Sport 190 Good or bad
Discussion
at that price I take it thats an S2 Sport 190?
if its a low mile minter then I guess thats about right. Although if I was in the market for a hot Elise, id see what else I could get for that money - Im sure you could get an S1 with a Honda and loads of other mods for that
the VHPD in the S2 was better than the S1 mapping wise, but could still benefit from a dew choice mods...its a bit like buying a TVR though -if I was going to use it, do 10K miles a year and 10 trackdays, Id want a few grand fund put aside for the inevetible engine rebuild
other than that, it was one of the best factory cars of its time, lots of mods already done for you like seats, harnesses, suspension...etc, so for a ready to go track-biased Elise it was a good option...except for the near £40K price tag ...but of course now we are all used to paying that for an "S" and the top factory Exiges are like £45,50, even £60K now LOL
if its a low mile minter then I guess thats about right. Although if I was in the market for a hot Elise, id see what else I could get for that money - Im sure you could get an S1 with a Honda and loads of other mods for that
the VHPD in the S2 was better than the S1 mapping wise, but could still benefit from a dew choice mods...its a bit like buying a TVR though -if I was going to use it, do 10K miles a year and 10 trackdays, Id want a few grand fund put aside for the inevetible engine rebuild
other than that, it was one of the best factory cars of its time, lots of mods already done for you like seats, harnesses, suspension...etc, so for a ready to go track-biased Elise it was a good option...except for the near £40K price tag ...but of course now we are all used to paying that for an "S" and the top factory Exiges are like £45,50, even £60K now LOL
beano700 said:
It's done 20,000 miles, I know the VHPD's have a bad name,but having had an Exige s2 NA and been disappointed in comparison to my S2 135R then I thought a return to K series engine might provide the grin factor again.
that's interesting. personaly I love the K serie character, and in VHPD form it is for me a really great engine, sounds much better than the Honda, it is less reliable, yes, but still has an acceptable reliability for me.in fact, i personaly think in few more years, the K elise will be looked as the best to have , and an original S2 190 is something a bit special.
do i hear the noise of a hand-grenade being thrown into the forum?
kaaabooooooooooooooooooooom!
always lusted after a s1 exige (same vhpd engine), but never had the balls to do it... got as far as agreeing a price on a mint yellow 190 with a dealer, but pussied out and bought a bright green sport 160 instead.
like gambling on the stock-market, if you are in the know and have an element of luck on your side, fortune will favour the brave... a vhpd engine on song will be something very special indeed!
... i need to grow some b
ks and get it done one day!
kaaabooooooooooooooooooooom!
always lusted after a s1 exige (same vhpd engine), but never had the balls to do it... got as far as agreeing a price on a mint yellow 190 with a dealer, but pussied out and bought a bright green sport 160 instead.
like gambling on the stock-market, if you are in the know and have an element of luck on your side, fortune will favour the brave... a vhpd engine on song will be something very special indeed!
... i need to grow some b
ks and get it done one day!beano700 said:
I think you're right the k series does have character and makes great noises.Although I have heard of rebuilds being required after quite low miles.
thats the risk you take, and if you have a few grand spare you can have it rebuilt to the best spec you can, then it should be good for a nice 200bhp, and another 30-40K miles 
bogie said:
beano700 said:
I think you're right the k series does have character and makes great noises.Although I have heard of rebuilds being required after quite low miles.
thats the risk you take, and if you have a few grand spare you can have it rebuilt to the best spec you can, then it should be good for a nice 200bhp, and another 30-40K miles But yes, there's a lot you can do these days to rebuild a K to make it about as reliable as a Honda.I guess the main question is whether you want a K, and whether you think the VHPD K is as good as a well-fettled normal K (from someone like Dave Andrews etc.) could be.
If you're going to hoik out the motor and sling in a Honda or Audi then I very much doubt it's worth the premium.
Equally, if the cost breakdown of fettling the VHPD to make it nicely drivable on road *and* reliably producing 200 bhp comes out as not too far off taking a base Elise and DVA'ing the engine to the same spec, then it comes out at even less of a good buy.
I don't really have a dog in this fight (Scuffers being remarkably restrained here
) as I've never been a fan of the K and prefer other engines (to the point that multiple times when I've defended my fondness for the Z20LET motor, Scuffers posts a photo of one on the scales showing a frightening weight of well over 200 kg... hehehe). However I wouldn't bother paying over the odds for an engine that you'll have to modify anyway, if the VHPD was A-OK in standard form, maybe... but if you're going to need to re-map it, inspect the crank and bearings, etc. then why not get a standard K and tune the hell out of it using bang up-to-date knowledge?
Not wishing to start the usual ruck of course
If you're going to hoik out the motor and sling in a Honda or Audi then I very much doubt it's worth the premium.
Equally, if the cost breakdown of fettling the VHPD to make it nicely drivable on road *and* reliably producing 200 bhp comes out as not too far off taking a base Elise and DVA'ing the engine to the same spec, then it comes out at even less of a good buy.
I don't really have a dog in this fight (Scuffers being remarkably restrained here
) as I've never been a fan of the K and prefer other engines (to the point that multiple times when I've defended my fondness for the Z20LET motor, Scuffers posts a photo of one on the scales showing a frightening weight of well over 200 kg... hehehe). However I wouldn't bother paying over the odds for an engine that you'll have to modify anyway, if the VHPD was A-OK in standard form, maybe... but if you're going to need to re-map it, inspect the crank and bearings, etc. then why not get a standard K and tune the hell out of it using bang up-to-date knowledge?Not wishing to start the usual ruck of course
cyberface said:
However I wouldn't bother paying over the odds for an engine that you'll have to modify anyway, if the VHPD was A-OK in standard form, maybe... but if you're going to need to re-map it, inspect the crank and bearings, etc. then why not get a standard K and tune the hell out of it using bang up-to-date knowledge?
well, the car has 15.000 miles. that it might goes bang, ok, but why the hell it would need a remap? is the previous owner was so silly he drove 15.000 with a car not working properly?I
Scuffers said:
OK, simple question for all those that think they were the dog's nadds...
How many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
1) Owned it - YEPHow many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
2) Never had any engine related issues = NOPE... total failure :P
3) Still own it = Yep... and will never part with it
4) Replace the engine with anything else = NOT ON YOUR LIFE
Esprit said:
Scuffers said:
OK, simple question for all those that think they were the dog's nadds...
How many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
1) Owned it - YEPHow many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
2) Never had any engine related issues = NOPE... total failure :P
3) Still own it = Yep... and will never part with it
4) Replace the engine with anything else = NOT ON YOUR LIFE
Scuffers said:
did not know you had a sport 190? (Exige is a bit of a different story)
Aah ok... well assuming you were talking VHPDsBut yeah... the engine is flawed from a longevity point of view... but take that as it is and don't expect to have it behave like a Toyota C Corolla then it's not too bad... Certainly it's not the peer of the Honda K20 from a horsepower per reliabile km by any stretch.
village idiot said:
always lusted after a s1 exige (same vhpd engine), but never had the balls to do it... got as far as agreeing a price on a mint yellow 190 with a dealer, but pussied out and bought a bright green sport 160 instead.
like gambling on the stock-market, if you are in the know and have an element of luck on your side, fortune will favour the brave... a vhpd engine on song will be something very special indeed!
... i need to grow some bks and get it done one day!
Was that the one at Lipscombes perchance? I had the balls but not the dosh... the figures of £6k p/x for mine and £20k for the exige ruled it out immediately. Sticking with the 160 myself (for now...)like gambling on the stock-market, if you are in the know and have an element of luck on your side, fortune will favour the brave... a vhpd engine on song will be something very special indeed!
... i need to grow some b
ks and get it done one day!Frankly I wouldn't bother with a 200bhp K-series. I had a Sport 135 that'd been modded with a PTP165 kit, VHPD head and Jenvey's and that had superb power and torque figures (174bhp) but I wouldn't have wanted to push it further.
I reckon the sweet-spot for the K is around that number. Anymore and I'd be more comfortable with going Honda/Audi or blown 'yota.
I reckon the sweet-spot for the K is around that number. Anymore and I'd be more comfortable with going Honda/Audi or blown 'yota.
I bought a S2 190 last December and posted a thread on 6th December which encouraged a lot of discussion regarding the merits of this Elise variant. If there's one topic that gets people animated this seems to be it. So far I love the car, however due to snow, salt and muddy road conditions I have been restricted in the number of days its been out. I for one would love to know out of the 33 made ( thats what I hear) how many of these have had engine rebuilds and at what mileages etc. I live in Norfolk and next week am off to Lotus Motorsport at Hethel to get it serviced, can't beat the guys who put it together in the first place. I've got plenty of questions to ask them and the outpourings of views regarding the VHPD engine will be one of them.
Scuffers said:
OK, simple question for all those that think they were the dog's nadds...
How many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
1) Yes, have a S1 Sport 190 since 02How many people here have:
1) owned one.
2) never had any engine related issues
and crucially:
3) Still own it.
2) No isssues . Even after it was raced locally here for two years.
3) Yes. As to "think they were the dog's nadds..." it is what it is and accept it as that , so you enjoy it as such .
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