Evora lump into the back of an Elise - it fits....
Discussion
Few Observations:
1. If Lotus do put this into production its going to cost best part of £49k which lets be honest no-one in their right mind is going to pay for an Exige. I certainly won't be p'xing my S2 Exige and spunking another £35k to trade up when I can spend another £3k to get to 285bhp or another £15k for point #2.
2. The cost of putting a Honda or Audi into an S2 Exige is likely to be around £15k to 17k which will provide 300 horses and a strong gear box. It will also weigh a lot less than chucking a heavy yota v6 in the back.
3. The cost of the Toyota V6 conversion will have to be very competitive if its to take business away from the Honda and Audi route.
As much as 300bhp and 275lb/ft sounds attractive in an S2 Exige its going to be very expensive either way so why not just buy a 2nd hand 997 GT3?
1. If Lotus do put this into production its going to cost best part of £49k which lets be honest no-one in their right mind is going to pay for an Exige. I certainly won't be p'xing my S2 Exige and spunking another £35k to trade up when I can spend another £3k to get to 285bhp or another £15k for point #2.
2. The cost of putting a Honda or Audi into an S2 Exige is likely to be around £15k to 17k which will provide 300 horses and a strong gear box. It will also weigh a lot less than chucking a heavy yota v6 in the back.
3. The cost of the Toyota V6 conversion will have to be very competitive if its to take business away from the Honda and Audi route.
As much as 300bhp and 275lb/ft sounds attractive in an S2 Exige its going to be very expensive either way so why not just buy a 2nd hand 997 GT3?
There are virtually no options for S2 exige and other toyota owners.
All the honda and audi conversions have been on rover K engined cars.
It has been done on a small scale to a toyota car but the costs are far higher and these are more bespoke solutions.
It's a difficult choice as if the gearbox on the toyota is fixed (either by stronger gear type modifications or a E153 gearbox) then the engine itself can be taken up quite high. But I do see the lure of having a virtually stock NA engine running 330bhp in a elise.
All the honda and audi conversions have been on rover K engined cars.
It has been done on a small scale to a toyota car but the costs are far higher and these are more bespoke solutions.
It's a difficult choice as if the gearbox on the toyota is fixed (either by stronger gear type modifications or a E153 gearbox) then the engine itself can be taken up quite high. But I do see the lure of having a virtually stock NA engine running 330bhp in a elise.
STEVEY_SC said:
As much as 300bhp and 275lb/ft sounds attractive in an S2 Exige its going to be very expensive either way so why not just buy a 2nd hand 997 GT3?
Most pertinent of all.Whilst there are a few staunch Lotus fans who 'hate' Porsche, there are plenty of us (like me) who love both marques, albeit only the 'proper' Porsches whereas Lotus' range is virtually all 'proper' cars.
Realistically, whilst I'm sure the 911 turbo would be a giggle, there's only one Porker that'd tempt me out of my Exige. It's a GT3 - of any persuasion - and the prices have started to slip down to how much I paid for my Exige.
Whilst this scares me somewhat (I have always loved 911s - but once the air-cooled RS prices went stratospheric, I promised I'd only go anywhere near a 911 again if it was a GT3, knowing that they'd never be affordable like the Lotus) because I plan to keep the Ginger forever, but would be torn if I was offered a GT3 at a sensible price - it does make the whole concept of the Lotus-engine-swap-with-characterful-engine a no-go unless it's possible to do it *really* cheaply.
I'd be in the market for an S2 Exige with a nice-sounding engine - I've always mused on the 'will this engine fit' threads, waiting for the right engine to turn up (even turbo'd inline triples, which could sound excellent). Power isn't an issue - the supercharged Honda conversions have that sorted, my standard fit engine will go to 280 bhp without too much trouble, I'd have thought (240PP already). It's not about the power. It's about that *only* aspect the Lotus lacks - an engine with that indefinable something… it's not pedigree, the Honda has class; and whilst the Mitsu 2.0 V6 MIVEC engine would sound awesome in an Elise, it hardly has 'pedigree' - perhaps it's just 'charisma', or perhaps it's just me not caring much for inline fours.
Regardless, it's the only thing the Exige S2 lacks IMO. But with the GT3 out there and depreciating to near-Exige prices, my usual desire to be different and perform complete engine swaps (done it before, plus supercharger conversions on other cars) would be wiped out *completely* by the choice between a nice-sounding-engine-Exige and a GT3… which already has pretty much the best sounding engine in the world (IMO). And it's not as if the GT3 motor is all mouth and no trousers.
The problem is that the standard engine wouldn't be enough. It's enough power and torque, but in this sort of car, you want it to rev, don't you? The Toyota and Honda rev to 8000. The GT3 revs to 8000+. The Evora V6 shown here tops out at 6500 rpm and that's not really enough. So, given that the conversion *must* be cheap, it won't fly. To get the Evora engine to spin like a proper sports car engine (as befitting the Exige's nature) you'd need to spend a fortune on internals (correct me if I'm wrong and it's only a grand's worth of conrods and bolts…).
Bit of an arse really, because the Exige with an engine as good as Porsche's would be the perfect car But not at £50k, given the alternative...
it sounds pretty good too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAee0F3j9xw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAee0F3j9xw
said:
We're working out the exact #s now. A complete turnkey setup with very low mile (5-25k mile) engine, new ECU, new LSD trans, 600hp axles, mounts, electronics, long tube custom stainless headers and stainless muffler section, ACT clutch, fidanza flywheel, clam modification and install looks to be just under $20k. You can sell your stock engine and trans (and supercharger system if so equipped) to recoup a significant portion of the cost. For now this is a complex swap (especially the electronics!) and a shipable kit is not yet possible. I know the demand is there so we will work at simplifying it and if that works out we'll see about a kit in the future. For now, I've already talked to a couple of people who are looking at making arrangements to ship their cars here for the swap. First come first serve.
Compare the total cost (minus what you could get for your stock engine and trans) to adding a supercharger kit, 2ZZ bolt ons like an intake, header and exhaust, E153 kit, clutch, install for those parts and a tune and the V6 looks pretty reasonable. Reliability of a stock production V6 should be better than a supercharged 11.5:1 engine pushed to its limits. And all that torque...
Compare the total cost (minus what you could get for your stock engine and trans) to adding a supercharger kit, 2ZZ bolt ons like an intake, header and exhaust, E153 kit, clutch, install for those parts and a tune and the V6 looks pretty reasonable. Reliability of a stock production V6 should be better than a supercharged 11.5:1 engine pushed to its limits. And all that torque...
Edited by GTRene on Wednesday 23 June 19:45
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