Autoweek Article

[Derek]

Originally posted by Randy Chase


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Lotus engineers insist the new engine is safely capable of 300hp, so racers have something to work with.

My tuner nephew had commented on this engine being safely capable of near 300 hp NA. It requires some tweaking but it can be done and is a lot cheaper than a SC or Turbo. I do not plan to mod the engine until the warranty is up but 300 hp on the Elise sounds monstrous. Any guess on what the 0-60 and quarter mile would be for such a car?

[Eddie Haskell]

Thanks for posting that Randy!
EH

[strawtarget]

Looks like the A/C folks will have to compete directly against the non-A/C folks. Oh well, at least it's only 45 lbs.

Also... it looks to me like the two front speakers have moved from below the leftmost/rightmost A/C vents to a spot on the top of the dash closer to the windshield. Excellent!!! The 111S I saw had some serious kick/scuff marks on the grilles in the previous position. And the grilles looked pretty lame. The new layout is nice.

[Derek]

Looks like they will carpet only the bottom half of the sill... Good, I like the aluminum look

[Modern Wedgie]

"Lotus plans to offer a performance driving school for it's U.S. customers, one at Road Atlanta and one at a western circuit to be determined shortly."

[zvezdah1]

Lillie et al,
Word has it Alastair Mcqueen (chief lotus test driver and creator of Alastair Mcqueen one on one track school at the factory) is going to have a hand in the design of the school.
Chris

[shinoo]

Lotus driving school? I am so there!!!

[shinoo]

Originally posted by _JD_
.. site now with a bit of additional info on the chassis.

Here it is:

>>> At this point in its history (i.e., as used on the federal Elise), the chassis goes by the codename 121 and has not altered a lot since the dawn of the Lotus Elise Series 1 at the 1995 Frankfurt motor show. The secret is in the bonded aluminum—actually bonded and then riveted at key stress points using self-sealing fasteners manufactured by EJOT in Germany.

Aluminum is a sensitive material given to heat distortion when welded, and bonding solves this problem for a small-scale maker like Lotus (as it does, indeed, for Panoz). Originally supplied by Hydro Aluminum Automotive Structures out of Tonda, Denmark, it still comes from the same company. Hydro was forced to open a U.K. subsidiary at Bromyard in Worcestershire in 1998 to meet volume requirements when the Elise-based Opel Speedster arrived. Ciba Polymers in Switzerland came up with the original bonding adhesive solution.

Today, both the red adhesive that bonds the aluminum chassis bits together and the black adhesive that bonds the fiberglass panels to the chassis are produced by Dow Automotive. The naked chassis weighs roughly 155 pounds and there have been no recorded failures to date. —MATT DAVIS

[FederalElise]

Originally posted by Derek
My tuner nephew had commented on this engine being safely capable of near 300 hp NA. It requires some tweaking but it can be done and is a lot cheaper than a SC or Turbo. I do not plan to mod the engine until the warranty is up but 300 hp on the Elise sounds monstrous. Any guess on what the 0-60 and quarter mile would be for such a car?

I never heard of that. details please.

The TRD race 2ZZ with beefed up internals is capable of 230 but not 300, wonder how he did it

[Lumn8r]

Originally posted by zvezdah1
Lillie et al,
Word has it Alastair Mcqueen (chief lotus test driver and creator of Alastair Mcqueen one on one track school at the factory) is going to have a hand in the design of the school.
Chris

He mentioned the possiblity when I had the pleasure of driving with him at the Scare Yourself Sensible day in October. I'd still like to go back to Hethel for the Alastair McQueen Experience. But I think it'd be better for me if I could take the course in a LHD car. And I will be interested in a course in the US.

[Derek]

Originally posted by FederalElise
I never heard of that. details please.

The TRD race 2ZZ with beefed up internals is capable of 230 but not 300, wonder how he did it

I'll ask him how. He's big time into cars and is a trained mechanic. He also builds custom performance parts and does a fair bit of business with TRD Japan.

[vvtlikick]

Originally posted by Derek
...being safely capable of near 300 hp NA....

Normally aspirated 2ZZ-GE's will never see that kind of power.

There's little room to increase the displacement, and I think the stroke is already too long and connecting rods are too short for reliable operation at 10,000rpm, which is what you'd have to rev to for 300hp.

[strawtarget]

One thing I just read in the Autoweek article has me worried.

The double-wishbone suspension fron and rear better cushions abrupt lateral movements upon impact, thanks to modified bushings, resulting in more isolation from bumps and holes

I got an Audi TT right _after_ the infamous "handling recall" modifications started coming installed from the factory. One of these modifications was huge soft rubber control arm bushings. These are to provide a greater "sneeze factor" margin, and I HATE THEM. They add a dead spot to the steering and reduce turn-in response and precision. Hate, hate, hate them. Hate.

The Autoweek article doesn't say that control arm bushings have been modified. Thank goodness, because I would have probably had a seizure. It doesn't say they HAVEN'T been modified, though, either.

What other bushings are there in a double-wishbone suspension, and what effect would more compliant bushings have on handling?

The only other bushings I can think of are the bushings where the wishbones are joined to the chassis. If these were more compliant, wouldn't the car require more static camber to maintain ideal camber during hard cornering? How can that be good?

And how can "more isolation from bumps and holes" not have a negative impact on road feel? I do not want to read the word "isolation" in an article about the Elise. I guess I might be overreacting, but I'm once bitten, twice shy when it comes to bushings.

I want to be able to "run over an insect and know just through the messages coming through the wheel how many legs they have". Know what I mean?

[tidalwdave]

Originally posted by strawtarget
One thing I just read in the Autoweek article has me worried.



I got an Audi TT right _after_ the infamous "handling recall" modifications started coming installed from the factory. One of these modifications was huge soft rubber control arm bushings. These are to provide a greater "sneeze factor" margin, and I HATE THEM. They add a dead spot to the steering and reduce turn-in response and precision. Hate, hate, hate them. Hate.

The Autoweek article doesn't say that control arm bushings have been modified. Thank goodness, because I would have probably had a seizure. It doesn't say they HAVEN'T been modified, though, either.

What other bushings are there in a double-wishbone suspension, and what effect would more compliant bushings have on handling?

The only other bushings I can think of are the bushings where the wishbones are joined to the chassis. If these were more compliant, wouldn't the car require more static camber to maintain ideal camber during hard cornering? How can that be good?

And how can "more isolation from bumps and holes" not have a negative impact on road feel? I do not want to read the word "isolation" in an article about the Elise. I guess I might be overreacting, but I'm once bitten, twice shy when it comes to bushings.

I want to be able to "run over an insect and know just through the messages coming through the wheel how many legs they have". Know what I mean?

I hear ya. Yeah, the more I've been reading, this car sounds like it's getting very soft. If it ends up coming out and being a softer ride than my S2K, I'm not going to sell the S2K for the Elise. I was wanting a more raw sports car, but they are making the Elise too much like a daily driver.

[_JD_]

The basic hardware which makes the car such a genius handler has not changed as I understand it. Can't you simply swap out the bushings and make everything alright again?

[strawtarget]

Originally posted by _JD_
Can't you simply swap out the bushings and make everything alright again?

Not in SCCA Stock class.

[_JD_]

LSS still allowed in stock class? Curious-what happens if you order LSS and have the dealer install it, does that eliminate your car? It would seem that LSS will not have the softer bushings.

[Simon G]

Don't worry, it will be raw

[Simon G]

I doubt they will touch the bushes for the LSS install. You can buy aftermarket bushes for the Euro S2.

[strawtarget]

If LSS is factory-installed as the "sports package", which it sounds like it will be, then it should be stock-legal: even if someone added it "after the fact" since that's covered by an "option package conversion" allowance.

Aftermarket bushings would not be stock-legal.

If part of the LSS/sports-package option is the harder Euro-spec bushings, I would be very happy indeed.