Discussion
Posted a bit about this on the Lotus pages but they’re not so well frequented and I find myself needing a bit of advice so here we go.
This is my newly acquired 135r S2. The car has only 2500 miles covered so it’s a bit of a time warp thing.
I bought it from a dealer who carried out a full service for me before I collected it, including belts and all the fluids.
Unfortunately, as seems to be usual for me, despite insisting that the car be carefully gone through for me (and building that into the negotiations) I found myself driving home with a gear shift that resembled a pudding stirrer with staggering amounts of free play.
Today I popped it on my own ramp for a look - I was going to use my two post lift as usual but right away I ran into a bit of an issue because the Elise doesn’t like the idea of being lifted on one of those until the rear undertray is removed to get access to the rear lifting points. The central lifting points seem close enough to the centre of gravity to not pass my “sensible” test and so I had to put it on the four poster ramp which isn’t really as nice to work under.
Anyway. It’s in amazing condition underneath - look at this:
And from a more rearward angle:
It already has some kind of sports exhaust by the looks of it - there is a 4-2-1 tubular manifold (which doesn’t look like it has ever been disturbed so I think that must be factory) and then this:
Sounds great (for a K!) and it’s just the right noise level.
Here is the cause of the dodgy gearshift though:
One bush is missing altogether and the other one is falling apart. So much for the really careful preparation they were doing! Even more annoying is the fact that it was MOT’d for me so someone actually drove the thing. Humph.
Anyway, helpfully the dealer have offered to send me an updated bush kit to fix the problem so I should get that next week and then I can sort it out.
In the mean time I’d like to make some initial comments about the car and also ask a question or two if I may to experienced Eliser’s!
Firstly, I don’t know if I have caused it by bombing along a favourite road last night but on the ramp I can now see a decent selection of stone chips along the lower sills - even ahead of the factory paint protection film. It may be that they were there before and that due to the car being low I didn’t see them. If I have caused them then it means that the car must either be the worlds most vulnerable to chips ever and / or the paint is extremely soft/not chip resistant. Is it possible for me to touch in the chips that are there, flat them level and then now still go for PPF along the sides or don’t you guys bother? What are those sills like to repaint?
Secondly, I have noticed that the ride height is set oddly. In the manual it says the car should run 130mm front and rear ground clearance under the front and rear of the sills.
And
So it’s running 150mm at the front and about 130mm at the back. From my experience that rake isn’t a great plan. These measurements were taken with nobody sat in the car so perhaps it’ll be a fraction different loaded (the lotus figures are supposed to be loaded) but I think it needs to be fettled.
With that in mind I have to say that the ride when you hit a certain type of ridge (even a small one) is very bad, and in fact it sounds like the engine is about to (or has already) land on the road. Looking at the travel of the rear Bilsteins I can see why - they have very little travel before the bump stops. It’s clearly a very much track oriented design.
What would be the best advice? Raise the back 20mm to 150 and lower the front by 10mm to 140mm? Or would I be better off removing the Bilsteins and storing them away, replacing with some modern Nitrons or whatever? I won’t be tracking the car much (if ever) and so am looking for an optimal UK roads setup if you can help me with that?
Tyres wise it’s wearing the original 16 year old 048’s. They seem fine but obviously will not be the same as they were in 2003!
Appreciate any help or insights into the above!
In terms of driving it I’ve wanted one of these for 20 years and somehow always missed out on buying one!
Now I’m finally in an Elise I am absolutely loving it! I’ve only done about 120 miles in it so far but even with the difficult gearbox I’ve had an absolute blast.
You forget that as the angle of deflection increases non assisted steering loads up and makes it a physical experience. Non assisted brakes need a hefty shove even with less than 800kg! That little K series loves to rev and it’s absolutely addictive blasting down the lanes on a nice night with the roof off!
Being the 135 the front tyres are wider I think and so the steering isn’t quite as microscopically detailed as I remember from test driving the K cars years ago but it’s still really good, and of course you get terrific bite on turn in. I did note the tail right on the edge of misbehaving itself in an unwanted way accelerating around a third gear corner but I’m thinking that’s probably a lot to do with the rake issue.
I can’t close the post without doing some waffle about 135hp in 2019. I almost bought a new cup Elise 250 the other week before I happened upon this car. I love those and I love the Exige too and just generally I really enjoy high powered cars. But honestly, bombing down those lanes the past few evenings I have not once wanted more power than 135bhp. You can accelerate through the gears and get a real sense of driving hard and then you look down for a sanity check and - it’s ok - 60 or 70 mph indicated and I’m having an absolute riot!!
It honestly does make me think that the future is, to a great extent, best enjoyed by revisiting the past!
This is my newly acquired 135r S2. The car has only 2500 miles covered so it’s a bit of a time warp thing.
I bought it from a dealer who carried out a full service for me before I collected it, including belts and all the fluids.
Unfortunately, as seems to be usual for me, despite insisting that the car be carefully gone through for me (and building that into the negotiations) I found myself driving home with a gear shift that resembled a pudding stirrer with staggering amounts of free play.
Today I popped it on my own ramp for a look - I was going to use my two post lift as usual but right away I ran into a bit of an issue because the Elise doesn’t like the idea of being lifted on one of those until the rear undertray is removed to get access to the rear lifting points. The central lifting points seem close enough to the centre of gravity to not pass my “sensible” test and so I had to put it on the four poster ramp which isn’t really as nice to work under.
Anyway. It’s in amazing condition underneath - look at this:
And from a more rearward angle:
It already has some kind of sports exhaust by the looks of it - there is a 4-2-1 tubular manifold (which doesn’t look like it has ever been disturbed so I think that must be factory) and then this:
Sounds great (for a K!) and it’s just the right noise level.
Here is the cause of the dodgy gearshift though:
One bush is missing altogether and the other one is falling apart. So much for the really careful preparation they were doing! Even more annoying is the fact that it was MOT’d for me so someone actually drove the thing. Humph.
Anyway, helpfully the dealer have offered to send me an updated bush kit to fix the problem so I should get that next week and then I can sort it out.
In the mean time I’d like to make some initial comments about the car and also ask a question or two if I may to experienced Eliser’s!
Firstly, I don’t know if I have caused it by bombing along a favourite road last night but on the ramp I can now see a decent selection of stone chips along the lower sills - even ahead of the factory paint protection film. It may be that they were there before and that due to the car being low I didn’t see them. If I have caused them then it means that the car must either be the worlds most vulnerable to chips ever and / or the paint is extremely soft/not chip resistant. Is it possible for me to touch in the chips that are there, flat them level and then now still go for PPF along the sides or don’t you guys bother? What are those sills like to repaint?
Secondly, I have noticed that the ride height is set oddly. In the manual it says the car should run 130mm front and rear ground clearance under the front and rear of the sills.
And
So it’s running 150mm at the front and about 130mm at the back. From my experience that rake isn’t a great plan. These measurements were taken with nobody sat in the car so perhaps it’ll be a fraction different loaded (the lotus figures are supposed to be loaded) but I think it needs to be fettled.
With that in mind I have to say that the ride when you hit a certain type of ridge (even a small one) is very bad, and in fact it sounds like the engine is about to (or has already) land on the road. Looking at the travel of the rear Bilsteins I can see why - they have very little travel before the bump stops. It’s clearly a very much track oriented design.
What would be the best advice? Raise the back 20mm to 150 and lower the front by 10mm to 140mm? Or would I be better off removing the Bilsteins and storing them away, replacing with some modern Nitrons or whatever? I won’t be tracking the car much (if ever) and so am looking for an optimal UK roads setup if you can help me with that?
Tyres wise it’s wearing the original 16 year old 048’s. They seem fine but obviously will not be the same as they were in 2003!
Appreciate any help or insights into the above!
In terms of driving it I’ve wanted one of these for 20 years and somehow always missed out on buying one!
Now I’m finally in an Elise I am absolutely loving it! I’ve only done about 120 miles in it so far but even with the difficult gearbox I’ve had an absolute blast.
You forget that as the angle of deflection increases non assisted steering loads up and makes it a physical experience. Non assisted brakes need a hefty shove even with less than 800kg! That little K series loves to rev and it’s absolutely addictive blasting down the lanes on a nice night with the roof off!
Being the 135 the front tyres are wider I think and so the steering isn’t quite as microscopically detailed as I remember from test driving the K cars years ago but it’s still really good, and of course you get terrific bite on turn in. I did note the tail right on the edge of misbehaving itself in an unwanted way accelerating around a third gear corner but I’m thinking that’s probably a lot to do with the rake issue.
I can’t close the post without doing some waffle about 135hp in 2019. I almost bought a new cup Elise 250 the other week before I happened upon this car. I love those and I love the Exige too and just generally I really enjoy high powered cars. But honestly, bombing down those lanes the past few evenings I have not once wanted more power than 135bhp. You can accelerate through the gears and get a real sense of driving hard and then you look down for a sanity check and - it’s ok - 60 or 70 mph indicated and I’m having an absolute riot!!
It honestly does make me think that the future is, to a great extent, best enjoyed by revisiting the past!
Nice car, you also have a fine collection that it will be joining!?
I suspect that your Elise would enjoy a suspension refresh, the bushes etc may well have perished through the passage of time, mine has just been done again (which was quite some investment). I changed my S1 Koni suspension many years ago for Nitrons, it totally transformed the car, to this day it remains the best mod I have made to any of my cars over the last 30 years.
I also have a V6 Exige which has become my hooning weapon of choice, mostly because the power is so addictive. Stepping back into my 160 bhp S1 a couple of weeks ago reminded me what a superb mixture K series powered Elise’s offer, super light and enough power to feel as though you are having fun - as you suggest, less can be more.
Good luck with it, lovely to see all of that fresh aluminium!
I suspect that your Elise would enjoy a suspension refresh, the bushes etc may well have perished through the passage of time, mine has just been done again (which was quite some investment). I changed my S1 Koni suspension many years ago for Nitrons, it totally transformed the car, to this day it remains the best mod I have made to any of my cars over the last 30 years.
I also have a V6 Exige which has become my hooning weapon of choice, mostly because the power is so addictive. Stepping back into my 160 bhp S1 a couple of weeks ago reminded me what a superb mixture K series powered Elise’s offer, super light and enough power to feel as though you are having fun - as you suggest, less can be more.
Good luck with it, lovely to see all of that fresh aluminium!
That sounds like a pretty committed endorsement of the Nitron upgrade! Do they improve the large deflection impact behaviour?
What did you change bush wise? Did you use standard replacements or something different?
I bet the S1 is amazing with 160hp. Did you also do anything to the gearshift at the front end?
What did you change bush wise? Did you use standard replacements or something different?
I bet the S1 is amazing with 160hp. Did you also do anything to the gearshift at the front end?
First of all Julian, I do love the 135R. Probably my favourite of the K-series S2's. The K gets a bad rep, but I've driven a few over the years in various guises and I've always been a fan, and the 135 in your Elise was the best in terms of delivery IMO.
Secondly, and regarding the ride height - you're running LSS2's (which form a large part of what the 135R is, so don't replace them if you're planning to maintain the originality/value) which can be height adjusted. As standard they're pretty low, so they may have been raised slightly to aid clearance?
The gear change might have been something of a small mercy, as standard the change is pretty awful so replacing the linkage was for the best regardless!
Plenty of bushing options. I had HPE's 'spherical bearings' (www.hpeauto.co.uk) fitted to mine. Expensive, but better quality. Various other places like EliseParts and SimplyLotus also do refresh kits for reasonable money.
Secondly, and regarding the ride height - you're running LSS2's (which form a large part of what the 135R is, so don't replace them if you're planning to maintain the originality/value) which can be height adjusted. As standard they're pretty low, so they may have been raised slightly to aid clearance?
The gear change might have been something of a small mercy, as standard the change is pretty awful so replacing the linkage was for the best regardless!
Plenty of bushing options. I had HPE's 'spherical bearings' (www.hpeauto.co.uk) fitted to mine. Expensive, but better quality. Various other places like EliseParts and SimplyLotus also do refresh kits for reasonable money.
Thanks Matty - that’s interesting about the suspension. Maybe the previous poster was right about the bushes! I might remove a spring and damper and see if I can get poppopbangbang to dyno it for me in his lunch break to see if they are ok or no longer fighting fit!
I’ll also take a close look at linkage options.
Any advice on the stone chips on the sills? Is this pretty normal stuff - it seems to me that with the rear track being wider it would make sense for the front wheels to pepper the lower sides pretty bad!
I’ll also take a close look at linkage options.
Any advice on the stone chips on the sills? Is this pretty normal stuff - it seems to me that with the rear track being wider it would make sense for the front wheels to pepper the lower sides pretty bad!
Julian Thompson said:
That sounds like a pretty committed endorsement of the Nitron upgrade! Do they improve the large deflection impact behaviour?
What did you change bush wise? Did you use standard replacements or something different?
I bet the S1 is amazing with 160hp. Did you also do anything to the gearshift at the front end?
Sorry for my late response!What did you change bush wise? Did you use standard replacements or something different?
I bet the S1 is amazing with 160hp. Did you also do anything to the gearshift at the front end?
The Nitrons just seem to allow the car to flow more easily and further increase the steering feel. I won’t gush about them too much, but they are a no brainier imho.
I had the entire suspension refreshed, there are various kits available, from my research at the time it appeared that the aftermarket parts were generally thought to be better than the Lotus parts on offer https://www.eliseparts.com/products/show/67/1518/s... is what I got, but that may be a bit too much for your car as mine had clocked 50k miles
The gearshift remains the least impressive part of the car, I had the linkage changed, but it still feels awkward. I have previously fitted the shortened gear lever (awful & removed promptly) and further fitted the nylatron bush set, with little discernible improvement. I’m going to try changing the gearbox oil next, but I am not expecting anything too dramatic from that - you never know.......
Happy driving!
I tried some lightweight engine mounts a few years ago when I was obsessed with the overall weight of the car, they were truly awful- I managed 48 hours with them before I had them removed, it was like the engine had been bolted to the seat.
I have never previously associated the gear linkage in relation to the engine mounts, it’s certainly food for thought.
I have never previously associated the gear linkage in relation to the engine mounts, it’s certainly food for thought.
Looks like a great example, well done!
As for the sills, they do take a spanking. Different colours seem to wear it better than others, but on both of my S2's I first only really noticed how bad they were once laid on the garage floor about to take the floorpan off.
From standing height the light seems to mask the worst of it.
If I was ever bothered enough to sort it with fresh paint, I'd probably extend the factory PPF right the way to the front of the sill - but even then my factory PPF has some chunks out of it now, so eventually it will all need doing again... just one of those things particularly if you end up with sticky tyres on.
As for the sills, they do take a spanking. Different colours seem to wear it better than others, but on both of my S2's I first only really noticed how bad they were once laid on the garage floor about to take the floorpan off.
From standing height the light seems to mask the worst of it.
If I was ever bothered enough to sort it with fresh paint, I'd probably extend the factory PPF right the way to the front of the sill - but even then my factory PPF has some chunks out of it now, so eventually it will all need doing again... just one of those things particularly if you end up with sticky tyres on.
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