Question about Gotham 265 ECU and reliability ??

[NoFear99]

My next mods would be the Gotham 265 from sector 111 but before to go forward I was wondering if my car is still going to be safe with that modification. I'm going to loose my warranty from the dealer also at the same time...

Any people who know the true behind this ???

Any problems or experience to tell me ???


Thanks , Kevin

[Lotus F1]

Originally Posted by NoFear99

My next mods would be the Gotham 265 from sector 111 but before to go forward I was wondering if my car is still going to be safe with that modification. I'm going to loose my warranty from the dealer also at the same time...

Any people who know the true behind this ???

Any problems or experience to tell me ???


Thanks , Kevin

Technically you would loose the drivetrain warranty... providing they knew about the ECU flash. You would have to reflash it back to stock before bringing it in and then maybe you would be ok. I am also of course just talking about drivetrain warranty issues. The rest of the car warranty should not matter at all

[charliex]

You won't lose your warranty unless the mod is proven to cause the fault.

I run it in my own car, which i'd only had a few thousand miles on before i installed it, i have no problems so far, i've put about 6,000 on it so far.

[NoFear99]

[/quote]I run it in my own car, which i'd only had a few thousand miles on before i installed it, i have no problems so far, i've put about 6,000 on it so far.[/quote]

Do you run your car hard ? I means do you rev it til 8500RPM often ???

I dont understand why the add on of the supercharge on our exige only add 30HP at 7.5 pound of boost. Something must be wrong in the factory ecu ?

When we add an aftermarket supercharge on the elise the car make more power...


I need more power in my car and the Gotham 265 could be the solution.... As long as my car will be reliable. I had an RX-7 for the last 7 years and I dont want to go into problem and engine rebuild again.

[Lotus F1]

I'm willing to bet Lotus would put there foot down and say you changed a very sophisticated and well tested engine management system. You would have a hard fight on this one. Would I do the mod... You betcha I would as I have faith in Charlies abilities. I just don't think lotus would be as happy to fix a blown engine if they knew about it. It gives them an easy out and then you have to fight them and prove your story. JMHO or course.

I'd say do the mod and don't even worry about it. The engine can easily handle the extra horsepower. I think Lotus just kept the power down so that it dosent conflict with there more expensive models. It just needs to be done right and I think Charlies got that well covered.

[charliex]

Yes i track my car, and it spends a lot of time on the dyno, two of the worst places for a car. I also took it too LOG 27 which was around a 1,000 miles each way and it got a pretty good workout.

Its quite likely its something that could be argued over, the law is on your side though, upgrading power puts more strain on it, so there is always that to think about.

[alexandertg4]

If you reflashed it, I am sure they would notice the use of a new cover. I have it on my car and after having it for a little while, wouldn't think twice about getting it. +1 for gotham

[jkolb]

I will vouch for Charlie not babying his car! That being said, he doesn't go around launching at 8000 rpms at every light, or hitting the limiter on every shift. This car is meant to be driven and it has an engine that has, within reasonable limits, proven to be understressed. Gotham removes some performance impediments, but produces power that is well within the capabilities of the various parts to handle. Ultimately, I think, the clutch is going to be the first mechanical limitation that becomes common with additional power, which is even more reason to cut out the street drags. I will be adding Gotham to my engine in the Spring when my car comes out of hibernation.

Jerry

[Jack]

[quote=NoFear99;818530I dont understand why the add on of the supercharge on our exige only add 30HP at 7.5 pound of boost. Something must be wrong in the factory ecu ? When we add an aftermarket supercharge on the elise the car make more power... .[/QUOTE]

You must try to compare apples to apples -- so, if you use the same (Gotham) formula for calculation of crank HP based upon dyno RWHP, the stock S puts out ~236 crank HP, not 218. Also, factory S car boost is very conservative at only 5.88 PSI.

[charliex]

Remember its supposed to correlate to engine dyno figures, not wheel dyno.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by charliex

Remember its supposed to correlate to engine dyno figures, not wheel dyno.

I agree...then we should compare engine RWHP #'s,,,,, and even those can be misleading.

I thought that I saw stock S dyno RWHP #'s running between 200-210 HP...no?

[charliex]

Yes indeed, but as far as i can figure out lotus figures are based on engine dynos, not wheel dynos, the 10% figure is for calculating powertrain loss.

I've never been able to successfully get the S's published figures to match up with any of the math, the other cars all do.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by charliex

Yes indeed, but as far as i can figure out lotus figures are based on engine dynos, not wheel dynos, the 10% figure is for calculating powertrain loss.

I've never been able to successfully get the S's published figures to match up with any of the math, the other cars all do.

Back when Malcolm was at LMS, he told me that the crank HP number was under-rated intentionally (Porsche is also known for doing this). He told me that Lotus wanted to make sure that the car would always provide dyno #'s that would support their brake HP rating no matter the conditions under which the car was tested....hot ambient temps, heat soak conditions, etc. Who knows .... maybe it's true.

Every aftermarket company providing HP mods always uses 12 - 15% drivetrain loss formulae. Didn't your stock S dyno out at 205 RWHP back when it was really HOT in Vegas??

[charliex]

Yep it sure did, it also dyno'd the same in LA.

I've heard different stories, but the latest info i got was that they are indeed engine dyno figures, which might explain the problem with the S figures.

[NoFear99]

Originally Posted by alexandertg4

If you reflashed it, I am sure they would notice the use of a new cover. I have it on my car and after having it for a little while, wouldn't think twice about getting it. +1 for gotham

Would you say that the extra 45HP with the Gotham265 worth the monney ? Do you feel a real difference ? I means 45 more HP is about 20% more power in our little car. With that said it most be terrible !!!

[NoFear99]

Originally Posted by Jack

Also, factory S car boost is very conservative at only 5.7 PSI.

Are you sure it is 5.7PSI ?? I saw 7.5 PSI on Car and Driver web site ???

Do you know if the Gotham ECU change the boost level ?? Probably not but just to be sure...

[Jack]

Originally Posted by NoFear99

Are you sure it is 5.7PSI ?? I saw 7.5 PSI on Car and Driver web site ???

Do you know if the Gotham ECU change the boost level ?? Probably not but just to be sure...

Car and Driver is wrong. Besides, what do they know -- they're only a car magazine.

Gotham does not change boost level on the S. With the S/C setup (as opposed to modern day turbo applications), you don't change boost thru the ECU -- rather by using a smaller pulley. Of course, to optimize the results and reliability you also need to adjust the ECU program.

[Lotus F1]

Originally Posted by NoFear99

Would you say that the extra 45HP with the Gotham265 worth the monney ? Do you feel a real difference ? I means 45 more HP is about 20% more power in our little car. With that said it most be terrible !!!

Considering your S only makes 30hp more over a NA Exige and you bought it. I would say the upgrade is more then worthy.

[charliex]

Yeah C&D is definetely wrong, Jack is right.

[StallionX]

265 hp for the exige S is where the car should be anyway.. I would buy a preowned exige S over a new 240hp exige S and just gotham it.. cheaper and FASTER..