Elise S 1ZZ-FE tuning

[chrispj]

I'm eyeing up picking up my first Elise after experiencing them on a couple of tracks - the 1.6 at Hethel and (presumably) a K series at Castle Combe. Of course I'm caught in the usual dilemma of whether to go for the basic S or the SC. Coming from a turbo petrol I do like a good slug of torque so I'm not so keen on the power delivery of an R. I'm looking at picking up around a 4 year old car, so that would be approx 18k pounds for an S or an extra 6 or 7k for the SC (almost the cost of a new bathroom - could be a bit of an issue with the missus...).

It would mostly be road use (some nice small twisty roads around where I live in Devon) but I'd hope to get on a track a couple of times a year. I have a feeling the S will be great for road use but as everyone says on track you get used to being overtaken down the straights; an SC will be perfect for the track but will it be too much to really enjoy on the roads or will you feel like you're always too much within its limits?

I'm planning on test driving an SC soon so hopefully will figure out if the SC is too much to enjoy, but the question (at last) is, if I get an S and decide later it's not quite enough, is there much scope for tuning it to give a reasonable increase in power & torque, say taking it from 134bhp to around 150 - 160 and more mid-range torque? There seems to be plenty of options out there for tuning a the 2ZZ R engine, whether supercharging, new cams etc but I'm not seeing any options out there for the S and the 1ZZ engine.

Cheers

Chris

[The Bandit]

Hi Chris,

I had an S for 4yrs/38k miles.
Unfortunately theres pretty much sod all bar exhaust(2bular 4-2-1 manifold, sports cat+back box)and induction(TRD)that you can do to it.
I looked into many options and the only other solutions at the moment are very expensive(s/c kit, around £5-7k).
Having said that its a cracking little engine and once its got a few miles on it certainly doesn't feel slow.
Its a great package and loads of fun.
I absolutely loved mine and only sold it when a green Sport 160 came along

An SC is in another league though of course as it has ~80bhp and a shed load more torque.
If you have any doubts then buy the SC. Theres not much difference in running costs and it'll hold its value better.
Have fun on the test drives

[chrispj]

Hi Bandit

Thanks for that. It's a shame there's not much to do to the 1ZZ engine. I'll just have to make sure to get a good test drive in each and get the right one to start with as I suspect I'd be in a whole world of trouble with the missus if I picked up an S, didn't find it to be enough and traded in for an SC say a year later...

[peter450]

You could always buy a 111r and simply have the official lotus SC kit fitted at a dealer, i dont think it's that expensive and you effectively end up with a SC afterwards, and saving some money at the same time