Elise with Rover 220 Turbo Engine...

[Podie]

Spotted this in one of the free magazines with the London rags last night….

advert said:

LOTUS ELISE , 1998 R Reg . Fitted with Rover 220 Turbo Engine Now 200BHP+++ Painted as a Union Jack; 2 owners 34000 Miles Great Fun , Please call for details £9,975

http://www.autokinetic.co.uk/

Not seen that conversion before… what’s the Elise owners thoughts on this…?

[kambites]

That engine will weigh a tonne - it's cast iron, I think.

[Podie]

Looks...er...



... but my curiosity was more to do with the choice of powerplant...

Edited by Podie on Thursday 25th October 14:34

[DucatiGary]

its been on sale for a while that, its in the classifieds

[cyberface]

kambites said:

That engine will weigh a tonne - it's cast iron, I think.

It is an iron block, ally head IIRC... definitely heavier than other alternatives. As with the VXT and Audi'd Elises, a lot depends on how and where the engine is mounted, and which side the manifolds are on (w.r.t. weight distribution) - but I think the old Rover turbo is heavier than both the Z20LET and the VAG turbo unit.

However the engines are dirt cheap and getting one up to 400 bhp (limit of standard block and crank IIRC) is much cheaper than the alternatives. There was a feature on the engine in PPC magazine a while back - they highlighted that the main virtue of this engine is cost per power... you can pick them up from scrapyards from Tomcats and 800 turbos for a few hundred quid, and they're reliable apparently.

Unless it's really cheap and easy to bolt into an Elise though, the cost of the engine will be so far outweighed by the cost of installation that you may as well buy a more established conversion (i.e. VAG) if you want a turbo Elise.

[retrorider]

if they paint it then it might sell...

[RobM77]

I just can't see the engine suiting the car at all, both from a weight and a drivability perspective. I think you'd be far better off with a Honda conversion, or if 200bhp is as far as you're going (as the original owner did), then why not a VHPD?

[900T-R]

RobM77 said:

or if 200bhp is as far as you're going (as the original owner did), then why not a VHPD?

Because it coughs and splutters its way up the rev range at anything but WOT, it's not that reliable and you're always worried whether it passes emissions come MOT time?

[RobM77]

900T-R said:

RobM77 said:

or if 200bhp is as far as you're going (as the original owner did), then why not a VHPD?

Because it coughs and splutters its way up the rev range at anything but WOT

That was just a manufacturer mapping for EU emissions compliance. http://www.emeraldm3d.com

[Conian]

I like that car

Though i would sound stupid yelling SHAGUAR every time i somersaulted into it.
Oh, and also look stupid as i headbutt the roll bar thing and flop onto the road, bleeding.