Upgrade to Elise 140 spec…

[goodwoodweirdo]

Hi, I have a standard S1 Elise and like most owners are dreaming of modifications, so far I’ve installed the S2 suspension pack and are now thinking about the original 135 version… can anyone tell me the differences ? eg cylinder head and if I can still buy one, throttle body, was it also changed ? exhaust ? was that it ?

I would like to modify the car in-line with the original Lotus mods…

Many thanks Matt


just found this ...

Lotus Elise Sport 135
Additions include close-ratio gearbox, sports exhaust, drilled brake discs (cast iron), blue tinted metalic silver paint (Quicksilver), dark blue hood, corbeau sport seats, silver roll over bar, racing steering wheel, headlamp covers, driving lights, category 1 alarm and unique Sport 135 body graphics. The catalytic converter is replaced by a through pipe.

The second batch of cars were produced for the 1999 year (VIN: X 6001 - 6035) and had 111S wheels, tyres and spats, black painted fuel filler cap, matt finish alloy gear knob and Sport 135 '99' decals.

The Sport 135 engine upgrade (Lotus Stage II) is also available as an after market option as are all of the other components.

Edited by goodwoodweirdo on Thursday 4th June 12:25

[GR4]

There was very recently a Sport 135 cylinder head for sale on SELOC, don't know if it is still there. Ad said head was at Sabre Heads, so might be worth giving Kiwirog a call. I think the head was the main (only?) mod to get the 135 bhp.

[AdrianR]

The Sport 135 was new head and cams if I remember correctly, plus a new cast cam cover insert. It was assumed you already had the (Janspeed) sport exhaust. Came in a nice box, cost quite a lot (3K?), made the car a bit more revvy but didn't do a lot for torque so not actually much faster.

HTH
AdrianR

[Scuffers]

AdrianR said:

The Sport 135 was new head and cams if I remember correctly, plus a new cast cam cover insert. It was assumed you already had the (Janspeed) sport exhaust. Came in a nice box, cost quite a lot (3K?), made the car a bit more revvy but didn't do a lot for torque so not actually much faster.

HTH
AdrianR

cams were std.

head was a std casting lightly ported, then a VVC plenum, as said, real difference was it would rev out better.

[TIPPER]

Hi Matthew, I'm not sure why you would want to modify the car to Lotus spec? Unless your car was a completely original 135 then the mods wouldn't really add any value and for the same sort of money you could achieve much more.
The standard bottom end has been found to be safe up to around 160/170bhp if the revs are kept down to no more than about 7k.
There are basically two routes to getting about 140bhp from the standard engine. The simplest is to drop in some cams (Piper 633/Kent 1812), fit a 4-2-1 manifold, sports exhaust and improve induction. The standard Mems ecu will handle that.
Alternatively a head porting job by either Roger Fabrey (Kiwirog at Sabreheads) or Dave Andrews (K series tuning legend at DVA Power), a 421, sports exhaust and induction.
The cams are a bolt on solution although they need to be timed properly. Obviously porting the head involves cracking your engine open and that could reveal a can of worms (liner heights in particular), There's a school of though that says if it ain't broke......, so cams may make more sense. If/when the head gasket does give up you can send the head for porting before repairing. The combination of head work and cams will give about 150-160, maybe a bit more if you then add an Emerald ECU.

[goodwoodweirdo]

Thanks for the feed-back.... I didn't know the 135 head isn't really rated !!

I'll sit back and wait for the HG to go !!!

cheers Matt