elise/ exige weight report in post

[bordseye]

We seem forever to be having debates about weight increases in the S2 cars but really hard facts are difficult to come by. So I thought that it might be useful if we had one thread where people could post what they know for sure ie not guesswork but proper certified weights either of the individual components or of the cars themselves.

So if you have ever ripped out a full aircon system and weighed uit, let us know the results. Ditto tyres and wheels, and NVH bits.

And it would be useful if we knew what the real power outputs were from the standard engines

To start the ball rolling , my 111R of 07 vintage ( aircon, leather, touring, black wheels) weighed 910kg on a Weights and Measures certified weigh bridge with a full tank and no occupants. No hardtop either.

But please - just the data. No opinions on which cars are fastest, quietist etc. Just verified numbers.

[21TonyK]

2004 S2 Exige with touring pack, aircon and larini exhaust, half fuel, no driver = 897Kg

Edited by 21TonyK on Friday 8th January 13:45

[theturbs]

Can list a couple of cars:

'55-plate S2 Exige 255 Cup. Air-con, Accusump, Half a tank of fuel - 910kg
'04-plate S2 Exige NA. "Premium Race" spec - half a tank of fuel no air-con, manual windows, etc. - 872kg

Public weighbridge used for both. No occupants in either car.

[bogie]

2002 S2 K series sports tourer pretty standard (at the time!) 785Kg with full tank of fuel

same car with turbo technics chargecooled rotrex SC kit - 805Kg

same car with honda K20A supercharged, nitrons, big brakes, aftermarket exahust/cat etc 820Kg

there is a database in progress here on parts

http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Weight_reduction

Edited by bogie on Friday 8th January 16:48

[bordseye]

What did the sports tourer have as extras? Aircon? Touring pack or equivalent? Anything?

[bogie]

bordseye said:

What did the sports tourer have as extras? Aircon? Touring pack or equivalent? Anything?

www.elises.co.uk lists the spec of all ELise models

a 2001 onward S2 K series came in 2 trims to start with - Race-tech and Sports Tourer ...it really was just different trim, and extra 2 speakers in the front ...very marginal ...around 10Kg in it, S2s didnt get aircon until nearly 2 years later in the S2 111S came out. It added 15kg at the time.

unlike the toyota engined cars, where the "touring pack" is a proper NVH reduction pack, 30Kg plus of sound deadending etc ..hence the doors on a 111R shut like a real car...with a thud....not a bare, empty rattle like previous ELises LOL

[johnymac]

1996 S1 with half a tank of fuel but with the diffuser removed and no driver - 720kg at Track Developements near Castle Combe

[TIPPER]

bogie said:

unlike the toyota engined cars, where the "touring pack" is a proper NVH reduction pack, 30Kg plus of sound deadending etc ..hence the doors on a 111R shut like a real car...with a thud....not a bare, empty rattle like previous ELises LOL

Exactly what I said to the Lotus chappie as I got out of an Exige S 'Ooooo, the doors sound like a proper car's - didn't like it though, fast but felt heavy' (after taking round a track).

[Esprit]

My ones, both from certified corner scales:

'98 S1 Elise: 712kg : MMC Brakes, Boot bag, Alloy uprights, Technomagnesio Magnesium rims, Full larini exhaust, full fluids, full fuel, hood fitted, non-leather seats (early cloth), lightweight battery.

'01 S1 Exige: 764kg : Standard 192bhp model, non-aircon, full fluids, full fuel, Janspeed Supersport back box.

Neither weight including driver.

[Sune]

S 1 Elise 1998 with 111S rear spoiler, alu-radiator - otherwise a standard car. 10 liters of fuel, no driver, no roof (soft or hard) = 720 kg

[bordseye]

So it looks as if the Elise started at 720kg, went up to about 785 as an S2 with the K and then went to 865 as a base yota engined car. Extras 15kg aircon and 35 kg touring pack which ties in with my 111R at 910kg.

So the yota engine ( plus anything else that happened at the same time) added 80kg. But people have mentioned just 20kg as the extra engine weight and 28kg as the all up weight of the subframe - so what else happened at that time, or has anyone actually weighed both engines and drive trains.

and what was the 65kg increase between S1 and S2?

[bogie]

bordseye said:

So it looks as if the Elise started at 720kg, went up to about 785 as an S2 with the K and then went to 865 as a base yota engined car. Extras 15kg aircon and 35 kg touring pack which ties in with my 111R at 910kg.

So the yota engine ( plus anything else that happened at the same time) added 80kg. But people have mentioned just 20kg as the extra engine weight and 28kg as the all up weight of the subframe - so what else happened at that time, or has anyone actually weighed both engines and drive trains.

and what was the 65kg increase between S1 and S2?

originaly S1 had some trick bits like MMC brake discs at first, ....late S1s were within a few Kg or early S2 ...the S1 gained weight itself...discs, wheels, trim levels went up, seats got more comfy

...find an early S1 with no options added and they really are quite basic and more "raw" to drive compared to your S2

[TIPPER]

There were various alterations to the S1 that would have added weight and these would have been carried over to the S2.
Early cars had a boot bag, later ones a moulded in boot box. My 99 car has aluminium uprights but later cars would have steel. The original MMC brakes were discardedsomedwhere along the line in favour of cast iron.
Lots of little things I suppose - not sure about the clam weights.

[Esprit]

My old Elise (Aug '98 I think, chassis 4728) was the last to leave the factory with MMC brakes.

There were multiple things that pushed the weight up throughout the S1 production:

- Ditching of MMC brakes
- Move from alloy uprights to forged steel uprights on the rear
- Standardisation of the radio fitting kit (although most cars came with this option included anyway)
- Move from boot-bag to boot-box rear clam
- Move from aluminium "small hump" engine cover to GRP "large hump" engine cover (change made to accommodate taller VVC engine on the 111S, but standardised across all Elise models.
- Standardisation of engine bay undertray and rear diffuser (was an option on early cars)
- Inclusion of "framed" rear window that tilted it on an angle reducing double-reflection of oncoming headlights
- Inclusion of braided clutch hose as standard
- Move to reinforced rear upper shock mounts
- Inclusion of heat shields over inner toe link balljoints
- Increase in seat padding
- Enlargement of the cant rail latch strikers
- Move to more substantial front ARB mounts

These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that would have contributed to a weight increase throughout the life of the standard S1 Elise. Just to give you an idea of the sorts of things that changed.

[Scuffers]

bordseye said:

So it looks as if the Elise started at 720kg, went up to about 785 as an S2 with the K and then went to 865 as a base yota engined car. Extras 15kg aircon and 35 kg touring pack which ties in with my 111R at 910kg.

So the yota engine ( plus anything else that happened at the same time) added 80kg. But people have mentioned just 20kg as the extra engine weight and 28kg as the all up weight of the subframe - so what else happened at that time, or has anyone actually weighed both engines and drive trains.

and what was the 65kg increase between S1 and S2?

close...

I would suggest the very early elise's were nearer 700Kg's, they had slightly different tubs, no undertrays, MMC disks, alu uprights, sod all seat padding, etc etc.

George has listed most of the changes, the big ones for weight were brakes/seats/rear clam change (for boot)/VVC engine & cover.

Not sure why they changed the cover as the VVC will fit below the old Ali lid, I guess cost came into it somewhere?

Wheels have varied a lot too, whilst the original 5 spokes are not light, the were small (J5.5 and J7) later ones went J6 & J7.5 or J8, this all added weight, worse being Victories and the Exige S1 wheels (still heavy).

Last of the S1's were ~760Kg's depending on wheels and if they had the hard top on (Not light)

S2's started life about the same, although the chassis weight went up a bit, the clams were lighter, and they also has lighter wheels.