Car Detailing for Lotus Elise / Exige

Detailing your Lotus Elise / Exige

The Elise and Exige are the stripped-down Lotus models, with an exposed aluminum tub and almost no carpet, so the interior is a vacuum, a wipe and a neutral cleaner on the sills rather than a shampoo. The composite clamshells get polished with light pressure and coated, the Elise's fabric roof panel gets a fabric treatment and track cars get the rubber flushed from the arches and the brake dust dissolved from the wheels before anything else.

What we watch for on a Elise / Exige

• The exposed aluminum tub and sills scratch and scuff from shoes; a neutral cleaner and a soft cloth are used, never a metal polish on the anodized surfaces
• The Elise's removable fabric roof panel needs a fabric cleaner and a water-repellent treatment, and the seals it clips into collect grit
• Composite body panels carry thin paint and the clamshells are large single pieces; we polish with a fine pad, light pressure and short passes
• Track-day cars arrive with rubber in the wheel wells and brake dust baked onto the small wheels; we flush the arches and use an iron remover first
• Bare aluminum floors are vacuumed and wiped rather than extracted, and the cabin has almost no carpet to shampoo

Sports cars: gloss, and the details that show

Low, wide panels and bigger wheels show every swirl and fingerprint. We spend extra time on decontamination, polish and protection so the finish stays sharp.