Discussion
Hi Guys
I wasn't expecting to buy a car anytime soon but a good example of a GT3 came up in my price range so I jumped on it. It's reasonably high mileage at around 110,000 but has been VERY well looked after and the previous owner seems like a very good bloke. He was selling as he got a job offer in America and wanted the car to be looked after rather than going into storage to rot. I figure with these cars that servicing and regular use are more important than super low mileage; which could indicate that it hasn't been used and might have deteriorated.
Two things I'm aware of that were factored into the price are warped rotors and a crack in the exh manifold. I'll look through the forum for advice on the exh.
I haven't collected the car yet as the plate is to be swapped back to the old one, but I'm looking forward to giving it a good drive.
Any advice on how to keep these cars tip top would be much appreciated. I'm looking at a BOV kit simply to reduce wear on the turbo bearings and also possibly one of these:
http://www.pukesprit.de/ (under ECU)
10. High-Performance code 280HP for 2.0 liter GT3-engine, Version 2.0
Has anyone got one/can anyone advise whether it's worth it or likely to cause issues on a motor with over 100k miles?
I've factored in the motor needing a refresh when purchasing, but I'm hoping to keep it properly maintained and get another 30k out of it before then.
It's not a project car (until it needs a rebuild I guess) but I'm always up for doing small things to make improvements.
Cheers guys
I wasn't expecting to buy a car anytime soon but a good example of a GT3 came up in my price range so I jumped on it. It's reasonably high mileage at around 110,000 but has been VERY well looked after and the previous owner seems like a very good bloke. He was selling as he got a job offer in America and wanted the car to be looked after rather than going into storage to rot. I figure with these cars that servicing and regular use are more important than super low mileage; which could indicate that it hasn't been used and might have deteriorated.
Two things I'm aware of that were factored into the price are warped rotors and a crack in the exh manifold. I'll look through the forum for advice on the exh.
I haven't collected the car yet as the plate is to be swapped back to the old one, but I'm looking forward to giving it a good drive.
Any advice on how to keep these cars tip top would be much appreciated. I'm looking at a BOV kit simply to reduce wear on the turbo bearings and also possibly one of these:
http://www.pukesprit.de/ (under ECU)
10. High-Performance code 280HP for 2.0 liter GT3-engine, Version 2.0
Has anyone got one/can anyone advise whether it's worth it or likely to cause issues on a motor with over 100k miles?
I've factored in the motor needing a refresh when purchasing, but I'm hoping to keep it properly maintained and get another 30k out of it before then.
It's not a project car (until it needs a rebuild I guess) but I'm always up for doing small things to make improvements.
Cheers guys
cammmy said:
http://www.pukesprit.de/ (under ECU)
10. High-Performance code 280HP for 2.0 liter GT3-engine, Version 2.0
Has anyone got one/can anyone advise whether it's worth it or likely to cause issues on a motor with over 100k miles?
What a brilliant review of the chip, I wonder who wrote that all those years ago ?10. High-Performance code 280HP for 2.0 liter GT3-engine, Version 2.0
Has anyone got one/can anyone advise whether it's worth it or likely to cause issues on a motor with over 100k miles?
Gonna be honest with you, I can't tell if that's sarcasm.
I'm pretty skeptical of chip upgrades but people over here seem to think quite highly of them. Even if it delivers half of what it says, that's still something.
Just wondering if it's likely to cause any issues on a car that's been well maintained and will be driven spiritedly but not abused, but has higher miles.
I'm pretty skeptical of chip upgrades but people over here seem to think quite highly of them. Even if it delivers half of what it says, that's still something.
Just wondering if it's likely to cause any issues on a car that's been well maintained and will be driven spiritedly but not abused, but has higher miles.
cammmy said:
Gonna be honest with you, I can't tell if that's sarcasm.
Do you mean my review of the chip or my comment just now ?No, I was not being sarcastic. It's over 10 years ago since I wrote that but having re-read it, it's exactly as I remember it.
I don't think it will do the car any harm. It never did mine any damage as far as I could tell.
Nice car, I wouldn't worry too much about the miles as long as everything isn't worn smooth. There was a bloke in Autocar had hi around the clock twice. Yours is also in Autogespot if you want some old pics of it.
Re your questions, the manifold; is expensive to replace. Some swear by the factory cast jobbies, others by an aftermarket cast item by the South West Lotus Centre, but there are occasional horror stories about the longevity or lack of. Latest thing is a stainless tubular system by Alunox, there is/was a group buy on The Lotus Forums for a slight discount. That's the way I would go when mine fails
Chip; well I fitted the no.10 and noticed bugger all difference except the overboost (the ability to manually bring in the secondary injectors) was more accessible at a lower rev range. TBH All the chip does is make the car more difficult to insure with Classic Car specialists as it's classed as "modified"
The brake rotors; my brakes have been the s
ttiest part of the car since I bought it 11 years ago, they judder after about a year or two and need replacing. I have never been able to find out why the Brembos suffer this way, or if mines just particularly bad. I figured it may be due to lack of use (mine's low mileage) but see by yours that doesn't ring true! I also had a ride in a Sport 350 wih AP brakes and it was just the same! PNM Engineering do some alternative brake kits, rather than fork out for yet another set of EBCs or Brembo discs was thinking of trying these.
Best of luck, pop over to TLF as well and say hi.
PS whilst the manifold is a group buy probably best not hanging on too long for a deal, sure someone did that and a chunk of rust passed through and lunched his turbo.
Re your questions, the manifold; is expensive to replace. Some swear by the factory cast jobbies, others by an aftermarket cast item by the South West Lotus Centre, but there are occasional horror stories about the longevity or lack of. Latest thing is a stainless tubular system by Alunox, there is/was a group buy on The Lotus Forums for a slight discount. That's the way I would go when mine fails
Chip; well I fitted the no.10 and noticed bugger all difference except the overboost (the ability to manually bring in the secondary injectors) was more accessible at a lower rev range. TBH All the chip does is make the car more difficult to insure with Classic Car specialists as it's classed as "modified"
The brake rotors; my brakes have been the s
ttiest part of the car since I bought it 11 years ago, they judder after about a year or two and need replacing. I have never been able to find out why the Brembos suffer this way, or if mines just particularly bad. I figured it may be due to lack of use (mine's low mileage) but see by yours that doesn't ring true! I also had a ride in a Sport 350 wih AP brakes and it was just the same! PNM Engineering do some alternative brake kits, rather than fork out for yet another set of EBCs or Brembo discs was thinking of trying these.Best of luck, pop over to TLF as well and say hi.
PS whilst the manifold is a group buy probably best not hanging on too long for a deal, sure someone did that and a chunk of rust passed through and lunched his turbo.
Edited by Loose_Cannon on Monday 2nd June 16:49
Thanks Benters, I'm definitely looking forward to the first weekend with it.
Thanks cannon. Interesting to hear warped rotors are common. I wouldn't have thought one car would be particularly susceptible to it unless parked with hot brakes?
I'm definitely not going to hang around with the manifold. If there isn't a group buy in the pipeline then I'll sort one out. I'm worried about rust going through the turbine but also any potential air leaks causing the ECU to think it's running lean and over enriching. Don't want to get bore wash.
I'm confident I can do the manifold myself but the only thing that worries me is snapped studs/bolts. I've bought some Plusgas so will give everything a good soaking. Will maybe get a mini torch of some kind to heat the nuts before trying to get them off.
Thanks cannon. Interesting to hear warped rotors are common. I wouldn't have thought one car would be particularly susceptible to it unless parked with hot brakes?
I'm definitely not going to hang around with the manifold. If there isn't a group buy in the pipeline then I'll sort one out. I'm worried about rust going through the turbine but also any potential air leaks causing the ECU to think it's running lean and over enriching. Don't want to get bore wash.
I'm confident I can do the manifold myself but the only thing that worries me is snapped studs/bolts. I've bought some Plusgas so will give everything a good soaking. Will maybe get a mini torch of some kind to heat the nuts before trying to get them off.
Edited by cammmy on Monday 2nd June 17:02
Hi bud
I don't think the brake judder is necessarily common, just recurring on mine. If you replace the rotors and it happens again let me know. Re the manifold there are pages devoted to changing them, one school of thought is to just split the old nuts as you are going to discard them anyway!
I don't think the brake judder is necessarily common, just recurring on mine. If you replace the rotors and it happens again let me know. Re the manifold there are pages devoted to changing them, one school of thought is to just split the old nuts as you are going to discard them anyway!
Been a while since I updated this. Few things have changed since then.
Had a new exhaust manifold made up and ceramic coated by Zircotec. 1 week to make the manifold, 6 weeks to coat it...
It then went in for a new mid-pipe as that was leaking at the turbo join:
This was pre-mid pipe.
It sounds a WHOLE lot better now but don't have a vid yet.
This weekend I did what's know as the "ram air mod". Basically, the air intake is made of two runs of hose with a resonator in between. I took the long hose, cut it down and attached it directly to the airbox. The result is a lot more noise :-)
There's no dump valve. That's just turbo chatter.
Unfortunately there's still a leak, possibly at the number 4 port. The good new is that all the exhaust work is under lifetime warranty and the people who did it have epic service.
Once it's all sorted for good, I'll get a proper inside/outside vid.
It's still got the crap GM Rochester injectors. I'm planning to replace them and figured it's pretty much the same money to go bigger for future proofing, but that means a bespoke mapping. This is my preference anyway as every change will make some difference to the fuelling and timing requirements that a chip just can't cater for. Matt at DIYautotune.com is looking at the electrical diagram to see if he can create a pin-out for me. If so, I'll be going with an MS3X and will make up an adapter so that the harness won't require any cutting.
Photos by SheriffAds
Had a new exhaust manifold made up and ceramic coated by Zircotec. 1 week to make the manifold, 6 weeks to coat it...
It then went in for a new mid-pipe as that was leaking at the turbo join:
This was pre-mid pipe.
It sounds a WHOLE lot better now but don't have a vid yet.
This weekend I did what's know as the "ram air mod". Basically, the air intake is made of two runs of hose with a resonator in between. I took the long hose, cut it down and attached it directly to the airbox. The result is a lot more noise :-)
There's no dump valve. That's just turbo chatter.
Unfortunately there's still a leak, possibly at the number 4 port. The good new is that all the exhaust work is under lifetime warranty and the people who did it have epic service.
Once it's all sorted for good, I'll get a proper inside/outside vid.
It's still got the crap GM Rochester injectors. I'm planning to replace them and figured it's pretty much the same money to go bigger for future proofing, but that means a bespoke mapping. This is my preference anyway as every change will make some difference to the fuelling and timing requirements that a chip just can't cater for. Matt at DIYautotune.com is looking at the electrical diagram to see if he can create a pin-out for me. If so, I'll be going with an MS3X and will make up an adapter so that the harness won't require any cutting.
Photos by SheriffAds
Edited by cammmy on Monday 29th September 11:43
Edited by cammmy on Monday 29th September 11:56
And very nice they are too. All personal taste obv. but have you thought about adding the GT3 decals? After 11 years of squinting at mine have decided I like them better with than without.
Some people have had them reproduced in different colours now the originals are unobtainable, there was a silver one at Mattys with red which looked different, or you could go mid metallic grey to be subtle.
Some people have had them reproduced in different colours now the originals are unobtainable, there was a silver one at Mattys with red which looked different, or you could go mid metallic grey to be subtle.
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