This ELISE will be AWESOME!

[liquid_technique]

Much better solution that the Lotus Esthi:

- costs much less
- weights much less
- does not reguire re-engineering of cars back

etc... This will kill the Lotus Esthi.



PROBLEM NUMBER 2: Downforce and grip

Ok so now I have 400 whp elise with good torque and engine that revs to over 9000 rpm. This car is more than fast. It needs more downforce and grip etc.

So how to get more downforce?

- Aero kits that have been proven to work?

How to get more grip?

- Bigger tires?

What else do I need?

- Better brakes?

- Better suspension?


Please help me and share your opinions and extensive knowledge of Lotus Elise.

Sincerely,

LQT

[liquid_technique]

Dear all,

I am a long time lurker. For some time I have tought about buying a sports car as a second car. I personally think that the Elise is the Ultimate sports car there is or at least it can be with some modifications. Formula One engineer Adrian Newey seems to think the same.

Elise is light and it has superior handling. What it lacks is is downforce and power.

I am goint to buy an Elise and mod it:

1. Problem number one: POWER

I am looking for 300-400 bhp. Honda engine is perfect for Elise.

This problem can be solved with Honda K-series motor.

Company called hytech modifies the k20 series motor.

SEE FOR YOURSELF:

www.vtec.net/articles/view-article?article_id=101836&page_number=1

1.1 SOLUTION 1: NATURALLY ASPIRED

Latest version:

- revs to 10 000 safely
- 300 bhp
- torque 200 lb-ft

Version 1:

www.rsx-tuners.com/products/2_liter_kit.html

Version 2:

www.rsx-tuners.com/products/2-3_liter_kit.html


1.2 SOLUTION 2: FI

They are also working/offering FI solutions

- their twinscrew supercharger and turbo kits make up to about 500 whp

Version 1:

www.rsx-tuners.com/products/supercharger_kit.html


Version 2:

www.rsx-tuners.com/products/turbo_charger_kit.html


SUMMA SUMMARUM: Honda K- series engine that revs to over 9000 rpm and gives 400 whp is not only possible but realistic and exists.

[liquid_technique]

By the way The Elise will be last Sports car that I will ever buy so I will treat it as a hobby and re-sale value does not interest me at all.

- LQT

[chassis]

What drug you on man?
Maybe you have moore money than scents?
I am sure that many Lotus driver are insultd by saying that there car have not much power and no downforce.
I am not sure how you come to such things?

>> Edited by chassis on Wednesday 22 October 16:46

[liquid_technique]

By reading threads on this forum.

[liquid_technique]

The Elise does have downforce etc. but at speeds this motor can take the Elise it will create too much lift at the frontend and that is simply put not safe.

[chassis]

Frontlift?
What speed does it happen?
My elise sometime takesoff but that is when it run out of table surface and fall off.

[cuzza]

Thanks, I needed that!

BTW The Esthi is nothing to do with Lotus apart from the fact that an S2 Elise was the donor car.

>> Edited by cuzza on Wednesday 22 October 17:16

[liquid_technique]

We are talking about same speeds and even more that the Lotus Esthi is capable of.


Please open the links and read the articles and dyno charts before commenting.

>> Edited by liquid_technique on Wednesday 22 October 17:16

[B19GRR]

For starters you're going to be limited by what power the chassis can take. Hopefully it can handle more than 400bhp though bu tyou need to check that.

Suspension modes will no doubt be needed to help deliver the power to the road. As a side effect you'll be able to lower the car which will help the down force side of things. You can get after market front splitters and rear wings as well to help down force more.

Race Speed are currently developing a big brake kit for the S2 using 6 pot calipers which should stop you pretty well.

An alternative start point might be the new S2 Exige. Probably be a bit sturier being a coupe with hopefully a decent rollcage.

An alternative engine you might want to consider is the Ford Duratec. These can be got up to 280ish bhp NA and are only slightly heavier than the Rover K. Benefits from having a lot of torque to start with.

Cheers,
Rob

[bogie]

Start off by being able to drive a std Lotus Elise around a track on the limit - probably only 5% of experienced owners can do consistently (i certainly cant yet and have had much training and quite a few track days)...unless of course you just want it for pose value and drag racing?

Also unless you are running slicks if you keep the weight similar and put 300bhp+ through it it will be nearly undrivable ...remember the EVO review of Adrian Neweys car?

Also - try fitting turbo/sc onto a K20 and keeping it cool in a rear engined car...another slight snag

Also - whats all this rubbish about lift - my Elise does 145mph a doddle and can hold that through a sweeping bend (motorway slip) without issue.

I take it from all your comments you have never ACTUALLY driven an Elise and are a good friend of Walter Mitty

>> Edited by bogie on Wednesday 22 October 20:57

>> Edited by bogie on Wednesday 22 October 21:11

[liquid_technique]

I have not seen that EVO review.

I read about it somewhere in the net. If I remember corretly one of the biggest problems with Adrians car was that the power came on too quickly because of those big turbos. Adrian himself wrote that the chassis itself can handle much more power that 300 bhp.

This is NA so that problem is eliminated.

Also the new generation twin screw compressor solution that they offer does nothave that problem.


I really do not know. Lotus Esthi seems to be able to handle similar power without any problems. Ofcource it also weights more, but what is even more important is that it has great downforce numbers.

Maybe over 300 bhp is too much, but then again with improved dowforce who knows...

[DanH]

A k20 that develops 300bhp NA and safely revs to 10k.


Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...

[bogie]

Dan - its those american horses again you know

[DanH]

Ah so instead of being 300ps, its 300bs?

[Arno]

liquid_technique said:

The Elise does have downforce etc. but at speeds this motor can take the Elise it will create too much lift at the frontend and that is simply put not safe.

The Elise has always had downforce at the front. It *never* had lift at the front.

On the S1 there is a bigger difference between front and rear downforce than on the S2 though.S1 rear has very little downforce becuase of the car shape.

It's one of the modifications Lotus did to the shape of the S2 to 'even out' the front/rear downforce distribution.

If you add lots of power to an Elise then some upgades would be useful like:

- Motorsport style brakes (twin-piston front caliphers moved to the back and 4 or 6 pot front caliphers) with PAGID racing pads
- Uprated and ajustable suspension (eg. Lotus LSS for the S2 or aftermarket like Nitron)
- Lotus Motorsport wheel/tyre package (195/50R16 front and 225/45R17 rear) using Yokohama A048 semi-slicks.

That should be enough. If it's used mainly on the track then you can drop the ride height to around 100mm front, which should make it even more stable.

Additionally you might consider changing the rubber wishbone bushes by nylatron ones or even rose joints (if used only on track) and upgrade the rear toe links, so you can run full slicks.

Of course I'm assuming that the car will be very carfully set up with the proper suspension geo settings and such..

Bye, Arno.

[DanH]

Was pretty sure it did generate some front lift at high speed from the article on the Esthi where they wind tunnelled it and changed the front air dam to correct the issue. Walshy has also lowered the ride height on the front of his s2 to help with the floatiness you get at speed.

Still, this thread is ridiculous so not sure why I'm even responding to it.

[liquid_technique]

HUH PLEASE I SURRENDER!!!

Do not kill me! Please...

[cuzza]

Suggest you try as standard Elise first to see how quick it. A lot of people (I suspect you included) see that the Elise has only 118bhp and think - 'It needs more power that's nothing' but thats where a little thing called power to weight ratio comes into play the Elise weighs very little compared to most other cars on the road IIRC it less than 800kgs so it performs very well. Combine that with good weight distribution and an excellent suspension set up and you have the recipe for a car that can run from almost anything being driven by anyone on a twisty road.

If the Elise has a flaw, then it's the fact that it spins relatively easily - it's a trait suffered by all mid engined cars. By adding more power you will encourage the rear wheels to lose grip easier and spin more often and because you have more power you are likely to be going quicker and so if you're not careful you'll damage the car (it's difficult to repair fully due to the chassis construction) or worse getting hurt. Your profile doesn't say what you drive but this car is like no other and combine all this with you being in Sweden where it snows a lot and it's a recipe for disaster!

If you want an Elise then I strongly advise you to get one but save the looney mods until you can handle them.

[Bonce]

What's your background, liquid_technique? Have you raced or owned high performance vehicles before?
Do you have an Elise yet? Have you driven one?