Discussion
Out of curiosity has anyone put their Evora on a rolling road yet?...I did Saturday. It was unplanned but the opportunity arose so I thought why not...and in one way it was good because it identifed there was a fault, but on the other hand it was way down on power, and heck whats it going to be like when it is running correctly.
The bad news is that is is producing about 275hp at the flywheel (measured at Clive Attowes in Norwich, and its probably as good a rolling road as you will get) after measuring drive train losses. The car is an S and has been modified to 390hp. It has just been serviced by Strattons and I am waiting to find out if they have overwritten the modified ECU programe with an upgrade, but the car did not feel any different in performance to how it normally drives, so I am wondering if it has never produced the quoted power. Clive Attowe thought there was no boost from the supercharger which seems to stack up with the power output when compared to a N/A car. The supercharger pulley belt seemed tight enough and you can just about hear it when driving (they are normally pretty quiet), so it is almost like the dump valve is open all the time?? Anyhow it is back with Hangar 111 at the moment to identify the fault...if there is one????
The bad news is that is is producing about 275hp at the flywheel (measured at Clive Attowes in Norwich, and its probably as good a rolling road as you will get) after measuring drive train losses. The car is an S and has been modified to 390hp. It has just been serviced by Strattons and I am waiting to find out if they have overwritten the modified ECU programe with an upgrade, but the car did not feel any different in performance to how it normally drives, so I am wondering if it has never produced the quoted power. Clive Attowe thought there was no boost from the supercharger which seems to stack up with the power output when compared to a N/A car. The supercharger pulley belt seemed tight enough and you can just about hear it when driving (they are normally pretty quiet), so it is almost like the dump valve is open all the time?? Anyhow it is back with Hangar 111 at the moment to identify the fault...if there is one????
Yes it is a tricky one with quoted powers...but I went with two mates who were having their cars checked (one of which looked like it was running too rich which was the catalyst for the whole exercise), and I only got mine checked because they had some spare time and it was a laugh....I ended up buying breakfeast!!
The other two cars were pretty much as expected, if slightly higher, and on the road they could match my pace or slightly beat me, which in theory should not be possible because I should have 270bhp/tonne (and good torque), whereas they are comparitively 180 and 215bhp/tonne, and with the measured output I am about 190bhp/tonne, so it would stack up that the on road performance is similar.
Other people say rolling roads tend to quote higher outputs to make people feel good etc, but this rolling road is used by several manufacturers in order to measure and publish power figures....and in my case they are getting no added work out of it....but there is always going to be an acceptable tolerance.
I just cannot wait to get the car right...it`s going to absolutely fly!...hopefully?
It is intersting however that many people say there is not much appreciable difference in performance between the N/A and S cars, and this has partly been explained by the added weight. I have weighed my car however on a calibrated weigh bridge, and there seems to be about 30kgs extra weight, so while this will have an effect, it is only half a tank of fuel and there should be a noticeable difference in performance...but what if the superchargers are not working/set up correctly...i.e. the waste gates are not closing properly for example?? Hard to believe but given some of the difficulties Lotus have gone through recently, who knows what they let out the door??
The other two cars were pretty much as expected, if slightly higher, and on the road they could match my pace or slightly beat me, which in theory should not be possible because I should have 270bhp/tonne (and good torque), whereas they are comparitively 180 and 215bhp/tonne, and with the measured output I am about 190bhp/tonne, so it would stack up that the on road performance is similar.
Other people say rolling roads tend to quote higher outputs to make people feel good etc, but this rolling road is used by several manufacturers in order to measure and publish power figures....and in my case they are getting no added work out of it....but there is always going to be an acceptable tolerance.
I just cannot wait to get the car right...it`s going to absolutely fly!...hopefully?
It is intersting however that many people say there is not much appreciable difference in performance between the N/A and S cars, and this has partly been explained by the added weight. I have weighed my car however on a calibrated weigh bridge, and there seems to be about 30kgs extra weight, so while this will have an effect, it is only half a tank of fuel and there should be a noticeable difference in performance...but what if the superchargers are not working/set up correctly...i.e. the waste gates are not closing properly for example?? Hard to believe but given some of the difficulties Lotus have gone through recently, who knows what they let out the door??
It seems like the fault was with the Komotec software being overwritten by Stratton`s to the original specification, no doubt with an upgrade....without the service managers knowledge?? Anyhow it now makes 366hp and 315ftlbs of torque. The torque figure is correct (and in the real world the most important) but the power figure is still down although I am advised that the ECU will learn the engine characteristics etc and the power figure will increase with more miles....I am not convinced it will reach 390hp though, which is a bit disappointing given that is what I paid for, but we will see.
It will be interesting to see what the standard S set up makes?
It will be interesting to see what the standard S set up makes?
Yes 366bhp at the flywheel. It is a pretty accurate measurement...the rolling road measures wheel hp and torque, and then measures drive train drag by putting the drive in neutral and letting it coast to a stop. It might be that the 366hp is not particularly accurate, one way or another??
I agree it is hard to see how the ECU is going to find another 24hp but it is definately quicker, freerer reving, and more economical to boot. I will also find out if the 390hp was achieved with a sports silencer...obviously at the end of the day I have not got what I paid for and obviously I could get funny about it, but it is in my nature to be more proactive and get to the bottom of why it is not achieing what was advertised, and what I paid for. I believe Komotec are proffessional and well respected, and German(!), although I know Germans are not always so perfect as people believe.
I agree it is hard to see how the ECU is going to find another 24hp but it is definately quicker, freerer reving, and more economical to boot. I will also find out if the 390hp was achieved with a sports silencer...obviously at the end of the day I have not got what I paid for and obviously I could get funny about it, but it is in my nature to be more proactive and get to the bottom of why it is not achieing what was advertised, and what I paid for. I believe Komotec are proffessional and well respected, and German(!), although I know Germans are not always so perfect as people believe.
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