Elise S1 - DIY power upgrades vs factory performance models
Discussion
very common, and they are a myriad of options available, the ELise has been around over 10 years so has a very well developed network of specialists to look after them too
one thing is certain - its always cheaper to buy a car "ready done" ....if you know what you are buying and who did the work of course, you can save yourself many thousands
for K series tuning take a look at the legendary Dave Andrews K page and tuning page here www.dvapower.co.uk and decide for yourself whether you want a factory 111S etc or something that someone else has lavished £5-10K in mods on
one thing is certain - its always cheaper to buy a car "ready done" ....if you know what you are buying and who did the work of course, you can save yourself many thousands
for K series tuning take a look at the legendary Dave Andrews K page and tuning page here www.dvapower.co.uk and decide for yourself whether you want a factory 111S etc or something that someone else has lavished £5-10K in mods on
What he said ^
The best bet IMO is to get an enthusiast-owned car with all or most of the mods you want done. Then keep a couple of grand in the back pocket to give it a good refresh of the most important bits (suspension, geo, brakes, tyres) as and when needed in the first 12-18months, and you'll get the best of all worlds.
The best bet IMO is to get an enthusiast-owned car with all or most of the mods you want done. Then keep a couple of grand in the back pocket to give it a good refresh of the most important bits (suspension, geo, brakes, tyres) as and when needed in the first 12-18months, and you'll get the best of all worlds.
Looking at your current car you're obviously aware of improving brakes and suspension first. The Elise is no exception to this so I'd be looking for a car which has had money spent in this area. Also much after 50k miles its worth having the suspension stripped down and rebuilt with fresh bushes etc. Doing brakes and suspension on a tired car could cost in the region of £2-3k in parts, depending what you spec.
Bogie and S-works have pretty much covered the power upgrades to the standard engine with one excepion and that's Roger Fabrey at Sabreheads. He has a great reputation for work on the K series. Simply getting Rog to port your head and then adding a decent 4-2-1 with good induction and sports exhaust should see getting towards 150bhp. Add some uprated cams and more can be gained. DVA lists lots of options for the K on his website.
The standard bottom end is reckoned to be good for mods up to about 160bhp btw.
Bogie and S-works have pretty much covered the power upgrades to the standard engine with one excepion and that's Roger Fabrey at Sabreheads. He has a great reputation for work on the K series. Simply getting Rog to port your head and then adding a decent 4-2-1 with good induction and sports exhaust should see getting towards 150bhp. Add some uprated cams and more can be gained. DVA lists lots of options for the K on his website.
The standard bottom end is reckoned to be good for mods up to about 160bhp btw.
Again, what he said ^
Don't be put off by cars that have seen track time - most owners who regularly track their cars dote on them like you wouldn't believe, and will have folders of receipts for £n,000's over the years doing all the right things (regular oil changes, spanner checks, replacing things as soon as they get advisories from good, independent specialists... putting miles on the cars and taking care of them, not just a weekly polishing gjob!).
anonymous said:
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Bad assumption to make. Firstly do a LOT of research on here and on SELOC and you'll soon enough find out what the regular sensible mods are that pretty much most owners end up doing (see above lists for headline areas of interest). Tipper for instance has done what a lot don't do first up, and realise that actually improving the cars handling and responses can make a low powered car incredibly quick on road and track, without adding bhp.Don't be put off by cars that have seen track time - most owners who regularly track their cars dote on them like you wouldn't believe, and will have folders of receipts for £n,000's over the years doing all the right things (regular oil changes, spanner checks, replacing things as soon as they get advisories from good, independent specialists... putting miles on the cars and taking care of them, not just a weekly polishing gjob!).
anonymous said:
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It's a Rover engine, so you'll never escape the 4pot-ness. That said, with a decently prepped engine, top-end induction and a well specced exhaust, you can get a car that sounds really quite nice (for a 4 banger).TIPPER said:
The standard bottom end is reckoned to be good for mods up to about 160bhp btw.
A bit more than that, even - up to 175 bhp, provided it is made without resort to big revs. It's the revs, rather than the power, that will ultimately kill the standard K-series bottom end.There's definitely a premium attached to the Sport 160 due to its status as a 'proper' Lotus special edition and it will always be the car top have as S1's start to become collectible, but let's be honest, Lotus did a pretty crap job of the S160's engine and there are plenty of aftermarket tuners who can do better for less money if you're genuinely interested only in the performance.
I still reckon the 111S is the best all-round compromise for an S1 Elise, for general use, though.
anonymous said:
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Yeah, it's a shame that Porsche never made a Boxster RS / Club Sport really... You could do one yourself but that's a project car and money down the drain in most cases.I agree with you regarding the fact that inline fours generally sound terribly anodyne (flat fours are a different kettle of fish - I *love* the Scooby throb), and comparison with the Boxster is particularly disadvantageous for the Lotus because IMO the Porsche flat six has the most gorgeous engine sound of *any* road car engine - all the way through the rev range (just a personal opinion, of course
).However you're not the only person who thought the standard 118 bhp S1 Elise didn't sound enough like a sports car more than 10 years ago, and there's been 10 years of development of exhaust and induction mods for the Lotuses. Nothing you do will get you Porker flat-six noise but there are Elise exhausts on the market that give the engine real character at a range of noise levels - you don't have to have obnoxious droning resonance like drainpipe-exhaust hot hatches, but you can definitely get a bit of crackle and pop and lovely burbling and popping on the overrun.
Mine's a Toyota engine rather than the K but I've just had one of the 2bular zorsts fitted - the quietest one Jim sells - and it's fantastic. It's still an inline four but I now love it. It won't be a dealbreaker for you - but you'll need to choose exhaust and induction according to your preferences because there's everything out there from 'sounds like a Metro' to 'obscene antisocial'
I have recently bought a S1 111s and I cannot get enough.
It has a Janspeed exhaust but other than that is standard engine wise. It sounds brilliant, burbles sometimes and always brings a smile to my face when I drive it.
I spent A LONG TIME doing my research (nearly a year!), looking at all of the different variants, insurance quotes, common problems, etc. And in the end I bought mine as it was in brilliant condition and was exactly what I wanted. My advice would be to try and view as many as possible, have a look for an owners club in your area and go along to a meeting as the guys (& Gals!) will be able to offer you lots of good advice.
It has a Janspeed exhaust but other than that is standard engine wise. It sounds brilliant, burbles sometimes and always brings a smile to my face when I drive it.
I spent A LONG TIME doing my research (nearly a year!), looking at all of the different variants, insurance quotes, common problems, etc. And in the end I bought mine as it was in brilliant condition and was exactly what I wanted. My advice would be to try and view as many as possible, have a look for an owners club in your area and go along to a meeting as the guys (& Gals!) will be able to offer you lots of good advice.
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