Tuesday 11th April 2006

Rolling road day deemed success

Lotuses up on power, Ferrari/TVRs down

---

Lotus Esprit raised 350bhp

The rolling road day organised by PHers Martyn Ryan and Jason Kite (JEsprit) was, by all accounts, quite a day. It took place last weekend at a rolling road in Milton Keynes, and some of the results were quite surprising.

Although the TVRs were significantly down on factory horsepower or even owner-expected figures, so were a Ferrari F355 and a BMW M5. On the other hand, the Lotuses did rather well, with all bar one being pretty much on the button or better.

Contact Martyn or Jason for more info.

The results

Car (owner)	Factory	Expected	Result
Saab 9000 turbo (Soren)	225	270+	278
Lotus Turbo Esprit (Andy)	210	210+	208
Lotus Esprit GT3 (Jonathan)	240	245	252
Ferrari 355 (Bernard)	375	380+	317
Noble M12 GTO 3R (David)	356	?	305
Lotus Esprit V8 GT (Martyn)	350	350	350
TVR Griffith 500 (Tim)	320	320	261
Lotus Esprit S4s (Alan)	285	285	286
Lotus Esprit Turbo SE (Jason)	264	280+	283
Lotus Turbo Esprit (Keir)	210	?	184
TVR Cerbera (Adam)	350	300-320	341
Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (Rob)	260	220+	260
Toyota Celica GT4 (Adam)	185	200+	209
Lotus Esprit V8 GT (Neal)	350	350+	381
BMW M5 (Paul)	340	260+	290
Lotus Elise	118	118	133
Lotus Esprit (Dan)	172	160+	162

• Photos from the day
• Related story: Boost your bhp this weekend

[r988]

I see the Porker was dead on

[mongoose]

I bet the Fezza owner was miffed,is that normal for these?I don't know who Tim,the griff owner is,but he hasn't spent enough time on the griff forum

>> Edited by mongoose on Tuesday 11th April 11:09

[blueyes]

Bleedin hell! My hairdresser car has more power than my old Griff!!






The Griff DID sound better though.

[xjsjohn]

does make you wonder, how much of that is manufacturers telling porkies, and how much of that is power loss through wear and tear?


That Saab must be a bit "interesting" and trust zee German to be so precise

[JR]

xjsjohn said:

That Saab must be a bit "interesting" and trust zee German to be so precise

Not the M5 though.

[vixpy1]

Nothing wrong with those figs at all..

The E34 M5 is what i would expect, as are the TVR's and Lotus.

Only one that looks disapointing is the 355, I would expect about 350 out of one of those.

[ylee coyote]

xjsjohn said:

does make you wonder, how much of that is manufacturers telling porkies, and how much of that is power loss through wear and tear? That Saab must be a bit "interesting" and trust zee German to be so precise

The saab is fairly standard for a stage 1 upgrade
you just need to do an ecu tweek to take it to the 280 level
above 300 you need hardware..exhaust,induction etc

[leadfootlydon]

Fascinating stuff.
Would love to see more results posted like this.

[dannylt]

"Although the TVRs were significantly down on factory horsepower"? The Cerbie was pretty much spot on, and <10bhp isn't really that significant. The Griff should have expected 270, but I'd say the shocker is the Noble (305 vs 356) and the M5! Presumably there was some fairly straightforward fault with them since they should have been closer?

[vixpy1]

dannylt said:

and the M5! Presumably there was some fairly straightforward fault with them since they should have been closer?

Nope.. thats what they make. Also, bear in mind in a 10 to 15 year old car its rare for all the horses to still be there.

M cars are terrible on power. All except the new M5, which makes quoted. and the very best E39 M5's , which make quoted. (i've had a spread of 360 to 400 on them)

The E46 M3 makes about 320, the E36 Evo about 290. The CSL makes about 350.

Silly, because the non BMW M cars always make the quoted power, and Porsche engines in a similiar state of tune always do.

[JEsprit]

dannylt said:

...and the M5! Presumably there was some fairly straightforward fault with them since they should have been closer?

The M5 needs a new airflow meter. He ran it because his Son wanted him to At the last rolling road (this guy was the reason this all happened) he got 260. So to get 290 this time was excellent. Only 50 more to go. Thing is, it's bloody quick with 60bhp less than the factory claim.

Same with the Griff. The Cerbie was only 9 down so that doesn't really count, but when my Esprit doesn't really keep up with the Griff 500, it's something to find out it's only pumping out 260bhp. A very interesting day.

[joust]

Interesting the Noble - that aligns with what happened in the main at Brands.

The strange thing is that there are some Nobles that are on the button - including mine when I had it tested (twice) at John Noble Motorsport. Wonder what's causing it? Any ideas Vixpy?

J

[vixpy1]

joust said:

Interesting the Noble - that aligns with what happened in the main at Brands. The strange thing is that there are some Nobles that are on the button - including mine when I had it tested (twice) at John Noble Motorsport. Wonder what's causing it? Any ideas Vixpy? J

What ECU do the Nobles run? Motec?

[johnboy999]

Do you have the actual graphs?

Be great to see them up here: www.dyno-plot.co.uk/dyno/dynoplot/index.htm then can compare the graphs over the top of each other.

[olf]

vixpy1 said:

dannylt said: and the M5! Presumably there was some fairly straightforward fault with them since they should have been closer? Nope.. thats what they make. Also, bear in mind in a 10 to 15 year old car its rare for all the horses to still be there. M cars are terrible on power. All except the new M5, which makes quoted. and the very best E39 M5's , which make quoted. (i've had a spread of 360 to 400 on them) The E46 M3 makes about 320, the E36 Evo about 290. The CSL makes about 350. Silly, because the non BMW M cars always make the quoted power, and Porsche engines in a similiar state of tune always do.

vixpy,

Ever tested a standard 204bhp BMW 330d?

[vixpy1]

olf said:

vixpy1 said: dannylt said: and the M5! Presumably there was some fairly straightforward fault with them since they should have been closer? Nope.. thats what they make. Also, bear in mind in a 10 to 15 year old car its rare for all the horses to still be there. M cars are terrible on power. All except the new M5, which makes quoted. and the very best E39 M5's , which make quoted. (i've had a spread of 360 to 400 on them) The E46 M3 makes about 320, the E36 Evo about 290. The CSL makes about 350. Silly, because the non BMW M cars always make the quoted power, and Porsche engines in a similiar state of tune always do. vixpy, Ever tested a standard 204bhp BMW 330d?

Not the 204bhp one, done a fair few of the older 330d's

[olf]

How did the older version compare to factory figures?

[vixpy1]

olf said:

How did the older version compare to factory figures?

Tend to make 170 to 175.

[drunknfuctup]

vixpy1 said:

Nothing wrong with those figs at all.. The E34 M5 is what i would expect, as are the TVR's and Lotus. Only one that looks disapointing is the 355, I would expect about 350 out of one of those.

Vixpy - Are these power figures adjusted to estimate what the engine makes at the flywheel or just horsepower at the drive wheels?

Rob

[snuffy]

Looks like all the Esprits on the rolling road on the Wirral on Saturday knocked you boys in to a cocked hat then !! 399, 401 and 423 ( for me, obviously ! ).