Lotus Exige Cup 260 MY2009 Tuning

[theob]

I'm going to have an Exige Cup 260 in a couple of months, and am wondering which could be the various tuning stages that people here in LotusTalk already offer for its less powerful siblings (i.e Exige S, etc)

I'm thinking of adding a chargecooler and possibly an Aquamist ERL Water injection to keep IATs down and provide the engine with cooler and denser air under all circumstances.
Together with these couple of upgrades, I 'm thinking of adding a good set of exhaust and manifold too, so to make it also exhale better and also boost its mechanical crescendo acoustically by some dBs!

I think that CharlieX and some other guys like Thomasio etc. could present us with some of their solutions and proposals so to give us food for thought and allow us to prepare our tuning budget wisely!

[Bavarian Motorist]

I like how you think. You don't even bother to enjoy the car. Just start MODDING it!!!

[theob]

Since it'll be delivered as an already modded & upgraded car from the factory itself, who am I not to indulge in the pleasure of further uprating my forthcoming Norwich-ean CF rocket?

[charliex]

Chargecooler + smaller pulley, bigger injectors.

More boost for the power, chargecooler to keep the temps down

Loose the cat if you don't care about the noise, otherwise leave it as the stock one.

Exhaust i'd go with a tubular.

[theob]

Will I need anything to keep the tranny in place, or are these proposed upgrades transmission safe?

What power increase are we talking about at this stage, Charliex?

What could we plan for further upgrade after this "entry-level" upgrade?

[charliex]

300RWHP seems like its the watermark for 'safe', after that a lot of expensive things start to break, i've got a few cars running around at 285ish RWHP with no problems so far.

beyond that you're looking at lowering the compression, building the motor, and then some HP after that replacement tranny..

I'm not sure the size of the fuel pump in the 260, maybe a 190lph.

300RWHP is a lot of car though, depends what you're looking for though, pull a few 100lbs out of the car at that HP and it'll be a monster. Some people are happy enough with 300BHP which is fairly easy to attain.

Obviously at 300RWHP you're in the 345BHP area so some things are bound to have a much shorter lifespan, the clutch is upgraded so it ought to be ok, but its getting close to double what the NA car is.

I'd just go for the simple stuff first, injectors, chargecooler, smaller pulley, keeping everything cooler is tantamount to keeping the power up in the S style cars, that way you can see if you like what you've got, it does alter the cars personality a lot.

I'm not much into the water spray cooling stuff, personal preference, but lots are.

[theob]

Thank you Charliex!

You just gave me some good food for thought!
So, if one chooses the so-called simple stuff you mentioned above, is the 285rwhp mark what he safely and easily gets?

What kind of budget should someone have aside to unleash this amount of power out of his Exige?


PS
If the 260 has the same fuel pump as the Exige S PP, will it need any swap with a bigger one?

[charliex]

chargecooler, pulley, injectors, maybe a fuel pump depending on whats in it.

[Stale_Hotdog]

Hi charlie is there already a tune out for bigger injectors smaller pulley and charge cooler? Or will it have to be a custom tune?

[charliex]

custom at the moment, i've haven't gotten my fingers on a charge cooler yet.

[Monsi]

with everything you plan on doing to the car it seems kind of pointless to get a 260... if you get a 240 and do a tab bit of weight trimming plus all the mods you want then you will come out with an identical car for 6-10k less but if you got the means then go for it

[theob]

I guess that the existing chargecooler solutions (ProAlloy, Komo-tec, etc.) are well built and provide the car with the needed drop in IAT so to push its powerband higher, while running within a safe operating envelope!


as for the water injection, I've used once an ERL application on a Turbo car (which by accident was also equipped with a Water Intercooler... ) and I was very very satisfied with the results and the reliability of the engine! However, it was much more modified in comparison with the stock internals of the Exige's Yoda engine; its compression ratio was much lower, had other pistons, etc..

Would anyone recommend changing the Air Oil Coolers with Laminova's Water Oir Cooler that Lotus Sport officially provides as an after-market accessory for the Exiges?

[theob]

Originally Posted by Monsi

with everything you plan on doing to the car it seems kind of pointless to get a 260... if you get a 240 and do a tab bit of weight trimming plus all the mods you want then you will come out with an identical car for 6-10k less but if you got the means then go for it

Monsi,
IMHO, the actual differences between an Exige S and an Exige Cup 260 MY09 are:

• Carbon parts (I can't really say that I like they're exposed though, since they limit the colour combinations, and makes the car look way too racier that stock; For me, I'd prefer a fully coloured Moonstone Silver over the current offer with the glossy CF parts and the tribal-tatoo-alike black decals)
• Weight drop, which I intend later on to drop even further...
• Exclusivity; a 40 cars production for Europe ensure a higher residual value than its fully loaded Exige S siblings

Believe me that the sum of all parts the Exige Cup 260 comes with is way more than the price difference.
Keep in mind too, that a fully-specced Exige S costs the same with a typical Exige 260 (at least on our side of the pool! )

So why bother with just another Exige S, and not put my money on a fresher, lighter and more exclusive Cup 260?

It's not the additional power the Cup260 comes with, but all the other things you get when you prefer this solution over the typical Exige S production line!

[Monsi]

Originally Posted by theob

Keep in mind too, that a fully-specced Exige S costs the same with a typical Exige 260 (at least on our side of the pool! )

ahh

this is not the case here

[Gerrit]

The tuning part will be simple,the gearbox will be the only real problem ! (3rd gear) there's not an upgrade for it so you will need the gearbox they use in Europe for competition if you want to go 300+.
Same for the engine, above 300 you will need other pistons etc. Chargecooler (depends on where you live, cold or hot, and if you use it on track) smaller pulley for the compressor (it runs 11000, its garanteed to 16000 but it can run 22000rpm)
Spraying water is BS if you use a chargecooler, if you don't there's a lot to gain by clearing the air-induct. Next winter we will rebuild mine and we aim at 340hp

[theob]

[Noel]

The Cup 260 should come with a Laminova and Accusump system, it's a standard item on Cup cars.

I suggest you have a chat with Komo-Tec. They have proven power upgrade solutions and is pretty much a one stop shop for everything. Their latest S300 power upgrade kit reflects their tuning knowledge and advancement.

If you're going with a chargecooler, how are you going to run Aquamist? Through the intake manifold?

[Vishus_1]

No Laminova on the 09 260.

[charliex]

Remember the komotec numbers are BHP, ours are RWHP (on the dyno sheets that is)

[theob]

Originally Posted by Vishus_1

No Laminova on the 09 260.

Not only that, But I asked Lotus Sport to fit a Laminova kit on my freshly built Cup 260, and they replied that this would invalidate the 1 year warranty the Cup 260 enjoys () when sold in Europe!