US Elise engine chosen

US Elise engine chosen

Author
Discussion

Lotusdude

Original Poster:

10 posts

266 months

Thursday 21st March 2002
quotequote all
Autocar has announced that the US Elise engine has been chosen, from 5
competitors. The engine is to be the Toyota 1.8 VVTL 189bhp engine as from the
new Corolla.

Englishman in LA

291 posts

274 months

Thursday 21st March 2002
quotequote all
I so hope this is true and not horse shit form the mouths of Autocar.

Yay! my Elise is going to be rapid!

actech

693 posts

268 months

Thursday 21st March 2002
quotequote all
Yes it's true. It is in this months Lotus Life magazine.

adeewuff

567 posts

271 months

Thursday 21st March 2002
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Cheers Lotus Dude, I suppose it was actually big enough news to post a new thread! So let's say the US is 100kg heavier that's 850kg. So that's 222bhp/tonne I can see this is going to be a real stormer. Anyone want my old Elise because I want one of these!!!!!!

lotusbmw

38 posts

285 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Can someone confirm or quote the article out of lotus life?

thanks



>> Edited by lotusbmw on Friday 22 March 01:47

slade

17 posts

276 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Excellent!

I was hoping for 200HP but 189 will do!
Let's see 850KG=1873LBs. Now, delete the AC (1873-150) and we have a 1723LB car with 189HP.
~9.2:1 isn't bad, eh?

SBE

2 posts

266 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
I would bet it comes in heavier than that. Bumper, side impact rails and air bags.

Of course if they started using the same engine for the UK model without all the extra weight (and why wouldn't they) then that would be interesting.

actech

693 posts

268 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Apologies, it wasn't in Lotus Life it was another mag, read them back to back! Sorry for the confusion.

adeewuff

567 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Here's some stats I dug up from the Toyota site:-

1796cc engine with variable timing and lift

180Nm @ 6800rpm
189bhp @ 7800rpm (red line just above 8000rpm)

In a Corolla (1255kg) the top speed is in excess of 140mph.

Let's just hope Lotus put in a six speed box to take advantage of this fantastic engine!

>> Edited by adeewuff on Friday 22 March 09:29

lucifero

3 posts

267 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Era ora che montassero un motore degno del telaio lotus! speriamo solo che inizino da subito a vendere la versione Toyota e non utilizzino noi europei per smaltire i fondi di magazzino di quel polmone del rover!

P.S. se non sai l'italiano imparalo!

adeewuff

567 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
I agree, it has taken a while but it's here now... so don't worry!

Sono conforme, esso ho occorr un istante ma è ora qui... in modo da non si preoccupa!

sajberjens

3 posts

280 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
quote:

Excellent!

I was hoping for 200HP but 189 will do!
Let's see 850KG=1873LBs. Now, delete the AC (1873-150) and we have a 1723LB car with 189HP.
~9.2:1 isn't bad, eh?



My God!!! 850kg? How lardy is that??? Whatever happened to the 700kg original? Sounds pretty horrible to me, especially since I assume the extra weight is in the engine. Will it handle like a tail-happy TVR, I wonder?

slade

17 posts

276 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
quote:

My God!!! 850kg? How lardy is that??? Whatever happened to the 700kg original? Sounds pretty horrible to me, especially since I assume the extra weight is in the engine. Will it handle like a tail-happy TVR, I wonder?



What's your problem? Why not just buy an original car then?

Unfortunately, we can't do that here in the states. Oh yeah, only 120HP - that kind of blows doesn't it?

I suggest you just buy a go-kart and try to drive it on the streets.

Bombjack

483 posts

268 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
quote:
Oh yeah, only 120HP - that kind of blows doesn't it?


No, it doesn't

slade

17 posts

276 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
quote:

quote:
Oh yeah, only 120HP - that kind of blows doesn't it?


No, it doesn't


It's obvious that I'm just peeved that it's taken so long to get this car to the states. Of course, it'll be worth the wait.

Bombjack

483 posts

268 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
I could see that, you were just responding in kind to sajberjens. It's good for you guys and (I hope) good for Lotus that they've finally managed to get US type approval moving.

Oh, and 120hp may not blow, but we can always use more

Englishman in LA

291 posts

274 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
This is going to be one scary little car... can't wait!

Does anyone have the correct weight for the S2 version in the UK? The lotus site suggests 710kg from prototype data (annoying website)

If that is correct I would hope that the US version remains below 800kg even with A/C

lotusbmw

38 posts

285 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh yeah, only 120HP - that kind of blows doesn't it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well I have driven the S1, S2, 111S, and Sport 190. 120 doesn't blow if you haven't driven a 190.

adeewuff

567 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Hey Guys relax! I think you've lost site of the thread topic a bit here. Look the more power the better, I'm sure you could say that about any car on the market.

But the Lotus Elise has NEVER been about straight line speed. 120, 135, 160 or even 220bhp it doesn't matter, it's the handling in the corners that has always separated this car from the rest of the small sports cars. Good acceleration was simply a by product of making the car light, stiff so as to handle well.

The light-weight chassis, the responsive steering and the driving position have always been the best things about my car. As for the performance, well it's still so much faster than the other rubbish on the roads I really am not going to worry about 0-60 times or any other misguided, unrealistic statistics.

If you aren't going to take the Elise on a race track, than I can safely say you aren't really going to appreciate the difference between the base and the more powerful models. The extra power only comes in to play when you want to keep accelerating at higher speeds. The base model will struggle above 100mph where as the Sport 190 still has another gear to go...

My only fear about the US Elise is that however hard Lotus tries it WILL NOT have the same driving experience as the first model Elises. The car was a stripped out, thinly disguised track car and to be honest that's the reason I bought one. Whereas this US Elise has the potential to be a fat, bloated, over engineered mess that, however well it drives, will not maintain the values that saw it become such a success in the first place. More's the pity....

adeewuff

567 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd March 2002
quotequote all
Englishman in LA:

The dry weights for Elise are :-

Elise S1: 690kg
Elise S2: 750kg