Michigan Turbocharged Lotus

[Confidential]

How much fuel was in the tank? You must have removed a lot, because that is light.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by Confidential

How much fuel was in the tank? You must have removed a lot, because that is light.

A little more than 3/4 of a tank. I'm still hoping to take some more out well have to see.

[shadowhusky]

I met up with Bender over the weekend so we could do a little tuning on his car. It has got to be one of the fastest things I have ever driven. We were out for a couple of hours tweaking and adjusting. I think he said we got it up to about 16 or 17 psi of boost. If I am wrong I am sure he will correct me. We probably could have gone higher but I had somewhere I had to be later in the afternoon. It was an absolute blast to drive. It felt like the front end wanted to come up in 2nd gear. Once the turbo spools up you just have to hold on.

[MaineLotus]

How's the gearing @ your power level?

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by shadowhusky

I met up with Bender over the weekend so we could do a little tuning on his car. It has got to be one of the fastest things I have ever driven. We were out for a couple of hours tweaking and adjusting. I think he said we got it up to about 16 or 17 psi of boost. If I am wrong I am sure he will correct me. We probably could have gone higher but I had somewhere I had to be later in the afternoon. It was an absolute blast to drive. It felt like the front end wanted to come up in 2nd gear. Once the turbo spools up you just have to hold on.

Thanks again for driving. You scared me a little when I finally took my noze up from the laptop to see how fast we were going, but I'm glad you were driving. It's hard to find someone you can trust not to get into trouble with come by for a drive any time, Thanks again!

Originally Posted by MaineLotus

How's the gearing @ your power level?

I like it. The gears are far enough apart its got a lot of top end. The only downside is 1st and 2nd burn up sooooo fast. It might be the power level and the gearing. What do you think your going to set your rev limiter at?

[MaineLotus]

Originally Posted by Bender Rodríguez

I like it. The gears are far enough apart its got a lot of top end. The only downside is 1st and 2nd burn up sooooo fast. It might be the power level and the gearing. What do you think your going to set your rev limiter at?

Good to hear. Stock rev limiter I believe - using Frank's tune, Charlie is loading it as we speak.

[MaineLotus]

Are you a bit over 70mph in second gear, sound right?

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by MaineLotus

Are you a bit over 70mph in second gear, sound right?

I think that sounds right, I'll have to check. How’s your car doing? That's an awesome project you have going. Good for you for taking your time. It's easy to get frustrated and impatient and make mistakes.

[kestrel74]

I think Bender just doesn't want to drive his own car......whaddaya think ?? haha... JK !

[MaineLotus]

Originally Posted by Bender Rodríguez

I think that sounds right, I'll have to check. How’s your car doing? That's an awesome project you have going. Good for you for taking your time. It's easy to get frustrated and impatient and make mistakes.

Thanks, it's getting there, I can finally see the end. It is easy to rush and I've been frustrated a few times. 2nd gear to 70 is good, probably seems short because you arrive there so dam quick!

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by MaineLotus

Thanks, it's getting there, I can finally see the end. It is easy to rush and I've been frustrated a few times. 2nd gear to 70 is good, probably seems short because you arrive there so dam quick!

So here is the story the speedometer says about 72mph at 8,500rpm but I think my spedo is reading high. I've been having trouble w/ the tach cutting out when it revs over 3,000. I reset the cluster but the problem is still there. So hope that helps.

[MaineLotus]

Thanks for the info. It's good to hear from other people using the E153, hands on experience. So much for the armchair engineers (DMH, TP).

[turbophil]

Hey John- I've got no problem with Alex's build... or yours for that matter. I'm glad WE are all having fun building the car the way we like

Also, Let's get this straight- that was spreadsheet engineering- no arm chairs

Regarding this gear ratio/E153 business, Bender stated earlier that he's building a fun, primarly street driven car. Gear ratios aren't as critical on the street. You would be amazed at how much faster a car with a close ratio (CR) gear box that keeps the engine at peak power will go than one with wide ratios will on the track. Me, I'd like 4 or 5 usable gears on the track that allow me to keep the power at its prime. Can't be done on the E153 that I know of-- you'd only get to use 2 gears on the E153 on most tracks, 2nd and 3rd. The stock tranny atleast gives us 3 gears to work with on the track, 3rd, 4th, and 5th...but you can swap out the gears and final drive on c60/c65 to get a true CR box and even utilize 6th... But that's what I like---track time. I drive about 70% of the time on the track if I had to guess. Don even makes money on the track, so you can see why he's a big fan of the CR box as well. No spreadsheets for him, as he actually has a CR box in his car and picked up a lot of track speed with it... So do several of the LCS and NASA guys, FWIW... There are all sorts of power/speed simulatation calculators out there that show this quite well-- but you know that For track inspiration, I'll stand by using the CR gear box (regardless of which model the actual box is) For you street guys, have a ball with the E153

All in good fun, sir

Take care,

Phil

[MaineLotus]

Franks car is headed to the track, guess we'll see how it performs.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by MaineLotus

Thanks for the info. It's good to hear from other people using the E153, hands on experience. So much for the armchair engineers (DMH, TP).

I do really like the E153. I'm not a reckless driver but I can tell it can defiantly take about anything you can throw at it, high RPM launches, hard clutching, ect. My personal thoughts it's not the ideal or the best transmission for the track but totally usable. Even other MR2's I'm sure could fair quite well with it. Overall it's less gears and more top end and if you never hit a high speed your going to be using less of the gears. How much of a real world difference we would really have to test it and see.

I don't want to fire up the Lotus community drama but I can do see where John's coming from if you get your setup criticized by people who haven't driven in it. This defiantly goes both ways. The two schools of thought of reflash vs. EFI are both pretty critical over each others setups. There usually end of being allot of arguing over a minutia of detail that may have little or no effect. Personally I think Phill is a great guy he's been more than willing to help me with a few technical questions. Same goes for John he posts on all kinds of threads where people are having trouble with there car (including me) to help them out with pictures manuals and directions.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Here is a couple of progress photo's I changed batteries to an odyssey 625 with a new bracket, cut the "ear" off both sides on my car to help with air flow, and went crazy trying to hack up the wire harness to take out some excess weight. I think I'll do allot more over the winter when I'm not driving the car.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Small update. I finished the side intake cut job and put a small piece of carbon fiber to cover the hole it creates. It doesn't look perfect but it’s not that bad.

[Bender Rodríguez]

Well a couple updates. The old turbo sucked and is leaking oil into the intake (Front seal blow) so i went with a slightly bigger. Before the swap the car made 310whp @ 10psi and 341whp @ 22psi. something was defiantly wrong with the turbo. Also I mounted my fans finally and cut the rear deck lid. Does anyone have a good suggestion for covering it with mesh?

[...m...]

...i love what you did with your rear deck!..

[Bender Rodríguez]

Originally Posted by ...m...

...i love what you did with your rear deck!..

I think it will look great with a fine black mesh over the whole thing!