Turbo Technics Conversions
Discussion
Does anyone here have a TT upgrade to an S1 Elise? I understand that late plate S1's are quite reliable, and wondered what the effect of the TT upgrade was on reliability, and servicing cost.
Does the extra power upset the chasis, or does the Elise still excite as a drivers car on the twisties?
Anyone's thoughts are gladly received!!
Does the extra power upset the chasis, or does the Elise still excite as a drivers car on the twisties?
Anyone's thoughts are gladly received!!
Put Turbo Technics in the PH search engine, comes up with a few threads which discuss TT conv's. I have only recently had mine done so I'm not in a position to comment on realibility (or even spell properly!), but suffice to say the mid range torque and acceleration is something else. Jeff and co at TT are very good, true Petrol Heads.
There are members on here that own or have owned TT conversions, so they may well reply, failing that, there is the chat board for TT on Yahoo, I'll post the link latter on. http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/EliseTT
Alternatively drop in @ www.seloc.org again there are a number of S1 (one S1 running 260bhp, although he did kiss the armco on the way to Folembray recently - too much power in the wet) and S2 TT converts who are members.
As a rule of thumb the more recent conversions in the past year have benefitted from the lessons learnt, i.e. a better belt tensioner and reinforced pistons.
They offer a range of options depending on your budget. As a I had dropped a valve spring, they also rebuilt my head for me the TT way - so slightly more power + torque with the option to go higher with solid cams etc in the future.
Their test drive machine was pranged before Xmas, a S2, so not sure if they have the ability to offer test drives.
Cheers
PC
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 15:12
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 22:56
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 22:57
There are members on here that own or have owned TT conversions, so they may well reply, failing that, there is the chat board for TT on Yahoo, I'll post the link latter on. http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/EliseTT
Alternatively drop in @ www.seloc.org again there are a number of S1 (one S1 running 260bhp, although he did kiss the armco on the way to Folembray recently - too much power in the wet) and S2 TT converts who are members.
As a rule of thumb the more recent conversions in the past year have benefitted from the lessons learnt, i.e. a better belt tensioner and reinforced pistons.
They offer a range of options depending on your budget. As a I had dropped a valve spring, they also rebuilt my head for me the TT way - so slightly more power + torque with the option to go higher with solid cams etc in the future.
Their test drive machine was pranged before Xmas, a S2, so not sure if they have the ability to offer test drives.
Cheers
PC
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 15:12
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 22:56
>> Edited by Felix7 on Wednesday 12th March 22:57
I have an S1 with the 230bhp conversion which I use mainly on the track. It's been thrashed around most of the UK racetracks over the past 12 months and hasn't missed a beat. Does seem to be very reliable (touch wood).
From a driving perspective, the conversion transforms the car and gives it the power it always needed. It turns a good car into a great one
From a driving perspective, the conversion transforms the car and gives it the power it always needed. It turns a good car into a great one
Conversely, Jas has a TT 230 and a bit (RR'd at 245 or something), and it appears to spend a lot of time off the road to the casual observer!
Of course I don't find that too surprising considering the capacity of the engine and the power its generating. I imagine the less extreme versions are more reliable.
DanH said:
Conversely, Jas has a TT 230 and a bit (RR'd at 245 or something), and it appears to spend a lot of time off the road to the casual observer!
Of course I don't find that too surprising considering the capacity of the engine and the power its generating. I imagine the less extreme versions are more reliable.
Seems reliable enough to me. The TT rebuild uses reinforced pistons etc, so the engine can take it. The K series is not that bad! Its bit like saying a 2l Evo or Impreza lump running INXS of 270bhp is unreliable. The engine is tailored to cope with the extra power.
Felix as far as I'm aware its not a simple comparison because those engine were originally designed to be run in that fashion. Just because a normally aspirated vtec can reliably generate >100bhp a litre doesn't mean a k can (without constant rebuilds+risk of grenading). Especially as the k series was originally designed as a 1.4 litre engine, and they've had to make a few compromises increasing it to 1.8. Thats without even going into all the cooling problems with the engine being mid mounted when it was designed for forward mounting (hence the head gasket problems in Elises and MGFs).
Still Jas's car was the first S2 to be done, and as I said its running a hell of a lot of boost, so lesser upgrades are probably more reliable etc.
The TT190 has an unmodified head, but I think it has a new gasket. The 230 has a different exhaust cam and the ports are drilled out larger and the head polished + cat removed. They both have new special pistons and the compression is lowered with shorted connecting rods. The rev limit stays the same at 7K. They both get an oil cooler mounted up front and another radiator for the charge cooler (to cool the compressed air down again). No space for air con on S2.
From what I’ve read on http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/EliseTT Jas’s car has been tweaked on the RR and setup to use RON97 as minimum.
The 260+ conversion uses the VHPD engine, which TT strip down (6 weeks work) to reinforce internally.
Here is the TT website but it is a little out of date. Ask them to send you the brochure if you are interested.
www.turbotechnics.co.uk
I'll be picking my 230 conversion up soon so I'll let you know how it goes.
From what I’ve read on http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/EliseTT Jas’s car has been tweaked on the RR and setup to use RON97 as minimum.
The 260+ conversion uses the VHPD engine, which TT strip down (6 weeks work) to reinforce internally.
Here is the TT website but it is a little out of date. Ask them to send you the brochure if you are interested.
www.turbotechnics.co.uk
I'll be picking my 230 conversion up soon so I'll let you know how it goes.
Yep as Bogie says they replace the ECU with one from Emerald. The MIL is disabled.
The TT190 has the cat in place (unless you specify otherwise). The TT230 has it removed as it is becomes more of a bottle neck. To get it through the MOT all you need to do is put the CAT back in, test it, take the CAT out.
The TT190 has the cat in place (unless you specify otherwise). The TT230 has it removed as it is becomes more of a bottle neck. To get it through the MOT all you need to do is put the CAT back in, test it, take the CAT out.
MilesForrest said: Yep as Bogie says they replace the ECU with one from Emerald. The MIL is disabled.
The TT190 has the cat in place (unless you specify otherwise). The TT230 has it removed as it is becomes more of a bottle neck. To get it through the MOT all you need to do is put the CAT back in, test it, take the CAT out.
Miles I see you got yours done as well, mines back at TT this week being MOT'ed, rather pleased with the results so far I have to say!
milesforrest said: Yep I pick it up this Saturday - just hope the weather holds. What have you done to get it from the 215 to 225 bhp? Have you taken teh CAT out?
No cat, Janspeed 4-2-1 maninfold and single tail pipe exhaust, + a rebuilt head. MOT'd in the week, just picked her up but notice some water coming from the undertray where its cut in to allow for the wheel on the off rear side. The reservoir is down a bit which is bloody annoying, but there you go, life with a Lotie, thank god for a warranty, now what was Ted saying about reliability and the Elise-R!!!
PC
Last weekend I finished my 20th trackday in my TT230 since conversion. Apart from one regular service I haven't touched it mechanically - I've not even had to top up the oil or water. Given the amount of stick it gets on trackdays TT must have done a fairly thorough job on the engine strengthening.
mikeyh said: Last weekend I finished my 20th trackday in my TT230 since conversion. Apart from one regular service I haven't touched it mechanically - I've not even had to top up the oil or water. Given the amount of stick it gets on trackdays TT must have done a fairly thorough job on the engine strengthening.
TT think its a hose, which I hope it is, but as always their exemplary customer services means the car will be picked up in the week to back to them for the once over.
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