[EspritNOOB]

OK guys, I am in need of more power. Claudius has a 330hp chip for my car, I have ordered and Alunox charge cooler and a new exhaust system as well from Alunox.

- Do any of you have a larger turbo say a T4?
- Did you have to modify your downpipe?
- Where and who reprogammed the new fuel map/timing etc?
- What other mods did you have to do to make it all work?
- How was the outcome?
- Was it worth it?
- How bad was the lag due to the larger turbo?
- Does any one have the Alunox charge cooler? Do you like it? Is there a difference with it on the stock turbo and S4s chip?
- Lastly what did it cost? Feel free to pm if you don't want to post publicly.

Thanks!:UK:

 

[Vulcan Grey]

There have been a few recent failures of the support link on the Alunox stainless steel exhaust manifolds...

I've seen a few T4 (too big) and a few hybrid T3/T4. The MAP sensor is the limit, you really will not be able to have more boost, even with the Marcus chips. You'd need a 3Bar MAP sensor and a totally remapped ECU, otherwise the ECU will not know how to fuel above 2BAR.

 

[carbuff]

There have been a few recent failures of the support link on the Alunox stainless steel exhaust manifolds...

I had not heard this, any details? :facepalm

 

[MidLifeZ]

There have been a few recent failures of the support link on the Alunox stainless steel exhaust manifolds...

I've seen a few T4 (too big) and a few hybrid T3/T4. The MAP sensor is the limit, you really will not be able to have more boost, even with the Marcus chips. You'd need a 3Bar MAP sensor and a totally remapped ECU, otherwise the ECU will not know how to fuel above 2BAR.

I have had one since they did the first batch, approaching a year now I guess..

The only issue I had was a bracket broke but it is a non issue and others confirmed this. There were a few of the rev 1 I heard of with cracks but havent heard any other issues like that in a while now.

Worth it to me? YES YES YES! Spools up much quicker

 

[Vulcan Grey]

I had not heard this, any details? :facepalm

Alunox SS manifolds - Induction/Turbo/Chargecooler/Manifold/Exhaust - The Lotus Forums

 

[mieczkow]

A friend who has an SE with a newly-installed Aluminox header just reported to me that his support bracket broke within the first hundred miles of driving.

 

[EspritNOOB]

Anyone with a larger turbo? Anyone running 1.5 bar?

 

[roblotus79]

I've gone with a modified turbo following the methods outlined by John Welch (Wc engineering). Ceramic bearing largered wheel and machined out housing. It means much more air flow at the same boost pressures. You need larger injectors and at least a 1.0bar chip (see Travis's explanation above on the MAP). What you get is sustained max boost to the redline without any drop off. Personally, I think this is a better route than trying larger charge coolers as I believe they are basically time dependent. In other words eventually they get to the cooling capacity of the liquid. It does not matter how big they are. However, I would love to be educated on this.

I also have a free flow cat and bigger exhaust. I have a magnaflow of some sort. A friend has a Larini which is better, but drones loudly for my liking.

There was a recent thread on here how a new turbo model number ????? is actually 10% better than the John Welch modified one, by his own admission) but same principle.

I think all that on a healthy engine should be good for 330ish bhp.

Oh, I've got a BOV and a more precise wastegate actuator as well just to control it all a bit better.

I'm thinking 1.5 bar would be intense and require better pistons etc. But I'm way beyond my depth of knowledge at this point. I'm sure others can weigh in.

Cheers


RobD

 

[MidLifeZ]

reply on LEW I got on thread above when I asked if an issue not having the bracket till they get replacements sent out:

That's fine, I will mention it to Alunox,
A direct replacement bolt on bracket will be despatch to you when manufactured..
As stated it is a stabilizer arm and does not hold weight, using the car without it
should not be an issue as long as your turbo is secure on its pipework mounts..
Just fit the new one when it arrives...

 

[roblotus79]

Oh, there is a tiny bit more lag, but after a week , I couldn't remember.

I carried out the mods on the turbo as the turbo needed a rebuild anyway. Cost $1000 CAD ($900 US) which is quite a bit cheaper than the better new turbo, I think.

 

[EspritNOOB]

Oh, there is a tiny bit more lag, but after a week , I couldn't remember.

I carried out the mods on the turbo as the turbo needed a rebuild anyway. Cost $1000 CAD ($900 US) which is quite a bit cheaper than the better new turbo, I think.

ok thanks for the info. Looking like I will go this route with the rebuild. In Cali we can't modify the turbo as it is now considered part of the smog equipment but Jason at Claudius is telling me I can get this done out of state. He did mention that going this route I would get more volume but same boost pressure. Didn't make sense at first as pressure and volume seem to go hand in hand but it makes sense now.

Have you dyno tuned it? If so were you able to get more power after the tune? If not what was the baseline?

Just curious.

 

[roblotus79]

Sorry, no baseline or dyne tuning. Mostly relying on the mechanic doing it, who has done a lot of this work on Esprits. Also relying on John Welch's website, and a couple of conversations. If you go to it, he explains the volume thing and flow maps really well.

Oh, as a side note, with standard injectors we had to limit the boost to 0.95 as detonation was present due to a lean condition. According to my gauge, I can get 1.1bar for a couple of seconds, but I don't have a digital gauge so it could just be off. So if you want to get the most out of the turbo work you really have to get higher flow injectors. At a minimum get new secondaries. I've gone with 225ccm over the standard 190. There are a number of threads on here discussing it.

 

[DaveS4s]

Am I missing the point. Is all this quest for more power have a goal? You can't out run a cop radio, and isn't the Trans the limiting factor?

 

[roblotus79]

Of course the trans is the limiting factor, but 330 is less than 350 in the V8 and less torque.

For me, it is as parts wear out I replace them with better ones. I will not be seeking more power beyond what I have. My exhaust wore out, got a better one. my turbo needed rebuilt; I improved it etc.

 

[EspritNOOB]

Am I missing the point. Is all this quest for more power have a goal? You can't out run a cop radio, and isn't the Trans the limiting factor?

Not trying to outrun the cops or rob a bank. Maybe loot some kids on Halloween but that's it. It's a "me" thing, just like the rush of going in fast spurts when the coast is clear. Who doesn't want more power? It's fun right? People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on their cars just to make it go faster. Or just buy a fast car in the first place. I am a baller on a budget so can't afford such fast cars.:facepalm

Reason for this thread is that it's looking like my turbo is in need of a rebuild due to signs of oil leakage so now is the time to upgrade.. Bigger turbo, hybrid, exhaust, header etc...

 

[DaveS4s]

Then by means Go for it, the results should be interesting and the info. will be useful for all of us Esprit owners.

 

[G8nightman]

Im running the Alunox performance exhaust manifold and charger cooler along with the PUK stage two turbo and chip to match the upgrades. I felt the differance pulls harder. I dont have any dyno specs to show the bump in power.

 

[yellow lotus]

Pulling 1.32 BAR on the car now per the digital guage. Alunox headers only change to breathing, still stock cat and can. Did get the larger primary and secondary WC injectors and the WC S4s chip from the very kind Mr. Welch. Turbo is a complete unknown as it was sold to me by J. Goffaux as being a WC ceramic unit but that was not true and neither Mr. Welch nor I can identify what it or its internals are. Car pulls enough to break rears loose on dry pavement at 30 mph in second gear. No rolling road results to post. Yes my initial bracket broke as well and had the added cost optional dual bracket installed. Hope this helps someone.

 

[maxvelocity]

Noob,
You going to blow up your engine. You got over 90K on the clock. Maybe closer to 100K than 90k by now??? Even though your engine appears to running fine under normal conditions. You start cranking up the boost on a loose well worn engine and things will start vibrating and knocking about internally during elevated conditions that might cause an other wise well worn happy engine to come apart. Just remember the rules that apply to non stressed engines are different when things are kicked up a notch or two.

If you still want to do it. John Welch will do a core exchange or rebuild your turbo the spec and performance level you want plus will supply all the other things you will need to make it work.

Claudius has been around for a while and have heard he does pretty good work but he is expensive. But then I don't know of an alternate shop in your area.

Also if you rebuild your engine it will appear like you have more power because it will be tight. Then you can boost away in safety after the break in period.

When you say rush going in fast spurts. You mean straight line solo on the hwy or when you are with other Esprit's or sports cars? Cause if its playing with other cars doing Lotus style driving you can really mess with them if you just put a set of RA1 tires on your car. With the higher entry and exit speeds you will appear to vanish in the turns even when running with the V8's with their old street tires (many have really old tires). You will be amazed how much quicker a car is with fresh RA1 compared to other cars with old street tires. Many street tires have timed out and should be replaced but most will not throw away tires with good tread depth no matter how crappy they make the car handle. Tires like the RA1 will wear out rather than time out because they are real soft.

 

[jtrealty]

Getting to higher boost levels is not "just" about getting a bigger turbo. Higher boost pressures means hotter IAT which necessitates water injection and/or intercoolers both of which do less and less as the pressures and temperatures increase. Higher boost pressures require higher and higher octane fuel to prevent pre-detonation. You also have to reduce the spark advance which tends to lower power. More boost increases combustion chamber pressure which requires better head-to-block sealing and stronger (forged) pistons. Eventually the bottom end of the motor will have to be strengthened. The transaxle will not be able to handle the power. If you could just bolt on 50 HP don't you think the manufacturer would have done it? After increasing the power you trade power for longevity. The manufacturer had to warrant the car for a while. By increasing the power all bets are off since the whole system was not designed to handle the increased power and live for a long time. I am not telling you that you should not do this, just be aware of the compromises and trade-offs involved. In racing they do all kinds of stuff, but in that world the motor only has to last till the race is over. For a street car you usually want it to last a while and not require a lot of maintenance. In some classes of racing they tear the motor down after every run.
David Teitelbaum