Hayabusa turbo'd Elise

[jaker]

As Search function aint working, apologies if this is old ground, but:

www.holeshotracing.co.uk/news.asp

Coming soon from Holeshot: a turbo hayabusa Elise conversion!!

Sounds pretty damn good to me! If these things can be done to 7s, why not the Elise?

Anyone know more?

[bogie]

why though? when theres fully sorted turnkey conversions out there...and longetivity is not likely to be great...and its v expensive ;(

[jaker]

i wouldnt have thought it'd be any more expensive than any of the other conversions? £10k for a civic engine for eg. I couldnt see a price on th website. Some eejits are spending £15k + on k series engines ffs!

plus, the busa engine is reliable, light and will give bonkers performance. good on 'em i say...

[[k]ar|]

I think that news page hasn't been updated in some time. Holeshot were showing off their S1 with Hayabusa Turbo conversion at Autosport International this year. At least, I think it was them. Someone definitely had one there, anyway

It looked to my untrained eye like a well-engineered and neat job. However, I'm not sure the engine's characteristics would suit a road car that well. For track use, it should be pretty good once it gets going, but I can't help but think that torque would be a bit on the low side. I also heard that clutches can be a bit tricky on bike-engined cars generally.

Also at Autosport was the twin-engined Ultima with a pair of 500bhp Hayabusa turbos in it. My biker friend tells me that Holeshot's latest project is 750bhp from that engine. I can't believe how much they can wring out of 1300cc. Can anyone say grenade?

[k]

[bogie]

yeah, but £10K for a souped up 1300 motorbike engine, in a car wont last long ! Id sooner have a reliable 250bhp 1.8 Audi etc that will do 100K, rather than a 'race engine' that will do 10K miles between rebuilds....the whole idea for most conversions is to get away from the issues of a 200bhp K series - ..just depends on what you want to achieve I guess.

[[k]ar|]

Agreed. The rebuild interval would be just silly - those components must be so highly stressed. Im also generally a bit sceptical of "headline" bhp figures to be honest.

I must confess that I haven't driven a bike engined car yet, but it seems to me that the character of the engine would be very different and perhaps not as well suited to car use as one might think.

[k]

[havoc]

Why spend all that on a 'busa engine when the Honda K20A from the Civic Type R fits in nicely...along with a Jackson Racing supercharger - proven reliable 275bhp with plenty of torque (Elsie's aren't as light as '7s).

[bogie]

Ive driven a Megabusa - it went like stink, revving like crazy, hard to get off the line cleanly.....it went pop at 12K miles...at least the engines are cheap ....great for a weekend hobby car...but I wouldnt spend the dosh for a daily driver conversion.....

[matrs]

ZCARS offer a lush conversion, see www.zcars.org.uk/elise/elise.htm for further details