New member, and plans for the Exige s!

[Fryman]

Hi!

My names Lukian, and im from Perth, Western Australia!

I await the delivery of my 07 Lotus Exige S in atomic orange with every option possible [touring, sports and super sports + LSD]

Ok i have many questions, please feel free to answer! I would like more power from this car. Being used to driving a 400rwhp+ Series 5 Drifter rx7 (pictures here --> http://www.photos.charitymods.org/ma...?g2_itemId=865) the lotus is impressive! but will require more power for street duties and by the looks they are too good for track!

From the limited information available, i would be looking at removing the catalytic converter, and installing a titanium exhaust from one of the many uk suppliers. Also water jacketing the intercooler will bring down intake temperatures.

What i want to understand is how restrictive the factory ecu is. Will it allow the car to make more power or will it either go into a failsafe mode or just restrict things?

Changing the ecu could be an option. Who knows if it is possible to get a cable and the geniune lotus software if it is possible to change parameteres within the ecu? Also if there is any other solutions bar replacing the whole computer and wires to get management that will allow modifications of air fuel timing etc etc

Pulleys for the supercharger --> From research the exige s supercharger is a Eaton m62 roots type unit. Does anybody make pulleys for these to increase the boost pressure? And hypothetically if it was to be increased from 7 pounds to 12, what would be the drawbacks from other systems (fuel, injectors, Ecu etc) if any?

Finally in comparison to a aw11 or sw20 mr2. Most mr2 drivers can hit the corners hard as the majority of the weight is in the right end of the car (!) Now the mr2 handling stipulates you can head into the corner hard and it will just grip. be overzealous and expect huge oversteer and usually death due to not being able to bring it back into shape. What would be the difference here between a MR2 handing and the lotus? Why does nobody mention that the lotus has the snap oversteer characteristic?

Im sorry if thats a little ambigious. So many questions, and being in Australia doesnt help getting any answers.

Oh yes if you know of any aussie forums for lotus exige/elises's do let me know

Cheers :=)

[masmole]

Welcome to the forums! Sorry, can't answer any of your questions as I too await my Exige S but if you do a search of the forums, there have been several threads discussing the mod potential of the supercharged Exige. It's all speculation though since this car is still very new that even the majority of owners in the US have not even completed the break-in period, let alone even considered power upgrades yet, and some tuners are still looking for their first cars to do their development on. Time will tell and as with any kind of forced induction, you can be optimistic about potential gains... in the meantime, most new owners and owners-to-be including myself will be too busy improving their driving skills on track to make the most out of the car as it comes stock from the factory.

[Aedo]

Hi Fryman,

Welcome to the club! You will learn a lot from Elisetalk but as the Exige S is new not a lot about modifying it. As for the Lotus ECU - does seem "difficult" to work with (others have mentioned the word "impossible" ) and it does have very strong learning capabilities and resists change.

There may be more info on SELOC - the UK enthusiasts site for modifications and also the Oz site AussieElises. There is also a local yahoo group in Perth LotusWa (will look up the details and get back to you).

Look forward to seeing you around town!

Cheers
Steve
Elise 111S

[dododge]

Originally Posted by Fryman

I would like more power from this car.

Have you actually driven one yet? Most people around here will tell you to try it for a few months before you start working on getting more power, because you may find that you don't need it. You're already getting the S model, so you've got quite a bit to start with. I was at a group drive yesterday where someone had a new Exige S, and when asked how it drives compared to his two previous N/A Exiges he said "it's a completely different car". He seemed very happy with the power delivery, and commented to the effect that it's there all the time above 2K RPM instead of having to crank the engine over 6K to get it.

but will require more power for street duties

"Street duties"?

and by the looks they are too good for track!

You want a twisty road course track. Corners, tight, and lots of them. That's where the car will shine. Straights -- and drag racing in particular -- are not its specialty, though the S will be better in that regard than the N/A models.

It's probably not much of a drifter, either (may tend to either stick or spin instead). And if you've got the sport tires you should really avoid wet surfaces.

What i want to understand is how restrictive the factory ecu is. Will it allow the car to make more power or will it either go into a failsafe mode or just restrict things?

As I understand it, the usual behavior of the ECU is to adapt to engine modifications and nullify them. It's been one of the problems in getting aftermarket FI kits working reliably.

Who knows if it is possible to get a cable and the geniune lotus software if it is possible to change parameteres within the ecu?

If you manage that, I think you'll be the first one. There's a lot of incentive for the aftermarket FI folks to get something like that working and I don't think any of them has pulled it off. They end up having to do things like put piggyback units on the ECU to hide the modifications from it.

Also keep in mind you're dealing with an Exige S, which is a new and relatively rare car. There may not be much of a market for major engine modifications, which means that there may not be a lot of companies working on the ECU issues.

Why does nobody mention that the lotus has the snap oversteer characteristic?

Searching for "snap oversteer" here pulls up 63 threads on the subject. It's a very well-known topic in the community. There's some debate as to whether the car really has "snap" oversteer or if it's just got oversteer tendencies with inexperienced driving inducing the "snap" part. Another warning about the sport tires is that because they stick better, when they do let go it's going to be under higher stresses and it can happen very suddenly and catastrophically.

Oh yes if you know of any aussie forums for lotus exige/elises's do let me know

I don't know where the folks from down under usually hang out; I know there's others on elisetalk. You could also check out www.seloc.org, which is the main European site.

[Fryman]

Thanks for all yoiur responses.

Yes i spent 2 hours in one, then wrote them a cheque for 150k australian (thats aLOT of money!)

It needs more power, yes its great from factory as previously reiterated, but i would like some more.

Motec say they have a product that can do everything the factory ecu can do except he drive by wire, that they will look into.

Street duties.. if you search youtube for "idiot australian burnout" that should answer your question.

The whole factory ecu restrictive matter is something that i hope somebody can overcome!

Upgrading the S power to either the r or the cup model spec would be something to be reckoned with. I would like to know how the cup or special models make more power then the std S, and if thats possible to duplicate this onto our S packs.


Cheersss

[Fryman]

oh yes

i want to come up with some spunky personal number plate. It will be black writing on white background. we have 8 letter limit and it can say anything but not offensive.. any ideas how to tie in the exige s lotus name into a witty yet special plate!

[bruh_la]

Originally Posted by Fryman

Thanks for all yoiur responses.

Yes i spent 2 hours in one, then wrote them a cheque for 150k australian (thats aLOT of money!)

It needs more power, yes its great from factory as previously reiterated, but i would like some more.

Motec say they have a product that can do everything the factory ecu can do except he drive by wire, that they will look into.

Street duties.. if you search youtube for "idiot australian burnout" that should answer your question.

The whole factory ecu restrictive matter is something that i hope somebody can overcome!

Upgrading the S power to either the r or the cup model spec would be something to be reckoned with. I would like to know how the cup or special models make more power then the std S, and if thats possible to duplicate this onto our S packs.


Cheersss

The S can definately be upgaded to the 240hp of the Cup car or to the 255 of the 2007 Cup car. The only debate is whats required. At worst its a Cup ecu map, new injectors and new pulleys. It may not need all those parts changing but thats not totally clear yet.

Komo Tec do a water jacketed mod to the factory intercooler.

[jacks1071]

Originally Posted by Fryman

Thanks for all yoiur responses.

Yes i spent 2 hours in one, then wrote them a cheque for 150k australian (thats aLOT of money!)

It needs more power, yes its great from factory as previously reiterated, but i would like some more.

Motec say they have a product that can do everything the factory ecu can do except he drive by wire, that they will look into.

Street duties.. if you search youtube for "idiot australian burnout" that should answer your question.

The whole factory ecu restrictive matter is something that i hope somebody can overcome!

Upgrading the S power to either the r or the cup model spec would be something to be reckoned with. I would like to know how the cup or special models make more power then the std S, and if thats possible to duplicate this onto our S packs.


Cheersss

Hey Fryman,

For another $10k there is a Cup 240 at Rick Damelian's in Sydney with something like 1200km on it.

Checkout http://www.aussieelises.com/

Thats were all the aussie folk hang out although a few of us keep an eye on this forum as well.

Cheers,


jacks.

[xtn]

Originally Posted by dododge

There's some debate as to whether the car really has "snap" oversteer or if it's just got oversteer tendencies with inexperienced driving inducing the "snap" part.

I'm a beginner track junkie. I've only done seven days so far. Here is my opinion on this topic:

The initial oversteer is not a "snap." If you fail to catch it JUST RIGHT however, it will snap back the other way when the tires finally catch.

xtn

[Fryman]

dammit i wish i saw this before i bought mine, plus i didnt think they actually sold the cup version here!

They only have the exige s and exige. mine is optioned with all 3 packs, but the quest for more power is on. Time to find out and identify what they have done to the cup pack to get that extra power.

If i have to do a complete rewire with a motec to overcome the factory hurdles i will.

[raygr]

Originally Posted by Fryman

dammit i wish i saw this before i bought mine, plus i didnt think they actually sold the cup version here!

They only have the exige s and exige. mine is optioned with all 3 packs, but the quest for more power is on. Time to find out and identify what they have done to the cup pack to get that extra power.

If i have to do a complete rewire with a motec to overcome the factory hurdles i will.

I'm sure many others will be looking into the same things for the Exige S.

I heard that the only Motec unit that works with drive by wire is the most expensive one, and I think that runs about US $5000.

[Fryman]

Ok guys,

yes the motec isnt cheap, but imagine the pandoras box you wil open when you dont have factory ecu limitations on your back every time you decat or install an exhaust.

Having said this, greddy make a Supercharger kit for the 2zz in the celica, and in their kit they use a greddy e-manage to do the fuel timing etc.. which means that could be an option if our ECUS are modify happy...

Somebody should investigate this. Also powerfc do make 2zz replacement ecu, how easy do you think it would be to replace the computer and wiring harness? Availability of 2zz wiring harnesses?

But again the drive by wire thing would be an interesting hurdle to overcome. What REALLY needs to happen is somebody make an aftermarket cable and software that taps into the original ECU and modifys it. Given that from what it seems Efi Technologies UK made the ecu for the exige s /elise variants, is that it runs a standard toyota map and a exige s special map for the mods. When something goes wrong it defaults to the standard map.

Hope that makes some sense!

[jacks1071]

Originally Posted by Fryman

dammit i wish i saw this before i bought mine, plus i didnt think they actually sold the cup version here!

They only have the exige s and exige. mine is optioned with all 3 packs, but the quest for more power is on. Time to find out and identify what they have done to the cup pack to get that extra power.

If i have to do a complete rewire with a motec to overcome the factory hurdles i will.

Maybe your dealer can purchase the car from Rick Damelian's and allow you to swap your order. It'll probably save you a lot of money long term in modifications - plus the Cup 240 here does not have drive by wire so is probably easier to modify based on issues in this area.

They built 7x Cup 240's in Australia, I bought the last "new" one.

jacks.

[Fryman]

Ok guys, an update, the cars on the boat!

Also since the car is new and such im looking at going outside the rules

Greddy make a computer called the G-reddy emanage. Given that the lotus computer is tempermental and will counteract any power gains.. do you think this is worth it? It just sends differnet signals to the stock computer to adjust timing fuel and etc.

link here --> http://www.nengun.com/electronics/tr.../e-manage-blue

There is also a VManage which works to adjust the vvtli kick inpoints

Link here --> http://www.nengun.com/electronics/tr...reddy-v-manage

One other question that could be answered by the exige s drivers is how much room there is between the firewall and the engine for some extractors. I have not seen close up enough if there is enough room for some aftermarket headers.

A link here --> http://www.nengun.com/engine/trd/exhaust-manifold

and here --> http://www.nengun.com/exhaust/c-one/exhaust-manifold

Any ideas?? Should i buy them and see if they will fit perhaps!

[Aedo]

Fryman I think you should search the site for "emanage". I don't think you will hear much good about it. Search for posts by shiftlock who has binned the emanage and gone for a hydra stand alone.

You could also ask Ray if he can get you the GT performance kit from Lotus which is currently available in the UK.



PS: meant to get this for you before http://au.groups.yahoo.com/search?query=LotusWA - the yahoo group for Lotus WA. Good contacts and local info.

Cheers
Steve

[Fryman]

you champion!

[Fryman]

Please let me know who sells the GT performance kit, and who ray is. If its worth it ill buy it!

Trying to find mods for this car is proving to be interesting.

So emanage is not the go? ok.

[Aedo]

Ray is the Lotus salesman at Barbagallo - 9231 5999

[Fryman]

ahhh.. cheers

[Fryman]

well shes here...

http://photos.charitymods.org/main.php?g2_itemId=79814

Pics there.. suitably titled Agent Orange... (or the fanta tupperware special from mates) Im over the moon with it.

Its fast but i want about 40% morepower, so we await and see how the guinea pigs go..