Hangar 111 komotec supercharger

[Anatol]

I'm considering this aftermarket s/c for my s.2 exige tourer. The website advice also suggests an oil cooler and baffled sump at the same time. I might well get a big brake upgrade and/or adjustable suspension replacement done while the car is apart.

The important factors for me are, in order:
Not blowing the car up, or otherwise killing it or hurting its reliability
No visible styling changes
Not hurting the car's touring ability (such as it is!) [hence no loud exhaust upgrade]
Faster acceleration, with smoother power curve
Appropriate brake/handling upgrades that make sense to do at the time, or that are a good idea in the light of the power upgrade
Higher top end speed

I'd be very interested in any experiences of the s/c upgrade, anecdotal or first hand, and advice on what extras are actually worth it or a good idea.

I'm not looking for a full engine swap, or other alteration which isn't essentially reversible if necessary, so while I appreciate that audi/honda etc conversions are out there, they're not for me.

Thanks in advance,

Tol

[Phil-CH]

Twin oil coolers is a must - if you don't have it, overheating may be a result of how hard you drive it and in what weather conditions. The additional cooler that Komotec builds in right at the front, blocking the airflow to the engine watercooler might be another reason.

Apart from that, power figures are great and reach what they claim. The lack of a S/C whine is a plus if you don't like it.

One other thing, if you have a car with drive-by-wire... good luck. Have heard nothing but trouble with them.

[Anatol]

Phil-CH said:

One other thing, if you have a car with drive-by-wire...

Car was completed for 1 Oct 2005, but registered 1/1/06 on a 55 plate.

VIN is SCCPA11125HN85101

so I think it predates drive-by wire?

Tol

[Boggy]

Anatol said:

Phil-CH said:

One other thing, if you have a car with drive-by-wire...

Car was completed for 1 Oct 2005, but registered 1/1/06 on a 55 plate.

VIN is SCCPA11125HN85101

so I think it predates drive-by wire?

Tol

I'd say think very carefully about these conversion's, unless it's a Lotus approved conversion then your warranty will be void! Also these warranty's that the converter's offer don't cover the engine should it go bang! I've done my home work.

Boggy

[Phil-CH]

Anatol said:

Car was completed for 1 Oct 2005, but registered 1/1/06 on a 55 plate.

Excellent - you shouldn't have any trouble then. Not having the twin oil coolers from the performance pack may cause overheating on the track, hard usage and high temps - if there's a way to add them, it may be a wise move to do so.

The baffled oilsump is very recommended - even on a standard NA car, as the Exige can easily run dry on fast long corners and sticky tires. I have one too.

Apart from that, any questions? (I have driven a few and know some who own one, so I may be able to answer).

Cheers Phil

[Anatol]

Phil-CH said:

Apart from that, any questions?
Cheers Phil

Yes!

How's it compare in power delivery to the Exige S, as I had a few laps in a Club Racer yesterday?

How many are out there, and what's the reliability like? Any history of sudden fireballs?

And the warranty - is it a nonsense 'covers you for 10 minutes or 5 road miles, and even then it's limited to replacement of the s/c' or do the manufacturer/installer believe in their product enough to accept they're responsible for damage to the rest of the car should their product fail?

Generally, how helpful are Hangar 111? I've no interest in dealing with a company who don't have a good handle on customer service...

TIA!

Tol

edited to add: Contract and Tort law were a long time ago, but IIRC, you're liable for losses consequent on contractual breach (say, of the term to provide a supercharger conversion that isn't going to fail) or reasonably foreseeable consequences of tortious negligence, so saying "we're not responsible if we blow up your engine" is only there to hopefully scare off the legally-unaware who could claim if they knew better...

Edited by Anatol on Monday 19th November 12:29

[Phil-CH]

Boggy said:

I'd say think very carefully about these conversion's, unless it's a Lotus approved conversion then your warranty will be void! Also these warranty's that the converter's offer don't cover the engine should it go bang! I've done my home work.

Boggy

Excellent advice - I won't vouch for Komotec and reliability since I don't own one and the kit hasn't been around that long, but haven't heard of any failures yet and the load increase isn't much more than what Lotus is doing themselves.

As for warranty: If I'm not mistaken, the warranty is more or less on its way out, it being a MY05 model, so that may not be that much of an issue.

Anyway, I'm not much of an advocat of after market tuning, but in this case, I find it shocking that there are conversions that do a much better job than the ones Lotus are offering. I also find it ridiculous at how they aim for a product, but then devide it into smaller steps just to bring out a new model variant every year.

[Anatol]

Are there official s/c conversions from/approved by Lotus for a MY05 naturally aspirated Exige? I didn't know that was an option... I'd prefer something official if available. Can't find anything about it on the Lotus site though.

Tol

[slatess1]

Hanger 111 have had quite a bit of business from me over the past year and a half and i cant speak highly enough of Greg's commitment to his work.

I havent had the komotec sc kit, however 'junks' on here has on his his na s2 exige and ive heard its brilliant & havent heard about any issues... Have also been at hanger when they were fitting a komotec kit upgrade to a white exige s, very nice!!

[Phil-CH]

Anatol said:

How's it compare in power delivery to the Exige S, as I had a few laps in a Club Racer yesterday?

Should be quite easily quicker. From experience, around 3 seconds quicker up to 200kmh with the 250S model which does around 260hp on the dyno. It's a bit slower than a Bemani at the top end.

Anatol said:

How many are out there, and what's the reliability like? Any history of sudden fireballs?

Komotec claims over 100, though I have a bit a hard time believing this since the kit hasn't been out that long. Reliability so far seems okay - minor problems I've heard include the overheating (probably due to the location of the front cooler). Other problems with MY06 and newer include sudden power loss and the car engaging emergency mode blocking off 2nd cam until the car is shut off and turned on again. At the very least quite an annoyance. Most is probably due to the ECU remap and the drive-by-wire system - typical early problems I figure, though from what I know, they haven't been quite solved yet at Komotec. Apart from this, nothing I am aware of - no fireballs or the sort. The cars also do make the power they claim.

If you have a MY04 or MY05, you should be fine.

Anatol said:

And the warranty - is it a nonsense 'covers you for 10 minutes or 5 road miles, and even then it's limited to replacement of the s/c' or do the manufacturer/installer believe in their product enough to accept they're responsible for damage to the rest of the car should their product fail?

Generally, how helpful are Hangar 111? I've no interest in dealing with a company who don't have a good handle on customer service...

Can't really comment much on this unfortunately, as I'm located in Switzerland where the Bemani kit is more common and are sold with full warranty by some Lotus dealers (AFAIK). Not sure if the Komo-Tec is at the same level here yet, though they are built here as well from a certified Komo-Tec partner.

Anatol said:

edited to add: Contract and Tort law were a long time ago, but IIRC, you're liable for losses consequent on contractual breach (say, of the term to provide a supercharger conversion that isn't going to fail) or reasonably foreseeable consequences of tortious negligence, so saying "we're not responsible if we blow up your engine" is only there to hopefully scare off the legally-unaware who could claim if they knew better...

Correct.

Even in case of engine failure with a Lotus approved car can warranty be denied if the failure was caused by human error. In other words, there has been a Bemani car that blew its engine by overreving it to over 9500 rpm (caused by a miss-shift). At these engine speeds, any engine will go down - aftermarket tuned or not, warranty will not cover it.

Anyway, hope this helps! Cheers Phil