Driving a Celica GTS will give a rather rough idea of the kind of acceleration we will get out of the Elise. Dropping 500-600lbs is huge. My understanding is it uses a closer ratio gearbox then the US Celica. Add in the extra 10 hp and a bit of Lotus tuning (hopefully to smooth the cam shift over). My MR2 Turbo is putting out about the same #'s as your A4, with 2800lbs to pull, yet the Fed Elise looks like it will beat it by a full sec. to 60mph... that's fast enough for me.
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Eyelise said:
I've talked to someone who was in the process of putting together a prototype turbo kit for his GTS, and just kept running into problems. The 11.5:1 compression is not a great choice for a motor that you want to boost. Everyone seems to be jumping down to the GT engine for FI.
Personally, I won't be touching any sorts of FI options for the GTS motor. Too risky, IMO.
I've felt shorter shifts in other cars, for sure, but the GTS with the B&M was pretty impressive. I've since taken it out (in order to sell the car), and it almost feels like i'm driving a semi now.
Everyone always talks down to the celica. I really love my celica. It's an incredibly car for the money. You cannot compare it to an Audi turbo chipped out and atleast $10K more. You get what you pay for.
Although I do agree that I wish they were putting some other engine in, like a REAL V-tec (not toyota's lame copy of it using 7 year old technology). Oh well, it will still be fun, especially on a car that weighs sooo much less and handles sooo much better.
One more rant...why do guys ALWAYS insist on more power. That car is soooo amazing at handling...it will kick just about any other car's a$$. 1/4 mile times are NOT the most important thing in the world. If you want a car to go fast in a straight line...buy a viper. Leave the cute, fabulous handling sports cars to the people who are going to use it properly...on a road course.
P.S. I apologize if I offend anyone. I'm stressed out getting everything together before my long business trip to Oxford. Only 25 more days till my tour of the lotus factory
Although I do agree that I wish they were putting some other engine in, like a REAL V-tec (not toyota's lame copy of it using 7 year old technology). Oh well, it will still be fun, especially on a car that weighs sooo much less and handles sooo much better.
One more rant...why do guys ALWAYS insist on more power. That car is soooo amazing at handling...it will kick just about any other car's a$$. 1/4 mile times are NOT the most important thing in the world. If you want a car to go fast in a straight line...buy a viper. Leave the cute, fabulous handling sports cars to the people who are going to use it properly...on a road course.
P.S. I apologize if I offend anyone. I'm stressed out getting everything together before my long business trip to Oxford. Only 25 more days till my tour of the lotus factory
Not everyone is complaining. I am very happy with 190hp. I know what the difference weight/handling make. But then I drive a 40hp kart.
I think it's somewhat the Tim Allen syndrome... MORE POWER!.
I also like the Celica.
Have a good time on your trip and tell us all about it.
I think it's somewhat the Tim Allen syndrome... MORE POWER!.
I also like the Celica.
Have a good time on your trip and tell us all about it.
The light weight handling is what I'm after with the Elise. The kind of acceleration we've getting is a added bonus. Suspect that's the case with most of us going for a Elise, but like any car, some will figure handling is good enough give me more power or change up the styling with body kits, or improve on the handling (tires/weight/ suspension, etc) ...and while we're at it, might as well work on the driver.
On a bike, some people go to great lengths to save an ounce or two... much less a pound.
Glad to see there's some other cyclists on here, too. I was fortunate enough to make the Navy team while I was at college. Some of the guys were crazy about the smallest amounts of weight. I suppose I'd have cared more if I was half as good as they were, though.
Cade
Glad to see there's some other cyclists on here, too. I was fortunate enough to make the Navy team while I was at college. Some of the guys were crazy about the smallest amounts of weight. I suppose I'd have cared more if I was half as good as they were, though.
Cade
Yeah, I should have said grams, not lbs. for the bike weight weenies.
I am a purist for sports car weight, but sort of a luddite with bikes, I have a lugged steel Waterford 753 frame with stock Campy chorus. And I run 25 mm tires, same size front and rear (though I do not notice any greater tendency towards oversteer with my non-staggered set-up)
At my age and weight, the motor is certainly the limiting factor. And I have yet to find the RPM where my valves go into high lift mode, though I am not sure I want to.
I am a purist for sports car weight, but sort of a luddite with bikes, I have a lugged steel Waterford 753 frame with stock Campy chorus. And I run 25 mm tires, same size front and rear (though I do not notice any greater tendency towards oversteer with my non-staggered set-up
) At my age and weight, the motor is certainly the limiting factor. And I have yet to find the RPM where my valves go into high lift mode, though I am not sure I want to.
I still love riding, I just kept growing, and got too big for serious competion. Those little guys with high specific output just keep leaving me on the hill climbs. I was a good sprinter, though. I currently have a steel deBernardi frame with Campy Record components. (and a GT RTS-3 mountain bike, and a Haro freestyle bike. Guess which one I was riding when I broke my leg?)
At one point I owned an all-aluminum GT road bike that looked like a pair of wings turned sideways. Very aero. Unfortunately, very light and aero also meant very vulnerable in wrecks. It had a bit too much frame flex for me, also.
I'd love to have a titanium bike, but I'm no longer competing, so I can't justify the cost.
I also haven't experienced any 'oversteer' on my bike, but I have had a tendency to lift a wheel under 'throttle.'
Sorry to hijack this thread... lemme get back on track.
I am also a purist on sports car weight, I don't want any 'extras' that aren't part of making the car what it is. I'm already heavy enough, and I worked WAY too hard to gain muscle for me to starve myself to lose it. I need Lotus to keep it light.
Cade
At one point I owned an all-aluminum GT road bike that looked like a pair of wings turned sideways. Very aero. Unfortunately, very light and aero also meant very vulnerable in wrecks. It had a bit too much frame flex for me, also.
I'd love to have a titanium bike, but I'm no longer competing, so I can't justify the cost.
I also haven't experienced any 'oversteer' on my bike, but I have had a tendency to lift a wheel under 'throttle.'
Sorry to hijack this thread... lemme get back on track.
I am also a purist on sports car weight, I don't want any 'extras' that aren't part of making the car what it is. I'm already heavy enough, and I worked WAY too hard to gain muscle for me to starve myself to lose it. I need Lotus to keep it light.
Cade
At 4k a butterfly in the intake opens to increase the area in the intake tube. Its there to keep intake air velocity up under 4k. I would asume lotus would remove this in the redesigne of the air box. There has been serval celica guys try to test its effectiveness but it seems to be useless most poeple remove it or add an intake to replace the box. As for lift at 6-6.2k I would also assume in lotus' remapping they would lower it like many poeple with the a-pexi power FC (programable ECU) have done to get a much flater torque curve. Some as low as 5400. But the drive train (tranny and engine) is why i bought my celica (its a blast to drive) and i wish i had the money to buy a elise guess i'll have to put a 2zz in a mki mr2Eyelise said:
icyjaws said:
oh yeah ... i forgot about that. That was the first thing I did when I got my car.
Made no noticable improvement, but i never put it back in.
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