Europa info?
Author
Discussion

MW666

Original Poster:

64 posts

247 months

Wednesday 11th November 2009
quotequote all
Has anyone seen a Europa in the flesh? .. i have seen only one 's' spec car .. and really would like an SE for my next car .. trouble is there seems so few of them about that it is impossible to find a low milage used one for sale (one at the mo.)
Would anyone know how hard and how expensive it is moving an 's' to an 'se' spec? would it need to go back to factory?

Chimjunkie

2,879 posts

234 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
MW666 said:
Has anyone seen a Europa in the flesh? .. i have seen only one 's' spec car .. and really would like an SE for my next car .. trouble is there seems so few of them about that it is impossible to find a low milage used one for sale (one at the mo.)
Would anyone know how hard and how expensive it is moving an 's' to an 'se' spec? would it need to go back to factory?
Factory wont upgrade an S to an SE. Buy the SE was their response when we asked! Idiots.

The mods you are best doing are:

Brake pads (mintex 1144 or Padgid)
ECU power upgrade to 225bhp
Suspension upgrade (Gaz or Nitron)

And if you can offord it...
Miltek Exhaust which gives the best noise with pops and bangs plus frees up power throughout the rev range.
Pro Alloy rad
Rear toe-link upgrade

HTH.

(Check out my profile for pictures of my other halfs modified Europa smile )

subaqua

892 posts

235 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
Chimjunkie said:
MW666 said:
Factory wont upgrade an S to an SE. Buy the SE was their response when we asked! Idiots.

smile )
bit harsh on lotus I think, how many other manufacturers offer that kind of upgrade service?

Chimjunkie

2,879 posts

234 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
subaqua said:
bit harsh on lotus I think, how many other manufacturers offer that kind of upgrade service?
No, dont think so at all. The SE came out to sort out the reasons why people did not buy the S. The SE came out with all these upgrades at a lower price than the original S. Not offering after market upgrades and saying buy the new one when we have just spent every last penny on the S is in my opinion unfair.

Shabs

1,866 posts

229 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
Chimjunkie said:
MW666 said:
Has anyone seen a Europa in the flesh? .. i have seen only one 's' spec car .. and really would like an SE for my next car .. trouble is there seems so few of them about that it is impossible to find a low milage used one for sale (one at the mo.)
Would anyone know how hard and how expensive it is moving an 's' to an 'se' spec? would it need to go back to factory?
Factory wont upgrade an S to an SE. Buy the SE was their response when we asked! Idiots.

The mods you are best doing are:

Brake pads (mintex 1144 or Padgid)
ECU power upgrade to 225bhp
Suspension upgrade (Gaz or Nitron)

And if you can offord it...
Miltek Exhaust which gives the best noise with pops and bangs plus frees up power throughout the rev range.
Pro Alloy rad
Rear toe-link upgrade

HTH.

(Check out my profile for pictures of my other halfs modified Europa smile )
bro - are you telling me that L's Europa has "only" 225bhp? Jesus yikes it is a beast compared to my chim, can you imagine when they crack the ECU and get 300+?

Can you PM me the rough cost for the above mods from your experience? Next year is rolling around eventually and I have my heart set on getting a lotus of some description smile

MW666

Original Poster:

64 posts

247 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
The Car looks really great ... who did you use to do the upgrades? and what was your experience in terms of price and service

Chimjunkie

2,879 posts

234 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
MW666 said:
The Car looks really great ... who did you use to do the upgrades? and what was your experience in terms of price and service
Most of the major upgrades were made by Castle Lotus and TVR in Stansted Mountfitchet when Lisa bought the car. They are a great bunch of guys. Further mods have been done through Sinclaire Motorsport Link who are good value for money and go beyond the call of duty. They also have some great equipment such as harmonic wheel balancing and a hub dyno. Plus a spray shop.

Shabs, Email Lisa loopylea through her profile for more info.

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
MW666 said:
Has anyone seen a Europa in the flesh? .. i have seen only one 's' spec car .. and really would like an SE for my next car .. trouble is there seems so few of them about that it is impossible to find a low milage used one for sale (one at the mo.)
Would anyone know how hard and how expensive it is moving an 's' to an 'se' spec? would it need to go back to factory?
Hi There,

The SE spec Europa has the following upgrades over the S:

Larger Turbo
225 ECU map
Larger wheels
Stiffer shocks/springs/ARB
Lux interior
Front AP 4 pot calipers

It really depends on what you personally want from the Europa and how far you want to go. The factory will not retro fit any of the SE options apart from the interior ( the S lux comes with it as standard). The 225 ECU upgrade has been available for a couple of years so there are quite a few cars out there with this option already.
The S lux also comes with tinted rear window and colur coded plastic trim as per the SE.
However you can turn the S into a very nice capable car.
You can upgrade wheels, suspension etc depending on your preferences.
Hope this helps!

Lisa

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
subaqua said:
Chimjunkie said:
Factory wont upgrade an S to an SE. Buy the SE was their response when we asked! Idiots.

smile )
bit harsh on lotus I think, how many other manufacturers offer that kind of upgrade service?
Sort of. Lotus develpoed the SE in response to the critisisms of the S. Lotus offer retro upgrades on the Elise and Exige, ie superchargers, brakes, wheels suspension etc. The exact type of upgrades that are found on the SE.
So it does seem a little odd.


Edited by loopylea on Thursday 12th November 22:14

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
shabs said:
bro - are you telling me that L's Europa has "only" 225bhp? Jesus yikes it is a beast compared to my chim, can you imagine when they crack the ECU and get 300+?

Can you PM me the rough cost for the above mods from your experience? Next year is rolling around eventually and I have my heart set on getting a lotus of some description smile
Hi Shabs,

235.5bhp actually biggrin, must be the driver eh? hehe

Will email you

Lisa

Edited by loopylea on Thursday 12th November 22:16

junks

303 posts

263 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
Europas! rolleyestongue out

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
junks said:
Europas! rolleyestongue out
Just because yours is somewhat, erm, well, it's not really is it?

A pile of bits actually.......laughrofl

junks

303 posts

263 months

Thursday 12th November 2009
quotequote all
loopylea said:
junks said:
Europas! rolleyestongue out
Just because yours is somewhat, erm, well, it's not really is it?

A pile of bits actually.......laughrofl
Watch it you - I can always sell those links before tomorrow night!! lol laugh

Shabs

1,866 posts

229 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
loopylea said:
shabs said:
bro - are you telling me that L's Europa has "only" 225bhp? Jesus yikes it is a beast compared to my chim, can you imagine when they crack the ECU and get 300+?

Can you PM me the rough cost for the above mods from your experience? Next year is rolling around eventually and I have my heart set on getting a lotus of some description smile
Hi Shabs,

235.5bhp actually biggrin, must be the driver eh? hehe

Will email you

Lisa

Edited by loopylea on Thursday 12th November 22:16
Thanks dude - no doubt about the driver, but you out run me in a straight line as well thumbup

C43

666 posts

221 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
On the mods front I am not sure of the Nitrons as they may make the car too harsh for English roads.

But the big front AP kit is a massive step better. On a really demanding road where there is no trafic and maximum attack it is fuel not brakes that run out first....

C43

Bourj

209 posts

220 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
If you want an SE get an SE. You could upgrade some parts of the Europa S to SE spec. Someone one here has SE alloys on an S, but the tyre sizes are different and so would need changing, that said there doesn’t seem to be much choice for the standards S front tyres. Think Bridgestone (widow makers, tongue in cheek!) are the only ones out there and so I can see a time where it might be an idea to upgrade to something else. AP brakes are available at the front for about 2K. The wood gear knob alone is about £80. Full lux leather + seats is going to be a few grand and pretty sure someone else on here got the LUX leather retrofitted through Lotus. We haven’t even got to upgrading the turbo, suspension or remapping to 225 BHP, spraying all the grilles and plastic bits. Again a lot of Europa S’s have the 225 PHP upgrade and many also have LUX leather, as it was available on the later S’s as an option. Even if you just wanted to make your S look like an SE it is going to cost a lot of money. It makes that 2nd hand SE look good value for money.

I do like what loopylea has done to her car. Speedlines and lux leather. I think removing the spots has tidied up the front end and looks better than the SE IMO. I have seen it parked in silverstone at a couple of trophy events.

Not sure how much you know about the Europa. 2nd hand Europas are an absolute steel. I would judge each Europa on its own merit given the limited number of Europas out there. The Europa is so rare there are presently about 10 Vx220s to every Europa built. Vx’s are not exactly common. That said a lot of modifications are available given the similarities with the VX.

The only concern on the SE is that there is talk of an engine remap for the S through Hofmans. A few owners are interested in this. You may also be inclined to want more BHP, but I would ask the question if such an upgrade would also work on the SE.

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
C43 said:
On the mods front I am not sure of the Nitrons as they may make the car too harsh for English roads.

But the big front AP kit is a massive step better. On a really demanding road where there is no trafic and maximum attack it is fuel not brakes that run out first....

C43
Hi C43,

Nitrons are very good on the road, obviously spring choice is important but being able to adjust them is good.
One of the first things I did was upgrade the brake pads to Mintex 1144's along with the upgraded discs that come with the 225 map.
I managed to cook these in the Alps last year and overheat the fluid.
I then fitted braided pipes, upgraded brake fluid and Pagid RS42s.
So far done Stelvio trip and several trackdays and not had any problems.
Although I have to say the AP brakes are very sexy......

junks

303 posts

263 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
loopylea said:
C43 said:
On the mods front I am not sure of the Nitrons as they may make the car too harsh for English roads.

But the big front AP kit is a massive step better. On a really demanding road where there is no trafic and maximum attack it is fuel not brakes that run out first....

C43
Hi C43,

Nitrons are very good on the road, obviously spring choice is important but being able to adjust them is good.
One of the first things I did was upgrade the brake pads to Mintex 1144's along with the upgraded discs that come with the 225 map.
I managed to cook these in the Alps last year and overheat the fluid.
I then fitted braided pipes, upgraded brake fluid and Pagid RS42s.
So far done Stelvio trip and several trackdays and not had any problems.
Although I have to say the AP brakes are very sexy......
Good god girl its a lump of metal!! Oh & shouldn't you be on your way instead of chatting on her??Eh?? Yes I have had a drink smile X

loopylea

54 posts

212 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
Good god girl its a lump of metal!! Oh & shouldn't you be on your way instead of chatting on her??Eh?? Yes I have had a drink smile X
[/quote]

You can talk, you were under my car quote 'I love your car....' then you sent me a picture of the underside of my car showing a pair of very, erm, nice uprated toelinks!!??!!

I was letting the traffic calm down by the way

footsoldier

2,291 posts

215 months

Friday 13th November 2009
quotequote all
Any news from Hoffmans on upgrade? Have tried emailing but no reply yet - hopefully busy finalising!