressive. Thanks for sharing!

[G2sound]

Gary,

 

Thank you so much for the info!! I decided after my first test drive that a new exhaust was necessary... I am going to take your info to my nearest muffler shop and say "do this to mine". Also ordering the fuel cap today, tired of the fuel stains on my fender.

 

A question about the "electronic demister"... does it actually work?

[S1Steve]

Gary, Thanks for posting the manual, my printed one is not in color. Nice !

[Kess]

I did not drive my car in rain too frequently. I did find that the demister worked okay much like a rear window system with much finer wires. I used Fog-X on the inside of the windscreen and with the demister the screen stayed clean. I once drove the car about 400 miles in a sitting in winter (February in Vermont)! With the heat on gloves and a jacket I was warm enough.

 

You will need to look around to find some of the exhaust parts. I ordered the Supertrapp Superlight directly. I may still have the contact there if you need it. They had to make it special as they did not seem to have any. Not sure if I needed the Car Chemistry parts after I upgraded the rest of the exhaust but I could not detect any reduction in power so I kept the 2 disks in the header. The exhaust system was known to develop cracks so that may be part of the noise issue. I enjoyed driving my car without the need for hearing protection while still sounding powerful when I got on it. Use care welding the supertrapp as the metal is quite thin.

 

Have fun!

 

Gary