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Reborn Turbo Elise- Finally!

19K views 45 replies 27 participants last post by  Frank Amoroso 
#1 · (Edited)
With LotusF1's permission, the short story:

Many of the Elise Talk veterans here are familiar with the horror story of LotusF1's Turbo Elise. This is the story that started so poorly with a Haas Turbo kit, a privateer's installation gone bad (remember Stan?), then one Lotus shop molesting the car, followed by yet another well known Lotus shop totally molesting the car :facepalm, and now the car finally ended up in our shop :up:

First, I must say that we see more and more turbo cars in our shop that have been terribly constructed. I thought I had seen it all, but this car really gets the prize. The shops who touched this car did criminal work at best:mad:

The exterior of the car is note-worthy. LotusF1 has done a great job with tasteful accents and has some of the best paint I've seen on an 05. But after that, he relied on shops to do the mechanical work and that's where it all falls apart.

A list to give you an idea:
  • The "custom" ECU Tune was just a warmed over supercharger map
  • Valve stem seals were not installed on the head correctly
  • Cams were not timed correctly when installed
  • Wiring wasn't even good enough for an old trailer
  • No heat shielding and plenty of heat damage from it
  • Vacuum/Boost plumbing was totally incorrect
  • sloppy hose and wire routing
  • Valve lash way out of spec
  • Wiped intake cam
  • HUGE exhaust leak at turbo housing due to poor installation
  • No boost controller
  • Leaks at EVERY hose clamp
  • No Catch Can & No PCV. Crank venting open to engine bay = Oily Mess

....and the list goes on...

I asked LotusF1 for a little leeway in the building process to make this a proper car rather than just fixing the essentials. The engine's leakdown numbers were actually not good, but we agreed that doing an entire engine build project was just not in the scope of this project. So leaving the engine and tranny in the car, the head on the motor (to keep any cylinder wall damage out of site and out of mind from both of us!), and the understanding that this is not a track car, but rather a show car and fast weekend cruiser--- he let us do just about anything else:up: As he said, the car hasn't ran well since 2006, so HAVE AT IT!

Well, we fixed about everything we could. New valvestem seals, new cams, fixed the timing, new tune, all new IC, all new plumbing, all new wiring, new clamhinge, paint work under the clam, heatshielding, etc, etc... While the car was here, he had us install CF seats, and some other CF accents.

We finally have a car that is a blast to drive, pretty darn fast, and looks absolutely killer!

The complete build is in our Rides section here

RIDES

Some teaser pics below.

Hope you enjoy!

Phil






 
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#2 · (Edited)
Thanks BOE for taking care of my car and making it right. I can't wait to pick her up and see what's it's like fixed right finally!...all 300whp! :)

It's been a disappointing, time wasting and expensive Journey from MWR-HASS-Stan-VF.

I look forward to writing a review of it when I get to drive her a bit and test her out :) Looks like good things to come. I've been very pleased with the service and communication from BOE (a remote shop for me). We all know the anxiety and challenges that can be but so far so good. The car looks great and the dyno sheet looks nice. Next is the driving part :)
 
#46 ·
... I've been very pleased with the service and communication from BOE (a remote shop for me). We all know the anxiety and challenges that can be but so far so good.
... One thing I must expand upon about Phil's service is the daily e-mails and nightly phone calls with the days progress, photos and discussions. I have never ever had such service from a car shop before.
... Those guys in KC are the real deal.
My car has visited Phil & Andrew twice so far. The first time I drove it out and towed it back to CO. The second time, a couple years later, I towed it out from CO (thanks Ross!) and had it transported back to CA. I had some teething issues on the front end with my Rev300 setup, but after some updates it's been pretty solid ever since. 1,825 lbs + 300 hp DOES NOT SUCK.

Earlier in this thread someone referred to Phil / BOE as a "vendor." Fact of the matter is that they are innovators and trusted advisors in this Lotus love affair / journey that many of us are on. That's a rarity in this car game. We are lucky to have them. Vendor? NFW! Partner? Yes, absolutely.

Thanks again guys.
 
#10 ·
here's betting that this car is going to rock your world. Wow - torque with a capital TORQUE. :)
 
#6 ·
:D
 
#7 ·
Nice save Phil...!

Hey Phil, nice work getting that deal to be a for-real turbo Lotus.

Looks real nice and the power looks to be a TON more fun than most street hot rods! As you found out, the 2zz Turbo, when properly sized and tuned will make Buku torque from right off the bottom and there is no real urge to rev them past 7500. They pull like a 5.0 from 3000 on!

You forgot to mention the use of our DMC air-to-air intercooler package. Looks nice in there. For even more consistent cooling on the street and in really hot climates you could add the puller fan. It does a great job to help keep intake temps low at low road speed and in traffic.

Nice work, good to see an honest days work for an honest days pay in this world of fly by nighters!

Enjoy!:shift:

JD.
 
#13 ·
Looking great. One thing I must expand upon about Phil's service is the daily e-mails and nightly phone calls with the days progress, photos and discussions. I have never ever had such service from a car shop before. In fact the only similar follow up service I have ever gotten was from my best friend (another Phil) a surgeon, when he was filling me in on my wife's body restorations.
 
#14 ·
Great job guys, Phil and crew strikes again. And just as you said, the before pics should be used as criminal evidence against any place calling themselves a mechanic shop.
 
#16 ·
Damn, that is some gnarly work in the before shots. I appreciate some good work and it looks like Phil and team has pulled through. Quality is always appreciated and I sure appreciate the Rev 400 kit that has worked flawlessly on my car for over a year with a lot of abuse now. That's RnD I never had to do and that allowed me to focus on the important things like learning do drive this heap.
 
#17 ·
So glad this car got put right! Phil, you are the best!!
 
#18 ·
Thanks guys! Props to Lotus F1 for not solving his bad luck with this car using the match and gasoline strategy! :evil::clap:

You guys are right though. The previous shops that worked on the car caused far more harm than good. The engine bay was just the start though. The previous shop installed a new cylinder head. When I saw the cam timing was off and then the valve stem seals were not installed on the guides, I was :wallbang: It was about that time I called Lotus F1 and we realized we're going to be in for a little bigger project than we anticipated and needed to turn over many more stones-eek-

Cheers!

Phil
 
#23 ·
I drove it 1800 miles. I have actually been driving it the last 2 years albeit mostly out of boost for the most part. It ran fine for general street driving and cruise highway. It just didn't like to be under boost for the most part as one could imagine. Which quite frankly negated the whole purpose of the turbo and all the other hardware
 
#21 ·
awesome job.... love to hear how the turbo compares to the supercharger kits you offer. The turbo seems to rest somewhere between the REV300 & REV400

HP seems to sit between the REV300 & REV 400 whilte TQ is more tehn a REV400

& O yea.... if you like it.... any chance of offering a turbo kit :)
 
#22 ·
We'll happily install a turbo kit. There are pros and cons to the two.

On these mild boost applications where 15/16 psi boost is all we're making (or less), the Supercharged REV400 build will likely be faster than the turbo cars. The average torque and area under the curve is greater with the blower at these levels, the reliability better, the complexity less, fewer heat issues, etc with the supercharger. The 15psi REV400 cars simply pull and pull and pull...

THAT SAID, there is a certain element to turbo cars that is hard to resist. They make more exotic noises and the way the torque ramps up is more exhilarating on the street than the supercharger's more linear torque curve. The turbo car will often feel faster even though it's not. On the street, [feel] can be more rewarding than the reality :)

Again, that's typically the case on the 15/16 psi or less builds.

Obviously, if you're going for all out power (At the expense of making for a peaky torque curve), a huge turbo that can make higher manifold pressures can't be beat.

All these cars with ~275-350whp are intoxicatingly quick. We've done enough of them that the recipe is well sorted while retaining good reliability and can run with OBD2 compliance on the stock ECU...

-Phil
 
#24 ·
^yes yes yes. I did this too. From NH. Highly stress free, no shipping the car. Really nice extended stay hotels, $68/night - a sweet suite! Make it a vacation..
 
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