why am i being left cold when driving the elise?
Discussion
i own a sport 160 S1, which i love. but something just isnt doing it for me.
now im not claiming to drive stupidly on the roads, and im fairly experienced on track, so i can drive ok. but the elise is i think, just has something missing.
my previous car was a ITR dc2. 8900rpm is hugely addictive, and i think there might be the problem. it was a free revving engine, great handling, very fun to drive. the elise, great handling...erm...thats it. i think maybe the sport 160 engine just isnt that good. it doesn't rev freely, or high enough. it feels like there isnt enough at the top of the revs, but too much down at the bottom.
short of selling it which i dont want to do, what should i do?
close ration gearbox?
light weight flywheel?
different engine spec so that it revs higher and is a bit more 'peaky' as some people like to call it.
is this sounding like a honda K20A engine conversion fix?
now im not claiming to drive stupidly on the roads, and im fairly experienced on track, so i can drive ok. but the elise is i think, just has something missing.
my previous car was a ITR dc2. 8900rpm is hugely addictive, and i think there might be the problem. it was a free revving engine, great handling, very fun to drive. the elise, great handling...erm...thats it. i think maybe the sport 160 engine just isnt that good. it doesn't rev freely, or high enough. it feels like there isnt enough at the top of the revs, but too much down at the bottom.
short of selling it which i dont want to do, what should i do?
close ration gearbox?
light weight flywheel?
different engine spec so that it revs higher and is a bit more 'peaky' as some people like to call it.
is this sounding like a honda K20A engine conversion fix?
I'm sure Tim will be along in a minute to draw you to the dark side...but to be fair he's owned a Sport 160 and a Honda'd Elise so can tell you the difference but to be honest one of the great things about a K-series IMHO is that it's free-revving. Maybe in 160 guise it's not so good? I drove an Exige detuned to this once and it didn't feel as good as my VVC but then it was probably a bit ropey, being a public track-slag.
What ECU are you running on the 160? Has it had the official Lotus driveability upgrade including ECU (as indicated by the EFI Euro 1 ECU mounted in the boot rather than at the back of the engine bay)
Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
stevie111s said:
What ECU are you running on the 160? Has it had the official Lotus driveability upgrade including ECU (as indicated by the EFI Euro 1 ECU mounted in the boot rather than at the back of the engine bay)
Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
its a WVTA. better ecu etc. it was RR'd at 165bhp by the previous owner.Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
exige is an option, obviously S1. im not that rich.
heating on? erm, share the joke please?
garylythgoe said:
Stew, the ITR is a great car 
K20 is 10k inc a few bits... Lot of money!
gaz- i know mate. silly money, but i could sell mine for one with it already done and save a few £££K20 is 10k inc a few bits... Lot of money!
missing the revs tbh. the elise is huge fun, maybe i just need to get used to it some more though?
They are quite different mate, im not slating the K-series, but its a VERY different engine to the B-series honda engine
Stop analysing it so much mate, and love driving it !
I know i would!
You still aint popped over and shown it to me!
Stop analysing it so much mate, and love driving it !
I know i would!
You still aint popped over and shown it to me!
Edited by garylythgoe on Friday 14th September 15:57
stew-S160 said:
stevie111s said:
What ECU are you running on the 160? Has it had the official Lotus driveability upgrade including ECU (as indicated by the EFI Euro 1 ECU mounted in the boot rather than at the back of the engine bay)
Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
its a WVTA. better ecu etc. it was RR'd at 165bhp by the previous owner.Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
exige is an option, obviously S1. im not that rich.
heating on? erm, share the joke please?
DsDetective said:
stew-S160 said:
stevie111s said:
What ECU are you running on the 160? Has it had the official Lotus driveability upgrade including ECU (as indicated by the EFI Euro 1 ECU mounted in the boot rather than at the back of the engine bay)
Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
its a WVTA. better ecu etc. it was RR'd at 165bhp by the previous owner.Mine has gone from 'standard' to EFI to Emerald and with the fully programmable ECU you can get the nice little engine to do almost anything. I love it and I've previously owned a S1 111S and a 170 S1 Exige.
exige is an option, obviously S1. im not that rich.
heating on? erm, share the joke please?
award for not getting bad joke to me.
NEXT
I think that if money is a big part of this (like it is for most of us) then short of selling it & replacing it with god knows what because there will always be a compromise between power & handling, you have to decide which you can live without. We all know that the Elise isnt the quickest car out there but it is probably the best handling car out there so unless you have spare cash for engine mods etc, only you can make the decision whether or not to sell for something quicker.
Interesting that you comment it seems to have more low down, than up top urge, since every other comment i have read has been more along the lines of nothing low down, but a great top end.
To be honest you sound like a fan of high reving v tec style screamers in which case, i would have a look at a 111r, prices are comming down all the time, and it's engine seems to be just the kind of powerplant that you hanker after.
To be honest you sound like a fan of high reving v tec style screamers in which case, i would have a look at a 111r, prices are comming down all the time, and it's engine seems to be just the kind of powerplant that you hanker after.
peter450 said:
Interesting that you comment it seems to have more low down, than up top urge, since every other comment i have read has been more along the lines of nothing low down, but a great top end.
To be honest you sound like a fan of high reving v tec style screamers in which case, i would have a look at a 111r, prices are comming down all the time, and it's engine seems to be just the kind of powerplant that you hanker after.
well it does seem there is more 'go' lower down the revs than at the top, which reminds of diesels. which i detest.To be honest you sound like a fan of high reving v tec style screamers in which case, i would have a look at a 111r, prices are comming down all the time, and it's engine seems to be just the kind of powerplant that you hanker after.
yeah, i love screamers, but reports ive heard of 111R's have never been overly great, but i guess i need to test drive one really. problem there is though, i prefer the S1. lol, used to be the other way round.
ive seen a blue sport 160 with k20A engine conversion for sale for £17k, which is pretty good to me. i suppose thats my ideal car right now as its also got other stuff done. hmmm
decisions
I think you answered your own question in a little way.......I think you have to Honda your car! Gooby will testify to that, I have now been in one and I was already missing my Lotus BADLY before I went in it.........what a car! You get all the stuff you had with the ITR, but you have the handling as well. I reckon it would solve all your problems.......and your right, the S1 is that "tiny" bit more fun to drive.....but we are talking cigarette papers of difference........
If you are looking to spend £17K on a second hand Honda'd car, I would be tempted to Honda the one you already have. You know the car, you can be involved in its gestation and get to know your car even more and you can tune it to how YOU want it. Ok, car will be off the road for a while, but seems the only logical explanation to me........
If you are looking to spend £17K on a second hand Honda'd car, I would be tempted to Honda the one you already have. You know the car, you can be involved in its gestation and get to know your car even more and you can tune it to how YOU want it. Ok, car will be off the road for a while, but seems the only logical explanation to me........
TheYeti said:
I think you answered your own question in a little way.......I think you have to Honda your car! Gooby will testify to that, I have now been in one and I was already missing my Lotus BADLY before I went in it.........what a car! You get all the stuff you had with the ITR, but you have the handling as well. I reckon it would solve all your problems.......and your right, the S1 is that "tiny" bit more fun to drive.....but we are talking cigarette papers of difference........
If you are looking to spend £17K on a second hand Honda'd car, I would be tempted to Honda the one you already have. You know the car, you can be involved in its gestation and get to know your car even more and you can tune it to how YOU want it. Ok, car will be off the road for a while, but seems the only logical explanation to me........
thats the problem though, doing that would cost near on £15000 till its done. or i could sell mine, and only need to pay out another £3000...says that all really.If you are looking to spend £17K on a second hand Honda'd car, I would be tempted to Honda the one you already have. You know the car, you can be involved in its gestation and get to know your car even more and you can tune it to how YOU want it. Ok, car will be off the road for a while, but seems the only logical explanation to me........
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