DVA Power upgrade to S2 111S

[Loudman]

Thinking of giving the Elise a bit more juice. Think that 8-12k for a k20a might be a bit extravigant but having looked at the DVA power website then 185bhp for 2.5k seems like 'more' sensible value for money but i'm a bit worried about limiting the reliability of the engine. I know that DVA have an excellent rep but surely you can't get 25% more power out without affecting reliability. Any views?

[Justin S]

any increase in performance is going to create an issue of long term reliability, whatever the engine.The 111's has stronger trophy pistons etc and can sensibly take 200 bhp ish...........so 185 is a safe margin.Dave also sorts the head by peening, liner heights etc, so basically sort the underlying HGF issues, making it in a way more reliable. I know that if/when my head gasket goes, I will be heading the DVA way............

[V9GRT]

I've had the DVA kit. Cams, TB's and Emerald ECU on my s1 118bhp and the difference is phenominal.
Probably around the 180bhp mark now.

I used to have a s2 111s (nice car) and with the work its significantly quicker so I'm sure on yours youd also enjoy it.

I've had not 1 real reliability issue since the work 18 months ago with a lot of track work.

Hope this helps

Gavin

[NWTony]

I think you'll need more than £2500 for 185hp? I think the DVA kit includes the throttle bodies, head work etc, but does it include forged pistons, manifolds, ECU?

I've had alot of work done to my S2 and there have been problems along the way, but it is a big improvement on the standard 120hp, you can certainly feel it

[thegreenhell]

DVA K06 conversion (185bhp VVC) is listed as £1950 + £575 for fitting to an S2. It includes Piper cam conversion, Jenvey dthtbs and an Emerald with a 'suitable' map. What it doesn't include in that price, and you probably want, is an airbox and vernier pulleys. These will add another £685 to the total spend. A better exhaust manifold and bespoke ECU mapping are extra again, and could easily add another £1k.

Also, there is no headwork involved in this conversion, so no fettling of the liner heights or gasket faces to improve reliability on that side of things.

S2 111S has the "Trophy 160" engine, so already comes with forged pistons as standard, and should be 'safe' at this power level.

Edited by thegreenhell on Wednesday 10th March 20:08

[Loudman]

I'm not that well informed about car engines, and I do find this description slightly confusing, I'm assuming that the 'kit' will give 185bhp as advertised, so whats the advantage of the (optional) verniers and airbox with trumpets get you? more power over the 185?

[thegreenhell]

Vernier pulleys allow you to time the cams properly, rather than relying on the production tolerance of the standard pulleys. The higher performance the cams are, the more critical the cam timing. The engine should make the power without them if DVA says it will, but it may not be as smooth and torquey as with optimised timing.

Without the airbox you will have no filtration unless you put a foam filter over the trumpets. You will also be sucking in hot engine bay air, which is less dense and therefore potentially restricting power, and your inlet trumpets will be close up against the boot bulkhead, again potentially restricting breathing and power potential. With the airbox you will have a good, sealed cold air feed from the side vent through a nice big efficient cone filter.

http://www.auto-teknix.co.uk/Airbox.html

[S Works]

Drop Kevin Ritson a private message and ask about what he had done to his S2 111S by DVA. I don't recall exactly what kit he had fitted, but I believe he's very happy with the results.

[tertius]

I've just had the K06a kit fitted to my S2 111S. Haven't been on track since so can't readily compare but it definitely feels a lot quicker.

The K06a which is a subset of K06 is on an exchange head basis, there is headwork involved, including checking porosity, liner heights, etc.. If the liner heights need fixing that will be extra.

I treated it as a bit of preventative maintenance plus a bonus power upgrade.

[abarber]

The S2 111S does not have forged pistons as standard, they are cast with slightly stronger ring lands.

[VTECMatt]

tertius said:

I've just had the K06a kit fitted to my S2 111S. Haven't been on track since so can't readily compare but it definitely feels a lot quicker.

The K06a which is a subset of K06 is on an exchange head basis, there is headwork involved, including checking porosity, liner heights, etc.. If the liner heights need fixing that will be extra.

I treated it as a bit of preventative maintenance plus a bonus power upgrade.

Not much left to change on that car now then!

See you on track soon with my S1.

[tertius]

VTECMatt said:

tertius said:

I've just had the K06a kit fitted to my S2 111S. Haven't been on track since so can't readily compare but it definitely feels a lot quicker.

The K06a which is a subset of K06 is on an exchange head basis, there is headwork involved, including checking porosity, liner heights, etc.. If the liner heights need fixing that will be extra.

I treated it as a bit of preventative maintenance plus a bonus power upgrade.

Not much left to change on that car now then!

See you on track soon with my S1.

Not a lot ...

Look forward to seeing the S1, I saw on SELOC you'd got one.

[Loudman]

Interesting to read a few entries from people suggesting that the key thing to upgrading is to figure out where you want to stop, and then head for there in stages. Personally I'm not sure that 185bhp will give a hit that won't make me want more. Maybe a re-engine to something that can be expanded might make this a car for life. I was thinking that the lotus would be a car for a few years, but now its become a second car for me I can't really think of anything that would ever be a better second car (unless I get really rich, which isn't likely). Are Honda upgrades cost effectively modular? Engine/gbox change now and supercharge in a few years? or is it better to 'go the whole hog' in one go?

[S Works]

Loudman said:

Interesting to read a few entries from people suggesting that the key thing to upgrading is to figure out where you want to stop, and then head for there in stages. Personally I'm not sure that 185bhp will give a hit that won't make me want more. Maybe a re-engine to something that can be expanded might make this a car for life. I was thinking that the lotus would be a car for a few years, but now its become a second car for me I can't really think of anything that would ever be a better second car (unless I get really rich, which isn't likely). Are Honda upgrades cost effectively modular? Engine/gbox change now and supercharge in a few years? or is it better to 'go the whole hog' in one go?

I would deffo go NA first, then see if you really want more. I had a really well set up NA car that did nigh on 200bhp at the hubs on Abbey's dyno. It was very, very quick on the road and only SC'd or Audi'd cars bettered it in a straight line on track. I personally could've kept it and had years of fun without ever needing a 'charger. Once you go there the cost of ownership really goes up as you're burning consumables much more quickly. Having said that, I've been in a few SC'd cars and they really are silly, silly quick. Massive grins for sure, but you really need to be on your toes if it's not dry and you want to make progress.

[NDT]

How much less 'special' is a 2.3 Duratec conversion compared to a Honda?
I'm assuming that peak power and torque are not that dissimilar to the Honda, but with a cheaper conversion overall?