S1 Elise 2.0 Duratec Conversion
Discussion
GregorFuk said:
So it's been a long time since my last update but that doesn't mean nothing has been happening with the Duratec conversion.
After getting the car back on four wheels and drivable it was taken for a few shake down runs. As said at the start of this thread the kit comes with a pre-mapped ECU for the Duratec with the AT-Power throttle boddies so the car was instantly drivable.
Driving the car it felt significantly faster than with the original K with real pull in each gear. It was however clear that the engine was running rich as night driving showed puffs of black smoke on heavy throttle openings and the back of the car was slowly gathering a fine layer of soot.
The shake down running was worth the effort though as it exposed a weakness in the cooling system....The original Lotus radiator. The original item has plastic end caps that are known to fail and sure enough the extra load from the Duratec finished mine off nicely. I opened the garage one day to find the car sitting in a pool off coolant. I now feel confident enough to tackle any job on the Lotus but with Rolling Road sessions looming I just wanted the car back running ASAP. To get the job done I took the car to my regular garage JD Motor Engineers John and Dave really know there stuff and managed to turn the car round in a day. Of course I didn't stick a standard radiator back in, instead I went for an uprated Elise Parts all alloy item.
With the radiator fixed the car was back up and running however a technical fault with the rolling road meant that my mapping session was cancelled. This was a real let down as I was champing at the bit to get the car setup and running correctly! Luckily I managed to get booked into a different rolling road for a mapping session by local legend Ricky Gauld. I explained that the car was running rich and on his advice I leaned the entire map out by 10% in preparation for the 40 mile drive to his premises. The car instantly felt better.
Dropping the car off meant a 40 mile cross country drive on a clear dry Aberdeen night. I was followed out by my friend in his E46 CSL and even though it should have waited till after the mapping session we could not resist seeing how the Duratec Elise faired against the CSL. So, how quick is a S1 Duratec Elise? Well from a rolling 2nd gear start, up through the gears, there was nothing between the two cars. So pretty quick is the answer. And that was before mapping.
Last night I got the car back and drove it home. I'd not say it felt hugely faster but it did feel noticeably smoother throughout the rev range. Dyno plots for 3rd and 4th gear pulls are shown below. The 4th gear pull shows 153bhp at the wheels and a lovely flat torque curve, this in line with the quoted Essex Autosport figures and show my engine is nice and healthy. The 3rd gear pull peaked at 164bhp. Overall I am very happy!
4th gear dyno pull
3rd gear dyno pull
So, what's next? Well I still have to sort out some sort of engine cover, I'm thinking about making my own. Oh and I need to look at brakes because I'm finding I get to the corners much quicker than before. I'm thinking about going for a set of slightly larger AP belled disks any thought comments let me know.
More to come.....
Superb curves, I'll bet that feels like it will never stop pulling.After getting the car back on four wheels and drivable it was taken for a few shake down runs. As said at the start of this thread the kit comes with a pre-mapped ECU for the Duratec with the AT-Power throttle boddies so the car was instantly drivable.
Driving the car it felt significantly faster than with the original K with real pull in each gear. It was however clear that the engine was running rich as night driving showed puffs of black smoke on heavy throttle openings and the back of the car was slowly gathering a fine layer of soot.
The shake down running was worth the effort though as it exposed a weakness in the cooling system....The original Lotus radiator. The original item has plastic end caps that are known to fail and sure enough the extra load from the Duratec finished mine off nicely. I opened the garage one day to find the car sitting in a pool off coolant. I now feel confident enough to tackle any job on the Lotus but with Rolling Road sessions looming I just wanted the car back running ASAP. To get the job done I took the car to my regular garage JD Motor Engineers John and Dave really know there stuff and managed to turn the car round in a day. Of course I didn't stick a standard radiator back in, instead I went for an uprated Elise Parts all alloy item.
With the radiator fixed the car was back up and running however a technical fault with the rolling road meant that my mapping session was cancelled. This was a real let down as I was champing at the bit to get the car setup and running correctly! Luckily I managed to get booked into a different rolling road for a mapping session by local legend Ricky Gauld. I explained that the car was running rich and on his advice I leaned the entire map out by 10% in preparation for the 40 mile drive to his premises. The car instantly felt better.
Dropping the car off meant a 40 mile cross country drive on a clear dry Aberdeen night. I was followed out by my friend in his E46 CSL and even though it should have waited till after the mapping session we could not resist seeing how the Duratec Elise faired against the CSL. So, how quick is a S1 Duratec Elise? Well from a rolling 2nd gear start, up through the gears, there was nothing between the two cars. So pretty quick is the answer. And that was before mapping.
Last night I got the car back and drove it home. I'd not say it felt hugely faster but it did feel noticeably smoother throughout the rev range. Dyno plots for 3rd and 4th gear pulls are shown below. The 4th gear pull shows 153bhp at the wheels and a lovely flat torque curve, this in line with the quoted Essex Autosport figures and show my engine is nice and healthy. The 3rd gear pull peaked at 164bhp. Overall I am very happy!
4th gear dyno pull
3rd gear dyno pull
So, what's next? Well I still have to sort out some sort of engine cover, I'm thinking about making my own. Oh and I need to look at brakes because I'm finding I get to the corners much quicker than before. I'm thinking about going for a set of slightly larger AP belled disks any thought comments let me know.
More to come.....
So it's been a long time since I've updated this blog but some video footage from a weekend track day seems as good a reason as any. Only my second trackday and the first of 2013 at a very snowy Knockhill. The car took the track work in it's stride and never missed a beat, its just my driving that need some work now.
A couple of videos showing the car in action.
Video 1
Video 2
During the day I also had the opportunity to put the car on a set of corner scales, all up it weighed in at 760kg which makes for around 250bhp/ton.
I'm not sure where to go with the car now. I want to enjoy it over the summer and then start working on some aspect of it over the winter, I'm just not sure what that should be. A prime candidate would be a full suspension refresh but prior to coming into my ownership the car was upgraded to S2 Bilsteins so I'm not sure if it really needs it. The other option would be to pull the engine and fit the required bit s to break the 200bhp barrier. A mild set of cams should see me at around 210bhp which would be nice. The car will primarily remain a road car so I'll need to have a think.
A couple of videos showing the car in action.
Video 1
Video 2
During the day I also had the opportunity to put the car on a set of corner scales, all up it weighed in at 760kg which makes for around 250bhp/ton.
I'm not sure where to go with the car now. I want to enjoy it over the summer and then start working on some aspect of it over the winter, I'm just not sure what that should be. A prime candidate would be a full suspension refresh but prior to coming into my ownership the car was upgraded to S2 Bilsteins so I'm not sure if it really needs it. The other option would be to pull the engine and fit the required bit s to break the 200bhp barrier. A mild set of cams should see me at around 210bhp which would be nice. The car will primarily remain a road car so I'll need to have a think.
Edited by GregorFuk on Monday 1st April 13:00
It sounds lovely.
SBD do a nice 200 hp kit for reasonable money, you wouldn't even have to pull the engine, it is basically cams, throttle bodies and an omex ecu (assuming you already have a decent 4-2-1 manifold on.
Get that on and you will have a really nice, reliable, tractable motor
SBD do a nice 200 hp kit for reasonable money, you wouldn't even have to pull the engine, it is basically cams, throttle bodies and an omex ecu (assuming you already have a decent 4-2-1 manifold on.
Get that on and you will have a really nice, reliable, tractable motor
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