Question re: Supercharged Honda Engines

[Zigs]

In about 6 months I am getting rid of the current piece of sh1t (MCS Works) and am buying something I can love driving for a very long time. The initial thoughts were of a TVR, but recent events have changed that. I am now looking at Lotus. The situation is I have a budget of £25K all up - so including the car!

I was thinking of putting the engine out of this:

http://www.zcars.org.uk/montecarlo/specifications.htm 

Into an S2 Elise. I am providing the cast iron gonads (good genetics)

Questions:

1) Is it too much power for the chasis given the "normal" Honda SC ones only come with 300bhp?
2) Is it worth doing it to an Elise, or should I just buy a basic Exige S2 and wait 2 years and then do the conversion (I know what I am thinking). i.e. Is the Exige a much better base car to modify, given that with so much power, brakes and drivetrain are going to have to change anyway?
3) Is there a point where by changing gearbox, brakes, enigine, supercharger, intercooler etc adds so much weight that it would be better to just have a less powerful but lighter car?

Thanks for help and advice

Zigs

[S Works]

Personally I'd buy an already converted NA Honda'd car (you can have mine for £23k) and then save up the £3.5k to get it SC'd by one of the specialists.

[bogie]

I wouldnt want to be the first guinea pig on that engine ....and I doubt the car would be very driveable either...300-350bhp is pretty lively without traction control etc...and if you want longetivity then 300-330bhp is about the limit for K20A - id steer clear of anything above this myself (of course if its a weekend track car, and you dont mind new engines every year or 2 then sure, go for it)

it dosent matter which Elise you put a Honda in - you have to mod the rest of the car anyway.

£25K will not go far - an early S1 Elise + S Honda + a few bits n bobs maybe - the engine alone will be £16K + before extras

try to find a preconverted car is the best bet

[Zigs]

£16K for the engine... I saw it for £11K today online from here including gearbox:

http://www.hondaelise.com/pricing.htm 

Is the extra £5K for clutch and breaks etc? I have seen S2's starting from around £12K, so yes it breaks the bank currently but time and depreciation are my friends

What would the total cost of a honda'ed lotus be from those that have done it and which conversion shops would be recommended? Anybody have the 300bhp version?

Going the pre-converted route is always preferred (been there before with other cars) so what are the things that I need to look at to make sure it was done properly?

Many thanks,

Zigs

Edit: Bogie -> Just checked your profile, your engine cost you £16K? Saggy and a 300bhp Lotus! Which is more fun to drive

Edited by Zigs on Saturday 17th November 18:29

[bogie]

£11k is for normally aspirated - about £13.5K for base SC conversion + extras like oil cooler etc

too much to list on here and its been covered many times - do a search on here or the engine conversion section on www.seloc.org - theres weeks of reading on honda conversions

mines got a few extras - about 320bhp ish ..nothing is std on the whole car...its a £60K Elise (inc brand new car in 2002)

a really top spec S2 SC Honda 2nd hand will cost you about £30K ..maybe more depending on mods

[Zigs]

good to know thanks, next question, is it worth it?

[S Works]

Shit yeah.

Mine's an NA version and has not dissimilar mods to the pimp-mobile... well, bogie's done a fair few more, but the same ideas apply re: suspension, wheels, brakes, interior etc. You want a car which has had everything done to get the best deal. There's an NA car for sale at the moment which is going for about £22k, which when you read the list of mods is a bargain.

[bogie]

Zigs said:

good to know thanks, next question, is it worth it?

errr yeah...thats why theres a few hundred of them now...transforms the car into even more of a supercar slayer...for £30K you can put together something that will do 60 sub 4, a ton in sub 9, 170mph AND go round corners...and to top it all off its a cheap to run track car in comparison to anything else with that performance...oh and nearly practical too - at least for a long weekend away

so a great all round package......

[Zigs]

I seriously wish I could get the one available now, but I do have to wait 6-8 months (did a deal with the wife, god damn wives... )

Thanks for all the advice, look forward to joining the fold in the future <proceeds to lurk>

[piooly]

Have a look at the new sinclaires supercharger kit called Katana I think. Around £4,000 fitted to an either a S2 111R or an S2 N/A exige, Boosts power up to 260bhp and the install looks very good. I saw the demo car at a Bedford track day yesterday and it looked very good. virtually looks standard !!

[Cino]

piooly said:

Have a look at the new sinclaires supercharger kit called Katana I think. Around £4,000 fitted to an either a S2 111R or an S2 N/A exige, Boosts power up to 260bhp and the install looks very good. I saw the demo car at a Bedford track day yesterday and it looked very good. virtually looks standard !!

Do you have any links to info on this? I did an internet search but it came up with nothing

[Scuffers]

piooly said:

Have a look at the new sinclaires supercharger kit called Katana I think. Around £4,000 fitted to an either a S2 111R or an S2 N/A exige, Boosts power up to 260bhp and the install looks very good. I saw the demo car at a Bedford track day yesterday and it looked very good. virtually looks standard !!

I think 260 is pushing it a bit (211Bhp at the hubs from what I understand =~235Flywheel), this is a NON-intercooled install (same as the new Lotus kit for the Elise 111R).

[piooly]

Scuffers said:

piooly said:

Have a look at the new sinclaires supercharger kit called Katana I think. Around £4,000 fitted to an either a S2 111R or an S2 N/A exige, Boosts power up to 260bhp and the install looks very good. I saw the demo car at a Bedford track day yesterday and it looked very good. virtually looks standard !!

I think 260 is pushing it a bit (211Bhp at the hubs from what I understand =~235Flywheel), this is a NON-intercooled install (same as the new Lotus kit for the Elise 111R).

yeah sorry, I meant 260bhp at the fly not the wheels. This is what sinclaires kit does.

[Scuffers]

piooly said:

Scuffers said:

piooly said:

Have a look at the new sinclaires supercharger kit called Katana I think. Around £4,000 fitted to an either a S2 111R or an S2 N/A exige, Boosts power up to 260bhp and the install looks very good. I saw the demo car at a Bedford track day yesterday and it looked very good. virtually looks standard !!

I think 260 is pushing it a bit (211Bhp at the hubs from what I understand =~235Flywheel), this is a NON-intercooled install (same as the new Lotus kit for the Elise 111R).

yeah sorry, I meant 260bhp at the fly not the wheels. This is what sinclaires kit does.

which part of more like 235Bhp Flywheel do you not get? you CANNOT get 260Bhp from a Toyota non-intercooled.